Category: Auckland

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Auckland Harbour Bridge from Skytower

Aerial perspective of a harbour city with hundreds of buildings and boats. A bridge over the water in the distance and the sun setting in the sky.

Looking out from the Sky Deck on the 60th floor of the Skytower is a great view at most times of the day. It is even more spectacular at sunset when this photograph was taken. The green square in the foreground is Victoria Park. Just behind this the main State Highway 1 twists and turns towards the Auckland Habour Bridge. From here you can see St. Marys Bay and Westhaven marina where all the boats are in the centre of the photograph. On the right is the Viaduct Basin. In the distance behind the bridge is the Waitematā Harbour and the North Shore. With suburbs including Chelsea, Birkenhead and Hobsonville. This photograph was handheld with the camera pressed against the glass. I used a 1/4 of a second exposure so there are some light trails on the car lights moving up and down the highway.

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Looking over the harbour from Auckland Skytower

A person and child look out through huge floor to ceiling windows over a large harbour with a volcanic island in the distance.

This might have been the fifth or sixth time taking the lift up to the Sky Deck of Auckland Skytower. This is the highest viewing platform in the city at 220 metres above street level on the 60th floor. In this photograph I wanted to capture a slightly different perspective. I rarely include people in my photographs unless for scale. Here I waited patiently for the numerous groups and people taking selfies to move out of the way. I wanted one or two people looking out across the Waitematā Harbour and beyond. This man and child were the ideal subjects. In the background you can see the Devenport Peninsula with the volcanic Rangitoto Island in the Hauraki Gulf behind. On the far right is the large Waiheke Island.

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Auckland skyline from Viaduct Basin

City skyline reflected in the still water of a harbour highlighting the glow of urban lights.

The Viaduct Basin and more specifically the Wynyard Quarter is home to some of the largest yachts and expensive bars and restaurants in the city. This was taken at dawn just before sunrise. I was stood infront of the Viaduct Events Centre with Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship moored up directly behind me. The bridge lit up in blue to the right is the Wynyard Crossing. The main focal point is the Auckland Skytower and it’s full reflection in the dark blue waters of the harbour. Back in Christmas 2015 I took a similar photograph of the Viaduct Basin in Auckland but in the evening. There is something very magical about the still water of dawn where the reflection in this recent photograph is captured with much more detail.

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Auckland Lightpath and light trails

City skyline featuring a colourful footbridge and busy highway and red and white blurred lights from traffic moving below the camera.

I remember first seeing the pink cyclepath from a friend’s apartment in the Urba Residences many years ago. My photo from 2013 of light trails in Auckland captures the same view in the evening. This latest photograph shows the view in 2025 on a winter Monday morning. A lot more traffic moving in and out of the city. An 8 second long exposure with the camera on a tripod on the Hopetoun Street Bridge. One of the more subtle details of this photograph is the line white light trail on the horizon to the left edge of the image, this is the Auckland Harbour Bridge.