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Photography has changed the way I see the world around me.

Through it I discover new things and rediscover old ones. Like my island, New Caledonia.

This blog is just me sharing my world through my photography.

Hope you enjoy.

Posts tagged south province
ROUND ABOUT A GOOD LIFE

This is the first time I’ve been out shooting since the end of lockdown. It felt good to be out concentrating and putting my total attention on one thing. I’ve wanted to photograph this roundabout for a long time now, well, since 2016 after I successfully captured the Ko We Kara roundabout for a local contest. I finally got my image but…

… the view point is all wrong. I think the better spot, and I can’t confirm this as it’s in a closed off area, would be on top of the hill located on the other side of the roundabout to the left. From that vantage point I’d have a view of the roundabout and the Belle Vie shopping mall behind it and not to the right, out of sight, like in this image. I will check that hill out again in hopes of finding a spot to reshoot this roundabout.

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Belle Vie roundabout is a major intersection in Noumea. From it you can head into the city, the southern suburbs, northern suburbs or head out of the Noumea altogether. To the left, just out of sight, is the Néobus depot, our new bus line that runs from Koutio to the City centre. To the right, just out of sight as well, is the Belle Vie shopping mall. In the mid-right of the roundabout is Magenta Discount and Magenta Bazar. Behind the trees and roundabout is Cheval Distribution, a pet and animal shop. Beyond the left and right of the image are petrol stations and cemeteries. Check out this blog post for a photo of the beautiful cemeteries we have here and, if your interested, a time-lapse over the same cemetery.

HOW I GOT THE IMAGE

This image was made from three photos. A main photo which included the foreground, most of the light trails and the mid-ground. The second photo was taken five minutes before the main photo and used to replace the sky. And the third photo was used to add light trails at the bottom left of the road and over the ghost cars. The blending was done in Photoshop and the editing in Lightroom.

Though I wanted a blue hour image, I start shooting at sunset and straight through blue hour. Glad I did because the photo I used for the sky was shot at the end of golden hour and the beginning of blue hour. Two out of the three images were 30 second exposures and I achieved that by using LEE Filters’ Little Stopper, a 6 stop neutral density filter. I needed the Little Stopper to get the light trails but as you can see in the photo, the cars were stopped long enough to be captured as ghosts. Love that effect though.

As I mentioned above, I think a better shot would be from the other side of the roundabout but I also think a higher perspective and wider angle lens would make for a better, more captivating image.

 
LOVERS BAY ROAD LOOKOUT

I’ve been talking about Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) on my last couple of posts and once or twice before that, but they’ve been detail photos, except for one that was taken from this exact spot but at night, so I thought I’d share a day image of the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay).

The luck I had was that it was almost low tide when I took this shot, revealing the tunnel of the cliff, the Pierced Rock (la Roche Percée). Situated smack bang in the middle of the image with it’s own tiny beach in front of the entrance. At low tide you have access to the tunnel from the beach. The hole goes straight through the cliff to the other side where you join the other beach and peninsula, la Roche Percée, which you can see behind the cliff and to the right of the image. The tunnel is quite narrow and is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail) which includes Baie de la Roche Percée (Pierced Rock Bay), Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) and Baie des Amoureux (Lovers Bay). A beautiful walk if ever you have the time.

The beach behind the cliff is where I took the photo from my last post, Le Bourailais. This rock formation at the end of the cliff, known as le Bonhomme (the Man), is a landmark in New Caledonia with spiritual importance in Kanake culture. Hop over to my last post for more information on the Bonhomme de Bourail.

On the left side of the Roche Percée (Pierced Rock) cliff is an amazing 280° lookout point with a shrine dedicated to Notre Dame des Flots (Our Lady of the Waves), who watches over the ships. Magnificent views up there.

And of course, just below that is the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay). Well known for it’s turtle nesting season in late January, early February. A beautiful little beach, very popular with the locals and tourists for picnicking. Not a bad spot for a romantic sunset either.

This shot was taken from the Route de la Baies des Amoureux (Lovers Bay Road). This small section of the road is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail), mentioned above. Two photos were taken to make this image. A long exposure of 10 seconds to smooth out the clouds and water, and a shorter 1/8th second exposure to capture the cliff side when the sun shone on it. It was cloudy and rain was on it’s way, as you can see from the top left of the image, but the sky opened long enough on the horizon to provided me with this beautiful light. I blended the 1/8th exposure on to the 10 second exposure in Photoshop and finished editing in Lightroom. Mainly just accentuating the cliff side, beach and water.

So there you go, the gorgeous Turtle Bay in Bourail, New Caledonia. This whole area is worth a visit if ever you’re round the corner.

 
LE BOURAILLAIS

An early morning rise in hopes of seeing baby turtles but no such luck. A beautiful, clear sky though gave me the opportunity to tryout and test my LEE Filters. One of the subjects was this guy, le Bonhomme, a well known Bouraillais. This post is a follow up of my last one where I spoke about Turtle Bay, located just behind this rock formation.

Le Bonhomme de Bourail (the Man of Bourail) is a famous monolithe of quartz shaped by the waves at high tide and under threat of collapsing by those same waves eroding it’s base. It is said to resemble the profile of a man’s head wearing a hat and with the water hole next to it, it has spiritual importance in Kanak culture. Few have met their demise here, the powerful suction of the water hole dragging them under, trapping them in the caves below, disappearing forever.

The Bonhomme is located between the Roche Percée peninsula (Pierced Rock) and Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) near the village of Bourail. Only a couple of hours drive north from Noumea, it is a popular place for tourists and locals alike, and especially surfers as it is one of the only surf beaches in New Caledonia.

To achieve the 2 second exposure on this photo I had to use my Little Stopper from LEE Filters. A neutral density filter that cuts down 6 stops of light. I also used their ND0.9 soft graduated neutral density filter to cut down 3 stops of light in the sky, giving me a balanced exposure with the foreground still in shadows. Though I focused before putting the filters on, I must have touched ever so slightly the focus ring as the Bonhomme is not as sharp as I would like. A silly mistake but one nonetheless. I had converted this image to black & white but I prefer the contrast of the golden glow on the rock formation to the cooler water and sky. It’s more pleasant to the eye and the reason why I photographed it in the first place. Glad I captured a bit of reflection on the bottom of the image too as it helps to lead the viewer’s eye to the monolithe.

