yanzhang

Thanks for comments. Shooting data is:

14mm, 15s @ f/3.5, ISO 1250

More info about my this trip can be read here:

http://yanzhangphotography.com/p207961876

Mount Taranaki, also called Mount Egmont, is an active but quietscent

volcano located in Taranaki region in the west coast of the North

Island, New Zealand. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most

symmetrical volcanic cones in the world.

In early July 2015, I undertook a backpacking trip to this mountain. I

trekked to two specific mountain huts: Maketawa Hut and Pouakai Hut,

and witnessed one of the most dramatic weather phenomenons I have ever

met during my stay in the mountain.

After a severe storm for 20 hours, the mountain returned to its

calmness. I came to this location before 4:00am on 4 July 2015. The

starry sky was impressive over the summit of Mount Taranaki. This is

one single shot capturing such amazing mountain and sky and their

reflections in the tarn.

Thanks for viewing this image.

Taken from Salto Grande in Torres del Paine, Patagonia. The soft

morning light enhanced the beauty of this scenery. Thanks for viewing

this image.

Laguna de los Tres is the nearest ground location to view Mount Fitz

Roy. We camped two nights in campsite Poincenot. In order to get the

best light over Mount Fitz Roy, I went to Laguna de los Tres three

times within 24 hours, and this image was a result from one of these

three hikes. Thanks for viewing this image.

In the morning on the last day of our Torres del Paine trip, we

experienced a glorious sunrise: clouds were dancing in the sky while

the setting moon still hung above the mountains. It was a great moment

to witness such a beautiful sunrise. Thanks for viewing this image.

Autumn colors in Patagonia are simply beautiful. During our 3 weeks

expedition in April 2015, we spent about two weeks in Los Galciares

National Park and experienced the peak autumn period in this area. We

camped two nights in campsite Poincenot and explored the surrounding

areas close to Mount Fitz Roy. This image was made during our

exploration in a place off the trail where Mount Fitz Roy was clearly

in our view. Thanks for viewing this image.

Daniel, the speed was 0.3 second. For this shot, capturing the water flowing details was a main task for me, while the rest elements of the scene were already in place. By the way, I spent 2 weeks in El Chalten, so I had a chance to watch out the weather changes, and headed for backpacking trips to various locations.

It was a very exciting experience to the region of Patagonia. During a

3-week expedition in April 2015, we explored both Torres del Paine in

Chile and Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina through extensive

hiking and backpacking. This gallery contains some images I made from

this trip, which, I believe are adding a new dimension to my journey

of mountain photography.

We camped two nights near Laguna Torre. This image was taken on the

second day after sunset, while lenticular clouds were forming above

Cerro Torre. Thanks for viewing this image.

It has been a very excited experience to the region of Patagonia in

April 2015. During the 3-weeks expedition, we explored Torres del

Paine in Chile and Los Glaciars National Park in Argentina. This was

made from Lago Torre in Los Galciars National Park, Argentina. Thanks

for viewing this image.

Since it was raining on 13 March 2015 (Friday) in Central Cost of NSW,

after work, I drove 2 hours to this place in the night with a hope of

getting good light the next day morning. But it turned out Saturday

morning was not as what I expected. So I stayed one more day there.

Then on Sunday morning, a striking light finally arrived. Thanks for

viewing this image.

Norah Head Lighthouse has been one of my interested subject to

photography for sometime.

Since it was raining on 13 March 2015 (Friday) in Central Cost of NSW,

after work, I drove 2 hours to this place in the night with a hope of

getting good light the next day morning. But it turned out Saturday

morning was not as what I expected. So I stayed one more day there.

Then on Sunday morning, a striking light finally arrived. This was a

one shot with 2-minute long exposure. Although the lighthouse was from

far away from where I was, it still provided an interesting backdrop

of this beautiful scenery.

Thanks for viewing this image.

Zhang Jia Jie (张家界) is a huge mountain region in Hunan Province,

China. Together with other two famous mountain regions Huangshan and

Guilin, its special rock formation features have primarily inspired to

create "Mount Hallalujah" in movie Avatar .

This one-shot image was taken on 10 January 2015. A Lee 170mm X 150mm

0.9 GND Soft filter was used.

During our four-days trip to this region, we encountered a spectacular

sunset on the first day, that, as the local told us, was one of the

best sunsets in last couple of years in this area. Although the

weather was not ideal at all for shooting in the rest of the days, I

was still happy to get this good light for just one evening.

