So awesome to see one of my Winter Festival photos on a billboard heading east just out of Bathurst. In the running for biggest print, though hard to estimate scale, I suspect not quite as large as my photo on the semi trailer.
So awesome to see one of my Winter Festival photos on a billboard heading east just out of Bathurst. In the running for biggest print, though hard to estimate scale, I suspect not quite as large as my photo on the semi trailer.
Took this one for a recent property photoshoot. Some nice looking grass for these lucky cows during golden hour.
Taken from Hannah's Bay. This is a 12 image long exposure panoramic hdr capture. You can see Mokoia Island and the town lights of Rotorua.
Never seen this before, can anyone help me out with what this is? found near the top of the North Island New Zealand.
Pub at Hobbiton New Zealand
Rain falling like a wall of water near Bathurst NSW Australia
Fireworks from NYE Party in the Park Bathurst NSW Australia
Another cracking rainbow at sunset tonight. Just cant help but post them.
The Heads Hokianga, Omapere, New Zealand... The hardest thing about travel photography is you can't always wait long enough for the weather to play ball.
Epic double rainbow after some of the worst floods I have seen in Bathurst. You can see a 360 aerial view of last weeks floods here:
Even the side stream at Flat Rock is cranking lately.
These horses were having a great time running around with their beautiful view.
Stumbled upon this cute little guy while shooting a property recently.
Cute little wren I found while shooting for a job at fish river near Bathurst, NSW Australia
Craigburn MTB Trails Adelaide SA
Just a random photo of some tree 'shrooms for your rainy Thursday afternoon
Somewhere on the A32 in the South Australian Desert
Stumbled across this cool building in the middle of North Sydney. Converted from Public school built in 1878
Bathurst's western entry with cemetery and autumn trees.
Emotive shot of landing at Bathurst Airport
Taken during a property shoot today
Telephoto shot of Stannies in front of Mt. Panorama Bathurst.
Just a cool flower that caught my eye while shooting a property
If you would like to make a statement at your business premisis, contact me to arrange for a licence and print of any of my work
Mossy Baths - Newcastle Ocean Baths
Abstract DuskCurious what people think of this. Very little of the image is in focus, 14mm f1.4 1 second exposure.
Crashing HeadlandTelephoto landscape shot with a long exposure of Newcastle coast. Something about it is peaceful.
Sunset on Newcastle BeachNice elevated view of this for a long exposure over the exposed rocks.
Shot taken through the loop of this old fence.
One of the brightest tightest shots I have ever taken of a rainbow
Bathurst Winter Festival 2021 - Tremain's Mill Illuminated
Fireworks with the moon rising in the background. Makes me wish I got a graduated filter or multiple exposure to get the moon just right as well. Great display.
Orb Spider taken with portrait lens at f1.4
Beautiful flowers given their name due to their strange furry petals.
I think the buds are nearly as beautiful as the flower.
Standout
Sweet FlannelThis bee gives some context to the small size of these flowers.
Nature finds a wayThese flowers are very rare to see in the wild. They require rainfall a year after bushfire to germinate. Believed to be a once in a lifetime event to see them in a given location.
The Dish
CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope was completed in 1961 and was recently added to the Australian National Heritage List. It was used to receive live tv images from the Apollo 11 Moon landing and made famous in the movie "The Dish".
Streetscape showing Crown Resort in Barangaroo Sydney NSW Australia.
After visiting Sydney for the first time since Covid hit I was shocked to see the new skyline in Darling Harbour. Perhaps living under a rock in Bathurst, I was not expecting to see this at all. It made the news today after being denied it's licence to operate as a casino but I am still struck by its 'beauty' and its contrast to the many buildings around it. Apparently I was not the only one; it was fascinating to see how many people were walking down Darling Harbour with their heads up almost mesmerized by their changed surroundings. Controversy aside how do you like the look of this building?
Barangaroo by night
Aerial view of salt farming? on Bumbunga Lake in South Australia. Sometimes advertised as a pink lake, it didn't look too pink to me on the day I was there.
Bajo el Sol Jaguar sculpture at sunset in Broken Hill Living desert state park. This one has been on my bucket list for years now. So happy to get a cracker sunset during my stay in Broken Hill.
People Watching NatureNot my usual style, but this scene caught my eye while I was buzzing around trying to capture all the views of the sculptures. I think I will need to return without the camera one day just to soak up the stillness of this place.
Aloe Arborescens at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden with a lovely classic view. At least I think that is the name of the plant, it's what google lens (image search) told me.
I recently went out to Dubbo to shoot Roger Fletcher for a feature article in the AgJournal. It was published with the Weekend Australian. It was interesting to hear his story and capture a wide range of photos which was used throughout the article. A digital edition is available at AgJournal.com.au
The warmer weather brought a few visitors to my yard. This Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard was super chill.
Noisy Miner making a nest for the spring.
While on a recent shoot I came across this massive wombat. He allowed me to sneak up so close I had to start zooming out. You can just see a little toothy smile :)
Aerial panorama of Ben Chifley Dam at sunset
Well with amazing snow falls last weekend, this week feels completely different. I am sure we haven't seen the last of winter but today its official. Welcome to Spring. This standout daffodil was growing at Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens
One of my favourite photos from a paid shoot over Sydney Harbour. The airspace is too restricted for drones over Sydney, so the client paid for a chartered helicopter to to enable me to get just the right shot for their website.
