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G5 Geomagnetic Storm

I attended an Advanced Astrophotography Workshop organised by Mike White Photography based in Twizel from the 10th of May to the 13th of May, 2024. Little did any of the participants know at the time of signing up that this would be a workshop we would never ever forget. After photographing the night sky on Friday (10th May), we got back to our accommodation and just about managed to get a couple of hours shut eye when we received a message from Mike telling us it was 'GO Time'. The Aurora Austr...

Bachelor Party

This is truly an exciting time to visit the Royal Albatross Centre  - the only mainland breeding colony of the Northern Royal Albatross in New Zealand.Exciting because on the one hand you get to see dedicated parents looking after their single chick. Currently, during the guard stage, one parent stays with the chick 24/7 while the other parent spends time out at sea foraging for food swapping over guard duties every three to four days. On the other hand, we get to see teenagers who have ret...

Penguin Awareness Day 2024

This year to mark Penguin Awareness Day allow me to turn the spotlight on our very own Hoiho - Yellow-eyed penguins - the only penguin in the world with a pale yellow band through the eye.All images and video footage was captured on the Canon R5 paired with a Canon RF 800mm f11 lens....

2024 Desktop Wallpapers

Check back every month for a new Desktop wallpaper !!!...

2023 IRIS AWARDS

Recently I was a finalist at the Iris Awards – the only professional photography awards for New Zealand and Australia.For the last 35 years the awards have been organised by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers (NZIPP). They are an annual celebration of the innovation and excellence of photographers; providing a platform for recognition for photographers within the photography community and the wider public.“They’re considered to be the Oscars of the professional photogr...

Broken Wings

It saddens and angers me to see the cruelty inflicted on wildlife by humanity fuelled by greed. The only crime that wildlife committed is living their lives while posing no threat to ours. This short film set to very emotive music really touched my heart and I'd encourage you to share it far and wide....

Through the clouds

On the night of the 24th of April, 2023 (ANZAC Eve), I headed out to photograph the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights). As it was consistently an 8 on the KP index, the pursuant light show did not fail to disappoint at all.As I was photographing through the night, I noticed clouds rolling in and instead of being disheartened, I was secretly happy to see clouds in the sky. I personally feel clouds add quite a bit of drama to landscape images especially during sunrises and sunsets. Hence I was qui...

Sunset Cruise 2023

On the evening of the 1st of April, 2023, I went on a Sunset Cruise - a cruise run specifically for photographers to be able to photograph seabird species during the golden hour of sunset. It certainly was a perfect evening for it....

King Bajrang

Bajrang, the son of Bheem and Darha Female, is one of the biggest male Bengal Tigers in the Bandhavgarh National Park situated in Madhya Pradesh, India. Bajrang has the biggest territory of any male tiger spread across the three tourism zones of the forest - Tala, Magdhi and Khitauli. It is estimated that the size of his home range is between 100 and 125 sq. km. I recently had the unique opportunity to see, photograph and capture some footage of this magnificent and awe-inspiring King of Ba...

What causes the colours of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis?

The aurora is caused by the interaction of high-energy particles (usually electrons) with neutral atoms in earth’s upper atmosphere. The colour of the aurora depends on the wavelength of the light emitted. This is determined by the specific atmospheric gas and its electrical state, and the energy of the particle that hits the atmospheric gas. The atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, which emit the characteristic colours of their respective line spectra. Atomic oxygen is responsib...

Canon RF 800mm F11 Lens

A few weeks ago I took the Canon RF 800mm F11 lens out for a test shoot. I was extremely skeptical of this lens when it was first announced and thought it was not for me. But after shooting with it, I must say that I am quite impressed with what it is capable of doing.At the outset I must mention that cameras and lenses are tools that the photographer uses to capture an image. So just like DIY tools are used for a specific purpose in a specific situation, every lens has a purpose and a situation...

Poetry in Motion

This video was taken at dawn as we were sailing the Foveaux Strait from Stewart Island to Bluff. We had these Shearwaters following us for pretty much half the way and seeing them glide just over the water's surface was sheer poetry in motion.Taken handheld with the Samsung Note 20....

Aurora Australis

Back in April, I saw and photographed my very first auroral display. And what a display it was!!!So what is an Aurora? Auroras are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electr...

Birds NZ Membership Secretary

I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to serve Birds New Zealand, also known as The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, as their Membership Secretary....

2022 Desktop and Smartphone Wallpapers - January

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Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori 2021

Tēnā koutou katoa. I have been studying Te Reo Māori for over a year now and as a Wildlife / Bird Photographer I thought, for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2021, I would create a series of images showcasing some Whakataukī (Māori Sayings / Proverbs) that make reference to manu (birds). Studying Te Reo Māori is important to me as it helps me connect to the taiao (nature / environment) and whenua (land) that I call 'Home'. Ngā mihi nui....

Hatupatu 2013 - 2021

This is the memoir of a Wildlife Photographer who was allowed into the life and love(s) of an adult male New Zealand Falcon (Kārearea) - 'Hatupatu'. I received the email at 10:04 am on Monday 24th May 2021 with the subject "A bit sad" from Debbie Stewart, the founder of Wingspan. I hurriedly opened the email and I immediately froze as soon as I read the first sentence - "Hatupatu has passed, hit by a car". I just sat there for a moment staring at my laptop screen not knowing how to respond...

A collaboration set in clay

I have been following Danny's unique work for some time now and have really enjoyed seeing New Zealand's native birds come to life in her polymer clay artworks.When the opportunity arose to collaborate with her on a Kārearea commission, I was more than happy to offer one of my images as inspiration for the piece. The images below showcase the journey the artwork has taken from inception to completion. It's always nice to see how an artist converts one of my images into his/her own art form. The...

To bee in a sunflower

A short video of two different species of bees busy in a sunflower....

Win an A2 Canvas Print

So folks, here we are. The very last Online Jigsaw Puzzle before life goes back to the ‘new normal’ in New Zealand. So to make it a bit special, I thought it would be cool if I gave away an A2 canvas print of the image of this jigsaw puzzle. So here are a few ground rules:1. The person who completes the puzzle the quickest is the winner.2. To create a level playing field, all qualifying jigsaw puzzle entries must be played at 208 pieces.3. Once the jigsaw puzzle has been completed, a screens...

Laybuy - Pay it. Easy.

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Jigsaw Puzzles

Try your hand at our range of Online Jigsaw Puzzles.**TIP: If you are finding the puzzles hard at the existing difficulty level, you can always make them a bit simpler. Just click the link and then look for the 'Play As' drop-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the screen to reduce the difficulty level of the puzzle.**Enjoy!!!...

The Call of the Kōkako

The mesmerisingly haunting call of the kōkako cuts through the song of the native bush and talks directly to your inner soul. Enjoy!!!...

Flung Scarf of Wrybill 01

Watching a few thousand Wrybill flying in formation can be quite a mesmerising experience. It is as if nature flings a scarf up into the sky and as that scarf floats around it disintegrates into fairy dust and then joins back up to form the scarf again. Be mesmerised in full HD......

Monarch Butterfly - The Lifecycle

Over the summer, I undertook the project of documenting the entire lifecycle of the Monarch Butterfly (both through still images and video). Though the process of capturing every single stage of the lifecycle proved painstakingly time consuming and challenging at times, seeing the final product come together is quite rewarding. It truly is a labour of love condensed into 5 minutes 🙂 Enjoy in full HD!!! ...