In the latest edition of the Australian “Camera” Magazine there is a six page article of mine describing the lovely places and scenic spots that the area around Benalla in Central Victoria has to offer the landscape Photographer. I have been travelling up to Benalla Camera club on a couple of occasions to Lecture and Judge, and so invited members to come out and do some workshop time in the field with me while I was visiting. The photo’s in the article are a result of these outings with the club.

Before returning to Melbourne after conducting workshops with Ewen Bell in Norway and Iceland, I decided to have a little rest and recreation down at my Daughter’s place in the village of Wareham in Dorset, England. So some mornings and afternoons when the light was right….found me wandering the back roads and gravitating as always to the wonderful Jurassic coastlines of this part of England. The late Winter light was soft and quite delightful and I have selected a few of my favourite images that I shot in the few days I spent visiting the family.

The Icelandic Photographic Workshop came to a close with an unbelievable storm that swept up from the South and hit the coastline with winds of gusts up to 173 kms an hour! The group took shelter in a large farmhouse built with stables and training area on the ground floor. Six hours later towards evening they re-opened the road and we continued onto our last hotel for this journey. Between the fronts of weather we had the opportunity to spend about 5 hours photographing the superb icebergs that are scattered on the beach at Jokulsarlon. What made this more of a challenge was the fact that the first storm from which we all sheltered had kicked up the waves into a frenzy. With amazing back-lighting and cloud formations in the southern Skies we all worked to capture the unbelievable site along the coastline. this was the grand finale… and a beautiful one! A big thanks to all the lovely participants of this workshop… Greg and Val Earl, Ann Alcock, Pam Rixon, Linda Herd, Victoria Bell, Peter and Margaret Walton, Murray and Judy McEachern… and of course my great workshop mate Ewen Bell…a special thanks… it was a phenomenal trip and will not be easily forgotten by those who attended it.

Continuing with our Lofoten workshop in the Arctic circle of Norway had the group capture stunning images every day we worked our way through the Landscape. Warmer the usual for this time of the year, we got rain instead of snow on the second last night and morning of our journey. The wonderful snow that we had melted away and therefore we were presented with some challenges not often sen up here in the depths of winter. It turned out okay for us after all, as bursts of light came through the gloom and all of us were able to capture unusual and intriguing photographs of the coastlines and landscape. We left Lofoten, flew down to Bergen and spent a couple of days enjoying the city sights with a great side trip to some Fjords and Mountains…before flying out to our second destination… Iceland.

Iceland greeted us with sunshine the first day. Not bad for winter. In fact Ewen Bell and Myself had done a considerable amount of research for both the Arctic circle in Norway and our second workshop straight after in Iceland…as to the best time photographically, and this coupled with the best weather. This time of year is the absolute ideal combination of stable weather conditions and magnificent stunning photography. Snow scenes abound and the light show from the heavens…especially at night when the Northern lights are at their best, proved that we had done our research properly. It pays to listen to other professional photographers and not just read guidebooks! Our first three days here are incredible… Northern lights at night, wonderful back-lighting during the day…almost on cue, when we want it…and ever-changing skies. We got a beautiful dusting of snow last night and crunching through this to capture images is just totally amazing.

One week into this totally awesome photographic workshop and we have seen an amazing diversity of weather. Ewen Bell and myself have kept everyone busy and thanks to our wonderful second driver Sandro, we are getting to totally fantastic places. The group has experienced everything from sunny clear sky days to full snow dropping on us as we photograph the mountains, fjords and coastlines. The Northern Lights has literally blown us away and we have experienced them for five nights to varying intensity and time. Sleep is the last thing on our minds, but when we do collapse into bed its just heavenly.

After we had completed the Milford Track walk we spent a day or so in and around Te-Anau and the lake. I hired a car and spent some time in the nearby valley’s and along the rivers. We then headed up to Queenstown for a few days and also visited Wanaka, Arrowtown and Glenorchy. The weather was amazing because a cold front came in when we arrived in Queenstown and dumped snow across the ranges and then turned warm and sunny the following day… just perfect for landscape photography…( my son said I did my usual thing and ordered it)  My main reason for spending a few days here however, was to also scout some good locations for my upcoming autumn workshop to the South Island in late April and early May. Checking out some back roads and other good areas for photography, means that when I am here with the group we can head straight to these locations for the wonderful colours and landscapes.

