Western-port Bay Grantville – Tooradin Victoria December 17th 2013

Dec18

Old Jetties and Abandoned ships...I have for a long time wanted to photograph the old Jetties in Western-port Bay near the town of Grantville. Arrived not long after Dawn at Queensferry Jetty firstly, and after getting stuck in the mud and nearly losing one of my gum-boots at low tide, I moved further around the coast a little to Tenby Point. Both old Jetties are really good photographic material and I will endeavour to re-visit again, maybe doing a sunset next time I visit. On the way back to Melbourne I had arranged to meet my friend Gordon who is the chief Pilot for Aus-air at Tooradin. Armed with a hefty step-ladder we headed over to the abandoned old freighter ship lying forlorn in the mangroves by the runway. More great photographic material here and I have worked some of the images in HDR as I feel this subject lends itself to this medium rather well.

King Island Photographic Workshop November 29th – December 1st 2013

Dec9

Due to popular demand and extra bookings, I decided to run a second late spring photographic workshop last weekend on King Island, taking advantage of the fine weather and coastal bloom of flowers that appear at this time of the year. Everyone enjoyed the great locations both around the lagoons and along the various coastlines. The weather remained fine enough to visit the penguin colony at dusk and get some images of the little darlings waddling home with bellies full of fish. Great company and lots of delicious food completed the wonderful weekend of photography. I actually stayed on a few days more and took advantage of the Spring blooms, especially at my secret spot. The flowers here are exceptional, given that it’s a shearwater colony and their droppings fertilize the karkalla or Carpobrotus rossii. Hard to get to and a bit of a trek as its out of the way and not near any roads, plus its a tiger snake haven and you also need to go at low tide to negotiate the huge boulders! I spent considerable time here and took advantage of the sunny weather which opens the flowers up fully and makes for a magnificent scene in a kaleidoscope of colour.

King Island Photographic Workshop November 22nd – 24th 2013

Nov26

Last weekend saw nine participants brave the varying conditions that only King Island could deliver. The rain never actually stopped us photographing: and indeed there were some amazing cloud formations one day, stormy and gale force the next and hot sunny with blue sky on the final day. Everyone had a wonderful time and saw great locations that the normal tourist does not see. Fortunate enough to catch father and son unloading kelp, a glimpse of the rare white fronted chat and the roadways and beaches in flood all added to the excitement of the trip. We dined on Lobster, Wallaby, the famous king Island beef and cheese and seafood pies. Part of the adventure is of course digging out the Huge Oka 4WD and making a track on Yellow rock beach to get us out of the soft sand. A big thank you to all the group and I enjoyed every minute being down there with you all. My sincere hope is that you all came back with some incredible shots. Below is a selection of images I took when I could snatch a minute or two from the busy schedule.

New nine page article – “Tasmania’s forgotten corner” Issue 35 Digital Photography Magazine December 2013

Nov21

Out next month is Australia’s Digital Photography Magazine Issue 35 with a nine page feature and photographs of Flinders Island. It coincides with my new book on the Island which was launched last month. The article has excerpts from the book and the selection of images I feel has been beautifully presented.

Victorian West Coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy November 15th – 17th 2013

Nov19

About eighteen members of the SSPS spent the weekend down on the coast photographing the amazing light and coastlines in and around Port Fairy and Warrnambool. Help and advice was on offer and I also spent some time on the Saturday evening helping a few members with their images in Photoshop. On the Sunday morning we invited the Portland Camera club to join us for a few hours to shoot “The Crags” and nearly all their club turned out to join us! We had a wonderful morning and finished off at a local bakery for lunch and coffee. All participants on the weekend really enjoyed the time together and we can only hope that more members of SSPS come on the next weekend away.

N-PHOTO The UK Nikon Magazine November 2013 Issue

Oct26

The latest Nikon Photo magazine published in the UK has a full page Image of mine of a shot I took there on my last visit. It’s an early morning photograph of the rising sun at Bradbury rings in Dorset. This area has the remains of an Ancient Iron Age fortifications with a forest growing in the middle of it, very scenic and picturesque, especially in the late spring when all the wildflowers come out in full bloom.