This is a aerial stitched panorama of the Anzac Bridge showing the Opera House, Sydney Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge in background. I had never noticed the little bridge beside the Anzac Bridge before.
I love that you can get views like these only a few minute walk from many suburban houses in Bathurst NSW.
In and out of the fog all morning during a drive at -4c near Sofala. This is a 91MP panorama made from stitching images taken with an 85mm portrait lens.
Nothing too fancy about this shot, but it certainly does say Bathurst!
It's great to see the fountain back in action now Chifley dam is full and water restrictions have been eased. It still feels a bit strange seeing sprinklers running on grass after so many months of catching spare water in buckets. I took this one with my f/1.4 portrait lens while waiting for a client.
Macro shot of Ladybird, coccinellidae on a purple flower
This Alpaca looks super relaxed under the shade of a tree.
Probably not a bad place to be at the moment. This glamping setup was the only structure I saw on this tiny island off the coast of Bruny Island in Tasmania.
This is my favourite macro shot to date. This little Jumping spider was only about 4mm wide. Not sure of the exact species if anyone knows?
Cool to see a number of my images printed Large on the front windows of the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre
The new Rail Museum in Bathurst is looking great.
With the ongoing drought some locations are starting to look more like a scene from mars than earth. This is one of the many dried out dams in Bathurst. There is up to 80mm or rain predicted over the next week fingers crossed the region gets some relief.
Captured at the lovely Grandvewe Cheeses with a deck overlooking this view. You can see Bruny Island in the background.
The Iron Pot lighthouse is the second oldest in Australia and a first for Tasmania. On it's own tiny island, this one is impressive.
This shot was one of the main reasons I wanted to get to Tasmania. While it wasn't the epic sunset I was hoping for it was still worth coming out.
View looking out of this tunnel to the ocean. Very cool location not far from Port Arthur
Wide angle close up of a bee gathering pollen at the Port Arthur Lavender Farm in Tasmania. Top down is a cool perspective for this one.
Fountain PathLeading lines down this path to a fountain at Port Arthur Tasmania.
Don't forget to switch to channel nature every now and then. This cool artwork was a part of the displays in tasmania's Unzoo.
So I didn't even know this was a thing until I spotted it with the drone. I guess it makes sense when you think about it, guess I always assumed they were just caught with nets in the wild.
What a view from this lighthouse in the Freycinet National Park in Tasmania
Love the red rocks near Cape Tourville in Freycinet National Park Tasmania Australia
Sunsets over Hobart with Mount Wellington behind.
Probably not a bad place to be at the moment. This glamping setup was the only structure I saw on this tiny island off the coast of Bruny Island in Tasmania.
Steep walk to an amazing view at Wineglass bay in Tasmania
This guy looks like he has been through the wars. My first time seeing a Tasmanian Devil, apparently they have the most powerful bite relative to body size of any living mammalian carnivore with a force of 56.4 kgf.
I thought these hard mushroom things looked cool on this tree. If anyone knows what they are I would love to know.
Aerial panorama of Hanging Rock, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Dunns Swamp StarsStars reflected in the cudgegong river at 4:30am.
I love the pattern in these trees, thought it fitting beside this path along the Cudgegong river at Dunns Swamp.
A little trip down the Cudgegong river at Dunns Swamp reveals these little beauties.
Sunrise at Dunns Swamp
One of the brightest most colourful rainbows I have ever seen. This is a case of right time, right place, right gear. This is a stitched panorama with 97 megapixels. The rainbow formed out of the bottom of this storm cloud just on sunset and lit up beautifully, It only looked like this for a few minutes before the colours muted and the rainbow went away.
To give you an idea of the quality, this is a 1:1 crop of the image right at the base of the rainbow, cant wait to print this photo LARGE...
Loved the display this year. Neon lights everywhere with these mushrooms hiding in the back. Looked great.
Church house lane has an interactive projection this year, anyone got their name on the high score board?
Fitting to have these Ducks next to the duckpond. Looks great with the rotunda all lit up in the background.
Full projection recorded in 4k goodness.
Here's a little behind the scenes from some recent work I did for Airbnb to support the launch of their Country Pub Project. If you are interested you can read the press release here: https://press.airbnb.com/en-au/country-pub-project-aims-to-revitalise-travel-to-australias-beloved-pubs/
Omphalotus nidiformis, this bioluminescent fungus are rare to find, but what a payoff when you do. This is my first attempt at photographing them. I think next time I would like to get some background in the shot as well. It's focus stacked from 5 images all taken at 30sec f2.8 on a night with no moon.
It was nice to get out and about with my camera just for fun. Fortunately there was a cracking sunset which I was there to capture. A beautiful view for many of the residents of Bathurst that live just on the edge of suburbia.
This image is soon to be on display at the Information Centre. Such a beautiful time to visit Bathurst. If you know of any areas that look great during autumn let me know and I will pay a visit. I'm looking forward to the trees maturing at the top of Bradwardine Road, going to be amazing.
Trees covering Perthville road near Perthville. Would look amazing if the B2b was on when these trees were this colour.
