[pinholecam] From Alps to Ocean - A bicycle/photo log


Its interesting to me that it took me so long to get this trip going.
In a way, it took decades.
The accumulation of my interests from a young schoolboy who liked camping back in the day to cycling for triathlons later as a younger man, and with photography slotted somewhere in the middle of this.

So since 2 years back, I decided to put them together and do some tours by bike.
Got me a foldable to make it simpler to do multi-modal travel and headed out to Perth on the first trip
That trip here : Going solo - A week of cycle touring in Perth | ClubSNAP



So having read about the Alps to Ocean trail in New Zealand, I decided to give this a try.




The K1 astro tracer proved to be very useful in this situation being able to let the FA31ltd I was using to go over the '500' rule and expose the sky for 40s at ISO3200, f2.8.
If going by the '500' rule, it would have been only 16s and I'd have had to use high iso and a larger aperture.

Super cold and windy night when I ventured out to shoot this.
I had to do a lot of moving around to keep myself from freezing.

Between 8pm-10.30pm, there are lots of tourists coming to shoot the church with their phones, light interference from car headlamps will be common until about 10.30pm.

---------- Post added 04-20-2018 at 07:09 AM ----------

[Sailor]

Brilliant shot! A definite one for a large sized print for the living room!

Ditto!

Jer

[Outlander]

Very Nice Love both images !

[pinholecam]

I also took along the Q7, which was more of the "selfie" camera, for quick snaps and long shots that needed a 200mm equivalent.
Here's one from Day 1 of the trail.

Ditto!

Jer

Very Nice Love both images !

Thanks.

[pinholecam]

K1+Samyang 14/2.8

As usual for such places, there are many tourists here.
They come in waves so there will be some opportunity to snap a few shots that have less/no people, but that does mean hanging around awhile.
I had to layer and mask of a few people for this one, since the UWA almost always will capture someone within its FOV.

[DimC]

Great photos !
And great PP skills, you're very talented I enjoy your work !

[pinholecam]

Great photos !
And great PP skills, you're very talented I enjoy your work !

Thanks for your encouragement.
No talent at all, just a regular guy trying to get good shots with the limited knowledge he has.

---------- Post added 04-26-2018 at 06:48 AM ----------




A window with a view
Pentax Q7+06 zoom (70-200mm equivalent)



For those wondering whats in the Church.
Photography is not allowed inside, but it was rather easy just using the Q7 with the 70-200mm equivalent of the 06 zoom from the outside to get this shot.
The Q series has been a versatile cycle tour camera.

I see folks using the phone, or small compacts, but the Q7 is just a much bigger step out to them.
Wide lenses, fun fisheye (of as a UWA), long lens all in a small package which is very important for a cycle tourist.
I also did not have any long lens that a 135mm for my DSLR travel kit, so the 70-200mm equivalent on the Q7 complimented well.
Any longer lens always have questionable usage levels for a lot of weight in the context of travel photography.
In fact, my 135mm was a 77mm prime and a 1.7x teleconverter to save on space/weight.


Another distant shot.


Pentax Q7+06 zoom

[Outlander]

K1+Samyang 14/2.8

As usual for such places, there are many tourists here.
They come in waves so there will be some opportunity to snap a few shots that have less/no people, but that does mean hanging around awhile.
I had to layer and mask of a few people for this one, since the UWA almost always will capture someone within its FOV.

Just WOW on this Image Outstanding !!

[DimC]

Nice colors.
I dig the first shot a lot ! nice composition here.

[pinholecam]

K1+FA31ltd


Wandering around Lake Tekapo while waiting for the night shoot at the Church.

[pinholecam]

[Nass]

Nice, star trails are always a win

[pinholecam]

Nice, star trails are always a win

Thanks

---------- Post added 05-02-2018 at 10:07 PM ----------



K1+FA31ltd

Its interesting for a city person like me to find that out in the vast outdoors, the UWA takes a backseat and the wide like the FA31ltd becomes the most often used focal length in my bag.

[pinholecam]

Riding on (Lake Ohau) ; Pentax Q7+02 zoom


There is certainly a sense of closeness to the environment (and the elements) with cycle touring.
The closer proximity to the terrain itself, the cool cold air on the face, the ability to control the pace that I am going at to take it all in.

A small camera like the Q7 I am carrying comes in handy for taking some record of the ride.
In previous rides, I used the common 12s timer, which was quite a time consuming effort, requiring quite a few retakes to get into the frame.
Some shots would even be too hard to get into place within 12s.
But I have found that using interval mode is the best method that works for me, and thankfully, Pentax has been generous with the features on the Q7 to have such a mode.

[pinholecam]

Pentax K1+FA31ltd

[pinholecam]

Pentax K1+FA31ltd



Probably the most memorable section of the ride.
An ascent of 900m up by bike up to the snow line of the Ruataniwha Conservation Park.
Well if it was Autumn as planned, then there would be no snow line, but since it snowed, there was and that needed quite a bit of care and handling.
Think of cycling on beach sand and you will get an idea of how it is.


The view (this is from midway) is really grand.