For Easter weekend 2022 I escaped to Raglan in my van to surf and sunbathe with only my camera to keep me company. On the night this image was taken, the most perfect sunset was lighting up Ngarunui Beach as I was taking some product images for a client up on the lookout. Photographing just the sunset can be bland, so I looked around to see what the sunset was warming with its light. These billowing plants lined the hills around Ngarunui Beach so it grounds the image to this special location.

For Easter weekend 2022 I escaped to Raglan in my van to surf and sunbathe with only my camera to keep me company. On the night this image was taken, the most perfect sunset was lighting up Ngarunui Beach as I was taking some product images for a client up on the lookout. I saw this lone surfer heading in from their session and I knew the framing was perfect from where I was. I trailed him with my lens down the beach until I got a shot I loved. This shot.

The Muriwai Gannet Colony in West Auckland constantly attracts sightseers and photographers when they’re perched on the cliffs from August to March each year. It was an especially windy day with sand and grit whipping my face as I photographed. The colony was tucked up on the cliffs sheltering themselves and their young chicks. I thought it was an interesting and cute perspective to have an image of them tucking up. They move and rustle so quickly that this image took me around 20 clicks before I stopped chopping off half a head.

On a solo trip to Queenstown during a time of self-discovery (cliche but true), I climbed to the Ben Lomond Saddle and took in views that made it hard to believe this walk began in the heart of Queenstown at a tourist hot spot. For months I had been seeing my favourite outdoor photographers take 'lone person' shots in amazing landscapes with a single person emphasizing the landscape. I had tried to replicate these photos many times but it never seemed like the landscape was impressive enough. On my way up this trail, I took an image that includes a group of hikers that I was happy with but could also see one single hiker making their way up the trail. I was so excited when I saw I got a shot I had been pining over for months and is probably my best 'lone person' image to date.

On a solo trip to the Far North of the North Island, I decided to face my fear of horses on a trek down 90 Mile Beach. That's when my guide told me that the Great New Zealand Horse Trek (Ride for Life) was due to ride down the same stretch of beach in the next few hours. After my own ride, I headed down to the beach with my camera where I got to experience, by pure luck, 250 horses and riders walking, trotting, and cantering towards me out of the salty mist.

The Pinnacles in Coromandel Forest Park is a popular overnight hike where adventurers often choose to summit the highest point for sunset or sunrise, as I did. I got up and walking around 5.30 am with only my torch and full moon for light. Near the top there are ladders and boulder hopping so I was scrambling up higher while trying not to swing my camera into the hard rock faces and clenching the lanyard of my torch in my teeth. As the sunrise snuck up over the horizon and touched the tips of the hills this was one of the many images I captured.

The Muriwai Gannet Colony in West Auckland constantly attracts sightseers and photographers when they’re perched on the cliffs from August to March each year. These birds play with the wind and control the air around them like they are divine. As one gannet swept past me it was gone in a blink and I had a split second to focus on another before that too was gone. This photo was one of the few I actually got in focus as my lens and reaction time was on the shorter side. Afterward, I scrolled through my gallery of blurry white streaks before coming across this photo and it still excites me because I remember how hard it was to capture.

I accepted a last-minute invite for a ski trip on Mount Ruapehu and grabbed my camera as I left. We drove down seeing how clean the sky was and predicted a great sunset accented by the mountains of Tongariro National Park. We drove around Ohakune for a good 45 minutes looking for a great spot to watch the sunset, accidentally venturing down some private driveways in the process, until finding a ledge next to train tracks. The sun dropped and the colors popped until I was happy with this photo of Girdlestone at dusk.

The mighty Whangarei Falls drops 26 meters and is surrounded by a strong mist that had me wiping my lens constantly. I stopped off to visit Whangarei Falls on my way North and the lighting made actual waterfalls photos difficult. I spent most of my time focused on the ducks and other birds but snapped this image of the falling water that has the perfect balance of movement to interest the eyes.