Auckland Botanical Gardens

For a photographer, gardens are like walking into a candy shop – there are so many things to photograph and great backdrops to use.

For kids (especially our kids), I think they would rather the candy shop.

Visiting on a cold and windy almost but not quite Spring day there wasn’t too much to inspire until we found the camellia trees which were just stunning.  Bella and Soph were off with their Dad so it was just James and I with Krystal today.

The best type of weather for portraits is overcast so on this front it got a big tick.  From a lighting perspective it won out too with the light hitting Krystal perfectly in this shot too.

I love photos with a bit of depth to them and having Krystal walk down the path with the trees both behind her and in front of her gave me that.  Fortunately she is a very obliging model and happily walked up and down while I snapped away.

For her – it wasn’t her favourite day trip – but then gardens aren’t much her thing.

Bridal Veil Falls

Here’s a few facts for you….

• The Raglan Bridal Veil Falls share their name with the the smallest of the Niagara Falls
• The falls drop 55 metres (same as the before mentioned falls)
• The pool at the bottom is 5 metres deep (but don’t try jumping – there is a big boulder in the middle of it)
• There are 260 steps to Bridal Veil Falls
• 260 steps feels like a lot less on the way down than it does on the way back up
• Helpfully (or not) you will find a sign when you are halfway down (or up as the case may be) that you still have 130 leg aching steps to go.

So complaining about sore legs aside, the 260 steps are indeed worth it to see these great falls.  Unlike many falls around New Zealand these ones are relatively easy to get to (although for obvious reasons 260 stairs are not going to favour those in wheelchairs or pushchairs).

I had a bit of fun processing these (although my waterfall photography skills are somewhat lacking) and I did think ahead to bring my tripod and filter to block out a bit of the light and slow down the water droplets a bit.  There is quite a bit of spray from the waterfall so if you are bringing your best camera (like me) you probably won’t want to have it out for too long as camera’s don’t really like showers…

Highlight for us – definitely the two goats lazing away under the falls.

You can find more information about the falls here….

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/waikato/places/raglan-area/tracks/waireinga-bridal-veil-falls/

Fish and Chips on the Wharf

It was our first trip to Ragland and we were driving through town after going to the weekend markets we came across a sign saying that there was a live band at the wharf.

Child free for another whole 4 hours we set off with reckless abandon…

We arrived to a rather quiet wharf but further exploration found a rather (and I have used this word an awful lot in describing all things Raglan) eclectic 3 piece band belting out a kind of jazz/reggae version of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Base”.

With what we had now found was the usual make up of hipster/senior inhabitants of Raglan we pulled up a pew and ordered some fish and chips.

I have to say they weren’t the best fish and chips that I have ever had but who can complain when you are sitting on a wharf in the sun (did I mention the no kids bit) with the man you love and a great coffee.

Raglan Fish and Chips

Coffee at Raglan Wharf