Moon over the Pohangina Valley next to our house, the halo was just too nice to miss

Nikon D4, Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Benro Ballhead

ISO 250, 24mm, f/4, 13 seconds exposure + 1/2 second exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Raw file conversion, lighting and colour adjustments in Capture One 10 Pro; layered in Photoshop CC for exposure of the moon

Honey been working our apricot blossoms.

Nikon D600, Nikon 24mm PCE lens

ISO 100, 24 mm, f/3.5, 1/1250 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus, hand held

Capture One Pro 8 raw conversion, import sharpen and minor lighting adjustments

Te Apiti wind farm on top of the southern tip of the Ruahine Ranges.

Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head, cable shutter release

ISO 200, 48 mm, f/16, 1/4 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3, layered in Photoshop for control of highlights and shadows.

A pair of Wood Pigeons (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, Kereru) tasting the delights of new christmas plumb leaves in the Pohangina Valley, Manawatu, New Zealand.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 200-400 f/4 VRII lens, hand held, VR set to normal

ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Import sharpened and minor adjustments in Capture One Pro 7

The humble sparrow, a juvenile female.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens attached to TC14E teleconverter, hand held with VR on

ISO 100, 280mm, f/4, 1/250 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Import sharpening and minor colour and light adjustments in Capture One 7 Pro, final tweaks with Topaz Clarity

This is one of the first images with my new Nikon D600, a yellow rose with rose coloured petal tips in our own garden. A couple of evenings ago I wandered around our property taking random shots with the camera set on Auto ISO, and very impressed with the D600 ISO performance.

Nikon D6000, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens, Nikon TC 1.4, hand held

ISO 1400 from Camera Auto ISO, 195 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus

Catalogued, colour adjusted and exported from Capture One Pro 7. This is also new and like learning a new language. I used one of the Capture One Pro 7′s basic styles preset to convert the image to black and white, and bring out the red petal highlights.

The Pohanghina River exits the Ruahine Ranges winding through rocky outcrops under sunset hue. Camera was set to f/22 to capture nice smooth water flow.

Nikon D90, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 200, 70 mm, f/22, 5 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus, cable shutter release

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 and Topaz Labs PhotoFX

Soft pastels of long Pohangina Valley summer grass

Nikon D90, Nikkon 70-200 VR  f/2.8 lens

ISO200 , 150 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held

Import sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …

One of the 70+ species of Weta found in New Zealand, this tree Weta is a Pohangina Valley resident.

Nikon D90, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, hand held, on-camera commander flash mode with Nikon D600 flash held to the side

ISO 320, 70 mm, f/10, 1/60 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3.6

A small Pohangina valley creek where Fantails feed on small insects like mosquitos! This mosquito is very still on the leaf right in front of the Fantail, as yet unseen.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens, TC-14E 1.4 Teleconverter

ISO 100, 220 mm, f/4, 1/320 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held, VR on

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …