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Bombay … and beyond!

Looking south from Nikau Road just south of Bombay
Looking south from Nikau Road just south of Bombay

I headed a little further south than usual today to take some photos. I always enjoy the view looking south as yoiu head donw the southern side of the Bombay Hills towards Waikato and toda was no exception. The first shot in today’s post show State Highway 1 just south of Bombay and what appears to be a lot of the Waikato district in cloud, mist or fog.

First stop for me was Pokeno as I wanted to check out a new subdivision being built there. Not a lot to see to be honest, but some very pleasant views looking east. It was the mist lingering on the hillside that really caught my eye … oh, and the reflections in the water too.

Looking east from the new Pokeno subdivision
Looking east from the new Pokeno subdivision

Heading back north again I stopped off at Bombay and headed up the hill for a view looking west towards Pukekohe. It really was a lovely morning today with some wonderful views across some lovely countryside.  Still going through my images, but thought I’d share a few.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Looking west towards Pukekohe from Bombay
Looking west towards Pukekohe from Bombay
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Ihumatao Stonefields

Ihumatao Stonefields sunset
Ihumatao Stonefields sunset

Back to landscape images.  I’ve been out and about most of today, starting quite early with my usual Thursday morning BNI meeting in Manukau, and there seems to have been little time to capture any new scenes.  Keen to get more images of South Auckland into my Landscapes galleries on here I’ve started a new section called Ihumatao Stonefields.  Maori lived and worked the land at the Stonefields for centuries besides collecting shellfish and fish from the nearby Manukau Harbour.  Ihumatao Stonefields is a very special and sacred place and offers some lovely walks and views.  European settlers also worked the land here for over 100 years.  Believe it or not, the reserve is also home to a rare and highly endangered plant called mawhai or the native cucumber, which has not been recorded growing elsewhere on the New Zealand mainland since 1866.

The shot in this post was taken with my D300 and the Nikkor 24-70mm lens.  Often, under conditions where there’s such a range of light levels, I’d take several shots at different exposures and blend them together using either Photomatix Pro or HDR Efex Pro.  However, this image is a single shot processed in Nik’s Color Efex Pro.  I’m becoming increasingly impressed with Color Efex Pro.  If you work with digital images consider downloading the free trial of the various Nik products as you may find they’re ideal tools for your workflow.

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Still busy!

Duder's Regional Park
Looking out to sea at Duder’s Regional Park

It seems to be taking be AGES to upload images into galleries!  I decided I should organise the shots into different areas as it’d then be easier for me to add images to galleries in the future, but right now it seems to be taking me forever!  I had a similar idea about the bands and musicians.  I thought I could create separate albums for each artist as this might make the viewers life a little easier.  Perhaps, if you get a chance, take a look and let me know what you think.  I must admit to being a bit of a novice at this type of thing, so any hints, tips or helpful advice would be very gratefully received.

Right, back to Bridge and sorting through more photos for the on-line Landscape galleries!