Land of the long white cloud

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

New Zealand | Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | 5 photos

As a child in school, the teacher always made you write about what you want to be when you grow up.... corny as it is, “wildlife photographer” was what I wrote about. The natural world has amazed me all my life, and the concept of being able to capture it, and share with others to appreciate, is mesmerizing.

My name is Kahli April Hindmarsh, I'm a 24 year old Aussie girl, but lately have spent more of my time out of the country than in. My passions in life are travel, adventure and photography.

I've been fortunate enough to have already traveled to many beautiful places in the world, and some not so beautiful. But something I constantly find myself questioning as I'm standing in an incredible landscape, is how do you capture that moment in time, the feeling, the emotion that you're feeling, all in one image? How do you create the perfect composition to share with others and fill them with the same emotion you experienced? How do you create an image that does what is before you justice - that tells a story itself.

This is what I want to get out of this workshop if I was fortunate enough to be chosen. I want to learn, not only how to take the perfect picture, but how to portray in an image, my opinion, and my emotion.

The photos I've submitted were taken from my latest trip to New Zealand. I spent a month there during winter, snowboarding and living in a van, which is another story in itself, but it allowed me to experience some incredible moments. It was such an extraordinary place, unlike any other country I’ve visited, with constantly changing landscape and such unbelievable scenery. It was easy to expect to wake up from a dream at any moment. The photos I've submitted I think best capture some of my most memorable moments and hopefully have captured some of what I experienced.

To me, photography is a tool, which when used correctly has endless possibilities. Photos inspire people to make decisions or changes, they educate people, they create a mood within the viewer, at the very least, they are enjoyable to see. There are endless possibilities to what can be done, and I want to have the knowledge to be able to do these things. Photographs are so personal, you put so much of yourself into them, and to see others appreciate that photo you've taken as much as you do is an indescribable feeling.

The excitement and the fulfillment I get from capturing the perfect photo can only be outdone by knowing that I can share that feeling with others. I think I should be chosen because at the very least, I want to make a difference and tell stories with my photos. I want others to marvel and yearn and experience things they wouldn't have if I hadn't taken that picture to share with them.