The Kooker Down Under Photography

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The Kooker Down Under Photography

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You can purchase any photographs that you see on this page please visit http://theyankeedownunderphotography.fotomerchant.com I exclusively use Nikon cameras.

I am a photographer who specializes in nature, architecture, and night time photography. I capture my subject matter in Nikon raw format which is 24 mega pixels and convert the image to jpeg or bitmap format. I pride myself that I do NOT Photoshop any of my images. Images displayed are available for sale. Sold prints with have the watermark appropriately sized and placed on the print. The watermarks viewed on line are sized and placed to protect my intellectual property.

02/11/2026

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to experience the Glenbrook Vintage Railway “The Spiral Steam Special” route, which is Frankton(Hamilton) to the National Park train station and back. It is roughly a 10 hour round trip and approximately 340km. We boarded the steam locomotive at the Te Awamutu stop. After the Te Kuiti train station, I got itchy and walked out to the front outside carriage platform to experience the wind, steam & soot, sounds, and photograph anything whatever grabbed my interest. Today, I will post the photographs in a B&W format. A historic steam locomotive in an industrial setting looked more interesting in B&W in my eyes. I will post the colour images tomorrow.

22/10/2026

Spring has finally arrived. The weather is perfect. The cherry tree is in full bloom in the front yard. I could not resist doing some real estate photography of the abode.

19/10/2026

I am looking forward to speaking at a local camera club tonight to give them hints and my experience how to photograph birds of prey. They have an organised trip to Wingspan to put their photography skills to work. I hope that my experience and hints helps out in their success.

13/10/2026

Getting up and close to the Tui. I keep visiting Maungakawa (Te Tāpui Scenic Reserve) while the blossoms are still good. This juvenile Tui carefully hopped out of the interior shadows of the cherry tree to see if it was clear to feed on the cherry tree blossoms. The bigger dominant Tui were swooping the weaker Tui to show dominance. The fast shutter speed made the shadows even look darker than they where. To capture the best iridescent hues, I stand 20-30 degrees offset from the direction of the overcast light source. 12 Oct 2026.

Nikon D500 matched with Sigma Sport 150-600mm. 1/5000sec shutter speed.

12/10/2026

If anyone is interested, I have created a 22 minute slide slow of my 2026 photo study of Cambodia. It includes the following locations; Phnom Penh, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat complex), and Koh Rong Sanloem. I have also included Cambodian trance music.

2026 The Kooker Down User Photography Slideshow Cambodia 4k. Phnom...

08/10/2026

Fourth visit to Maungakawa (Te Tāpui Scenic Reserve) The cherry trees are still in prime blossom. The overcast light was perfect for capturing the Tui iridescent plumage. To capture the best iridescent hues, I stand 20-30 degrees offset from the direction of the light source. 6 Oct 2026.

Nikon D500 matched with Sigma Sport 150-600mm. 1/4000sec shutter speed.

07/10/2026

Having fun creating caricature images of me as a photographer. Is everyone tired of actual Tui images or do you want me to post more Tui images?

05/10/2026

I have visited Maungakawa (Te Tāpui Scenic Reserve) three times now (1st, 2nd, and 5th of October 2026) and have taken over 2,200 images of Tui. The light conditions yesterday were absolutely perfect. There were little openings in the overcast clouds causing fluctuations in the light levels which causes the Tui iridescent plumage hues to change and pop. The Tui are now calming down and are willing to feed on the fresh cherry blossoms without fighting as much. The Tui were too busy feeding to notice how close I could approach them and photograph them.

To capture the best iridescent hues, I stand 20-30 degrees offset from the direction of the light source. 5 Oct 2026.

Nikon D500 matched with Sigma Sport 150-600mm. 1/4000sec shutter

01/10/2026

The cherry trees on Maungakawa (Te Tāpui Scenic Reserve) are coming into prime blossom right now. I spent about 2 hours yesterday photographing the Tui and a few Waxeye. The overcast light was perfect for capturing the Tui iridescent plumage. To capture the best iridescent hues, I stand 20-30 degrees offset from the location of the light source. 1 Oct 2026.

Nikon D500 matched with Sigma Sport 150-600mm. 1/4000sec shutter speed.

28/09/2026

There were some opportunities to photograph birds on Koh Rong Sanloem. The Kingfishers were easy to spot because they are at least 3 times the size of the kingfishers here in New Zealand. The Pied Hornbills would fly near to the beach in the morning hours and feed on the fruit trees. Lesson learned, the mossies are relentless when you wander into the bush. You almost need to shower in Deet.

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Te Awamutu

Website

http://theyankeedownunderphotography.fotomerchant.com/

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