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ZoeFest 2009 Australia Mission Beach

Claudine and Rebecca – Raumati Beach, NZ

After 3 days of rain on the South Island of New Zealand, our drenched group headed back to the North Island. We passed through Wellington and headed about 40 minutes north to spend the night at Raumati Beach before traveling on to Taupo the next day.  I awoke in the early morning darkness to go check out the weather and beach for a possible shoot that morning. OMG….not a cloud in the sky and the beach was gorgeous was a small river flowing into the ocean strewn with logs and debris. I found some beautiful shooting locations using that debris, and stumps of trees on the beach with the large Kapiti Island as background. Claudine was ready for an early morning shoot and we got some beautiful pre-dawn shots as the light was just hitting the waves giving it an amber bluish hue.  I then went back to our hotel and grabbed Rebecca.  The sun had risen at that point and got some nice slightly overexposed shots with the sun behind her as well as it accentuating her porceline complexion.  It was a tricky location because there were houses all along the beach. A few early morning passerbys just waved or ignored us.  Shooting like this is so natural to me now, that I forget it might offend some people.  Well apparently it did, becuase by the time Edward and Vassanta started shooting the police were out. I wish we had more time to spend here becuase you could take a boat to Kapiti island and I’m sure there’d be interesting shooting and hiking there.

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ZoeFest 2009 Australia Mission Beach

Claudine – Steel Kiwi

Our merry band had spent a lovely day watching rain drops fall as we drove through the New Zealand countryside on the South Island. What to do if it’s raining? Tour some wineries for some tastings at least.  We arrive at our first one, only to find it closed.  But discovered this massive steel sculpture on the grounds…and the rain had actually stopped.  We split up taking different sides of the steel behemoth to do our shooting. Claudine and I did our first shoot together and she did a wonderful job turning her body into a piece of art suspended from art. I love the angles we shot to accentuate the angles of the sculpture and her curves.

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ZoeFest 2009 Australia Mission Beach

Vassanta – Stormy Beach

Prior to arriving for OzFest, several of us ventured to New Zealand where it rained most of the seven days we were there and didn’t do as much shooting as we’d planned.  Our B & B hostess was a former Playboy model (1960’s Girls of the Benelux) and recommended several places to shoot.  One of them was Rabbit Island about 30 minutes from Nelson.  After driving in the rain all day trying to see some natural sights, we ended the day on Rabbit Island.  We got out of the car long enough to see a deserted beach  with massive logs strewn across the beach – a great location, but then the rain started AGAIN.  We sat in the car for 30 minutes praying for the rain to stop, giving it another 10 minutes before giving up as the light was fading too.  At the 10 minute mark, the rain miraculously stopped and we ran to the beach for a quick 30 minute shoot as the light faded with even, but dull lighting on such an overcast day.  My challenge was to try to create some images that “popped” and not just a dull gray look. Vassanta was masterful (as she always is) using the environment around her to create some magic.