Fog in The Shire

Driving through the Waikato was miserable that morning, we hit fog as soon as we go over the Bombay Hills just south of Auckland. The fog was thick, the sort that makes t=you concentrate extra hard to make sure you stay on the road. The consolation came when the fog started to lift as we drove thought the beautiful Waikato landscape, so many times I wanted to stop and take some pictures but we also had a tight schedule to get to the mountain and play in the snow.

When I saw this scene I just could couldn't pass it so we pulled over. I didn't want to waste time so I shot this handheld and not bracketed per my usual workflow. I love this shot, everything about it reminds me of the first time I watched Lord of the Rings and saw images of the Shire where Frodo and his fellow Hobbitfolk lived. The landscape seemed like it was all CGI and couldn't possibly have been real. Having travelled through the Waikato quite a bit I see now that the makers of the movies where spoilt for choice when they scouted for the location of the Shire.