Same Place, Different Season

Visit the same location ... but at a different time of year.

Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D MkIII | 36mm | f/11 |1/15th second | ISO 50

Maunga Taranaki, formerly known as Mt Egmont, is the second highest hill in the North Island of New Zealand. I have summited the dormant volcano four times, but the best vantage point is from the adjacent Pouakai Range. I had climbed up to the hut nearby, then walked along to the iconic Pouakai Tarns.

Here, I zealously planted my large tripod to stake my claim amongst dozens of day-trippers with smart phones, then waited for hours for the crowds to depart. (While I had tramped here in the 1980s, 1990s and in 2000, the popularity of the place has skyrocketed, thanks to Instagram-loving tourists.)

This first photograph (above) was shot late on a summer evening, when the wind briefly died down, the lakelet was calm, creating a mirror image. Beautiful symmetry.

Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D MkIII | 30mm | f/11 |1/10th second | ISO 50

The second photograph (above) was shot on a frigid winter morning, across another tarn further away which was more sheltered from the incessant wind. The volcano was crowned with snow, and Golden Hour light caressed the tussock. Is it not amazing how the time of day and time of year paint such different landscapes?

Lesson: Keep returning to the same vantage point at various times of the year.

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