ELLESMERE

With expert and typically detailed instruction from Greg and Willie earlier, we’d laid them in a rough group, with a tail of birds and a clear patch in front of the maimai for them to land in.

Or something like that, at least. I’ll admit my attention was elsewhere; I was captivated by the aerial display above the vast margins of Lake Ellesmere. It was my first time there, my first opening morning in years, and I was spellbound.

I’d shot on Waikato farms and ponds when I was younger and found the experience enjoyable, but a man can only afford so many passions. Spending time around the Duley family though means you can’t help but feel the anticipation of duck season, and with a trip planned the day after, it seemed crazy not to take up their invitation to shoot Ellesmere with them. Especially on the day enshrined