I was asked to travel down to Portland and be the official Judge for the Photographic section of the Tyrendarra Agricultural show over the last weekend. Huge selection of local photography from the youngsters and upwards to the Adults… 15 sections to Judge in all,  and it went off extremely well. Had a great time with the local folks and they did me the honour of announcing my presence over the weekend. A big thank you to the hospitality and friendliness of all concerned.

The New and wonderful….  Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports and Wildlife Lens

Just picked up my New Sigma Lens 150-600 full-frame zoom this week and as I had the chance during the day of the show for some personal photography, I decided to try it out! Well, believe all the hype surrounding this lens! Its simply superb. I shot hand-held between 400-600mm for the shots below. I wound up the ISO to 800 on my Nikon D800 and just got into a good position and shot in CH mode, as the horses stated to jump. What a piece of glass!  It’s not light by any stretch of the imagination, but delivers the results. It’s going with me to the Shetland Island Workshop in July and will get a real work-out! ( and so will my arm)

Every week my images are aquired from the stock libraries that represent my work. Most of them are used in advertising and commercial applications, hardly worthy of a mention. It sometimes amuses me where some of my photographs end up and what application they are used for. However some do stand out from the crowd and I would like to share some of these very recent images and where they went, with you.

The image here was taken at “The Crags” near Port Fairy. It’s a timed exposure and was at low tide. To get this shot we had to walk carefully over the seaweed and rocks and set up near the running tidal flow. A 30 second exposure using the big stopper captured it well. This image will be used as a background to a large billboard advertising the Victorian angling Association sponsorships.

The image featured above is one that was obtained by the National Gallery of Australia for use in their recent publication to coincide with the Sesquicentennial anniversary of the Ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition….shown below.

The image inserted below is a photograph taken by me many years ago down at the shipwreck coast near Port Campbell. It was a bleak winter’s day and towards the late afternoon a shaft of light came out briefly and I was able to capture a few shots before it disappeared again. This image has been purchased by a media group for a double page spread in an upcoming issue of the “Australian Women’s Day” magazine.

The Panorama shown below is a film stock image I shot quite a few years ago in the McClarenvale wine district. A spring day with some wild weather and as usual I was out chasing the light! A rainbow and a shaft of light was all I needed to make a wonderful panorama come alive. The film stock was Fuji Velvia and it was shot on an Hassalblad xpan camera. The image was purchased by the SA convention media and is to be blown up to 3 metres long by 1.5 metres high and be backlit and will be a feature at a wine expo in the near future.

The image below is quite special. It has been purchased by the British museum and will be archived and used as a double page spread in one of their speciality publications. I believe they are bringing out a book on Indigenous Australians. It was taken during the last period of the Lake Eyre flooding. I flew up there and spent a couple of weeks flying over the lake area and surrounding countryside including the desert regions, the dune country and the channel country of South West Queensland. This image is of the vein-like patterns seen from 1000 feet up of the small creeks that flow when the rains come to this country.

Another fantastic workshop to the amazing King Island last week. I had another eight participants with me to discover the delights this Island offers the Landscape photographer. I call these particular workshops the Wild flower specials, as indeed the blooms are spectacular. This year the Island is a little drier than other years and the blooms were not as prolific as in years gone by…. but still they were there in my favourite locations. Places I love include Badger’s box, The cove near Half Moon Bay, Cape Wickham, Black Point and Bob’s Lagoon…we also spent some time down near the wreck site of the Cataraqui and I actually found a small section of the wreckage at low tide. Everyone loved the weekend, the food was wonderful as usual and the weather charmed us with colours and warmth. We even had time for a spot of cowtography! I have not had time yet, to work on many images, so I have just popped a couple here to show you what the workshop was like…

Part of our USA tour this year included a visit to Lower Antelope Canyon. I much prefer this Slot Canyon over the Upper, as the tours are often horrendous, with so many tourists being pushed through by the Navajo guides. The lower Slot Canyon is quieter and particularly in the mid afternoon, it’s got soft beautiful light with many gaps exposed to the daylight above. This Canyon is a favourite with informed photographers and is a much better choice over the Upper. All in the group went down the ladders and over the next 80 minutes went totally wild with exposures. A faster ISO of about 1600 and the camera set on manual focus with an F stop of 7.1 captured these stunning images. I have worked the slot Canyons a few times and am always enthralled at the colours and patterns found here. You only need one lens… as wide as you can go. These images were all shot with a 12mm lens on a full frame camera. I have been so busy since my return and so have only had a chance to work on a few photographs from this Slot Canyon.