Anyway, that’s it for me my friends, hope to see you on the next post. À bientôt.

 
BLUE TURTLES

Though I don’t take enough of them, I do love long exposures. The effect it has on the elements, the mood it gives a scene, how it can transform the ordinary into the surreal and the way it shows time differently. Here is an example of what I’m talking about.

This is the north end of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) located in Bourail next to La Roche Percée (Pierced Rock). Only a two hour drive from Noumea, the Capital of New Caledonia. This area is very popular with tourists and locals and renowned for two landmarks, the Roche Percée (Pierced Rock) and the Bonhomme (the Man). The Roche Percée is a peninsula and a detached suburb of Bourail, known as one of the only surf spots in New Caledonia. And, it is also a cliff with a hole that runs through it from the Roche Percée beach to Baie des Tortues beach, accessible only at low tides. The Bonhomme is a huge monolith of hard quartz sculpted by the waves to resemble a man’s head wearing a hat. Those same waves render it vulnerable as they erode the base threatening it’s collapse. The waves have already eroded a good part of the cliff mentioned above. A yearly phenomenon also occurs on these same two beaches in late January, early February… turtle nesting season.

The nesting season was one of the reasons we were up here and photography was another of those reasons. We’d decided to go for a stroll along the beach of Turtle Bay and maybe capture a sunset. No such luck with that but I did come home with this blue hour photograph. The two minute long exposure turned this frantic scene of choppy waters and threatening clouds into a calm, tranquil, minimalist image. Even the colours are minimal with their tones of blue and the faint touch of orange/red in the sky. The two minute exposure wouldn’t have been possible without the Little Stopper, a 6 stop neutral density filter, from LEE Filters. Without it, only a two second exposure was possible and wouldn’t have given me that misty water and silky smooth clouds. Except for a lot of cleaning up, there was very little editing done. I did edit a black and white version but I felt the contrast was too harsh and thus stuck with the subtler blue tone version.

I’ll edit a photo of the Bonhomme I took about a week before this one and share it on the next blog post. Hope you’ll check it out. Ciao for now.

 
160 PORTRAITS

City of Noumea

With the spotlight on racism and discrimination these past few weeks, a referendum for independence knocking at the front door of my country and all the tensions that entails, and having experienced racism and discrimination myself… I felt this photo was appropriate.

This huge canvas measuring 16 x 9 metres on the main wall of the Hotel de Ville de Noumea (the Noumea Council building) represent 160 black & white portraits across Noumea’s population. It was part of a photographic exhibition which also included 100 black & white portraits in A0 format exposed around Place des Cocotiers (Coconut Palm Place) to celebrate the City of Noumea’s 160th anniversary. It also shows, for an island, we have an immense ethnic and cultural diversity.

At the time of this exhibition, I was very interested in black & white architectural photos with street lights from a worm’s eye view. Hence my take on the genre. The lights weren’t on when I took the shot so I add that in. Though they were situated across the street, the perspective make them seem to light the wall. Adds a little more interest in the overall image too. A couple of Radial Filters with Exposure, Highlights and Whites turn all the way up lit the street lights and another with an extra stop of Exposure and a lot of Contrast for the 160 portrait canvas. The rest of the edits were very basic, minor touches.

A last reflection, this world is magnificent and beautiful and wonderful and extraordinary. And I’m not just describing the Earth here but also every species on it including us, the one and only race, humans. Our ethnicity, our cultures, our languages, our beliefs, our stories, our histories… and much more is what make us, unique individuals, so different, so interesting, so beautiful in this world worth visiting, exploring, discovering. All of this and much more is what makes this world so magnificent, beautiful, wonderful, extraordinary. Let’s accept each other’s individuality and live in peace ✌🏽

 
FERRY PARKING

City of Noumea

Cities change constantly and Noumea is no exception. In the fifteen years since I’ve been back here, a lot of change has occurred, especially in the last five years. This photo was taken from the top deck of the P&O Pearl cruise ship back in 2014.

I recommend to anyone to do a cruise at least once in their life. This was my first and though it left Sydney to visit the the island of my country, New Caledonia, it was a fun and eye opening experience. I actually went on this cruise to surprise my brother and a couple of friends who often went on them.

Seeing Noumea from the top deck of the ship was amazing. It took me a while to put the city into perspective even though I’ve rediscovered it for the last eight years. In this photo you’ll notice the Société Le Nickel (SLN) with the white smoke coming out of it’s four chimneys. The Bingo building just below it. The Municipal Police to the right of that and the Pacific Arcade apartments. The Mobilis tower on the hilltop to the right and the Galliéni 1 building below it. Then we have the Bingo parking between it and Sound City and in front of that the Quai Jules Ferry parking… which doesn’t exist anymore. Three large buildings now adorn this space with their respective parking lot. The smallest of the three buildings situated in front of the Bingo is already occupied by Fitness Park, the other two are not quite finished yet. This project is a follow up from the south Quai Ferry construction built in 2010. The hope is to provide bars, restaurants and commerce to revitalise the area and the city. Either way, tourists should have a better view of Noumea when arriving from cruise ships.

When I get the chance, I’ll photograph the buildings and share it with you. See you soon.

 
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NIKON D7100

Nikon’s D7100 is a 24 MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only). It produce sharp images with great quality. This was my first DSLR and I loved it.

Nikkor 18-105mm.jpg

NIKKOR DX STANDARD ZOOM LENS

This Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR is a standard zoom lens for crop sensor Nikon DSLRs. I’ve captured great images with this lens.

SANDISK Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC 95MB:s.jpg

SANDISK EXTREME PRO MEMORY CARD

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos, 4K included. It’s what I choose to use.

Giotto Lens Cleaning Kit.jpg

GIOTTO CLEANING KIT

This lens cleaning kit from Giotto includes a Rocket blower, a soft dust brush, pointed/rounded cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and cleaning solution. I also use it to clean the outside of my camera.

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WANDRD CUBE INSERT

The WANDRD camera cube insert is a perfect fit for the PRVKE backpack. Can also be used on it’s own too.

