December 9th 2025: Studio ÅŒtepoti

Living in ÅŒtepoti Dunedin it is easy to forget just how good our light is down here. I got to appreciate it this past week while doing a photoshoot for big North Island-based cycling brand Green Monkey Velo. With the help of a handful of local athletes; Grayson Westgate, Sarah-Jayne Guest, Orla Dunlop and Christopher Mills; we set out to do a few loops of the famous cycling roads around Otago Peninsula and throughout the city. 

We hit the Otago Peninsula in the afternoon light – with a welcomed stop at the Portobello Hotel – then cruised the high road back to the city. It's a famous loop for cyclists and this crew never stopped chatting the whole way – lapping up some pretty serious climbs while hardly breaking a sweat. 

The next morning we converged at St Clair Beach in time for a cracker sunrise – one of the best of the year. It was a real summery morning with lots of people buzzing around surfing, running and dog walking. The light was perfect for the lifestyle shots we needed and it just got better as we made our way through the city and to some of my favourite places to shoot. 

The light and the incredible talent (none of whom knew each other before the shoot) made the shoot a complete success. Dunedin was like a giant studio for the whole shoot. 

Green Monkey Velo specialises in high-end custom made cycling gear. They have top riders like Bryony Botha on the team and even John Kirwan and Paddy Gower sport the kit. Owner Daniel Carruthers is a bit of a weapon on a bike, too. 

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS We're heading back into silly season with our local sea lions, or pakake. From December to March our sea lions are breeding and that occurs alongside pupping. So the bigger and darker-haired males are patrolling for females which are lighter in colour – almost sandy coloured – and they're trying to escape the males. This forces our pakake to walk a long way inland from the coast – inevitably crossing roads and turning up in people's backyards. It's a pretty cool part of living in this part of the world. Over the years I have seen whole communities bind together to ensure the safe passage of wandering pakake. That safe passage might be slowing down on often used roads (especially around our beaches in the lowlight of dawn and dusk), or just making others aware of a sea lion sleeping hidden on a beach ... or balcony, or couch (yep, that's happened). Surfers should be aware of an increased presence of sea lions – particularly hidden on beach tracks. The best way to enjoy their presence in the water is always the same: be boring, stay calm and avoid eye contact.