Thanks for viewing this image.

Happy New Year!

In the last a few days of 2014, I went to a 3-day trip to the south

coastline of New South Wales.

For the first time of visiting this place, I was luck enough to have

two out of three mornings with spectacular light. This image was taken

on 28 December 2014 morning. I found this tiny water pond on the rock

stack, which presented an eye-catching contrast with the outside ocean

scene. Eventually, these two waters met together through such

"waterfalls".

Thanks for viewing this image.

The Ball Ridge is a mountain ridge on the other end of Mount Cook

range, at height of 1750 m. The view towards east-north from the Ball

Ridge is simply stunning: a massive glacier river flowing from the

gully between two mountain ranges, while a number of mountain peaks

and glaciers underneath form a vast landscape presenting an incredible

visual impact.

This image was taken on 6 November 2014 - a full moon night. Soon

after the sun went down, a full moon rose behind the mountain peaks, a

mix of pink and blue tones occurring during this time illuminated the

surroundings, and presented a peaceful mood.

Thanks for viewing this image,

Dear Martin,

Thanks for your comment on this image. I agree that this image is a bit over-done, especially the sky, although I still believe the image remains the natural story of the actual scene. I probably should re-process this one to see the effect.  Cheers, Yan

After a storm a few days ago and an overnight snow fall, it took us 6

hours to climb to the Ball Ridge from the Ball Hut with 700 meters

vertical high. We then camped two nights along the Ball Ridge.

On 7 November 2014 at 3:30am, at this 1750 m high viewpoint of Ball

Ridge, I set up my camera and began multiple exposures towards the

sky. After 90 minutes I was able to capture the beautiful star trails,

while the pre-dawn twilight already started to shine the glacier

mountain ridges.

Thanks for viewing this image.

Bad weather is always a "good weather" for me. Severe storms crossed

the east coastline of Australia during 5-7 December 2014. I was

cashing the storm to the central cost of NSW for two days. This image

was taken in central coast on 6 December 2014, late afternoon.

Thanks for viewing this image.

November 2014, it was early summer in south hemisphere. But no summer

on the southern alps of New Zealand.

Ball Ridge is at the other end of Mount Cook Range, at height of

1750m. Due to a snow-storm 3 days ago and an overnight snow fall on 7

Nov 2014, it was quite challenging to climb to the ridge from the Ball

Hut with 700m vertical height. It took us 6 hours to complete this

hard climb.

Taken on 7 November 2014 in Mount Cook, this image illustrates a grand

view from Ball Ridge towards the alpine glaciers under a full-moon light.

Glenorchy is a small town 50 km away from Queenstown. It is also a

shooting field for movie Lord of Rings. It was my first time to this

place in winter, beautiful snowing mountains provided interesting

backdrops for these special trees.

At anytime, the West Coast of South Island has always illustrated its

wild and remote beauty, that is rarely seen anywhere else in this

world. Thanks for viewing this image.

Blue Lake is located in St Bathans - a former gold and mining town in

the high land of Otago region of South Island, New Zealand.

During our recent 17-day photography expedition to New Zealand, we

only stayed one day in St Bathans. It was cold morning and we got up

before dawn. When the first light appeared, we witnessed a dramatic

change of the sky.

This image illustrated a magic transition from night to day. It was

made from four shots with 14-24mm f/2.8 lens at 14mm end so that I

could capture the entire lake and its surrounding mountain features.

Thanks for viewing this image.

"Beyond the Plains" is one of my current photography focuses. The

journey started from the exploration of New Zealand's Southern Alps

where a large part of the mountain ranges has rarely been photographed

before. To me, this mission is challenging from both mountaineering

and photography perspectives. Yet it is also the most exciting

experience that I have ever had.

9 July 2014, it was winter in southern hemisphere. Mark and I camped

on the ridge along Mt Cook Range, where an impressive view over Tasman

Valley was in front of us.

Thanks for viewing this image.

Mount Sefton is a 3157 m mountain peak above Aoraki/Mount Cook

Village. According to Maori legend, it is the guardian of Aoraki. The

lake below the mountain is known as Muller Glacier Lake. Thanks for

viewing this image.