Walking the Milford track has been on my bucket list for quite a while, so when my younger son Jason suggested we book in and do it together over the Summer holidays, I jumped at the chance. Together with my son and my wife Ann our first morning looked doubtful. It had rained all night, no surprise here as this area gets about 8 metres of rainfall a year! As we boated up Lake Te-Anau the clouds gathered and it got darker. It was no doubt raining hard up ahead. As if by magic, the rain stopped falling just after we landed at the start of the track. Steam was rising from the Clinton River as we made our way up the valley. The rainforest was dripping and so green and peaceful. It’s so lush it is hard to take in. World heritage and a privilege to be amongst it all. Our first night’s camp was just above the Clinton River at about 100 metres altitude…..and we had packed a celebratory dinner of Venison steaks and vegetables covered in gravy!

The morning of the second day was magnificent. We made an early start as we had to cover quite a few kilometres to get ourselves further up the valley. The track meanders alongside the River and the rainforest just gets better and better. Small side trips to see some lakes and wetlands are magnificent. the valley closes in and we start to see some wonderful waterfalls streaming down the sides of the mountains. We wonder at what any rain will do to these streams if it starts (expect rain any day at any time we were told) Every time we stopped for break or just to take it all in, trout would jump in the river. At one spot I counted 14! Towards the end of the day we started to climb, as this second day we have to reach 500 metres. tonight we start to eat our packed rations…cooked of course but not like the night before! After dinner a wander out to  lake Mintaro and catch the sun as it hits the side of the mountains…simply stunning. What a place, valley, rainforest, mountains…and as much as you can take in.

The morning of day three was bright and sunny. We left early again…another big day ahead, this time a climb to over 1100 metres, a walk along the ridge line and then a decent down 1000 metres on the other side into the Arthur River Valley. We arrived up at Mackinnon Pass late morning and spent time here marvelling at the magnificent view. 360 degree views, unbelievable. Lord of the rings country and the broken clouds and light just made it all that much better. The descent was on a narrow pathway with rocks and scree and many stops for photography! The summer flowers were all out in bloom and the Alpine daisy in particular was impressive. The pass is sheer magic with tarns scattered about and I spent a lot of time working my way around it all to shoot plenty of frames. The descent works its way down through a narrow gorge and is named the Roaring burn. Water is forced down through narrow granite openings and rainforest and it seems to go on forever. Sheer magic. At the bottom the track levels out and there is an opportunity to leave your back-pack in a hut, grab a hot cuppa and trek on a one and a half hour return journey to see the highest waterfall is New Zealand. Its amazing! 580 metres in three drops straight off the top it seems of a mountain and plunges straight into a pool right in front of you. Try and get a photo here with mist and spray all over you! Its wipe shoot and wipe again….but definitely worth it! arriving late into camp three, tired and ready for our daily rations! By this time our son Jason is affectionately called the food nazi. The ranger gives his daily talk and run-down on procedures and reminds us all to stow all boots and other hiking gear away securely, otherwise the Kea’s will tear them to bits and cart some pieces off. Something you don’t want to happen to your hiking boots!

The previous evening the Ranger updated the weather report and advised all the hikers not to leave before 7am the next morning until he got the latest weather update… in a word it was overdue to rain and there is always the possibility of flooding ( no-one does this walk without at least one day of rain) It started about midnight.  It rained and rained and…rained. We awoke to rain and looked out to the mountains shrouded in heavy mist with waterfalls teeming down on every side. The ranger came in while having our breakfast and said okay to walk. We geared up without delay. It’s rather fun to walk in the rain, especially knowing that it is the last day and a warm bed and hot meal is waiting at the other end. I felt sorry for the poor hikers coming over the pass behind us though! We got views and sunshine…. they will get a good soaking, slippery tracks and no views! Our walk was the final 18 kilometres and I have never experienced anything like it. the rainforest was soaked and the creeks and streams were literally roaring with water. We had to wade on many occasions through metre deep gorges and our boots were squelching after 30 minutes. Water everywhere and to experience the waterfalls and effect it had was mind-blowing. It was extremely hard to get the camera out and so not many images were made this day…. The experience was enough… Wonderful and something I will never forget. When we arrived at Milford sound, it decided to stop and my last couple of images are of clouds and mist lifting slowly above the water and enshrouding the mountains. Unforgettable!

Recently Ewen Bell and Myself were asked to write something about out experience leading a tour together in Nepal for Britain’s “Digital Photography” magazine. The Editor was impressed with the images we sent him and had great difficulty in choosing which ones to use. A nice problem to have! We have since heard back that they regretted not taking it to a  four page spread. We concur!

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