Red Boat Of Oamaru

We arrived in Christchurch on the first day of our trip to New Zealand. Setting off the next day, we drove past the towns of Ashburton and Timaru, before settling down for the night at Oamaru. I was half-expecting to see immediately the famed landscapes that New Zealand is well-known for, but the Cantebury plains that we passed through on our journey seemed just so-so. The above was taken at a viewpoint overlooking the Oamaru Habour. I love the pristine blue of the Pacific Ocean waters which complimented the bright red of the boat and the yellow-green of the grass perfectly.

Canon 40D technical report: Even though the 70-200mm f/4 lens (non-IS) is one of my favourites in terms of optical sharpness, it was frequently let down at the long end when using slower shutter speeds without the stability of a tripod. The 40D can produce near-noiseless images at ISO 800 (compared to ISO 400 for my old 20D). This came in handy as the higher ISO allowed me to use a faster shutter speed even at long focal lengths, enabling me to hand-hold the camera for such shots with confidence 🙂