Beautiful Rosella matching the autumn tree leaves
When the sky matches the trees. I can't wait till these trees on Bradwardine road mature. It's going to look amazing.
Beautiful Sunrise over Mount Panorama this morning!
Sydney road Bathurst
Quite happy to pose for this shot. Stunning bird
Had a Cicada visit me over Christmas
I had a great time shooting the Inland Sea of Sound 2018 at Mount Panorama this year. I have uploaded a taster of some of my favourites.
Part of the welcome to country ceremony.
Talented local artist Meg Allan.
Some impressive dancing at sundown.
Nice heart warming music
The Cat Empire wide angle view
The Cat Empire Bongo
The Cat Empire Trumpet
The Cat Empire, Harry James Angus with backup trumpets
The Cat Empire, side crowd
Backstage Trumpet
Felix Riebl
Felix Riebl backstage
Boy silhouette
Girl silhouette
A mob of Kangaroos by the ocean at Cape Jervis
Love the symmetry and mix of hues in this shot. A beautiful location at Emu Bay. Some fishermen were at the end of the pier fishing. This was one of the few opportunities I had to take photos not in the rain during my stay...
I could not capture the same symmetry under the pier, however the textures in the wood is a nice contrast to the smooth waters with this 30 second exposure.
Found this little guy in the wild while checking out Admirals Arch. He didn't seem to phased by my presence, looked up to see what was going on then when back to his little nap.
Wild seal looking over his kingdom at Admirals Arch.
It's good to get my hands back on my camera and do some landscapes again. This is a beautiful spot on the outskirts of Adelaide. Always a novelty watching the sun set over the ocean for me.
Has to be my favourite stop in the Barossa Valley. This winery has exceptional views and a 'cracker' of a cheese platter.
Spectacular panoramic views at Pindarie winery. This 70MP image is made to be printed large.
This dog knows where to find the best views at Pindarie winery. Could not resist but to grab a few shots.
Old Jetty Pylons from the Port Willunga caves. Apparently there is a shipwreck and old house ruins in the area as well.
Yes, I managed to find it. Seems a lot bigger now than I remember as a kid. Some quite interesting architecture in there :)
Missed out on epic clouds but the long exposure still makes this for a nice soothing image.
One of the many cool projections on the courthouse during this years Winter Festival. I love the little coloured squiggle in the sky, I figure it was the light projecting on a bug during the long exposure.
Look on the horizon toward Sydney right now and you can see the Hazard reduction taking place in Winburndale Nature Reserve. It's quite faint with the naked eye, but a 30 second long exposure really shows the detail. It looks quite threatening looming above the houses.
Blazing Mountain - This one is a little more zoomed in than above on the a few nights later when the fire has advanced.
City by Firelight - This super wide panorama shows the extent of another burn further down the range. I love the detail of Kelso in the foreground. Can you see your house?
Full wide angle view of the entire Bathurst Court House
One of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen. The pot of gold must be just behind that hill..
The best view of Australia's most easterly point. Stitched aerial panorama.
This is an aerial panorama of a beautiful Sunset in the near Bathurst in central west NSW Australia.
I went on a trip to the mount this morning with a very specific shot in mind. Unfortunately the weather didn't play ball so I thought I would grab a few different perspectives as research for a later trip. Turns out, I am quite happy with how they ended up.. Its funny how you can take photos of a single location at around the same time and end up with 3 completely different styles. Would love to know which one you like the best.
Maintenance work on the Dam wall at Wyangala a while ago. Love this shot, it really shows off the size of this dam.
Cape Tribulation is a remote headland and ecotourism destination in northeast Queensland, Australia. A coastal area within Daintree National Park, it offers a combination of rainforest and beaches. Boat tours are available to the Great Barrier Reef, lying to the east. Walking routes include boardwalks and a ridge trail on Mount Sorrow. Bird-watching and jungle zip-lining are popular activities.
Chillin - Litoria jungguyThere is some amazing wildlife up in northern Queensland. This is just one of the many beautiful frog species which can be found... just chillin...
Eclectus Parrots parrots are curious creatures, always up for a photo. This guy posed for me perfectly, looks like lunch was good too.
One of the many critters you come across when walking in the forest at night in far north Queensland. If anyone knows the specific type I would love to know in the comments.
Love this shot of the tiny little ant. They are so beautiful with their big green bum, but don't let that fool you, they have a nasty bite!
It's in the Trees! looks like a scene from predator. This one is a 30 second long exposure of the rainforest at night. It was a very still night so the leaves are all still sharp :)
This walking trail is in the Pilliga National Park. While the access is not too far, the condition of the road can make it take a long time to get to. It's a fairly easy walk with some nice views and a picnic spot. Best of all, there is a number of artworks along the trail which makes this place a special one to visit. Visit the National Parks website for official details and access information.
Stranger ThingsThought I would go for a creative angle on this one. The first, and one of my favorites on the walk.
Another creative angle. I will have a few more to share of this guy. Very effective sculpture on the side of a cliff.
Picnic AreaEver feel like your being watched? Can you spot the sculpture?
Spotted
RockedI really loved the smooth polished stone of the sculpture and wanted to capture the likeness to the cliffs in the background.
