MAGNIFICENT NATURAL BRIDGE – WAITOMO NZ

Post by Judy@Gallery 21

"Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas.

                           It  is  a creative art."                 Ansel Adams

A recent field trip to the remains of an ancient New Zealand cave was not only a photographic challenge and a real test of photography skills, but also a bit of a physical challenge too!

The Mangapohue Natural Bridge is located just 25 km west of Waitomo in New Zealand’s north island and once made up part of the entire cave system around the Waitomo area.  Today, all that remains of this ancient cave is the impressive 17 metre high limestone arch which spans the Mangapohue Stream.  Fortunately a walkway has now been built to allow visitors to climb up to a great vantage point with relative ease compared to the old stone track that used to be the only means of access.  Nevertheless, lugging heavy camera gear up this walkway still required a certain amount of stamina!

There are many other caves in the Waitomo area, the origins of which began over 30 million years’ ago with the creation of limestone at the bottom of the ocean.  Now these limestone formations, which include the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves, are one of New Zealand’s most famous natural wonders.

Photographically there was a wide range of light variations experienced from the dark interior of the rocky limestone arch to the lush green of the natural foliage, the flowing stream and the bright daylight beyond.  It was a real photographic challenge to ensure that all areas were correctly exposed and good results were accomplished by merging several shots at varying exposures.