Last weekend I anticipated a huge high over Southern Australia and its fine outcome up in the high
country. I was not disappointed as this tract of high pressure brought amazing Indian-like summer conditions. Cool evenings brought a layer of heavy mist which burnt off in the morning sunlight. Beautiful conditions for Landscape Photography, the sun does not rise too high in the sky in these Autumn days so contrast remains lower and photography is possible right through the day! I spent three days up here on the Bogong High Plains doing some personal Photography, but I think it would be a great place for a future workshop. Autumn colours were superb and reflections in the rivers and lakes to die for!!

A wonderful workshop has just been completed on the Scenically beautiful Flinders Island. Eight participants enjoyed the great hospitality of our hosts Ken and Carolyn at Vistas Lodge. It was a delight to come back from an intensive day out shooting the Coastlines and mountains of this wild spectacular Island to then sit, unwind and relax over a glass of red (or two)  Four Days of photographic delights and much energy was used in rock-hopping our way over to the perfect location for photography. The group went out on two early morning dawn starts with some amazing images taken.
We also walked into rainforest to see the lovely fern gullies and creeks, drove to two lookouts for sub alpine images and scrambled over countless huge pink granite boulders for the elusive shot!

As this Island lies on the Eastern side of Bass Strait it often gets winds from the South East. Though they don’t deter any determined photographer it is nice to have calm weather. I run workshops in late March and April for this very reason, as the weather is usually very stable…We were very fortunate that three of our days there was very little wind which made for pleasant forays indeed.The weather was kind and we had a superb mix of blue skies and passing clouds. At 40 degrees south we could photograph all day!

To book into the Flinders Island workshops for next year (2012) check the details outlined in a page on this Blog for this Island exclusively.

Another wonderful three day workshop down at King Island has just finished. Our Hosts Ian J and Lucinda were exceptional as usual. The service and food absolutely delightful and everyone on this trip was a bit overwhelmed. We got wonderful light for our photography and the only little drawback was that everyone said they could have spent more time at each location. However, as photographers we could always say that!  Too many images to shoot….not enough time!
I spent an extra two days on the Island as our hosts from the King Island Holiday Village needed some images of the lodging and accommodation for a new brochure that’s going to be printed soon.

Anyone that wants additional information on these workshops please feel free to email or contact me and I will happily send it out. Check out the page dedicated to these workshops on this blog:

I was invited by the Knox Photographic Society up to Mount Buller for three days last weekend to give lectures and lead practical field excursions on the mountain. Over thirty attended and we had a wonderful time together, with the wet weather on saturday night hardly putting a dent in the enthusiasm shared by all.  I am sure all of those who attended the workshop will come home with some amazing images and the photo’s I have posted here will only give you an indication of the fantastic array of subject material that’s to be found up here in the high country of Victoria.

A friend of mine from London arrived in Melbourne for his first visit to Australia last week. Among the many places my friend  Hank wanted to visit…..the Twelve Apostles was near the top of his list. It seems every tourist wants to go there! (Well it is Good, even though we Victorians are slightly biased!!! ) I naturally agreed to take him down on a two day visit ( a chance for more wonderful images!!! ) which would include a round trip to see some of the magnificent rainforest and waterfalls of the Otway Ranges. We spent some time in and around the Hopetoun falls area and included Triplet falls in this visit as well. The weather was cloudy, thick near the coast and I thought it might be a dull time near the sea when we arrived there in the afternoon. I mentioned to Hank that sometimes the weather lifts just before dusk and that it would be worth the wait……we waited and waited…..fingers crossed, but the cloud was thick and almost gloomy and so very reluctantly I  was just about going to give up ( Even the most ardent Landscape Photographers pack up if there is no light)….
Then literally about fifteen minutes before dusk, the clouds parted!  A blast of the most incredible light shone through a hole in the heavy cloud as it hit the limestone cliffs and swept around the sea-stacks! Needless to say I went almost completely ballistic as I fired off frame after frame, running between vantage points to capture as much as I could!