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WANDRD PRVKE

PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD. Has a laptop sleeve, a tablet sleeve, a hidden pocket, room for a camera insert and storage to spare. Also extends to provide 6 lt. of extra storage. It’s my everyday carry.

 
ONE DAY

Nouville, Noumea

Having a new-born in your life leaves little time to go out shooting. Very busy figuring out a lot of things from the baby’s needs to medical visits, everyday chores and who does what, when. Organisation and finding a routine is key though. Apart from eating and sleeping, babies don’t do much else but a small shifted of just 30 minutes in their routine can make or break your day… and night. Ozalee started to have a fairly steady night routine about five or six days ago. Let’s hope it lasts.

So I may not have a lot of time to go out and about shooting sunrises or sunsets, I do have the time to photograph my baby girl. Videos are important too. They show how they move, react to things, their changing facial expressions, their laughter, the sounds they make and many more things that a photograph can not portray. Don’t worry, I won’t bombard you with baby photos. I have a Lightroom catalogue full of photos I want to share with you.

This photo was taken the day after her birth and at approximately the same time too. She’s one day old here. I took a few shots from different angles and this was the best of the lot. The photo was taken with the Sony a7 III with the Tamron 28-75 ƒ2.8 lens, zoomed all the way in at 75 mm. I went with an aperture of ƒ/4 to get enough depth of field to get all her eye in focus. A shutter speed of 1/125th second was plenty as she wasn’t moving. The ISO was too high for my liking but I had no choice with just a small light illuminating the room. I was pleasantly surprised though to see the photo void of noise. The light, shadows, tones and subject made for a beautiful black & white conversion and very little edit was needed. I’m going to get this one printed for sure.

Well thank everyone for you patience and putting up with my baby photos. Hope to see you in a few days for an old photo dating back to 2013.

 
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SONY a7 III

24MP full-frame mirrorless camera from Sony’s Alpha series. Also does 4K video. A great all-round camera.

Tamron E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD.jpg

TAMRON STANDARD ZOOM LENS

Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD is a standard zoom lens for E-mount camera. A perfect match for the Sony a7 III.

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SONY BATTERIES

Sony’s NP-FZ100 lithium-ion from it’s Z series are reliable and long lasting.

SANDISK Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC 95MB:s.jpg

SANDISK EXTREME PRO

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos. It’s what I choose to use.

Giotto Lens Cleaning Kit.jpg

GIOTTO CLEANING KIT

This lens cleaning kit from Giotto includes a Rocket blower, a soft dust brush, pointed/rounded cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and cleaning solution. I also use it to clean the outside of my camera.

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UES CLEANING SWABS

Cleaning swabs by UES for full-frame sensor cameras. DSLR or mirrorless. I clean my camera sensor at least once a year, more depending on where I’ve been.

 
THE SOUTHERN WAY

La Roche Percée, Bourail

Second week of our slow exit from confinement and people are starting to forget to implement the protective measures that are still very important.

Back in October I wrote a blog post about getting a new camera setup and trying astro-photography. This is one of those photos I captured. I’ve looked at this photos a few times but it was only on my last edit check that I realised I had captured, not only, the Milky Way but the Southern Cross as well. And that’s because of the research I did for a recent blog post, Celestial Confinement, where I learned to use Alpha Centauri AB and the Southern Cross to find the South Celestial Pole.

In January of last year, I spent a few days with my friend, who was minding a house here, at La Roche Percée. Located on the coast of Bourail which is about a two hour drive north of Noumea. It’s a very popular area with one of New Caledonia’s renowned landmark, Le Bonhomme. Plenty of accommodation, from camping to four star hotel, around the area. Lots to do as well.

It was turtle nesting season and I went out in hopes of seeing baby turtles. No such luck but since there was a fairly clear sky filled with stars, I decided to test my new camera setup (the Sony A7 III with the Tamron E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD lens) and my hand at capturing the night sky. I admit, I could’ve taken my time to find a better foreground interest but, in my defence, I just wanted to see how well I could capture the stars with my setup.

I hadn’t planned this shot at all. It was a spur of the moment thing when I saw the Milky Way above me. So I set my tripod right where I was and took several exposures with different settings. I noticed the longest exposure I could take without creating star trails was 15 seconds with an ISO of 6400. A longer exposure would create oval shaped stars, especially in the corners, the beginning of star trails. This shot is a 10 second exposure with ISO at a whopping 12,800. Not necessary at all but I wanted to see the amount of noise I’d get with a long exposure. Very little noticeable noise in the sky though very noticeable in the foreground. For best results, a second, very long exposure would’ve been needed for a cleaner and brighter foreground.

I looked at a lot of tutorials on how to edit the Milky Way and it took me a long time and many trials before finding my own editing process and achieve something I was happy with. No fancy Photoshop edit, just some Lightroom brush work.

It was once the photo was ready for sharing that I recognised the two bright stars of Alpha Centauri AB at the bottom of the Milky Way, and the Southern Cross just above it. I was so stoked. This, of course, was thanks to research I did a few weeks ago for my blog post Celestial Confinement. I have to say, this photo means a lot more to me now.

I got a little too excited and provided the illustrated photo to the right for those who are not into astrology. I hope you find this fascinating though or, at least, interesting. Especially for you amateurs and enthusiasts out there, who are getting into this kind of photography. Taking beautiful photos is great but having knowleadge what you’re I think it gives more meaning to your photos. Let me know what you think over on Twitter at @Hervouet.

Now please everyone, whether you’re still in auto-confinement or not, make sure you’re implementing the protective measures of washing hands, social distancing, no touching, coughing and sneezing in your elbow and when possible wear a mask and gloves. Stay safe.

 

SONY a7 III

A full-frame, mirrorless DSLR from the Sony Alpha series cameras.

TAMRON STANDARD ZOOM LENS

Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens for E-mount cameras.

VANGUARD TRIPOD

Vanguard VEO 235AB 5 section tripod with TBH-50 ball head.

L-BRACKET

L-bracket / plate for Sony Alpha series cameras.

SANDISK EXTREME PRO

128GB Extreme Pro SDXC memory card from SanDisk.

LETMY HEADLAMP

LED headlamp from Letmy with white and red light.

