New Zealand: Two steam-capped geothermal sites
Today marks the beginning of the fifth and last set of photographs from the great February visit to New Zealand.
The first picture is from Te Puia on February 23rd. I expected to see areas of yellow attributable to sulfur, but the pale reddish rocks farther out came as a surprise.
And speaking of colors, how about the green and orange that I found together along one margin of the Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu on February 24th?
© 2015 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
The first picture really reminds me of an impressionist painting with those soft colours and the variety of textures. The second picture is such a contrast due to its vibrant contrasting colours and simplicity of composition. Excellent as always, Steve.
Jane
July 7, 2015 at 5:58 AM
At the Te Papa Museum in Wellington we saw some Impressionist paintings of New Zealand (though I don’t recall any that showed geothermal features). Here are a few samples:
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Object/707517
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Object/709088
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Topic/939
Ah, I just found one from Rotorua:
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Object/41421
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 6:14 AM
Thanks, Steve. I think your “impressionist” photograph competes very well in the artistic stakes.
Jane
July 7, 2015 at 6:20 AM
Can you arrange for my photograph to fetch a comparable price? I’ll give you a commission.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 6:27 AM
Well, now, that’s an inviting proposition. I’ll see what I can do, Steve. 😉
Jane
July 7, 2015 at 6:34 AM
And I made that proposal before I read your comment on the coreopsis post saying you’ve sometimes acted as your daughter’s manager/agent.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 6:54 AM
I smiled when I read these notes about Nairn’s paintings: ‘chromatic lunacy’ of Nairn, and ‘bilious as to colour, inchoate in form, and the creations of a disordered imagination.’ Your first ‘plein air’ style photo could be a tribute to Nairn’s supposedly bilious colours and disordered imagination. And pretty though it is, I wouldn’t want any champagne from the champagne pool.
Gallivanta
July 7, 2015 at 7:00 AM
Don’t you just “love” the way art critics talk? You might as well smile at such nonsense.
It occurs to me that for nature photographers almost all pictures are plein air. And suddenly my mind jumped the rails and skipped from that kind of art through French to music and the words “I’ve got plenty o’ nottin’, and nottin’s plenty for me.”
And none of the “champagne” from the Champagne Pool is plenty for me, as for you.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 7:33 AM
Now my mind will take an even bigger leap; that song could be the signature tune for the new Greek finance minister who, most fortuitously, has the name Euclid. Fortuitous because he will have to look for a new angle on nottin. Yikes, enough of my linguistic lunacy.
Gallivanta
July 7, 2015 at 8:35 AM
An apt song indeed! I’m thinking that a finance minister named Arithmetikos rather than Euclid might be even more helpful for today’s Greece in finding a new angle to get past the financial crisis. Speaking of apt (or inapt) names, last night we watched a science show about some of the chemical elements. When the host of the show visited a gold mining operation, one of the people who showed him around had the family name Gold.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 9:05 AM
Arithmetikos Euclid would probably like Gold in his name, too.
Gallivanta
July 7, 2015 at 8:15 PM
The math teacher in me would settle for some extra gold in his pocket.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 9:50 PM
These offer such interesting colors. Is there a strong sulfur odor? I would imagine so.
Steve Gingold
July 7, 2015 at 7:14 AM
I know you’d have a great time with those colors and textures.
Yes, a sulfurous odor permeates the air not only at these geothermal sites but also in the town of Rotorua itself.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 7:35 AM
The rocks in the first photo give the impression of being fluid themselves. I suppose it’s because of the way the various accretions have dripped and flowed over time. I thought the red rocks were interesting, too. Apparently they’re somehow special, since the first three pages of search results were filled with entries for the Red Rock Thermal Hotel.
The grayish layer atop the orange in the second photo reminded me of the appropriately named stone fish. It’s interesting to see those little gray “buttons” next to the larger piece of whatever. They’re cute.
shoreacres
July 7, 2015 at 7:44 AM
I probably should have made clear that everything orange in the second picture is under the water, and the grey formations are high enough to become little islands—or, with only a bit of imagination, stone fish.
The formations you mentioned in the first photograph do seem to preserve a sense of flowing, which isn’t surprising when you consider the volcanic origins of these places. What are considered to have been New Zealand’s finest geothermal formations were destroyed (or at the very least least buried and made inaccessible) by a volcanic eruption in 1886:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_and_White_Terraces
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 8:07 AM
I didn’t know that New Zealand had geothermal areas. Great pictures.
Ray Dawson
July 7, 2015 at 12:17 PM
It does indeed. I think the Big 3 worldwide are Yellowstone, Iceland, and New Zealand. You’re welcome to scroll down through all the NZ geothermal pictures I’ve posted:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/?s=geothermal
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 12:42 PM
Good to know. I knew about Yellowstone and Iceland. Thanks for the pictures.
Ray Dawson
July 7, 2015 at 12:44 PM
You’re welcome. I hope you get to visit some (or all) of those places. I still have Iceland to go.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 12:56 PM
I was amazed with the colours I saw when I visited Te Puia. Such deep rich colours. Nice shots.
Raewyn's Photos
July 7, 2015 at 3:36 PM
I found plenty to photograph at Te Puia and Wai-O-Tapu. Now you’ll have to set your sights on Yellowstone in the United States.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2015 at 3:41 PM
Very true.
Raewyn's Photos
July 7, 2015 at 3:42 PM
Truly a land of surprises around every turn. I’ve loved my visits to the geothermal areas. I can almost smell the brimstone!
krikitarts
July 8, 2015 at 5:32 AM
I’ll take your last sentence literally, as you’re already back in New Zealand and could head for Rotorua when time and the weather permit.
Steve Schwartzman
July 8, 2015 at 5:36 AM
nice shots !! they both look like modern art !
gwenniesgarden
July 8, 2015 at 12:20 PM
I am the very model of a modern art photographer.
Steve Schwartzman
July 8, 2015 at 1:24 PM
😀
gwenniesgarden
July 9, 2015 at 1:07 PM