Leaving New Zealand

On January 3rd, 2014, I set out with my friend Ron Rosenstock in the midst of a severe winter blizzard, that shut down the airport, to travel to New Zealand. Not knowing what to expect I traveled in mystery. I left knowing that I would photograph for 2 whole weeks, and that was enough.
The trip is over, I am back home, I’ve returned having visited a beautiful country with stories to tell and pictures to show. It was worth it, a lifetime experience. For those considering a trip to New Zealand, I would highly recommend setting aside at least 2 weeks to explore this incredible place. Any less does not do it justice. Besides, the airfare is really expensive and I was unable to find a way to use frequent flyer miles to make the trip.
With hindsight, I now realize that the time zone change was more severe on my body than I would have thought, it actually is 11 time zones for me, almost like switching day and night, so make sure you have an ample supply of Melatonin and Gaba which I find very useful when trying to get to sleep while traveling outside the country. Also, bring your own soap, I realize that sounds a bit much, but the harshness of the different soaps in several hotels made my skin dry.
In addition, make sure you have your camera gear all sorted out and in working order. I advise never bring NEW gear on a trip because it many not work and you probably don’t know how to use it efficiently. For this trip, I brought with me my Canon 5D MkIII, my 16-35 stabilized zoom, my 24-105 stabilized zoom and a spare Rebel T5 body, should something go wrong with my main camera.
I made some wonderful images. But, you decide for yourself, check out the gallery!