 
CELESTIAL CONFINEMENT

6ème Kilomètre, Noumea

Day 20 of auto-confinement announces an extra week of… confinement.

My failure to capture the Super-moon this week pushed me to try my hand at capturing the South Celestial Pole. Though the conditions weren’t the best (the full moon), the opportunity was, with clear skies and the terrace facing south/west. I don’t think it’s too bad for my first attempt, what do you think?

The South Celestial Pole is difficult to explain. It’s an imaginary point in the sky that shows the rotational axis of the Earth. It’s a point in the sky where stars seem to rotate in a circle but in fact it’s the Earth rotating. The South Celestial Pole is only visible from the Southern Hemisphere and the North Celestial Pole only from the Northern Hemisphere.

The idea was to capture the South Celestial Pole through multiple long exposures. Then stack them using StarStax (or any other software that can do the same job) to produce a single image. I would need a few hundred photos for the effect wanted so, apart from a camera and lens, I would need a tripod and an intervalometer. Even though I have a wired remote shutter release, I used the Sony a7 III’s in-body intervalometer for this project. I ended up shooting for about five and half hours but that’s because I miscalculated the total duration time of the project. I based my calculations just on the intervalometer which gave me an hour and half total duration time (1800 exposures x 3 second intervals or pauses between exposures). My mistake was not realising that the intervalometer wasn’t taking into consideration the exposure time of 30 seconds for each of the 1800 exposures, which gives me fifteen hours of just exposure time. Yep, off by that much. I used the PhotoPills app to find the South Celestial Pole but unfortunately, the calibration was slightly off and thus the pole isn’t centred above the flame, as I’d intended. No matter, now I know and will give it a go another time.

I started shooting around 11:30 pm and stopped round 5 am, which gave me about 600 photos. I didn’t use all of them as a few in the beginning and end had too many clouds and a handful in the middle had moved when I stepped out onto the terrace at 1 am thinking it was all finished. It’s also when I thought about why my calculation was off. I ended up using 535 photos for this image. I edited the first one in Lightroom then synched the edit to all the images. I exported them to a folder on my desktop then imported them into the StarStax application. Oh, I forgot to mention that I took a dark frame at the end of the shoot. That is, the exact same exposure as the other 600 but with the lens cap on, to capture a dark image. I also imported this frame into StarStax. It helps with noise and other stuff. Astro-photographers say you should also take bias frames but I didn’t bother. I mean, I almost forgot about the dark frame let alone the bias ones. Anyway, once the 535 photos and dark frame imported, I just clicked on process and left the application do it’s thing. The stacked image shown wasn’t great, to tell you the truth. So I reprocessed the 535 photos multiple times with different settings/configurations but the stacked image was never… it never seemed quite finished. It wasn’t the results I was hoping for. Until I decided to go ahead and export one of the stacked images and saw it was just fine, great even. The application must do a final rendering as it exports the final stacked image because the difference is day and night. Happy with the image, I brought it back into Lightroom for a final edit then into Photoshop for a bit of cleaning and added the flame on the torch. I couldn’t let the torch burn all night so decided to photoshop it in instead. Not the best work but it does the trick, no?

I hope I’ve explained myself clearly enough for you to understand how I came away with this image. If not, let me give you a simpler explanation. I took lots of photos of the exact same scene/picture. Now the foreground (terrace, buildings and trees) don’t move but the stars do, they rotate in the sky. So once I stacked all the photos on top of each other, because the foreground (terrace, buildings and trees) hasn’t moved, it stays exactly the same in the final image. The stars though have moved/rotated during the night, so once stacked, it shows the path they’ve travelled during the night, hence the circles in the final image.

I hope that has helped a little and I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Talk to you soon and don’t forget, if your area is in auto-confinement, please stay home and if not or you’re working, please protect yourself and others by implementing the protective measures. Stay safe.

 

SONY a7 III

24 MP full-frame, mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON LENS

E-mount 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

Vanguard VEO 235AB tripod with TBH-50 ball head

SANDISK MEMORY CARD

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB SDXC memory card

WIRED SHUTTER RELEASE

JJC wired remote timer/shutter release for Sony Alpha series cameras

L-PLATE/BRACKET

quick release arca-swiss L-plate/bracket for Sony Alpha series cameras

 
THE OLD KOUTIO TOLLS

L’ANCIEN PÉAGE DE KOUTIO

Koutio, Dumbea

Doing just fine on this 13th day of auto-confinement.

Glad I came across these photos because it documents an era in New Caledonian history, road tolls. I’ve even had a hard time finding relevant information and there aren’t a lot of photos either. So I’m glad I can share something that doesn’t exist anymore.

The Voie Express no.2 (E2) or, more locally known as, Savexpress is a highway that expands from Dumbea to Païta. The highway opened in 1979 and the tolls a year later, they provided a rapid entry/exit into Noumea from the north. After 33 years in operation, the toll gates closed at the end of 2013 and were destroyed in 2014, only a few months after these photos was taken.

Quite controversial since it’s opening, users on one hand cut travel times down dramatically but, on the other, would spend on average $150-$200 a month for the privilege. A couple of years before it’s destruction, there were talks of moving it farther north toward the international airport La Tontouta. In the end they decided to get rid of the tolls altogether.

My Fujifilm FinePix S9500 died on me a few months earlier but I was very lucky to have a colleague and friend, Tony, not only lend me his Nikon D3200 with the kit lens but also suggest I photograph the structure before it disappeared forever. Thank you very much Tony.

I edited the very first photo (top of page) multiple times over the years without satisfaction. I’ve learnt a lot since 2014 and, not long ago, I realised I was over doing it with the edits. Since my research on the subject, I decided to use these images to document an era in New Caledonian history. The top image is in colour because the contrast of colours work well together between the tolls and blue hour. The other photos, I felt, looked better desaturated with one of my split-tone presets applied. Actually, I like to edit a lot of old structures and things this way. It does depend on the image, of course. For example, colour didn’t bring anything special to these ones. The slight vintage look though changes to mood, put more emphasis on the structure and/or scene.

I’m sure these photos bring back a few souvenirs and stories amongst some of you. And for others, absolutely nothing but a part of history you’ll never know. I hope everyone enjoys the photos.

