New Zealand Bird Photography Prints (Limited Edition)

Title: Where Light Falls: Morepork (Ruru)

For seven years, I walked the same tracks beneath a towering canopy of ancient kahikatea forest, always with my camera, always with hope. My subject the morepork (Ruru) New Zealand’s elusive native owl, whose call resonates through the night.

What began as curiosity became obsession. I learned their habits, their favourite perches, their seasonal movements. I watched them melt into the dusk, materialising silently out of the shadows, and vanish again before the light returned. In those countless hours, I began to understand that photographing these birds was not about finding them, it was about waiting for the right moment. A moment shaped by patience, light, and silence.

The forest itself is a character in this photographic story. The kahikatea, some centuries old, create a cathedral of moss and wonder. On early mornings when the sun hangs low in the sky and the undergrowth sleeps, the light would move differently. It trickles in, filtering through the canopy in long, sharp beams that seem to point to things just out of reach.

Years ago, on one early morning, I imagined the photograph I wanted, a morepork, perched on a mossy kahikatea root, bathed in a shaft of sunlight. A simple image, but almost impossible.
The odds were laughable, the right bird, in the right place, at the right time, with the right light. But I kept going back. Season after season. Camera ready, Eyes open.And then it happened.

One morning, the forest still waking up, I rounded a tree and froze. There, just as I’d pictured, a morepork stood on a thick, green Kahikatea root, alert, silent, and perfectly still. A single sunbeam sliced through the canopy and fell across its face, lighting up its feathers like burnished bronze. The owl looked outward into the forest, as if it too were watching, waiting.

I barely breathed as I took this shot. Seven years, thousands of hours, and then, my photo captured in just seconds. But in those seconds, the forest gave me a gift I will never forget.

1/800th sec F4 ISO1600 Canon R5, 600mm F4 

Limited Edition 10 ONLY (100cmx66cm) 

Photographed by John Parker, Maddox Photography NZ

ACM Wall Art

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Acrylic Wall Art

Make a bold statement with our Gallery-Quality Acrylic Prints. Your image is printed beneath 4.5mm of crystal-clear acrylic for an ultra-glossy, high-impact presentation. The result is a luxurious, vibrant piece that adds depth, shine, and elegance to any room.

READY TO HANG STRAIGHT FROM THE BOX comes with Certificate of Authenticity.

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