Castle Hill: Roaming in the gloaming

Saturday saw the Diamond Harbour Camera Club field trip to Castle Hill, so after a very thoughtful invite (thanks John!) I tagged along with the group.

After having a quick reccie mid-afternoon, the idea was to congregate back at our billet in Castle Hill village for a spot to eat and then head back down for sunset and full moon shots.

We missed out on the sunset (must have been those extra nibbles) but got back to the rocks just as the dusk drew near. The moon was already above the horizon and surrounding mountains, so we had the opportunity of getting a few shots in before night fell proper.

Castle Hill is an enchanting place. Bounded by the high mountains of the Torlesse Range to the east and the Craigieburn Range to the west, the limestone tors of Castle Hill's Kura Tawhiti Conservation Area dominate Canterbury's Waimakariri Basin.

The grand limestone rock battlements of Kura Tawhiti led early European travellers to name the area Castle Hill. As you walk amongst the maze of massive boulders, it's easy to imagine this being some kind of bizarre relic of a fortress from times long gone by.

If it looks familiar to some of you, you may also know it from the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the tors played host to the climactic final battle scene.

Today's blip was taken in the near to near darkness. To keep the sky from overexposing I used an ND8 Grad filter together with a polariser to bring out the colours in the grass.

Whilst I did get some nice moonlit shots too, the colours, forms and texture of this shot really appeals to me. One thing is for sure - I'm hungry to get back to Castle Hill for more shots. Maybe a new moon star trail??