Once again, protect yourself and others by staying home. Wash your hands, keep your distance, sneeze and cough in your elbow… you know what to do. If we all do our part, we’ll beat this Covid-19 a lot faster. Stay safe everyone.

 

NIKON D3200 + KIT LENS

Nikon D3200 crop sensor DSLR with standard zoom Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G VR lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

Vanguard VEO 235AB tripod with TBH-50 ball head

SANDISK EXTREME PRO

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC Class 10 memory card

GIOTTO LENS CLEANING KIT

Giotto lens cleaning kit including brush, blower, microfibre cloth, rounded & pointed cotton tips and cleaning solution.

JJC REMOTE SHUTTER RELEASE

JJC wired timer/shutter release (not compatible with the Nikon D3200)

WANDRD PRVKE BACKPACK

PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD

 
SOCIETE LE NICKEL

Noumea, South Province

Day 7 of auto-confinement and we’re doing just fine. I came across this photo in my Lightroom catalogue yesterday. I was torn between two photo of the Société Le Nickel (SLN), this one and another zoomed in toward the chimneys. I chose the former because it showed the majority of the refinery and my friend said it reminded her of movie scenes where someone’s spying on or looking for a way in to a compound. And I agree.

This refinery was founded in 1912 by Société Des Hauts Fourneaux De Nouméa, owned by L. Ballande et Fils. It merged in 1931 with Société Le Nickel which was founded in 1880. Until 2009, it was the only metallurgical producer in New Caledonia. It is now one of three including Vale Inco (opened in 2009) in Yate in the South Province and Koniambo Nickel (opened in 2013) in Voh in the North Province. Wikipedia has interesting reading on SLN, Vale Inco and Koniambo Nickel. I ‘m sorry but I couldn’t find Wikipedia articles in English for the first two.

This photo dates back to 2013 before they fenced the outer periphery of the refinery. I drove up to their water reserve then followed a small track alongside it to this location. It was a very cloudy day but it hadn’t and didn’t rain. I had caught the photography bug about a year ago and the SLN was a fascinating construction for me. Still using my first hybrid camera, the Fujifilm FinePix S9500, and a very cheap tripod, I managed to capture this image.

Though the resolution isn’t the best, the image is technically sound. I decided to edit in black & white because of the old fashion look of the construction. To enhance this look, I put one of my split-tone presets over it then added grain. The grain, not only, added to the vintage look but helped to hide the lacklustre resolution. I like this photo, I really do.

Now, please everyone, protect yourself and others by staying home. Wash your hands, keep your distance, sneeze and cough in your elbow… you know what to do. If we all do our part, we’ll beat this Covid-19 a lot faster. Stay safe everyone.

 
 
ATCHU KAYAKS

Kuto, Isle of Pines

A beautiful morning on Isle of Pines, also known as the Island Closest To Paradise. My night photography wasn’t a big success but this sunrise shot from the beach at Atchu Camping is probably the best image I came home with. Once again, not a soul on the fresh, breezy beach.

I don’t think my night photography wasn’t a failure but judge for yourself, checkout my blog posts Atchu Way and Starry Atchu. It was a beautiful morning with a fresh breeze and cool sand between my toes. Apart from the tiny waves crashing on shore, it was very calm and tranquil. A very relaxing moment alone, watching the sun rise. It didn’t look like there was going to be a colourful or dramatic sky and there wasn’t. I captured this brief moment, just before the sun rose above the horizon, thinking there may not be another opportunity. And I was right. Once the sun showed itself, all colours disappeared apart from the blue sky which stayed all day.

I went with quite a long exposure of a minute and a half to get those clouds streaks and silky smooth water. The Lee Little Stopper (6-stop Neutral Density filter) helped me achieve that exposure and the Lee Polariser filter helped reduce glare on the water and pop the colours a touch too. Love the colour of that water. In fact, the filters inverted the movement in the scene. The water was a little choppy and the clouds were moving very slowly. The filters changed the motion and mood of the scene, making this image calm and tranquil yet giving the notion of time passing by. Editing was minimal, using mainly the Basic panel and the real magic happen within the Calibration panel, where I accentuated the colours. Ninety-five percent of my editing is done within Lightroom. I love it when I don’t have to spend a lot of time editing.

 

SONY a7 III

full frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMTON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

standard zoom, E-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

LEE FILTER HOLDER

100mm square filter holder system

LEE LITTLE STOPPER

ND1.8 (6-stop) neutral density filter

LEE POLARISER

100mm polariser filter for Lee Filter Holder system

 
THE ISLES OF ATCHU

Kuto, Isle of Pines

Nearing sunset, I decided to head down to the beach to find a potential photo. Hoping for some colour in the sky even though the beach faces east. No colours or dramatic skies but I came away with this photo as I was trying out my filters before the sun set.

The beach at Atchu Camping is small, about 50 metres long, and has a lot of seaweed and algae on it’s powdery white sand. Though secluded and isolated, it’s only seconds away for users of the campsite. We were there for five days and rarely saw someone on the beach let alone in the water. I have to admit, we didn’t swim there either but did stroll along a few times. The beach faces east, great for sunrise or front lit scenes like this one. And the two isles in the distance just add to this paradise scene. Isle Adventure is largest of the two and spans from the right to behind Isle Duroc, which is small, round and in front of it’s big brother. I’m on the far north end of the beach here and like the southern end, it’s dead coral. You can only get here by sea or through Atchu Camping.

I got here half hour before sunset and stayed almost half hour afterward. This was the best shot I came away with. It’s actually a blend of two images to get sharpness throughout the image. One focused on the foreground and the other on the islands in the background. To get the long exposure of 15 seconds, I had to use my Little Stopper (6-stop filter) because it’s always windy here so the water is a little choppy. I also added a 3-stop ND soft grad. filter to control the bright sky and a polariser filter to cut the glare on the water’s surface. It also adds a bit of saturation to the water and sky. Editing was done in Lightroom except for the blending of the two images which was done in Photoshop. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the Calibration panel in Lightroom can do wonders to images when used right. There’s a small learning curve but once you get it, you’ll use it often. Especially on landscapes images. Try it out.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

standard zoom, E-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

LEE FILTER HOLDER

100mm filter holder system

LEE POLARISER

100mm polariser filter for LEE 100mm filter holders system

LEE GRADUATED FILTER

ND.9 (3-stop) neutral density soft graduated filter

 
ATCHU WAY

Kuto, Isle of Pines

I got this shot only a few minutes after my last shot. Not quite satisfied with the scene, I switched my attention to these pine trees and thought it would make a nice image with the stars above it. Little did I know I’d capture part of the Milky Way.