Flinders Island New Photographic Book Launch October 17th 2013

Oct23

My second Published book which is a photographic essay on the magnificent Flinders Island was launched last thursday at Vista’s Lodge and Restaurant. The wonderful hosts Ken and Carolyn put on a delicious finger food and cocktail party for invited guests from the Island community. The book was well received and I was introduced by Carol Cox the Island’s Mayor. The next day was the Islands annual show and we had arranged to have a stall and meet the locals and show them the book and sign their personal copies. We met some wonderful people with an overwhelming response to both us and the new book. 25% of the total print of this edition sold at the launch and the show. The next day the Tasmanian Parliament ordered 3 copies. Local businesses and the flinders council want to stock it and it will now be available to everyone who visits the Island. My personal thanks to Gordon Brown of Tas Air services for freighting all the books and for the wonderful return flight of Ann and myself. A big thanks to all the Islanders who supported us over the weekend and a special thanks to our friends Ken and Carolyn for all their hard work support and encouragement. We had a few hours over the weekends frenetic activities to look at some new locations for the annual workshops I conduct there. Some of the locals we had met at the show had suggested various areas near their homes and indeed on their properties, so we drove out and spent some time scouting them. I am excited to now add a couple of locations which are photographically appealing to the next workshop we do in April 2014 and these include Egg Beach, Long Point Lagoon, Blue rocks and various properties with interesting subject matter like old machinery and derelict buildings. Our next workshop will be a very interesting exercise indeed. A note on the photography… due to weight restrictions (lots of book cartons) I only took the Olympus OMD and a couple of lenses. It handled itself remarkably well.

Colorado – USA Autumn Colours September 23rd – 29th 2013

Oct16

After seeing the Tour group off and left in the capable hands of Peter Walton at Salt Lake city Airport, we caught a flight to Denver Colorado. I had in mind to chase up the colours of the Aspens and Autumn colours especially in the beautiful area of Maroon Bells. This is a photographer’s mecca and the first snowfall of the season happened the day before we arrived. Maroon Lake is up around 10,000 feet and so you are almost guaranteed some snow when the weather changes. The morning was crisp and clear and getting there early was a bonus as Alpenglow appeared and shone across the Maroon Bells Range. Later that day there was no wind and so the reflections were perfect. We also spent some time around Independence pass, at 12100 feet it is simply wonderful. Telluride was our final destination and the San Juan Mountain range…. beautiful… and snow fell to make it even better.

USA Photographic Tour- Idaho Washington Montana Wyoming Utah – September 2013

Oct10

Yellowstone National Park proved to be a winner with the group and after a week driving through and photographing this stunning area of Hot springs, mountain ranges, waterfalls and geysers we headed south to the next beautiful area which were the Grand Tetons. We based ourselves at coulter Bay for the first two nights before moving south again to have three nights in Jackson. It snowed as if on cue and the Tetons were covered in a fine white layer. Places visited included early morning starts at Oxbow Bend, the snake river overlook made famous by Ansel Adams, Mormon row and Jenny Lake. to stand at nearly 10,000 feet above sea-leval and look across a turquoise lake with fluffy white clouds above is truly memorable. The group voted the best spot in this area as being the reflections at String Lake….I personally find it hard to vote as everything is just stunning and magical.

USA Photographic Tour- Idaho Washington Montana Wyoming Utah – September 2013

Oct5

Spending a considerable amount of time in the national parks has many advantages for photographers. One of course is the chance to spot and observe and hopefully capture the animals that roam the park. Although we saw many animals, getting closer is another thing altogether. Wild bison in herds, much harder to get than photographing one individual resting. Chipmunks and squirrels everywhere and birds of prey too. We were able to observe many animals in their natural habitat and photograph some of them, such as the Canada Geese. Herds of Elk too far off most of the time and a lone moose at the waters edge far away in the mirky dawn light. Lovely to see but very hard to shoot. Being there was amazing, and to just observe because we had the time was wonderful. To photograph bears, wolves and birds of Prey close up we needed to visit the West Yellowstone recovery centre. Here unwanted and nuisance animals from the wild are housed and looked after admirably. It was raining but what a privilege to see and observe these lovely creatures.