I took the youngest to an all days sports event in Birkenhead on Sunday. It wasn't really one of those spectator type events. So I used the time to take some photos around Birkenhead.  This is an area of Auckland's North Shore that faced more the Waitemata Harbour, than the Hauraki Gulf.  It was also a very calm day on the harbour. 

I tried a range of places. One that worked quite well was Kauri Glen Scenic Reserve.  In theory there is a waterfall in this reserve. I think that's a little generous to the term 'waterfall'. More like a stream that at a point, flowed downhill a bit faster than normal.  Nonetheless, there it looked relatively scenic.

Kauri Glen StreamThere are a few areas of native forest, still preserved on the North Shore. I've been exploring these of late. Kauri Glen has a decent enough stream running through it, and at one point it flows over some rocks. The sign says this is a waterfall. It is nicely framed in native vegetation, and by braving some mud and slippery banks, I came away with a couple of shots I liked.

I had to use two filters to balance the light in the foreground and higher in the tree canopy.  The pool had a nice sweep to it.

The beaches around the area were not as photogenic. That was partly the issue of visiting long after dawn and long before dusk.  The last bay I visited ended up giving me a couple of shots I liked.  This was at Island Bay.  The camera and tripod also has a way of attracting the attention of wandering walkers.

Across the HarbourSONY DSC

There was barely any wave motion on the Harbour, so 30 seconds was enough to blend the water.  I then edited the photo as a toned image, stretching both the shadows and highlights. A little bit of post-rpocessing magic.

BlueA view of the Waitemata Harbour, from Island Bay in Auckland. This long exposure photo has been also converted into a blue duotone style.

Photo taken with Sony a900 and Minolta 20mm f2.8 lens. Long exposure used Lee filters.

West Auckland is at the opposite end of the harbour. 

I picked up the youngest at the end of the day. He was tired. His team was relatively small so that meant a high participation rate in the events. Fortunately dinner plans were well underway by then. Pizza. We're popular. Sometimes its just the right day to pay someone else to cook for you.