I've been at Weta Cave a few days ago, and thought those images were appropriate right now...

This one started out as a test. I wanted to see how far I can go with panorama photography. The image shows 360 degrees horizontal and about 170 degrees vertical - Means, it covers a full turn and pretty much a view from my feet to straight upwards.
The reason why those clouds seem to form an arc is due to distortion. This can't really be avoided, as I had to literally stretch a 3 d real life view into a 2 d photograph. All panoramas show this effect to a certain degree. It's very obvious in most astro images, showing the Milkyray as an arc, rather than its real straight line shape.
​
The tech background:
I used a Canon EOS 6 d full frame camera and a Sigma 24 mm ART lens.
I also used a sturdy tripod with a special panorama head (a manual one, as I don't like automatic ones)
I shot, all in all, 120 images in portrait orientation, in 4 rows of 30 images each. This means, 30 images of the sky, each one a few degrees clockwise to the last, till I was back to the start point, then mounting the camera lower, same process, and so fort.
The tricky part for the shooting itself was to be fast enough to get the full scene. As this was a sunset, I had only a few minutes from "still bright" to "nearly dark". I had about 5 seconds per picture, including adjustments, to shoot the whole series within about 10-15 minutes.
Having all those images, they needed to be "evened", so they were all looking virtually the same in terms of light - none much darker or brighter than the others.
Then they went into special stitching software to be combined to one big image. 
Due to long shooting times and some possible alignment issues, there were, of course, errors in this big image, like clouds (as they moved a lot within 10 minutes), steps in the horizon, lighting stripes in some of the seams etc. Those errors needed to be corrected in editing software (I use Photoshop), as well as overall noise reduction and contrast adjustments.
You see, panoramas like this look pretty, but there's many hours of hard work involved.
The camera itself has a 21 megapixel resolution, the final image sports 223 megapixel at 122 MB. It could be printed in a size to cover the side of a house, without losing detail.
Below you find a small portion of this, just to show the level of detail.
Of course this image is available as a printed version, please contact me if you're interested:
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

For the image below, I used 16 of the original images from the panorama shown above.
This one is not a crop of the panorama, but an entirely new stitched version, hence it shows the water pool to the right in full, not cut in half as in the panorama. The level of detail is the same in both images, if you had the opportunity to zoom in to 100% resolution (of course you can't, as they have been downsized for publishing)

I know, it's just a rock, but this particular one is always in for some dramatic shots, if there's enough wind. 
Taken in Island Bay, Wellington, Wednesday morning around 9 am.
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Here some more images from Wednesday morning. Those concentrate more on the colors cast by the dappled sunlight, as well as the textures on the waves.
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

We had quite a variety in our weather the last few weeks. Like beautiful sunshine yesterday and cold, stormy rain today. The weather app told me 61 kph winds from the South. so off I went, to the coast!
The waves should have been bigger with wind that strong. Also, when i arrived around 9 AM, the wind decreased slowly, and it turned almost sunny later on.
Camera and lens needed some attention after this, to get all the salt spray off as quick as possible.
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Here a few of my favorite portraits of men. They sometimes seem to be more shy than women, I couldn't figure out why, yet...
Some explaining to those following images:
The first one was taken in a bar, around Halloween (matching the season). This sort of shooting can be tricky due to dark environment, fast moving subjects and not having the liberty to showing up with studio gear.
The second one was taken in a studio though.
Number 3 and 4 were taken in'outside some cafes in Wellington. A bit easier concerning lighting, but still rather minimum gear to carry around. 
the last two were taken on Cuba Street, Wellington, same minimum gear as the cafe shots due to the same reasons. Street photography is a matter of luck, to see a situation/person, and react fast enough to capture.
And yes, I got consent for all of them before shooting.

Seen from Brooklyn, and this image was taken with a very long lens (on 600 mm).
​Of course this image is available as a printed version, please contact me if you're interested:
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Hutt River, close to Melling, one quiet night... I don't really need to say much about those images. The blue lights on the bridge (reflecting on the pebbles), the yellow street lights shining through the trees, the bright lights of Lower Hutt, stars and even some Milky-Way, all this and the reflections in the water, has its own magic... Who says "all cats are grey at night" (a German saying, not sure if this applies in English too, but I guess you get my meaning)?
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

This is one of my favorite storm photos ever. Not so much about the waves, rather about the clouds and the eerie light. This wasn't something planned, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and suddenly I was in the middle of this fiery scene, back in 2015. Another one of that series was exhibited in the Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington, some three years ago. This image is part of a limited edition, limited to 12 prints of this one.
There are still eight left to sell. The price, due to it being a LE, is $ 900 for a 150 cm mounted canvas. Please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

On a rainy night in Wellington, around the waterfront. Moon, city-lights puddles and my camera.
The first shot was taken on top of the former Fisherman's Table building - as far as I know this will be renovated or rebuilt. 
The second image was taken behind Te Papa, all Wellingtonians know the Solace in the Wind statue by ​Max Patté.
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Here some more from my recent shots around Brooklyn and the Botanic Garden in Wellington. Those who know me, know that wet weather doesn't necessarily hold me indoors. The lighting can be so much nicer and softer on an overcast and drizzly day, green and brown tones dominate, and the occasional sun ray lights up some leaves or parts of the path.
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

... seen from a rather unusual position. On a walk around the bush up Brooklyn, on a drizzly late morning, I got a glimpse of it. Just at one point on the path up there. Luckily I had a rather long lens with me (70-300 mm zoom lens), so I could get "close" enough!
​Of course this image is available as a printed version, please contact me if you're interested:
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Here a few of my favorite shots from around Island Bay and Princess Bay. Sunsets, because our weather is a bit depressing atm...
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

This one is a panorama of 24 images (2 rows of 12 images each).
It covers over 180 degrees of view from East to West, overlooking the Cook Strait, taken around Princess Bay, Wellington South coast.
​As I've been asked before, there is no logo on my prints (unless you ask for it)
Of course this image is available as a printed version, please contact me if you're interested:
​photos@wernerkaffl.com

Though it's getting colder again, Spring seems to gain a foothold - slowly but steady!
​Of course these are available as prints, please contact me if you're interested
​photos@wernerkaffl.com