During a work trip to New Zealand in 1992 (back when I had only dreams of, someday, living here), I had a free weekend in Christchurch, in the middle of the east coast of the South Island, and I used the opportunity to spend it in a magical place I’d discovered on a previous trip, the Banks Peninsula. I had driven the amazing road over the crest of the hills and down to Akaroa Harbour and, although I was eager to get to my motel and a lovely seafood dinner in the picturesque town of Akaroa, as I passed through the much-smaller 
community of Barry’s Bay I had to stop for this view looking out toward the heads that bracket the mouth of the harbour. The tide was in and the water was almost perfectly calm. My camera was a Pentax PZ-1, my film Kodak Tri-X pushed to 800, and my lens a Pentax 28-105. I made this shot at 1/500 second and f/11 and used an ultraviolet filter.
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So serene!
So right!
:)
I was taught early-on to keep an ultraviolet filter on my Pentax’s camera lens in order to reduce atmospheric haze but probably even more so to protect the lens; better a scratched or cracked filter than a cracked or scratched front of the lens.
On our 2015 New Zealand visit we did a day trip from Christchurch to Akaroa. We stopped along the way at Barrys Bay Cheese Company and brought some cheese back to our hostess in Christchurch. (New Zealanders have dropped apostrophes from place names; so has the United States National Park Service.)
OK, Steve, it’s time for the Twilight Zone theme to play here (Dee-dee-dee-doo, dee-dee-dee-do). You are not going to believe this coincidence (or maybe you are, if your are another fan of the no-coincidence happenings in this life), but Barrys Bay Cheese tracked me down through my website, liked this very photo, and paid me a nice price it to use on their label. So, apart from that, how did you like the drive from Chch to Akaroa? It’s really a remarkable experience, and I repeat it at every opportunity, although I must say that they come way too infrequently!
So calming … beautifully calming I want to be there. Beautiful in everyway, Gary. Congratulations on the cheese label!
That particular harbour has usually been calm when I’ve been there (maybe a half-dozen times), and it’s well worth a visit at any time of year. The cheese deal came out of the bleu and was a very pleasant surprise!
I like the atmosphere you captured with this monochrome photo. The layering adds to depth to this picture from your archive. Best wishes! Peter
I made some color exposures too, but the simple silhouettes greatly preferred the minimalist monochrome. The wading bird was a surprise gift from my photo angel Frances. Thank you, Peter!
When I saw your photo, I was taken in memory to Alaska. After a ten-day trip from Hawaii, we made landfall at Cross Sound, and sailed north into Glacier Bay. I took a photo that day that’s so similar to this one it’s remarkable. Not only are the land formations similar, the heavy, gray clouds provided the same kind of light. We never would have been able to stop by and visit with that wading bird, though; we were drawing nearly 7′.
I’d really like to see that one, Linda. Both the light and the wading bird on that day were most memorable.
Very beautiful Minimalism, my friend.
That, from a master of minimalism, is a fine compliment.
Barry’s Bay Cheese, eh? Maybe they got word from Wallace and Gromit. :-) How nice that you made a sale and I hope you got a few wheels of their finest stashed away in a nice aging cellar.
Nice layers and peaceful mood, Gary. Is that an egret and if so I am sure you did not regret it. ;-)
I’d love to have a stash of a few wheels, but they are quite expensive, and we have no suitable cheese cellar in which to store it. As luck would have it, we just watched the Wallace & Gromit episode of their trip to the moon (because everyone knows it’s made of cheese) the day before yesterday! Yet another coincidence?
And by coincidence I just watched that one recently also.
:-}
A beautiful composition, and a beautiful memory, too.
Hope to get back there again one of these days!