Castlepoint

Castlepoint Lighthouse at the northern end of the reef
After our detour to Mataikona Rocks we reached our destination of Castlepoint. It would be a great place to spend a few days and get some early and late light across the dramatic landscape but we had only a little time in the middle of the day so made the most of that after getting a cup of coffee at the Castlepoint Store. The weather along this stretch of coast can be wild and windy but we struck a calm sunny day.

Sheltered water beneath Castle Rock
Not often the first choice for landscape photography but is is always fun to make the most of what you have to use. I often find Black and White works better than colour in this situation. You can use the high contrast light to your advantage and, with high dynamic range modern sensors, shadow detail can be recovered after exposing to keep the highlights under control. 

Some impressive gear for beach launching the large boats needed in these rough waters

Sun and shadow on the Castle Point reef
Photos with Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-120mm lens. Lighthouse photo with 9 stop ND filter on tripod to capture some movement in the clouds and blur out the groups of students who were clambering about the steps doing a presumed geography assignment. Top 3 images processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro and bottom image in Macphun Tonality.

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