moeraki boulders at dawn (early winter) nikon D2X, 12-24mm, Singh-Ray grad

Welcome to our free New Zealand Landscape Photography Tips for Moeraki Boulders, Otago.

NZ Landscape Hotspot:	Moeraki Boulders, Coastal Otago,
Where:	On SH  1 between Oamaru & Dunedin, (map)
Environment:	Coastal (East Coast)
Favours:	Morning Light
What:	Possibly the most photogenic boulders on the planet
Advice By:	Todd

 

General:

The Moeraki Boulders are an ever-changing smorgasbord of possibilities for Dynamic Landscape Photographers^TM.  The boulders are a series of other-worldly spheres embedded in the sands of a beautiful Pacific Ocean beach. The east coast location makes dawn and early morning shooting the obvious option.  Sunsets can be spectacular too, but the conditions required are relatively uncommon - best to focus on sunrise.

Watch out for:

The dolphins (or porpoises – we can never tell the difference) that play in the bay behind the boulders sometimes - be warned though, if you get a nice shot of them before we do, we will hunt you down :)

 

Creative Options:

Try working with shutter speeds here as the wave action allows photographers to run the gamut from freeze-frame high shutter speeds to multi-second ethereal mist-scapes and every permutation in-between.

Tips:

Pack a 3 stop ND Grad filter if you are shooting the sunrises or if you need to slow down your shutter speed.

Also Around Here:

The boulders are named for the cool little village of Moeraki that is often overlooked by visitors.  Check out the penguin colonies at Katiki Point and down the road at Shag Point.

Help! the weather was crud and/or my shots were rubbish - what should I do?

Don't panic, help is at hand - the nice folks at the Moeraki Boulders souvenir store and the excellent moeraki village holiday park both stock a fine selection of sisson fresh new zealand imagery - fancy that!


tags: travel, accommodation, nikon, canon, free new zealand travel advice