The small settlement of Okarito lies right on the South Island’s West Coast, only a small detour from the highway that runs along the coast. While it is home to only a few people, it is well worth a visit for photographers for at least two reasons. One being the nature of the Okarito Lagoon with its abundance of birds of different species (and the only breeding site of kōtuku, a sub-species of white herons, on New Zealand’s mainland). The second being Andris Apse, one of New Zealand’s best known landscape photographers who lives here and also runs a gallery (when he’s not out making photos or gone fishing).

The photograph was made with a Canon EOS 6D and an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens. The exposure was 1/320 second at f/8 and ISO 250. The photograph was edited in Adobe Lightroom. You can find all of these photos along with others from this journey across New Zealand’s South Island in my album New Zealand 2013 or on Flickr.