During our two day stay in Page Arizona, I gave the group some free time. Many wanted to take advantage of the time and booked the Upper Antelope Canyon Tour. I had pre-arranged for all on the tour to have a boat trip up along the narrow Canyon on Lake Powell and also a guided tour through Lower Antelope Canyon the following day. Six of us decided to do an all day optional tour right up by 4WD into the Paria Wilderness to a wild an totally amazing area called White Pocket. After 2 hours on a bumpy sand drift track we arrived at White Pocket and were totally awed. Fantastic forms and shapes with Brain Rock and Sandstone in whites, Creams, Yellows, Pinks and Reds. We had nearly three hours here and I hardly wanted to rest for the ten minutes it took to swallow down a sandwich for lunch! This is a photographic experience like no other! I have uploaded a sample of the many images I took here and have re-worked some into night shots because the colours and shapes are awesome. This is photographic art at its best…. My sincere thanks to Kyle at Vermillion cliffs Tours. He runs a fantastic tour company and comes so highly recommended…If you can possibly do this tour anytime you visit the USA…its is one not to be missed. Check out the website at…www.vermilioncliffs.net    Kyle offers many varied tours including the famous Wave Rock and I will definitely consider doing a tour with Kyle again in the future….without a doubt!

Our group spent two days in the Sedona area, visiting Montezuma’s Castle, the Red Rock viewpoints and some well deserved Rest and Recreation.  Sedona is a most beautiful part of Arizona and is a drawcard for any serious Landscape photographer. I had allowed an afternoon in our schedule to take the group into the Oak Creek Canyon State Park, but in Particular I wanted them all to experience the colours coming alive in the afternoon light, along the creek edges in the Red Rock Crossing area. These images posted below are just a small sample of what is on offer as the sun hits the water, the Autumn Foliage and the colours of the rocks. What is amazing too, is the way the glow of Cathedral Rock which sits proudly above, reflects in the pools of the Oak Creek.

We have had the group travelling through Utah and Arizona for two weeks now, with wonderful crisp clear mornings and many cloudless sunny days. The storms and snow forecast seem to blow over or we miss then entirely in the night. A great bunch of fellow photographers who are totally enthusiastic about every National Park we visit and embrace all photo opportunities with excitement. So far, our group has spent time in Zion, Bryce, Snow Canyon, Kodachrome Basin, Canyonlands, Arches, Canyon De-Chelly and Petrified Forest and Painted Desert  National and State Parks. We arrived in Sedona last night and today the whole group gets some R&R, although no doubt, many will have a camera close at hand! I have posted just a tiny selection of images taken so far on this tour to highlight some of the magnificent places the group has seen on this trip.

The NPhoto magazine published in the UK has given me a plug in the October magazine (Issue 38) My sincere thanks to my good friend Greg Earl who at short notice took my portrait image to fit the magazine’s criteria.

I have just confirmed with SSPS that I will be running my six week Advanced Creative Photography course on the Five Wednesday nights in APRIL 2015. The course consists of 5 night sessions and 1 practical session and commences at 7.45pm at the Southern Suburbs Photographic Society clubrooms…. St Matthew Church Hall, corner Park Road and Nepean Highway Cheltenham. Register your interest now! places are filling fast… To download your personal copy of the flyer…just go to the workshop drop-down menu above and find it under the six week course within the workshops menu.  Only $175.00  (SSPS Clubmembers $155.00)

Before daylight saving kicked in…whereby an extra extra early rise was avoided, I wanted to capture some dawn shots of the San Remo fishing fleet. I worked feverishly for 20 minutes just before dawn and as the sun pocked it’s head over the horizon and it was all over soon after. I had to wait 30 minutes before I could get a latte!