Shooting in the rain can be pretty tough unless you're a master like Craig Potton who realised that the one place that looks amazing in the flat light of a torrential downpour is the forest. He bought an umbrella and made a career out of disappearing into forests during rainfall and then used his images to encourage the world to protect our native bush and wild places. Got to love that. He's one of many people who inspire me.
This week, the rain was terrible along the coast, thick and claggy, and though I tried to channel my inner Potton, when I surveyed my haul from the week, it was the moments where the sky opened up and the golden rays reached down to the ocean that I liked the best. It looks warm and feels like summer, but if you blinked last week you may have missed it altogether. We have more of it to come, but when it does break open again I won't be taking it for granted.
In December I head down to the Sub-Antarctic Islands for 10 days and I'm told that it certainly gets its fair bit of rain and weather. That's one of the things I'm looking forward to documenting down there and I'll certainly have Craig Potton's approach on my mind. My other goal is to hunt around to see if there are any surf breaks lurking in the sheltered corners and bays of the islands. It's a long shot, but I have heard rumours and I certainly will be actively studying the coast as best I can.
Because of my impending trip if you want to order a print for Xmas then you'll have to have your order in by December 10 – that's now less than two weeks away!
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Thanks to all of you and every single surfer who got behind the Save Mangamaunu campaign. NZTA released a preliminary report today that indicates they're going to stop pursuing the cycle path development through the emergency legislation loophole. Here's the full story here on Kaikoura's iconic surfbreak. There may still be some hidden hooks, but for now give yourself a pat on the back and send a heartfelt thanks to the team at Surfbreak Protection Society.
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