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Return to Milford Sound was one of our top priorities when visiting New Zealand last year. We had a brief experience of this area some time ago, when we also enjoyed a day cruise through the sound. This was in the early stages of my photographic development and ever since we have been very keen to come back. We set aside a couple of days to stay very close to Milford Sound in November. There were also few other spots we wanted to visit last time, including a possible short hike or two.
Weather in Fjordland National Park can be very unpredictable though. We kept checking the forecast and it kept changing from bad to good, to bad again. When we came back from Doubtful Sound, we checked the forecast and realised that we only really had one day when to cram in as much as possible because there was a big storm with strong winds and heavy rain on the way. We decided to do one of planned hikes during the day and then to drive towards Milford for a sunset session. Other activities which we planned will have to wait for another trip.
We arrived at the location with enough time to explore along the foreshore and I was pleasantly surprised to find that we got there just at the low tide. That opened up a lot of compositions because I was able to use rocks and log for the foreground, which would have otherwise been covered by water. The tide did start to come in while we were there but I was able to get a few shots in before water level rose too much and before it got dark. This is the kind of opportunity I was hoping for and I quickly moved around to try and make the most of it. A few times I had to watch the water moving around my feet, and had to ensure that the tripod was well set to avoid its movement as the ground got softer.
I was hoping for a lovely sunset but with the storm clouds approaching fast and beginning to swirl around the peaks, that was not going to happen. There was just a hint of colour in the opening between the mountains. It disappeared fairly quickly though, with the surroundings becoming almost monochrome in nature due to subdued light. Because the light was not overly dramatic, I decided that long exposures would be my way to get some interesting photos from this great location.
As the water slowly started to fill the foreshore, I was able to make use of the shallow "pools" of water which started to appear around the place. The water added more interest to the foreground and complimented the rocks and logs scattered around by covering the darker muddy patches of soil. I tried to find some kind of order and balance when choosing my compositions by carefully considering rocks arrangement and taking few test photos. I considered closer compositions from right above the ground but often found that the ground did not always look too appealing. I found one such reasonable composition which I will share with you in the future. Today's image is a bit more about the grand scale of the entire area and I loved the dramatic result in the sky as well as the way the foreground mimics the sky in some ways.
When preparing for the long exposure, I kept taking images while adjusting settings to slow the shutter speed gradually to visualise what the final exposure might look like. That also allowed me to bracket exposures to enable me to blend in details from the shadows to bring them back in post processing if required. The light was just constant enough at that point in time, and there was no need to factor its fading into the exposure. As the light fades, I often add a stop of exposure or use other settings to compensate, because otherwise the photo might just turn out too dark to be usable.
The evening was very quiet out there with just a couple of other photographers, and the atmosphere was just perfect. The next day indeed brought rain, wind, and gloom, so I was even more glad that we had enough flexibility in our schedule to adjust our plans, and make the most of good weather and favourable conditions while they lasted.
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This image has been featured in 3 Remix collections.