first light at Bushy Park
My favourite times to do landscape photography are at the bookends of a day, first light and twilight. During a recent trip with my wife, I captured this entry’s photograph at first light.
Randolph and I took advantage of the school holiday to visit Bushy Park, a predator-controlled bird sanctuary just north of Whanganui about six hours south of Auckland on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. During our visit, we lodged at the sanctuary’s bed & breakfast known as the Homestead.
The photographic scene looks east from the Homestead’s front lawn onto a valley with farm land in the foreground and dense forests beyond, which stretch to the horizon and a mountain range in the receding distance.
My 74 year-old body doesn’t take kindly to interrupted slumber at 5:30 in the morning, but the jolt was well compensated by the extraordinary play of light at that hour of the day.
I offered unqualified praise for Bushy Park and the Homestead. The trail walks are fabulous, replete with the cacophonous sounds of innumerable bird species and sights of venerable trees, ferns and stunning flowers. The Homestead bed & breakfast is equally grand — the house and its furnishings are superb. In his role as Homestead proprietor and chef, Mr. Dale T. Pullen is impeccably gracious and skilled.
While in residence, I coaxed Dale into posing for a photograph.
Randolph and I agree that a sojourn in Bushy Park ought to be an annual holiday.
hey Dave. thanks for the comment . . . but Ansel Jr. would have used a large format camera, shot at f/64 and produced far more contrast than I was able to resolve. I enjoy the photograph nonetheless, especially the tonalities. and I really enjoyed the feeling of doing landscape photography in the early morning. it reminded me of our fabulous experiences with early morning sessions during our Pacific Coast workshop. It is a magical time of day.
Ansel Jr.