Category Archives: Uncategorized

Southern Tasmania, Bruny Island and the Hartz Mountains.

On a recent trip to the Southern Area of Tasmania including a few days on Bruny Island, the unpredictable weather helped in getting some amazing shots. The dawn light in Adventure Bay was wonderful, but the weather would close in by the afternoon and bring a wind from the south. The seas would then become choppy and so I decided to do the morning boat trip along the coast to the southernmost area near the Bruny Lighthouse. This boat trip is highly recommended as the towering cliffs along this part of the Island are quite spectacular. Not for those prone to sea-sickness. It really pays to pick your time and if there is a strong wind it would be no use for photography, as you need to stand up in the boat when they stop for a moment, and its quite a challenge I can tell you! Also spent some time in the Hartz Mountains National Park, and as is so often the case when I go to this spot the wind and rain arrived within minutes of getting out of the car. Undaunted I managed to photograph Lake Dobson and get wet….yet again. The Arve river area was also damp, but no wind, so the rainforest looked amazing. The wonderful thing about Tasmania is the diversity in the weather, expect anything and you wont be disappointed. 

Photographic Day Out: Flinders Coastal area and Cape Schanck National Park July 12th 2011

Drove down to the Cape Schanck National Park and the Flinders Coastal area last weekend with a friend from our Photographic Club. Spent the day at these two locations getting some very good coastal images with the ocean at low tide. Winter light was very favourable, and we also experimented with ND filters on the movement of the wave action in many of our photo’s to create that special ethereal effect. Certainly this is a wonderful location to 
re-visit on more than one occasion.

Bendigo Region Photographic Workshop June 4th and 5th 2011

A recent two day workshop held in and around the Bendigo Goldfields district was very successful. We set out to photograph the wonderful cathedral in the first light of dawn and also to try some times exposures at night of this amazing church. We spent some time too in the vicinity of the Campaspe River at Kyneton, because the winter light was low and there was no wind to speak of. There we were able to capture some stunning reflections with the added bonus of the last of the Autumn colours, still lying on
the ground in various hues of gold, brown and red.
.

We also spent an hour or two out in the vicinity of Heathcote where at close proximity to the town is an area the locals describe as the pink hills. these are remnants of the gold-rush, leftover alluvial diggings that are eroding away leaving spectacular colours and shapes to marvel at. These pink hills can be photographed in the middle part of the day during the winter months as the light is a lot less contrasty due to the sun being at such a low angle. Other stops included the flooded Mount Ida creek and the Botanical Gardens in the small village of Malmsbury. The winter sun was a delight here and the reflections in the ponds very attractive.


Waratah Bay Weekend with Southern Suburbs Photographic Society

Recently our club had a wonderful three day weekend at Waratah Bay. We had an amazing lodge all to ourselves and over the course of the three days we drove to various locations nearby. As the road to Tidal River was still blocked some of the group drove down the five mile road at the Northern end of Wilson’s Prom National Park to Miller’s Landing.  Very dramatic seascapes here and luckily the tide was out so some excellent seascapes presented themselves. The Big drift was a two kilometre walk and proved to be a great spot for some unusual landscapes. These sand-hills are huge and are simply amazing to walk over.

Other places the group visited were Fish Creek, Sandy Point, Walkerville North, Cape Liptrap and Port Franklin. This area is so good and with its relative closeness to Melbourne there is a strong indication from the favourable comments by everyone to visit this area again next year, with the group booking the same lodge too, as it caters for the needs of the club very well.

Phillip Island Photography Weekend May20th – 23rd 2011

Last weekend the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies (VAPS) annual convention was held at Cowes on Phillip Island. A wonderful opportunity to mix with like-minded people and enjoy a weekend filled with photographic workshops lectures and social time with members from the various clubs in Victoria. I had been asked to hold two workshops on the Sunday and Monday mornings and it proved to be a great event as the weather favoured those that got out of bed early to enjoy the first light of day.

I have visited Phillip Island on a number of occasions, but have never seen such lovely Light perfect for photography as this weekend. The above images were taken at the following spots…. Cape Woolamai, The Nobbies, Churchill Island and Cowes Cemetery.

Weekend Workshop with the Benalla Camera Club

I was invited up to Benalla again to spend time with this lovely group of people. Friday night saw me judging their open and landscape sections of the monthly competition. Some really good work was submitted and many of the participants received merits for their work….and justly so.
Saturday I conducted an indoor workshop on advanced photographic composition and landscape HDR with the afternoon and dusk dedicated to putting into practise what everyone had been shown.

Sunday morning we spend around the Benalla lake before enjoying a great breakfast at one of the cafe’s in town. Waiting for the dusk out at the shoreline of Lake Nillahcootie and then getting the dazzling evening light was the highlight of our afternoon shoot. the weekend was a great success and I am always delighted to spend time with everyone in this photographic group.