Last light of dusk kisses the Tongariro Mountains of Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 100, 70 mm, f/9, 0.6 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, live view manual focus, cable shutter release

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 4, adjustment layers applied in Photoshop for highlights and shadow details and selective colour balance.

Waihohonu Stream is another stream flowing from Mt Ruapehu, across the Desert Road and down to the Tongariro River. The sun was very bright in the white water and with an ND8 neutral density filter I had the camera set to f22 and ISO50 to get the slowest shutter speed I could to smooth the water flow.

Nikon D600, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head, Cokin P154 ND8 filter

ISO50 , 24mm, f/22, 1/6 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus, timer shutter release,

Import sharpen, shadow, highlight and minor colour adjustments in Capture One Pro 7. Detail and lighting adjustments with Topaz Labs before final export.

Mount Ruapehu viewed from one of the highest altitude dairy farms in New Zealand. Bordering between the pasture and forestry plantation is (not quite visible in this shot) the Whangaehu river. The wind was howling, so trying to keep camera and tripod steady was a mission – sheilding as best I could holding my rain coat wide with cable release in hand biting cold into my fingers even through the glove.

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, 32mm, f/16, 1/10 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, live view manual focus,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 and Topaz Labs PhotoFx …

Small rapid on Mangatawai Stream which runs from Mount Tongariro and feeds into the Tongariro River in New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 100, 55mm, f/11, 1.0 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus in live view, cable shutter release

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …

Mt Ruapehu, one of the most photographed landmarks in New Zealand, even on a good day! Wind wisping snow from the peak on a fine and cool winter day, viewed from near the town of Waiouru at the southern end of the Desert Road

Nikon D90, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens,

ISO 320, 70mm, f/5.0, 1/800 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …

Lake Rotoaira is situated to the north of the three volcanos that dominate the North Islands central volcanic plateau in the Tongariro National Park. The northern most volcano – Mt Tongariro – viewed here amidst the clouds across lake Rotoaira.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 100, 27mm, f11/, 1/60 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus in live view mode, timer shutter release

Import sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3 …

Mt Ruapehu and the township of Ohakune welcome the morning sun. Ohakune sitting to the south of central North Islands’ Tongariro National Park, is very popular with tourists and skiers during the winter months with such an obvious proximity to the Ruapehu ski fields.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 100, 31mm, f/11, 1/80 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, manual focus in live view, cable shutter release

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3, blended exposure adjusted copy of original file to bring out sky colour and shadow detail in Photomatix Pro…

Mt Ruapehu, dressed in white standing above the cloud layer over the Tongariro National Park

Nikon D90, Nikkon 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens

ISO 200, 105mm, f/10, 1/320 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held VR on

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Capture NX2

The day was heavy clouds and storms, and a lot of cloud movement with intermittent sunshine. It appears that on the western side of Ruapehu it was clear and sunny as is evidenced by the blue sky and sunlight in this image. Heavy storm clouds overhead soon completely obscured this view

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens

ISO 100, 135mm, f/13 , 1/640 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, auto focus, hand held, VR off, resting on the car roof

light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3

Another sun has set behind the mighty Ruapehu volcano mountain in the Tongariro National Park, viewed across the Desert Road main highway north from Waiouru.

Nikon D7000, Nikkon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, Velbon Sherpa Pro CF 740 carbon fibre tripod, Velbon PHD-61Q tilt/pan head

ISO 100, 70mm, f/11, 1/4 seconds exposure, aperture priority mode, ,manual focus in live view,

Sharpened, light and colour adjusted in Lightroom 3, a blend of the original and an exposure adjusted copy of the original to better balance the highlights of sunset with the foreground detail, in Photomatix Pro.