As mentioned in my last post, I was hoping to capture the Milky Way over Adventure Island from Atchu Camping. The centre of the Milky Way was too close to the fairly bright horizon to be seen. The sun rises from the same direction and the two hour window before hand wasn’t enough to capture it over the island. Turning my attention about forty degrees to the right, I was able to capture a part of it higher in the sky. To my surprise, as I couldn’t see it with my eyes. Though very happy I capture the Milky Way, it wasn’t my intention on this photo. My attention was captured my the three pine trees pointing up towards the stars. To me, it made for a better composition than my previous photo. And, as with the last photo, it wasn’t taken at dawn but only ten minutes after the first shot at about 2:50 am.

If you’d like to know more on Atchu Camping, check out my blog post To Atchu Beach.

Editing took a little longer on this image. Trying to bring out the Milky Way as much as possible without over doing it, was difficult. A Graduated Filter loaded with Clarity and Dehaze can do wonders but dodging and burning with the Adjustment Brush helped too. The rest of the image was fairly straight forward in regards to editing.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di IIIRXD

standard zoom, e-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

L-BRACKET

quick release Arca-Swiss L-plate for Sony Alpha series cameras

SANDICK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

HEADLAMP

Letmy headlamp with white and red Light

 
STARRY ATCHU

Kuto, Isle of Pines

Though cyclone Uesi was north of New Caledonia, it’s effect on Isle of Pines was minimal with some grey clouds and occasional drizzle in the night. An image I was hoping to capture was the Milky Way over Adventure Island. I got one clear night out of the four we were there. This shot was taken on our last night in Isle of Pines.

If you haven’t read my last post, my friend, her two kids and I spent four nights, five days in Isle of Pines at Atchu Camping. The campsite has kind of a private beach and that is where I took this photo from. I was pretty lucky to capture this image as it was our last night on the island. The first night I got up it was clear but clouds came rolling in at such speed, it was amazing to watch. It covered up very quickly and I couldn’t see the Milky Way to begin with. The second night was overcast and the third night it rained. I didn’t give up thought, as there was one more night.

I used the PhotoPills app to see where the Milky Way was going to appear. The app showed it above the horizon at 2:30 am, just over Adventure Island (the island to the left of the image). Unfortunately, with dawn only a couple of hours away and the sun rising from the same direction, it was too bright, not only me to see it but, for the camera to capture it, as well. This eight second exposure was taken at 2:40 am and as you can see, it looks almost day time. I did miscalculate one thing though, the angle at which the Milky Way would appear. I thought it was vertically above the island but in fact, it was at a 35º angle to the right. I should have studied the app thoroughly. Great app though and highly recommend it, PhotoPills.

My first exposures of the Milky Way were framed more to the right with Adventure Island in the middle of the image. Once I realised I wouldn’t capture the Milky Way, I reframed my shot to still include the kayak in the foreground but to add the branches as a natural frame to the stars. I tried different exposure times to see how long I could go before the stars started streaking. Eight seconds seemed to be perfect for this scene. Now I was only two meters from the kayaks which is why they’re out of focus. I should’ve taken another exposure with the focus on them and blended the two images to get sharpness throughout the image. I can’t tell you why I didn’t do it, I can’t only tell you I should have. Editing was fairly quick. Once I got the White Balance right, I pulled up the Shadows to see more of the kayaks and the land mass to the left. Then I added an Graduated Filter to the foreground with a bit of Whites to accentuate the highlight a little. Another Graduated Filter was added to the sky with Clarity and a little Dehaze, just to make those stars pop more. A couple of Radial Filters were added to lighten the water and the other as a vignette. Last bit of edit was with the Adjustment Brush to add Highlight and Whites to a few stars, just to make them shine a little more. Overall, I like the image even though it’s not the most eye catching.

There’s another photo though that I find much more interesting but that’s for a different post.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

standard zoom, E-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

L-BRACKET

Quick Release Arca-Swiss L-plate for Sony Alpha Series Cameras

SANDISK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

HEADLAMP

Letmy Headlamp with White and Red Light

 
TO ATCHU BEACH

Kuto, Isle of Pines

On my last post, I mentioned Atchu Camping but didn’t elaborate on it. This is where we pitched our tents for four nights in Isle of Pines. Sleeping in tents was the only camping activity we did though, for our stay here was a lot more comfortable.

Atchu Camping is situated on the other side of the eastern point of Kanumera Bay. And at the end of the dirt road that’s to the left of the Ouré Lodge reception. The easiest way to get there is by shuttle bus which you can book online at the same time as your camping. Note though, that the shuttle drops you off at Ouré Lodge reception and you’ll have to walk the rest of the way to the campsite. It’s a five to ten minute walk so don’t bring too many or heavy things. You’ll have to walk back to the reception when leaving too. Road’s a little bumpy for a small car but you can drive right to the campsite if you hire one. Now don’t be fooled by the name, Atchu Camping is much more yet stays modest. There’s a family hut and a few bungalows if you prefer a little more comfort than a tent. There’s a small snack/restaurant, Chez Didas, that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is simple with bread, butter, jam, fruit, juice and tea/coffee. Lunch is more on the snacks side of things with burger, panini, sandwich and dinner is a small menu of five or six dishes. We tried all three and can highly recommend eating Chez Didas. Reserve in advance though. They do have an outdoor kitchen with, just about, everything you need to cook. It’s a another way to save money and meet people. And talking about meeting people, if you’re someone who’s constantly connected to social networks, don’t worry, free WiFi is available throughout the campsite, except when eating. That’s right, they turn off the WiFi at breakfast, lunch and dinner times and I’m guessing it’s to promote their own social network between their customers. I think it’s a great idea. We ended up meeting and conversing with people at breakfast and dinner, and had a great time. They also have a couple of outdoor sheltered seating areas with electrical power strips to recharge your batteries or whatever. What more can you ask for? Toilets? Showers? Yes, they have those too but bring your own toilet paper and soap. Atchu Camping is constantly windy, which is great for those hot and humid summer days and nights. The campsite is clean and quiet, perfect for those looking to get away and relax. And it’s only a fifteen to twenty minute walk to Kanumera Beach.