Ancient EggI'm sure there is a bunch of meaning to these pieces of art. This one looked like an egg to me.
This Goanna (Lace Monitor) seemed quite at home venturing out from the scrub in country NSW. I love this particular capture as you can see the perfectly straight forked tongue of this massive Lizard.
Super excited for this years storm season. This one was taken a few years ago. Love the dynamic light and you can see light trails from a car that went past while shooting the long exposure.
One of my favorite shots from a shoot for a client selling his property in the Central West.
This is one of my favorites from a recent trip to Darwin. Love the combination of long exposure of the water with the static trees. There is even a boat off in the distance.
LMK DarwinSomething a little different. This street art in the back streets of Darwin. Little Miss Korea embrace it.
Filming some cool fire poi action on the beach during the Mindil Beach Sunset Market.
Creepy abandoned shearing shed with child's shoe and a hook on a bed.
This is one of my largest images to date. It's cool to see it on display in such a prominent position, on the front of the National Motor Racing Museum at Mt Panorama Bathurst NSW Australia.
Kookaburra giving me the eye from a fence post
Small Anglican Church in a random paddock on the outskirts of Mudgee NSW Australia
Beautiful view of the graffitied cave at Hassans Walls. I didn't realise until now that Hassans Walls Lookout is actually the highest lookout in the Blue Mountains at 1100 meters.
This lone poppy captured my attention in the flower beds in kings parade in Bathurst.
A big turnout to the Transporter and Driver Parade this year. David Reynolds waves to the crowd during the 2017 Bathurst 1000 drivers parade on Wednesday.
A new shorter member of the Craig Lowndes team
Radiator SpringsLightning McQueen and friends made the trip to Bathurst for the supercars this weekend. It was good to see so many people checking what all the fuss is about.
Perfect one day beautiful the next.
The snow was quite localised; nothing in O'Connell, Oberon, some in black springs, and a bit more south of it. Probably still there if you fancy an afternoon drive.
I have taken a heap of photos that I will upload to this blog post as I get the chance. Keep warm :)
Aerial panorama of today's snow fall in the Central West near Black Springs NSW, Australia. You can see another snow storm blowing in from the right which ended the flight short.
Road to snowhereWhat too much? Can't go wrong with a small dirt road covered in snow in a pine forest can you. This panorama is one of my favorites from my little expedition today.
Cold Colourful LogI appreciated the colour in an otherwise white scene. The orange of the decaying timber and bright grass poking through. Decided to go for a shallow depth of field on this one to really draw the eye to the front of the log.
WhiteoutHad to feel for the animals in their frozen fields. I don't think the dam was frozen over but I imagine it was a rather cool drink.
Postal ServiceThis letterbox caught my eye. Looked like a mini house with the snow settling quite thick on the roof. You can see its actually snowing quite heavy while this shot was taken.
Maters ChillI thought this truck looked like Mater from the Cars movie. You can see up on the hill near the tree are some horses as well.
Snow draped pineLoved the lighting on the snow covered pine branch with the dark forest in the background.
Snow DayNo sheep or workers to be seen in this weather....
Sticks and SnowBut names will never hurt me. I like to capture some of the detail as well as the wide landscapes.
Follow meLeading lines through the snow. One of my favorites from the trip.
Snow WayShooters Hill road in the snow. I like how it looks like the Trees have grass shadows. I guess its because the snow was coming in at an angle? Seems to have cooled off again after a hot weekend.
Horses in the snowThey were very curious what I was up to. Didn't seem to mind the snow though.
Dam SnowAerial shot of dirt coloured dam in paddocks of white white snow.
A wattle tree in full spring flower with snow hills in the background. The sun just came through the clouds lighting this up and I couldn't drive past it.
A stitched panorama of a dead tree claimed by the winters snow.
I think this will go nicely with my Spring tree in the canola and my summer tree in the wheat. I'm sure I would have an autumn tree somewhere.
Loved the contrast of the stormy sky against the bright white snow. Can't complain about the leading lines either.
Shooters Hill PanoramaThis epic pano is created with 27 vertical images stitched together to make a very wide panorama over 25000px wide.
Beautiful flower from South Africa in the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden
Fiji Dinner - There are worse places to dine in Fiji. Wicked Walu at sunset.
Wicked Walu Seafood Restaurant
Warwick Resort, Coral Coast, Fiji
This is the top rated restaurant in Fiji for good reason. The meals are delicious, the staff are great and the view is tough to beat. Every night they light up the torches that lead you across the path to the island. From the deck you can see the fish swimming, and later the reef sharks come in for the left overs.
Island Garden
This is the fairy lit garden on the Wicked Walu island. You can see the Warwick resort in the background. One of my favorite places here.
Tropical Paradise
Something about the silhouette on sunset that you just cant beat. This is the view from the Warwick resort looking out at the wicked walu island.
Midnight Swim... The main pool a night, shame they close the pools.
This is a stunning water lily growing the equally stunning Fiji
Rooster
Finally.. This was my alarm clock while staying at the Warwick in Fiji.
A series of photos from the lovely town of Beechworth Victoria Australia. The Woolshed waterfalls and a few of the historic buildings in town. But perhaps missing one important part.....