The wonderful light lasted about eight minutes and the gloom came back…. but those eight minutes were unbelievable in their light and luminosity!
The next morning we caught the first of the morning light in and around Loch-Ard gorge and the view further to the West. Again the light was magical and the clouds continued to disperse so we continued our way along the Great Ocean road with stops at Apollo Bay Lorne and Aireys Inlet. the Spit Point Lighthouse looked great in the full light of the Summer Blue skies…..This journey is so good a landscape photographer should almost put it on his or her yearly to do list!

Last week saw me return to King Island for a few days to look at some new locations for upcoming workshops i want to conduct here on the Island in 2011. I found some amazing coastal scenery which I will not share with you on this blog just yet. I want to show those who attend my workshops and be amazed at the new photographic sites.  The local council has just put in a new gravel road to a bay that up until recently was a sandy 4WD track at best known to a few local and overseas surfies. Undoubtably many visitors to the Island will have seen this spot but when you have a three day intensive workshop you don’t get much time to set out on foot for hours at a time, so consequently I have not taken any photographers there before. I spent some considerable time in and around Cape Wickham and trudged over to Victoria cove…..the six images on this new post are all from the Cape Wickham and Victoria Cove area.

This area is an incredibly beautiful spot and I hope to get here one night and time expose the beam from the lighthouse and the pounding water….

Another Three day Photographic Workshop on this amazing Island has been a huge success. Weather was generally fine and sunny and all those attending came away with some wonderful images. This trip included a few hours at the king Island racetrack, with special permission to go trackside and also to observe first hand the starters gate and saddling area. A misty front moved in on Sunday morning for an hour or two and provided a dramatic darkened backdrop to the seascapes, it soon dissipated and fine weather returned. Images shown here Include the group on Fraser’s Beach, photographing Seal Bay, the King Island Races and the lovely City of Melbourne Bay. Late Spring flowers were still out in dazzling display’s of colour and were a highlight especially in the South of the Island.

November is the month where like magic the blue Lake at Mount Gambier changes from a dull grey to the unbelievable vivid blue colour that has made it famous. A short drive away is the Crater Lake which is usually a very scenic spot and I wasn’t disappointed…….. The Limestone coast is amazing in its diversity and seaside Towns like Beachport have incredible seascapes. At Beachport one of South Australia’s longest jetties heads out into the aqua waters of the Great Australian Bight……. Our drive along the Coorong was a highlight of this trip. I knew from the media reports that it had suffered badly in the last decade from serious drought and lack of water flowing down the Murray River. Now it looks magnificent, just the way it should. The Government has funded the opening of the Murray mouth and fresh sea-water is flowing into the Coorong. Both Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert are full of fresh water and the Coorong now has its fresh sea-water. The area is getting back to normal and its a great time to see it.

A stay at the Town of Victor Harbour saw me out at dusk because there was a full moon. The Maria creek runs into the sea here and I was able to find a spot where the moonlight had brightened up the water. ………A Panorama of the unbelievable aqua waters in the coastal area at Robe, a lovely spot on the Limestone Coast…….The region around Lake Albert between the Town of Meningie and the River Murray is open grassland with salt-pans. the area is of course famous for its Pink Lakes. These will always dry out in the summer months and if there has not been sufficient rain through the winter you will not find the lakes with water at this time of year anyway. What makes them so special is the amazing Pink colour which is real! The algae in the water produce carotene, a substance found in things like carrots, which actually protect them from the sun’s rays. As the lake dries out it leaves salt and the algae die. Pink Flamingo’s get their colour from the same algae. These lakes are a sight to behold, especially on a sunny day.

Noarlunga beach and the river mouth is great for sunsets as there is a good vantage point right at the spot where the river meets the sea. This is the Onkaparinga river which runs through the heart of the Fleurieu region, starting its course up in the Adelaide hills. The river cuts a gorge through the landscape near the historic town of Old Noarlunga. Afternoon light can be amazing in this area.