We had our tents pitched about ten meters to the left of this photo. I was waiting for my friend and her two kids, to head to breakfast, when I took this shot. It just seemed like a nice scene. Sun, sand, palm trees, turquoise water… it was a beautiful morning. The shot was taken with a polariser filter to remove glare from the water and accentuate the colours. I over-exposed slightly to what the metering gave me and glad I did because I got more details out of the shadows. Editing was very basic apart from an orange/red cast on the wood fence and ground which reduced with the red saturation slider under Calibration (Lightroom). I played around with the other two sliders, the green and blue saturations, to make the colours pop a little. I tell you, the Calibration sliders can do wonders to an image.

Well that’s it for now, the next image is a night shot, I think, from this little beach. Cheers.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III

standard zoom, E-mount lens for Sony cameras

LEE FILTER HOLDER

100 mm filter holder

LEE ADAPTER RING

67mm thread adapter ring for LEE 100mm filter holder

LEE POLARISER FILTER

100mm circular polariser filter for LEE 100mm filter holder

SANDISK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

 
KANUMERA'S BANIAN

Kuto, Isle of Pines

It’s been a little hectic since I’ve come back from my trip to Isle of Pines. So I apologies for the lack of content but I was finally able to edit this photo. Though we had Uesi Cyclone approaching from the north, it didn’t really affect us apart from some light showers in the middle of the night and on our last day. As you can see, beautiful sunny days during our stay. Very hot too but we were lucky to have constant, cool wind at Atchu Camping, where we were staying.

Isle of Pines is right down the southern tip of New Caledonia and part of the Province Sud (Southern Province). You can get there by plane (through Air Caledonie) or by boat (through Betico 2), we chose the latter. It's cheaper and though you leave early in the morning, there's a snack bar for breakfast or other things. The trip takes two and half hours along the south-west coast of the mainland and is absolutely beautiful. The boat moors in Kuto Bay at the end of the beach with the same name, located south south-west of the Isle of Pines. Kuto Beach and this one, Kanumera Beach, are world renowned for their white and very fine, powder-like sand. Feels likes your walking on flour, no joke, that's how fine this sand is.

Our trip here was purely for relaxation. And relax we did. We spent most of our time on this beach and Kuto's as well. We did hire a car at Kou-Bugny Hotel for a day, just to visit the Grotte de la Reine Hortense (Queen Hortense’s Cave). That took most of the morning then we drove to Gadji for a look. We had lunch at the Meridien Hotel (expensive but nice) before heading to Vao for a swim at St. Joseph Bay. Then we slowly made our through Vao village before heading back to Kuto. A nice and easy day round the island.

As with most of the beaches in Isle of Pines, Kanumera beach is paradise. It’s split in two by a huge rock formation where snorkelling, all around it, is magnificent. If snorkelling isn’t your thing, you can enjoy the fine, white sand and turquoise water with a cocktail in your hand from the Banian bar & restaurant, of the Ouré Lodge, situated at the far end of the beach in this photo.

And talking about the photo, the one difficulty I had, was getting the exposure right in camera. The sand is so white and bright, as with snow, the camera under-exposes to balance the overall exposure. So I had to over-expose the shot by about a 1 stop to get the correct exposure for this scene. Not sure of myself, I did take two other exposures just in case. Better too many than regretting. Also had a little trouble with the White Balance. At first I based it on the boat but it gave me a too warm of an image so in the end I used the eyedropper on the sand and warmed it ever so slightly. Oh and if your colours don’t look right sometimes, play around with Calibration (in Lightroom), you’ll be surprised how effective it can be.

OK, well, I’ll get myself into gear and try to post more photos from the Isle of Pines for the next couple of weeks. Hope to see you back here soon. Cheers.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75 MM ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

E-mount standard zoom lens for Sony cameras

LEE FILTER HOLDER

LEE 100 mm filter holter

LEE ADAPTER RING

LEE 67 mm thread adapter ring for 100 mm filter holder

LEE POLARISER FILTER

LEE polariser filter for LEE 100 mm filter holder

SANDISK MEMORY CARD

SANDISK Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC memory card

 
KANUMERA PIROGUE

Kuto, Isle Of Pines

I’m heading over to Isle Of Pines in a couple of days and it reminded me that I had photos dating back from 2014 of this place. So I went through my catalogue and found this one to share with you. Technically not the best image but it portrays an essence of this island. Tranquil waters, blue skies, traditional pirogues and the feeling of being isolated.

Isle Of Pines is situated at the southern most point of New Caledonia and is renown for it’s fine, white sand beaches. You get there by either boat or plane and both offer exquisite, though very different, views of the mainland and the surrounding islands. You also get to see the reef line, more islands and the different colours of the water by plane. By boat, you’re in the middle of it all with the smell of the sea and the wind in your hair, if you so choose to. Enjoy a drink and/or a snack as you make your way along the south/west coast. Personally, both are a must.

In 2014, I was there with my brother and friends. It was our first stop from of the P&O cruise ship holiday we were on. I had just received the Nikon D7100 with the Nikkor 18-105 mm kit lens a few days earlier so the cruise was my learning ground. For this image my intention was to have the pirogue in focus and the background a blurred. So I chose to go with an aperture of ƒ/5.6 thinking it would be enough to have the whole pirogue in focus and throw the background out of focus. Not the case. Now the background is blurred but not enough for my liking and the pirogue is not totally in focus. If I remember correctly, my focus point was the closest perpendicular bar on the pirogue side, thinking the depth of field would extend to the back and front of the pirogue. Once again, not the case. And though I had a shutter speed of 1/3200th, the focus point isn’t as sharp as I had hope it would be. At first I blamed the fact it was a hand-held shot but with a shutter speed that high my guess is the auto-focus didn’t quite lock-on as I took the shot. I should’ve taken more care and time though when checking the image on the back of the camera. I tried to correct the blurred pirogue in Lightroom but you can only do so much before ruin everything. In my opinion, a beautiful image nonetheless but technically not good.

