In late June I headed down to the Winter Festival event in
Queenstown. This was an event I have long been keen to go to, but not had the
chance in the past. This year I was lucky to go down to meet some of the team
from Olympus Australia/New Zealand, who were a key sponsor of this year’s
event. I have been using (and loving!) Olympus cameras since I started my
journey into photography, and I will be a little some social media collaboration
with them this year. My directive from Olympus was pretty relaxed – take some
nice photos and enjoy the Festival! What an assignment!
I arrived to a beautiful day, where I met friend and fellow
photographer Rachel Stewart - seriously talented, and someone who has been a
mentor to me as I have learned more about photography. For the first time I
also met Tom Jesset, who is another social media influencer working with
Olympus, and also seriously talented!
We headed off to the Queenstown Instameet, with speaker and
well-known Instagrammer Lauren Bath. Though the meet was more pitched at
businesses wanting to harness the power of social media in marketing, Lauren
had some great useful tips for those of us creating content on social media.
After Lauren’s presentation we headed off to a secret location, a private farm
high in the hills over Queenstown. Unfortunately by this time the cloud had
come in pretty thick, and without much light, the actual photography was a bit
tricky. I ended up spending most of my time chatting with people I have known
through Instagram for a while, but not yet had the opportunity to meet.
I did grab a couple of shots, and the only thing for it was to
embrace the moodiness of the skies!
 |
| Remarkables reflect in a small tarn at the Queenstown Instameet |
After we arrived back from the farm, Rach, Tom and I raced
down to the Lake Hayes Jetty. With thick grey skies, I was not convinced we
were going to get any magical light. I should have known better with Rach
Stewart around! She somehow manages to attract stunning sunrises and sunsets wherever
she goes, and I was stoked to be wrong about this particular evening. When the
skies went wild, there were three very excited and happy photographers racing
around trying to capture the beauty from all angles. I ended up shooting with
both my Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II (doing my long exposures) and my original
camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 mark II (doing hand held shots).
 |
| A stunning sunset at Lake Hayes, Queenstown |
 |
| Rach Stewart appreciates the view at Lake Hayes |
Luck was not so much on our side the next morning. We headed
off to Moke Lake, with another Instagram friend Talman, for sunrise but were
greeted with thick fog that hung low in the valley. Undeterred, we hiked half
way round the lake in some serious cold, hoping the fog would burn off as the
sun rose. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side that morning, and we came
home empty handed. Such is the life of a photographer, and these mornings make
the epic ones even more special.
We spent the day wandering Queenstown, hanging out and
checking in on a few of the events being held on the lake front. I snapped a
couple of pirates trying desperately not to sink their hand-crafted pirate
ships in the feezing waters of Lake Wakatipu. We also briefly popped out to Jack's Point lagoon to appreciate the beauty of the bluebird day.
 |
| Bluebird day at Jack's Point, Queenstown |
 |
| Tom Jesset enjoys the scenery at Coronet Peak Ski Field |
 |
| Coronet Peak Sunset |
On the way out of Coronet Peak I encountered some drummers
celebrating the opening of the ski field. I briefly had the chance to try out
my new M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.2 lens. The thick crowd made it difficult to get far
enough back to get a well framed photograph, but I was seriously impressed with
the performance of this lens. I was able to take a hand held shot in full
darkness at 1/125 of a second! Am really looking forward to exploring the
capability of this lens some more. Might even get into photographing people
yet!
 |
| Drummers at Coronet Peak - low light 1/125s using M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.2 |
That evening we headed out for a couple of drinks with
several other friends from Instagram. It’s a great community of like-minded
people and I really enjoyed meeting more people that I have interacted with on
the platform for quite a while. The talk was very much focused on photography….
pun fully intended!
The next morning Rach, Tom and I met up with Talman again to catch sunrise on the shore of Lake Wakatipu before Rach headed home. A lack of clouds was slightly disappointing but a nice pink glow followed by some beautiful golden light made the early morning worth it.
 |
| Sunrise at Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown |
 |
| Pink Skies - A beautiful Queenstown Sunrise |
 |
| Golden Light on Walter Peak, Queenstown |
Talman left us too (to take a helicopter flight to Milford Sound, lucky guy!) and so, for the rest of the day, Tom and I wandered around the shore
of Lake Wakatipu, enjoying the vibe of Winter Festival and chatting about our
cameras and photography. Was really nice to make a new friend and once again
reminded me how much I have enjoyed meeting new people through Instagram, many
of whom have inspired me or taught me things that have made me a better
photographer.
As I left Queenstown, lovely clouds were forming over the
town, and I was jealous of Tom heading up the Skyline Gondola for one last
sunset. However as the aircraft departed Queenstown I was able to snap a
picture out the window that I really like, for showing the scale of the
mountains in this lovely town.
 |
| Remarkable Remarkables, Queenstown |
Till next time!
Laurie
Note: Olympus paid for my travel to Queenstown Winter
Festival and I will be working for them in a social media influencer capacity
over the next year. I have chosen to collaborate with Olympus as I am an
existing Olympus camera owner and user, and have a genuine and ongoing
association with their products. Feel free to ask me any questions about the
cameras, though I am no technical expert!