The guy behind the lens

Saturday, September 24, 2011

South Island Skyline

This image was from my magical trip to the South Island of New Zealand back in 2009. When I visited the town of Fox Glacier I had the fantastic chance to charter a helicopter for a hour at dusk to zoom over the tallest peaks of the Southern Alps as the last light of a winter day bathed the peaks in warm light. In order to better photograph, the doors were removed from the helicopter so that I would not have to shoot through plexiglass. Once I was strapped in, I got over the fear of falling out of the chopper at 13,000 feet! The real challenge was the -30 degree temperature at that altitude combined with the wind of the rotors-- I was terrified that I would drop my memory card from my near frozen fingers down to the snowfields 13,00 feet below!  Thankfully, both I and the memory cards survived! 

11 comments:

Love for Food and Photography said...

The picture is amazing and you can be proud of it!
And yes that temperature is horrible at that height!!

Jim said...

Beautiful light and colours.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Unknown said...

I think my comment didn't get through -
Wow. what you had to go through to take your -stunning!!- pics. Glad I am a painter, also on FB as Jesh St Germain

Karen said...

Wow, amazing colours.

Kay L. Davies said...

The weather up at that altitude sounds like winter in Alberta. Very hard on the fingers, and I find it hard on my lungs, too.
But what a photograph, John! Just gorgeous!

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Al said...

That is truly spectacular - it looks like a painting. I'd love to do that one day, but it will never happen.

Lisa said...

This is just stunning . Love the light its warm yet cold. Wonderful

Unknown said...

A month long trip to Australia and New Zealand is on my bucket list but I don't think it is gonna happen. Wonderful photos of your helicopter tour. I would like to see more.

eileeninmd said...

Wow, amazing shot. What a wonderful way to see the mountains.

Julie G. said...

Wow, spectacular photograph! The colors are breathtaking. Well worth the chilly effort. I can see the sights were incredible up in the helicopter.

Anonymous said...

How breath-taking!