Aerial shot of The waterfall raging in Beechworth Victoria. This is a vertical panorama comprised of a number of shots.
Woolshed WaterfallsThe waterfall was raging at Beechworth victoria. This one is a massive stitched panorama of 9 slow shutter speed shots. It's hard to capture just how large these falls are.
Pretty self explanatory. This one was taken at sunset from the cobblestone lined roundabout. I had to get the timing just right to avoid getting any cars in the shot. Thought I would include the lamp post to keep a bit of foreground interest.
BeechworthI think this shot captures the essence of the town. The Beechworth honey discovery buiding with their unique roundabout at sunset. That's all for my quick trip to Beechworth. I think my favorite part was not captured however, the awesome selection of beers at the brewery.
The coldest morning in Bathurst history at -7.5 overnight. This is an 83 megapixel, 11 image stitched panorama.
Sydney Harbour Bridge during vivid festival 2017
Sunflowers by the harbour - This one is a composition of 3 images to get the exposure correct on the bright sunflowers as well as the operahouse and the sky.. One of my favs from the festival this year.
Harbour Lights- This one is a 20second exposure. So simple but these beams of light was one of my favorite things.
The Waratah in the Royal Botanic Garden during Vivid Sydney 2017
Welcome to Sydneyland - The obligatory Sydney Opera House Vivid Sydney shot. Hope you liked my pics :)
Sunrise over the fog at Mt. Panorama Bathurst. I just loved shadows of the trees in the fog on this one.
One of my favorite images captured while out and about for the Artisan Trades Trail, this lovely old car was parked in the field in front of Abercrombie House. If anyone knows what it is, let me know in the comments below. If you missed the Trail this year, its definitely worth checking it out next year, so much to see and do and a really friendly vibe.
Couple walking beside the creek in Cooma, NSW, Australia
Good Friday 2017
Long exposure sunrise shot of ocean pool at Eden NSW Australia
Ocean Paradise in Eden
Coastal garden of Eden.
This image is a composite of 10 images. 5 exposures focused on the foreground and 5 with the focus on the background. Looking back, I would have liked to blend in another image focused on the rock in the very foreground. They were shot at f/16 for maximum depth of field without losing image quality from too narrow an aperture.
Stitched Panorama of Aslings Beach
Old shearing shed in Omeo, Victoria Australia. Shooting into the sun is always a challenge. This is a composite of 5 exposures to get the detail in the shadow of the shed as well as the detail of the hills and sun. I quite like the lens flare in this shot so was happy to leave the composition as it was and include in the shot.
The Yacht Club looks spectacular at night. This image was taken at 17mm f8 for 30 seconds.
17mm is a nice wide angle to capture the building in its environment. It also gives a larger depth of field.
F8 gives a decent depth of field given the wide angle lens. Ideally I would have shot this around f10 however that would have required a longer shutter speed.
30sec is the max shutter speed you can use on camera without using a cable release or connecting to my phone. I have no idea why they limit it to this, seems like it would be simple to allow you to extend into the minutes. If I had of remembered/been bothered to get out my cable release I would have shot this at ISO100 instead of 640 and at f10.
Well there you go, a slightly lazy shot is better than non at all right? Hope you liked the shot and enjoyed the read.
An unusual composition of a rose during a spectacular sunrise.
Just had to stop and capture this beautiful view at Rockley mount. Silhouette of ducks, sheep and trees just cap it off.
Not far from Bathurst, these caves are self guided and quite spectacular. This is one of my favorite images from a recent trip featuring an old suspension bridge over the river that flows through the cave.
The exit of abercrombie caves captured in a massive panorama hdr. This is quite a technically challenging panorama comprising of 25 different shots. Even with this I still blew out the entrance slightly where the contrast is so bright. Its a short but spectacular self guided tour.
A panoramic hdr of the one of the smaller caves at abercrombie caves. This is a composite of 50 images in order to capture the space in all its glory.
The amazing colours from the bridge in the middle of the abercrombie caves
The exist gate from the self guided tour of Abercrombie Caves
Reflections - This one is a long exposure to smooth the water out as much as possible.
One of the hidden gems in Sydney is to see the fireworks from Watsons Bay. If you want to see the fireworks but dont like the crowds, then this is a great spot to watch.. Shhh, don't tell anybody. I hope you all had a great 2016 and wishing you a very happy new year.
A more zoomed in shot showing of Sydney Tower and some of the great fireworks from the closest barges.
A stunning Sunset looking east from Bathurst tonight. This is an 11 image panorama so can be printed LARGE. It only stayed around for a few minutes, I didn't have time to find a better foreground so worked with the view I had on hand.. Cant complain :)
Aerial panorama of Bathurst at sunset. I love this shot, it's not often you see Bathurst from this angle and while the focus is Tremain's Mill, there are also some hidden surprises. In the hi-res version, You can read Mount Panorama on the mountain on the very left. You can see the Carillon poking up on the right in the background, also the courthouse. I am getting better at predicting when good sunsets will be, just running out of local locations to capture. If you have ideas, let me know!
A more intimate view of Tremain's Mill, with the silos in the background. This is a sunrise shot, I love the complementary colours with the warm light of the sun on the side of the building and the cool shadows of the mill behind.
