love, unscripted

New Zealand Destination wedding part #2

May 3, 2008 – 11:23 am by Neil Cowley

Where else can you store your ear plugs with a formal dress on?

We flew into Wanaka and landed at Edge Water Resort where Joel and Rebecca first met.

When finished there, we took a short helicopter ride to the top of Mount Roy overlooking all of lake Wanaka.

Here’s the bridal party on-top of the mountain overlooking the lake.

A frozen moment - what I love best about photography.

Upon liftoff from Mount Roy - our pilot Nigel from The Helicopter Line Mackenzie station - we did a few maneuvers. The above picture was shot with a wide angle lens - but when riding in the Helicoper at 10-20 meters over the lake’s glassy surface it’s quite a distinct feeling I was wholly unable to capture.

After we gained some altitude, and flew a few minutes back toward Glentanner Station, the pilot ask me over intercom where I wanted to land for more pictures.

I was looking over three mountain ranges, 4 lakes, 3-5 alpine lakes, unlimited scree fields and all the ecosystems between a glacier at 10,000 feet and a lake bed at 2,000…………um, ah, well, let’s see - where SHOULD we land.

So I figured that it wasn’t a matter of where - but of when. I waited until the long glow started…

…and found a decent place on Mount Dark just 6,000 feet above Glentanner.

I scrambled out of the helicopter into the thin mountainside air with a warning from the pilot that if any clouds started coming in, we would have to be back in the chopper in less than 1min - because if a cloud surrounds us, he can’t take off again.

Mount Cook is graced with an extra long twilight period as there are no other surrounding peaks to the west so the sun sets on the ocean. I had admired the wispy clouds that developed along the side of the mountains and was so excited I couldn’t stand still while shooting these shots.

Yours in the image,

Neil Cowley - www.Make Love Real.net/new-zealand/