Hutt Valley Landscapes

Last month I was commissioned to photograph five Hutt Valley landscapes for a feature for Fishhead Magazine. I had two weekends to complete the assignment, and only one opportunity to photograph each place I visited. As much as I could, I planned ahead, and researched the places I was due to visit to give myself the best opportunity possible of getting good landscape photos on the days I was available to shoot. Some are single images and others are multi-image panoramas. The image of East Harbour Regional Park forests is composed of 60 individual images stitched together. The most challenging of these locations was Pencarrow Heads. This was an hour cycle ride down a dirt track, pre-dawn, using a headlamp and the eye-shine of strange critters (sheep, rabbits and possums) for navigation. First light revealed a low sky, laden with drizzle, and a soft, diffused light with little contrast. Hardly ideal conditions!