Sometimes I find it hard to decide on the way to process an image. This is a black and white version, I figured it suited the historic nature of the building.
Finally, a sepia/creamtone version. I quite like this, really highlights the buildings and their shape rather than being distracted by the colour. I would love to know which is your favorite, leave a comment below.
For 1 week only I am offering 50% off store wide at davidromaphotography.com for my loyal facebook fans.
Simply find this post on facebook, tag someone you think might like it in the comments, and I will send you a coupon code that gives you 50% off at checkout..
Great day up at Challenge Bathurst today. It's free for spectators and some awesome cars and names up there including the BMW M6 GT3 driven by Mark Skaife, Russell Ingall and Tony Longhurst.
This is just a selection of photos I have uploaded to a gallery with over 500 photos from Thursday afternoons qualifying sessions.
http://davidromaphotography.com/challengebathurst
Please tag people you know who raced so they can find their images. I will post-process any selected images to get them spot on before delivery. Feel free to share this link.
A heavenly view of the Ferrari 458 GT3 in the pits at mt panorama bathurst australia
Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 driven by Roderick Salmon with a golden star as the sun refelcts into the lens by chance on pit straight at mount panorama bathurst
The mighty m6 looking to overtake through the chase at mount panorama bathurst
The BMW M6 GT3 brakes glowing red hot in daylight around forest elbow at mount panorama bathurst driven by Anthony Longhurst Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall
Radical SR8 driven by Matthew McLellan at the top of mount panorama
Mercedes Benz GTS-GT3 driven by Mark Griffith attacks the dipper at mt. panorama bathurst nsw australia
porsche being chased toward the elbow by ferarri and bmw at mt panorama bathurst
What a cracking venue for the 2016 inland sea of sound festival. It's a great layout up there this year, with plenty to see and do. Was a great turnout in the end too with people having a blast moshing to the Black Sorrows and dancing with the South African Band Medleko Meropa. Head on up for a nice chilled afternoon of beer and wine on the grass. I'm the official photographer up there, so if you see me scooting about be sure to stop me for a quick chat and photo :)
What an cracking venue for such an intimate gig with this amazing artist. It took some effort to get this shot just right, I really wanted to capture the 3 elements, the crowd, the artists, and the lights of bathurst in the background. I took this one at a distance on a ladder at 200mm to get some nice compression and bring the 3 elements of the image close together. On top of that f2.8 to let in the most light possible and ISO1600 to get just a short enough exposure so their movement is not too blurred. Oh yeah, and like 50 shots to get just the right moment in time :) I think this is one of my favorite images from the weekend, I feel it really captures magic of the event.
Taken in Coonabarabran which has some of the best sky's to capture the Milky way. This is a six image vertical panorama so it can be printed LARGE. I was all cosy and warm inside, but when the clouds cleared I couldn't resist heading out in the freezing cold to see what I could capture. To say I didn't regret it would be an understatement, I think this is one of my favorite images to date. It puts everything in perspective in an instant.
Broken Dreams - Old windmill with canola fields in country NSW
Green and Gold - Aerial Photo of canola fields.
Simplicity - Threatening clouds over bright canola fields
The Golden Life - A 6 image panorama of the bright canola fields rolling green hills and a shed with silos.
On the move - I took some shots with the truck in focus and motion blur of the landscape, but I prefer this shot where everything is clear taken at 1250th of a second. I love how the truck looks lost in a sea of yellow.
Standing Tall - Windmill with canola fields on a rainy day.
Well that might do me for a while. Would love to know which one is your favorite...
I was going through old photos and realised I had a bunch of Gold Coast photos I have never shared. This one is the beautiful cityscape of Surfers Paradise from Evandale park at night. Its a 2.5 min exposure, I love how you can see the flight path of the plane coming in. I would have walked 15kms easy that night with all my gear..
New holland honey eater in a Gymea Lily.
It's been a while since I have shared a wildlife shot. This one was taken some time ago. Now that it's warming up a little I look forward to getting out and getting more shots like this. I can still remember how quick these birds were and difficult to capture. This was the luckiest shot, the sun was setting and looked epic on this massive Gymea Lily. I framed up the shot and to my delight this little honey eater landed perfectly in frame :)
Kanangra-Boyd National Park, NSW, Australia
These spectacular falls are a fairly short steep walk from the carpark at the Kanangra Walls car park. I can’t believe I have never made it out here before. They are spectacular at the moment, not sure how they normally look. There is a fair bit of rough dirt on the way out, with quite a few wallabies and other wildlife to look out for. There are some nice lookouts on the walk out and the falls themselves have a nice secluded feel to them. There are epic falls you can see off in the distance…. might have to do some research :)
Established in the pioneering era, Millthorpe has a rich agricultural history, a legacy of grand buildings, heritage architecture and a streetscape that has remained largely unchanged since the early 1900’s. The entire village is classified by the National Trust and the village centre has cobbled, bluestone bordered streets. Millthorpe is a living museum being home to a community of about 700 people and comes alive on weekends with locals, visitors and tourists alike. Find out more at http://www.millthorpevillage.com.au/
Just love the cobblestone in the street. This to me is the quintessential shot of Millthorpe.
Love these old chairs. Taken at a long focal length for the compression effect and to emphasize the whole street.
