yanzhang

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.

It was July 2014, winter in southern hemisphere. We camped on the ridge along Mt Cook Range. We got up at 3am after moon set and walked on the ridge for 20 minutes from our campsite to this location, where we witnessed one of the most stunning Milky Way skies I have ever seen, from such a high mountain viewpoint. The lights down the mountain came from Mt Cook/Aoraki Village, while the curve line in the valley was the river from Muller Glacier Lake on the very right side outside this image. Thanks for viewing this image.