Institute of Photographic StudiesThe New Zealand Experience - November 8th, 2006
We jumped up in complete darkness and began to gather equipment and started prepare for the long day ahead of us. We packed up quickly and the RV pulled away from Mark's church as we began our morning a couple of hours before sunrise. The turns in the road rocked us as we sat sleepily in the camper. A few of us in the back of the camper were drifting off to sleep as Mark's boys were carrying on a animated conversation about the smell of skunks and how here in New Zealand you won't find any skunks—because they don't have them.
In no matter of time (or perhaps we had drifted of to sleep) we arrived at our destination, Temata Peak, overlooking both Hastings and Napier. We piled out of the RV in the dark, loaded down with camera gear and hauling our tripods with us. Scattering around in various places, we each began to set up and shoot the night sky, which was gradually changing every moment. The morning sunrise was magnificent as the light began to spill through the scattered clouds. Climbing up and down the hill, we began to take on different vantage points of our surroundings.
The wind whistled in between the legs of the tripods and each of us shivered as we stood still waiting with anticipation to find out how our photographs would come out. Low tripods and high tripods were placed all up and down the side of the hill. Some of us would take turns going into the RV where Will had prepared hot tea and muffins for us to warm ourselves up with. After a quick warm up, we would grab our camera, head out once again into the cool wind, and continue our attempt to capture a glimpse of God's beautiful creation.
After the sun had risen, we all traveled to a warehouse where we did a photo shoot for Big Noise. The warehouse was very spacious and provided different lighting situations. The lighting seemed to change quite frequently when every now and then sunlight would come spilling through the large windows of the warehouse ceiling. One shoot was for a truck with police written on the side of the door, and the side doors to the truck opened upward. This truck had a $20,000 custom-made sound system! We were able to meet the owners of the cars, and it was evident by their radiant faces that they were so very proud of their handiwork. They cranked up the music and the sound and vibrations filled the entire warehouse.
The other vehicle was a bright orange car that Big Noise has used for promotional purposes. We were able to walk all around the warehouse and shoot from different angles. Some of us climbed up the wooden planks inside the building for a higher angle risking our lives to take that perfect shot, as others in our group would be on their stomachs angling their cameras upward. It really did not matter how we would shoot it, in the end we all had wallowed on the ground in some fashion or another and were covered with dirt or grunge of some kind.
For lunch, one of Mark's friends told us to go to his restaurant, Tommos, for lunch. Mark's friend was not able to be there, but he had said that the meal would partially be on him. The other part of the meal was actually covered by Big Noise as a thanks for the photo shoot. Mark told us that it had been quite an ordeal for us to have access to the auto shoot. Apparently Big Noise had to contact the government and get in touch with customs to get permission for us to have this opportunity. Mark also had a few of his friends come up and meet us for lunch. One of Mark's friends talked about how at sometimes in Hawkes Bay the sun is so bright that they broadcast that no one should be out in the sun longer than two minutes or one will get third degree burns!
Late this afternoon we packed up our belongings, said goodbye to the empty rooms of Mark's church where we had been staying, and left once again to continue our journey down the road—heading out of Hawkes Bay. We started down to the beach for a camp out. On our way to the beach, we stopped near some open fields and photographed the most beautiful green pastures! All around us was rolling hills and a few sheep scattered far off in the distance. We arrived in Oceans Beach for our campout. Trying to warm our hands at the same time, we ate at cooked marshmallows over a small little fire. Rowan played the guitar while we sang songs and shivered under the warm blankets. The night sky was filled with more stars than can be counted!
—Caroline Mueller from Texas, USA