This one is taken at a similar location but with a wider focal length. Goes to show the massive difference the gear a photographer can choose to use to tell the story they are trying to tell.
The people here are lovely. The man that owns this balcony saw me taking photos of the cobblestones below and offered for me to come up and take this shot.
Looking back down the main street. The car at the end really makes it. Taken at a long focal length to really compress the image.
The Old Mill. One of the many lovely places to eat in Millthorpe.
Look at all those chairs and flowers :)
I really liked this chair and angle, but was not stoked with all the parked cars. I decided to push the emphasis on the beautiful grain in the bench chair though a narrow depth of field.
A view of the lovely heritage terrace buildings on the main street of Millthorpe.
The low level bridge (Gordon Edgell Bridge) on Hereford Street Bathurst NSW has flooded overnight 12/07/2016. These aerial shots give a good perspective of how the Macquarie River was looking around 9am on a very foggy morning.
This is a long exposure shot of the Ben Chifley dam overflow. The power of the water is amazing, pushing trees down the creek. I have never seen it running this fast before. Enjoy the nice sily smooth waters in this one :)
Drone footage flying from this location, up the overflow, looking over the dam and back over the rolling green hills toward Bathurst. This is a single shot uploaded straight to youtube, no fancy editing here.
The Western Advocate contacted me after seeing this footage and put together this article. Of course there are more pun's then my page
http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/4051150/dam-fine-sight-of-our-waterway/?cs=115
I also got a mention in Prime local news on Friday, you can see a recording here:
https://youtu.be/9ydwZRXrLAw?t=5m12s
This vertical pano shows just how much water is flowing out the overflow of the dam. It really is raging and quite off putting walking down the path beside it.
A panorama showing the dam, the overflow and the river heading through the rolling hills toward Bathurst. Quite a sight to see. I really do appreciate not being limited to the ground anymore for my photography.
Check out the ice rink in front of the Courthouse for the 2016 Bathurst Winter Festival. I am stoked to be the official photographer for council this year. It's been great working with them and capturing the mood of the events. Its nice that Bathurstians have an excuse to brave the cold and get out and about this winter. The ice rink, Ferris wheel and illumination will be going till the end of next week, but the final festival night is Saturday evening. See you there, put your smiles on :)
This is one of my favs from the Brew & Bite night. I think it captures the mood of the evening with all the different things going on. I like the different sources of lights. The city, the ferris wheel, the fire performers, the glow balloons and the tree lights, the glowing cubes... From all accounts it was a great success, looking forward to what council come up with for next year.
The Glen Davis Shale Oil Works was a shale oil extraction plant in Glen Davis, New South Wales, Australia which operated from 1940 until 1952 and was the last oil-shale operation in Australia until the Stuart Oil Shale Project in the late 1990s. For the period of 1865–1952, it provided one fifth of the shale oil produced in Australia.
Wide angle view down the main road of the shale works showing its location in the Capertee Valley. The shale undergoes a number of treatments from its most crude form at this end of the works, to its most refined at the other end.
The towers on the left is where shale was fed through tubes and heated. I'm not sure why so many have fallen while the others look relatively fine.
This old truck obviously never made it out of the oil shale works when it was shut down. Would love to visit this place when there is better lighting. You need to arrange a tour, so its a bit tricky. Pretty cool looking beast, I went for an angle that shows it in its location.
Looking up the firetubes in the retort towers where the shale was heated. It bugs me that i was not perfectly centered for this shot, but I didn't have long to get the image, and wasn't too keen on a brick to the head.
Build frame from the old warehouse. I positioned myself just in the shadow of the structure where its starting to break away. Looks like it was quite a big building.
Amazing view of the capertee valley from the old building in the ruins. I think this is one of my favorite shots that really captures the mood of this place. The scenery is studding, and the ruins really set it off.
Love the symmetry in this one of the cooling tower. So many circles in this shot, the lens flare really makes it I think. Hope you enjoyed this short tour of the Shale works. It was a a surreal experience visiting this place. I love abandoned spaces, and with the stunning backdrop makes this one particularly special.
An Aerial Panorama of Lake Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia
Completed in 1967, Jindabyne Dam is a major dam, located approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south south-east of the relocated town of Jindabyne. The dam was constructed by a consortia of Utah-Brown and Sudamericana based on engineering plans developed under contract by the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority.Construction of the dam flooded the settlement of Old Jindabyne that accommodated approximately 300 people. Parts of Old Jindabyne can be seen when the levels of Lake Jindabyne are low. The settlement of East Jindabyne is located above what was Old Jindabyne (wikipedia)
I still have not got my perfect moon shot, but I am slowly getting there. I love the exposure on this one, I just need to find the perfect tree. This one was taken at Newnes.
Before the glow, the baskets went around in front of the crowd firing their burners. On a cool night, it was well welcomed, amazing how much heat comes out of them.
This shot gives a feeling of the event and just how many people attend. While I have been meaning to come for some time, its the first time I have actually made it out. Personally I really enjoyed it, thanks to everyone involved in putting it on.
Pretty sure this is the guy from the Disney movie UP. I love the movement in this half second exposure, really looks like he is struggling to keep it down. The little balloon had a Storm Trooper in the basket :)
The big whale was pretty cool, you can the back of it in this shot, but it didn't glow very bright.
