Cloudy Peak

It's seems I've become an accidental postman. Today I've been back on the mail run to Mesopotamia, but today I thought I'd pack a long lens with my kit to see what I could capture from the valley floor.

Cloudy Peak, seen here with the 400mm lens from just before Forest Creek, rises 2403m above the confluence of the Havelock, Clyde and Rangitata Rivers, the highest peak in its eponymous range. Its lower flanks were used to film the Helms Deep location shots for the Lord of the Rings movies, just across the river from Mount Sunday, the location for Edoras, capital of Rohan.

The extra photos also feature views towards the Cloudy Peak Range. One is looking over the lush pastures of Forest Creek Station, the other from the matagouri laden, boulder strewn 4WD track towards the confluence. You can see in these two photos how the terrain changes the further towards the mountains you get and as you leave the farmed land behind you.

I forgot to see the exif for this shot on my X-E2 (it's a non-coupled lens using my Pentax-Fuji adapter, and my default is for my 12mm Sayang), so if you're interested it's a Tokina 400mm f/5.6 lens at f/11, ISO800, 1/1600.