Picture-perfect shot earns Bluff woman kudos in world competition
Rita Baker’s passion for photography started in her native Germany in the 1980s, when her grandfather taught her how to use an old film camera.
She has brought that teaching to fruition and this year one of her pictures received an honourable mention at the World Water Day Photo Contest.
The 52-year-old Bluff resident took a picture of Lake Matheson in Westland on a foggy winter morning, while a flock of Canadian geese was resting on the lake’s mirror-like surface.
“The morning didn’t look that promising – it was fairly cold, the fog was rolling in,” she said.
“And we walked around the viewing platform and you could hear those geese chatting to each other, flying off, landing.”
The contest was in its eighth edition and this year 358 photographers from 65 countries participated, sending 1596 pictures.
World Water Day was a UN-established celebration held on March 22 that invited people to reflect on the right to water.
The Southland photographer’s picture of Lake Matheson received an “Honourable Mention – Best from Oceania” during the gala wards in Italy on March 22.
Baker said she had been camping near Fox Glacier on the West Coast last winter. She named the photo “Wildlife refuge” because Lake Matheson was one of the few places where birds could still take refuge in New Zealand.
But her passion for photographing animals in the wild started in Europe, even though you could not beat photographing New Zealand, she said. “Who doesn’t want to take pictures of New Zealand?”
She moved to New Zealand 21 years ago and has since become a flax weaver, making and selling traditional Māori handwoven items with her husband, Geoff Baker, who is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rangi and Te Hikutū descent.
Baker said photography has always been a hobby for her, and it was a healthy one.
“I wish people would go out and spend time in nature, slowly.”
She was bothered by people who only did a scenic walk to take a picture at the end of the trail and post it on social media, without pausing to appreciate the wilderness, Baker said.
She said she has at times entered photos in New Zealand regional competitions.
At present, she has a photo of a snowy day at Lindis Pass on show at an exhibition in Scotland.
Her latest feat was a photo of the aurora australis taken at 5am on Monday from Stirling Point, Bluff.
“It’s the first one I ever took of an aurora and a rainbow – in the bottom left corner there is a little rainbow,” she said.
“I have never seen that before ... considering 5am is still dark.”
“The morning didn’t look that promising – it was fairly cold, the fog was rolling in.”
Rita Baker