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February29th

Epic HDR for an EPIC landscape.

Posted in: Blog update, Travel & Landscapes

You can be forgiven for thinking we’d fallen off the face of the planet, it has been a long time between posts. But, as always, we’ve been travelling, shooting and planning the next leg of the trip. We just recently completed a one week whirlwind tour of Ireland. We caught the ferry with the car (GBP215) from Pembroke to Rosslare on the Emerald Isle then drove via Galway to the wonderfully windswept Achill Island. This was a bit of a pilgrimage for me as my Great Aunts family was from there and she once told me that her father had said that there was only a paper wall separating it from hell! With a description like that we couldn’t resist popping in. In the one day we spent there we endured gale force winds, rain, hail, snow and brilliant sunshine. It really was an experience of four seasons in one day…OK maybe not…the sun wasn’t that hot, summer was definitely missing. From the wild west coast we headed North East to the highlight of the trip for me, the Giants Causeway. The landscape here is epic and we weren’t disappointed. We were lucky enough to get a break in the grey weather for a spectacular sunset. As a rule I don’t tend to shoot much HDR but I think, in this instance, the scene warrants the treatment.

We leave today for South America…a new episode begins.
February1st

Seaman’s Sanctuary

Posted in: Travel & Landscapes

It’s been a while between posts and, even though I haven’t put in an appearance here, I have been busy working on a million projects…honest!

After spending a fantastic Australia Day aboard the True North I was keen to try out some of the sharpening techniques that Nick Rains discussed and, with all of the storms that are flying around Australia at the moment, I thought this image was fitting. (Pleased with the result on the hi-res file…it’s hard to see the effects with this squished up jpeg!)

It was taken last year on our hike up Mt Kosciusko, the very top of Australia. There was a storm rolling in, we were kitted out in our warm waterproof jackets and hiking boots and I grabbed this shot on the way up. On the way back down we could barely even see the hut, never mind photograph it so, like many others before us we took refuge inside Seaman’s Hut until the worst of it had passed over. We sat inside munching beef jerky and yearning for a hot cuppa. There’s a visitors book inside full of messages from other hikers who have made the trek from Charlottes Pass, some caught in snow storms, some spending the night so that they can be at the peak for the first dawn of a new year and some just looking to take a 5 minute break from the 18km round-trip.

It was built in 1928 as a sanctuary for travellers after Laurie Seaman and Evan Hayes died on the mountain in 1928. They were skiing on the mountain and were caught in a blizzard and probably didn’t stand a chance. The hut was built by Seaman’s family as a shelter to help prevent further deaths on the mountain. Although we were in no danger that day it was still a very welcome sanctuary for our weary, wet bodies!
October4th

Bali Blues

Posted in: Travel & Landscapes

I just recently got back from my first ever ‘jaunt’ to Bali. Four hours on the plane and we were there in the warmth of Bali leaving the chilly Perth mornings behind. I actually found it quite difficult shooting in Bali it was a struggled to capture nice light and sunsets were disappointing…actually they were none existent. We’d visited Tanah Lot to get the ‘sunset’ shot but the clouds were thick and grey and alas there was no sunset. The sky turned from grey to dark grey and I thought my photo op had vanished. As we walked over to where the ‘fire dance’ was taking place we passed Batu Bolong Temple just up the beach and I managed to get this shot which I’m actually pretty pleased with. I only got 2 shots away because we were running late for the show…I would’ve liked ‘softer’ water but was restricted to the 30 second exposure as I had no time to rummage around for my cable and it was pretty much black out there. I managed to focus using the live view function, it’s not the Tanah Lot shot I set out to get but there’s something about this image that I really like.

I’ll be processing more Bali shots for Self Indulged….got a killer sunrise shot from the top of a volcano….the hike to the top in the dark nearly bloody killed me. I’ve decided I need to buy a lighter tripod. I’ve also decided it’s time to get back to the gym!
December6th

Inspired by trees

Posted in: Travel & Landscapes

Over the last few days I’ve been shuffling all of my digital files around in a ‘photographic’ spring clean. I found this shot which, when I took it back in 2005 was one of my absolute favourites. Taken at Mariposa Grove in Yosemite NP this particular grouping of giant sequoias is know as the Bachelor and Three Graces (The ‘Bachelor’ is the big guy in the foreground, his ‘Graces’ are the 3 behind). I hunted it out after being reminded just how ancient and majestic trees can be by the Oct issue of National Geographic magazine. I was blown away by a pull out centrefold showing a giant redwood. People had been positioned on branches all the way up to show the gigantic scale of the tree. The final image was an 84 image stitch and is just stunning. This short video below shows how the NG photographer and his team achieved the fabulous shot – although with that much equipment at your disposal you’d have to walk away with something! Next time you’re in the newsagents (there’s a delay in delivery to Oz so this issue is still on the shelves) have a look at the actual pull out….I’m sure you’ll be as humbled as I was when I saw it. These trees will still be on the planet long after we’re gone.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LHjV48e9s&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

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