As I said, I’m heading back to Isle Of Pines in a couple of days so I’m looking forward to capturing a sunrise, sunset and a starry night shot, if I’m lucky. I might even make a small video of my time there but not promising anything. See you when I get back.

 

NIKON D7100

24MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only)

Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR

NIKON Crop sensor STANDARD ZOOM lens

 
 
THE BREAKTHROUGH OF DAWN

La Roche Percée, Bourail

This time last year I was at La Roche Percée with a friend who was minding a house just beyond those trees on the far side of the beach. I took advantage of the opportunity to try out the Sony a7 III with the Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens, that I had bought the month before. No dramatic nor spectacular sunrise that morning but, nonetheless, came away with this tranquil black & white image.

To get to La Roche Percée, you need to go to Bourail first, which is about two hours drive from Noumea, on the west coast. From there you head west by making a left turn onto a road situated just after the bridge (at the entrance of Bourail village) and opposite the Hotel La Nera. Then just follow the road till you see a sign for La Roche Percée and the Bonhomme de Bourail. There’s also a sign at the bridge for the turn off. The Bonhomme de Bourail is a landmark in New Caledonia and so is the beach but also the, actual, pierced rock. A cliff side situated next to the landmark with a, well, whole in it. At low tide you can walk through to Turtle Bay on the other side. The far end of La Roche Percée is popular with surfers and boogie boarders. It’s one of the rare beaches in New Caledonia to have waves. Another reason for me being here, apart the one mentioned above, was the hope to see, at least, one turtle lay her eggs on the beach. It was the time of season and the peninsular is THE place for this event. Up to three hundred turtles have been recorded to nest here in one season. Just amazing. Apart from seeing a few nests around, I didn’t see any turtles at all. My friend and her kids, on the other hand, saw baby turtles race to the water. So lucky. Yes, I’m jealous.

Because it had been raining on and off for the last few days, I had hopes for a dramatic sunrise. Of course, it was nothing of the like. Apart from a few clouds rolling in from the east, it was clear skies everywhere else but I took a few photos nonetheless. For this image I used the Lee Little Stopper (a 6-stop Neutral Density filter) to get a long exposure and a Lee ND.9 Soft Grad. (a 3-stop Neutral Density soft gradient filter) to tone down the bright sky. I don’t have a lot of filters and this was probably my second time using them. I had to try them out and get used to them if I want to take full advantage of it. I was pretty happy with the results. I didn’t do a lot of editing, just adjusted my White Balance before converting to black & white then I just dropped the Highlights and brought out the Shadows. Brushed a bit of Texture over the rocks in the foreground to make them stand out more and a Radial Filter with a bit of Exposure to lighten up just a touch the bottom two thirds of the image. That’s it.

The black & white conversion made for stronger and prominent features. In colour, the image was bland and not very pretty. The conversion also seem to make the image more peaceful, isolated, minimalist. There’s nothing great about this shot but there’s something about it that makes me like it.

 

SONY A7 III

24MP Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera (Body Only)

TAMRON 28-75MM Ƒ2.8

Sony E-Mount Lens

LEE LITTLE STOPPER

6-Stop Neutral Density Filter

LEE FIRECREST ND.9 SOFT GRAD

3-Stop Neutral Density Soft Gradient Filter

 
 
VERTEUIL SUMMIT

Vallée des Colons, Noumea

Back in 2016 when I didn’t have a camera of my own, my friend Roro lent me his gear. A Nikon D7000, though I didn’t know he had one, it was a camera I had hoped to use one day. And to go with that was the Nikkor 70-300 mm zoom lens, which I was quite impressed with. I’d never used a telephoto zoom lens before and to have only that as your gear, I quickly realised my wide angle landscape photos were no more. But it did open my eye to more detailed shots. Not only in landscapes but also portraits and even macro photography. I’ll explain how I came to photograph this scene in a bit.

I had parked my car and was about to go for a walk when I saw this scene. What captured my eyes was the mountains in the background then all the houses and apartments in the foreground. The mountains are the Réserve Naturelle De La Vallée De La Thy and the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale De La Montagne Des Sources. They were so beautifully lit and even though sunset was still two and half hours away, they had an almost golden colour to them. The trees in the foreground is Ilôt Artificiel (Artificial Island). An oval, man-made island built to naturally circulate the sewage that exit between it and the front of those buildings. The area is commonly known as Sainte Marie because of the bay and another (natural) island of the same name, but this is Vallée Des Colons, one of the oldest suburbs of Noumea. The photo was taken from La Promenade Pierre Vernier towards N’Géa. A beautiful walkway and bike track along the shoreline of Noumea’s southern suburbs. Very popular with the young and old alike.

My instincts for this shot was to go wide but the widest I could go was 70 mm. But I didn’t like the framing at 70 mm so I thought, ok, let’s zoom in. Let’s get in tight and eliminate all the distractions without loosing what caught my eye in the first place. My focal point was obvious, the orange apartments that stood above all the other buildings. The framing came when I was judging the amount of clouds and water to include. And this, is what I ended up capturing. I did try vertical shots but it gave me too much sky and water and that wasn’t pleasing to me. The exposure was straight forward, ISO 100, ƒ/10 aperture and 1/80th shutter speed. Should’ve used a tripod at that speed but, I admit, I was lazy and took the shot hand-held. Thank goodness for the Vibration Reduction (VR) on the lens which helped me get a sharp image. For the focal length used (121 mm), I should have been at 1/125th shutter speed to avoid blur. Post-processing was also straight forward though I did accentuate the golden highlights. I did it by going into the Split-Tone module and using the Highlights eyedropper to select the colour of the clouds and used that to add to the highlights of the overall image. I didn’t touch the Shadows at all. Now the image was a lot closer to what my mind’s eye saw. I like this photo quite a lot.

 

NIKON D7000

16Mp Crop Sensor DSLR Camera (body only)

NIKKOR AF-S 70-300 MM ƒ/4.5-5.6 IF-ED VR

Nikon Telephoto Zoom Lens