A blue sky and a golden sunset

The theme for this weeks blog is blue sky – and so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some photos from a recent session from atop a mountain in New Zealand. We were out in the open with no big trees or structures to impede the sun’s rays – it required a different approach to the light from me compared to what I’m used. I usually use shade and shadows to create contrast in my image – however this time, it was just people, dogs, the sky, the mountains and the sun. It was incredible!

This is Enzo – a six month old husky cross border collie puppy. He’s the baby of the @wolvesofnz family and was definitely the cheekiest one of the group.

The light streaming down into the valley was warm and golden, creating a really beautiful setting.

This is Niko, Enzo’s big brother. Isn’t he majestic!

He was a little cheeky too! 

I was in New Zealand for BarkZealand – an international pet photography intensive workshop run by three of the best pet photographers in the world. I really love this photo that I captured of Nicole Begley, one of the course creators – it’s just a perfect little moment that I feel really sums up the essence of the workshop and of the week. Great dogs, beautiful scenery, plenty of camera equipment, overflowing creativity!

As the sun rapidly set, the light changed dramatically. You can really see the difference in the colours of the sky on the horizon – the blue changed to gold quite rapidly.

It was such a stunning example of New Zealand scenery and I’m so grateful I had the chance to photograph Enzo and Niko at this location. It was a great chance to put into practise some different lighting techniques and approaches and I’m really happy with the result. I just wish I could photograph more dogs on this golden mountain top under that big blue sky!

There were two weeks of BarkZealand – I was there for the first week and fellow Sydney photographer Jo Lyons was there for the second! Jo is the down-to-earth dog loving photographer for cherished dogs of Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle and the Great Lakes Region of NSW – follow the blog circle to check out her interpretation of the blue sky theme here!