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Fairy lands part I - New Zealand part VII

Saturday, 21 December 2019

As for me, probably the number one reason for travelling to New Zealand (and actually to travel the world in general) are temperate rainforests. And maybe the number one location to experience these forests is New Zealand's Fiordland National Park. Of course, there are also lots of other locations on this planet where rainforests like these can be found, like the Pacific Northwest for example, but what makes the forests in New Zealand even a little bit more special are the massive tree ferns, which can grow up to 20 meters. There are eight different species of tree ferns in New Zealand, and 200 native fern species all in all. But, of course, this national park offers a lot more mesmerizing treasures and habitats. Beside the forests this terrain is mainly shaped by the countless steep fiords, mountains and the enormous rainfalls. If there is no rain on four consecutive days in the national park, they speak of a drought. And there are no better conditions than rain, to expereince a place like this. So I was really eager to go there once more after our first visit in 2011. Because we were travelling with our six months old son, we only did rather moderate day hikes, but nevertheless we discovered lots of new breathtaking areas, visited a few already known ones and finally spent a week out in the park.

Of course, I also did some solo scouting and there's hardly anything that delights me more than exploring a forest stream like this.

Actually not the typical Fiordland scenery, but a lovely sundown right beside our camp.

There are literally countless waterfalls in Fiordland. But especially after some heavy rainfalls all the rocky walls of the massive surrounding peaks just turn into curtains of water.

Mitre Peak in very early dawn as the tide went out. I just spent one morning on this well known location. But, of course, the secenery is pretty stunning and I ended up with quite a few shots.

A long lense shot of a distant mountain lake almost hidden behind the clouds. Taken during a hike in higher terrain.

This image shows our incredible son Tim, who was six months at that time, enjoying to kick his arms and feet on the mossy ground up in the mountains above the rainforest. During a hiking rest we took him out of the baby carrier for some free moving. It wasn't an intended picture and I only got this one snapshot, but today I'm pretty happy I captured this moment. It seems extremely important to us, to connect him with real nature and it is so rewarding to see his great excitement about all the natural wonders when we're out. Even at this very young age. Usually he was used to fall asleep when he was in the baby carrier, but especially during our forest hikes, he never stopped observing and listening to all the treasures and sounds of the woods.

During clear nights, I had to go out again ;)

I can hardly think of anything more rewarding than spending some time in a forest like this. Meanwhile I was lucky enough to visit such places already for a few times, but (at least for me) I still think it's impossible to pay them justice in a single image. You can definitely feel nature's heartbeat when you're out there wet to the bones and as happy as one can be.

The diversity of greens is just overwhelming. And when it rains, the colors and tones appear even more surreal.
You could see the first of three Fiordland series, I'll show here. So, if you're curious for some more fairy land images, check back here soon.

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Xeis part II

Monday, 16 December 2019

It's time for some more pictures showing the beauty of the Gesäuse National Park region. I'm already looking forward to my upcoming stays and workshops there, since there is still so much left for me to discover. So, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

By the way I would like to invite you to browse through my updated galleries. Although there are still hundreds of images which I couldn't show yet, I decided to removed about 200 images and upload about 250 new ones. I hope all the galleries work properly, because sometimes they seem to stuck a bit. Especially the larger ones, but reloading should help, and I'm working on the solution to fix this issue, of course.

There's just a small area of this wet meadow, which is left unmown, but this little gem is full of orchids, spiders ...

... and insects like butterflies. Of course, as all of my images this one is also unstaged.

Taken during my autumn workshop this year.

I was pretty exhausted that day and already in my sleeping bag, as I noticed this amazing alpenglow during an actually completely cloudy evening. So I just grabbed my camera without even leaving my cozy bag. Luxury.

Past summer, when the water level is rather low, the Enns River shows its most beautiful colors.

Most of the Gesäuse area is pretty rocky and mainly made of limestone and dolomite.

The river making its way through the steep summits on a calm morning in late summer.

Thin fog mostly creates a great atmosphere.

I just love this dead tree with all its agarics.
If you want to receive a short e-mail notification every time I post any news in my blog on this website, just drop me a line to photo@rupertkogler.com and I will put you on my mailing list. And of course I will remove you from the list anytime you want me to.

Xeis part I

Monday, 9 December 2019

Kind of similar to my last two entries, the next two sets also contain images I mainly took around some workshops. This time you can see pictures of Styria's Gesäuse National Park. I led two group workshops there in 2019 in cooperation with the Fotoschule Gesäuse and I will offer three dates in 2020, which can already be found here. But also beside my workshops I had the pleasure to spend some time in this national park, which is shaped by the wild waters of the Enns River and the steep mountains surrounding it.

Just in case, you're wondering about the title of this entry: "Gesäuse" can be pronounced as "Xeis" in Austrian German ;) ... and as always, I hope most of the images speak for themselves, because I just cannot find the time to do longer writings. Although I really would like to do so.

One of the main tributaries of the Enns River.

What a lovely scenery of colors. Candy sunrise above a pretty diverse autumn setting. (Side note: Since authenticity is very important for me when it comes to my images and I actually never remove any objects from my pictures, I would like to let you know, that I made an exception here and stamped out an - actually hardly visible - steel cable of an goods cable lift on the outer left side of the image.)

Lush foliage along the river in late spring, while the summits are still partly covered in snow.

A small montane stream, which offers some photo opportunities in spring, but finally vanishes during summer in most years.

Falling trees are just part of the natural cycle and it's good to see, that there are areas where this is accepted.

Some morning fog finally disappears as the sun comes up behind the massive peaks.

Untouched forests in autumn are always a gorgeous experience.

Summer is a great time for butterflies ...

... and orchids. And this national park provides great locations for both of them.
On this occasion I would like to point out to a little interview Sven Herdt did with me for 4 Nature Photographers. So, if you'd like to read some more (in German), take a look here on their website.

If you want to receive a short e-mail notification every time I post any news in my blog on this website, just drop me a line to photo@rupertkogler.com and I will put you on my mailing list. And of course I will remove you from the list anytime you want me to.

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