The Cool effect of some people walking past with their mobile phone light. Thought I would chuck it in there, also shows some nice variation in balloon brightness
Nudie Juice right? At least he is covering up. I love the Aviation registration VH-NUD
I think this was one of my favorite balloons. So simple, but there was something elegant about the way it lit up.
At the end of the show, All the balloons briefly lit up. A great site, I think the photographer in the foreground adds to this one :)
Ever wonder what a rainbow looks like from the air? Well pretty much the same as from the ground, but you do get a clear view of both ends. A full circle rainbow photo is on my bucket list, I am just waiting for the right time and place. Thanks all for the amazing response to my last RAINbow post. Always appreciate the likes and shares. Happy Hump Day!
There is nothing particularly special about this shot, but there is something I find really peaceful about it. Perhaps its just memories of being there as opposed to the actual image itself. Would be interested to hear what others think.
Fog over the Cudgegong river at Dunn Swamp. What a magical place to wake up to. With the birds singing and the eerie fog lifting over the river, I really enjoyed this photo shoot, and even got to meet another friendly photographer.
Such a moody image with so many different textures and colours. Now it's warming up I will have to make it back out to Dunns Swamp :)
Blue wren, shot through glass
The Sea Cliff Bridge is a balanced cantilever bridge located in the northern Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The $52 million bridge links the coastal villages of Coalcliff and Clifton. It makes for a spectacular drive however its quite hard to get a nice view without being in the air ;)
If you haven't already, its well worth heading down and checking out the BMX Nationals in Bathurst. It is such a big event, great vibe down there with heaps of stalls, people and racing. It's free to spectate and is going till Saturday. I doped in last night and there was this spectacular storm looming in the background. Just wish I got one of the lightning strikes in the shot too!
Happy Friday!
Thredbo put on an amazing sunset while I was there. Found this location and shot with long exposure to smooth the water.
Something a little different for me. I have given this one a low contrast B&W treatment as the sunrise was a bit of a fizzer. With the long exposure gives a nice dreamy feel to it. You can even see Coolangatta in the background.
The Newnes Hotel resident wombat. I had never seen a wombat in the wild before heading to Newnes in the Wolgan Valley. They are so tame here. Chunky little fella. I haven't posted an animal pic for a while, so here it is.. Enjoy. I took this one at f18 with a long focal length to try and capture the hotel nicely in the background.
The most impressive dam I have ever seen. I hope this farmer found his valentine.....
I just love the rays of light shining over Bathurst. What better angle to capture them from The Holy Trinity Church.
Moonrise over Catseye beach on Hamilton Island. Capturing the moon is always challenging, but I am pretty happy with how this one turned out. Hope you are having a great week so far.
Panoramic views 400ft above Mount Kosciuszko Australia would make this the highest drone in Australia. It's crazy how barren and rocky the landscape is. I love in this shot how you can just about see the long long path back to the car park at Charlotte Pass, both the long, and short route. You can also see the metal path leading off from the toilet block across toward the chairlift. It's certainly a long testing walk, was so happy after carting the drone all that way the conditions were safe to fly. Enjoy your day, get those tunes cranking :)
I couldn't resist but to stop and get a picture of this abandoned railway line while traveling through regional NSW near Young. It reminded me of the track to terminus from the Walking Dead. Looking forward to its return ;) I went with the theme and underexposed it at 600mm with a cool white balance to give an eerie night time feeling.
I love all the different things going on in these fields in Bathurst. Speckled bales look like braille. Im not sure what is being farmed up the back, but there are some cool colours there :) Hope you all are surviving the heat...
Sunrise, Ocean, Rocks.. A perfect combination for photography. This is such a nice place to shoot. I think the rock in the foreground makes it. Have a good one! :)
An amazing sunset over the old abandoned Gasworks in Bathurst. I just love seeing things from a new perspective, this is one of my favorites of this location, mostly because of the sunset ;)
The gasworks operated in conjunction with Orange and Lithgow council between 1888 and 1979, it was then leased to AGL who used it until 1987. It is now leased to Jemena and is considered a historic site.
This is a panorama showing the skyline of the Warrumbungles. I'm a sucker for a good silhouette and this is one of my favs. It's such a unique landscape and I was stoked to get such a cracker sunset to capture this image.
Matt Hall with an impressive display over Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour for NYE2015
Harbour Bridge shot at the 9pm NYE fireworks from Goat Island
Sydney Harbour Bridge was the focus of this years NYE celebrations. This one I tried layering two images which I liked to bring in a bunch of different colours.
Love this shot. It's something I have never seen before. Looks a bit like lightspeed in Star Wars. Taken at 600mm this is the moment one of the large fireworks from the midnight fireworks exploded.
Sydney Harbour Bridge was the focus of this years NYE celebrations. This one shows off a crowd favorite, the classic waterfall.
Massive firework explosion at 600mm during Sydney NYE 2015
The first moon of 2016 rising over the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The river that flows through the Natural Bridge in the Springbrook National Park in Queensland Australia.
I would love to visit this place at sunset/sunrise one day and get a bit more creative. I opted for a nice leading line with the path heading to the lighthouse and a well timed shot with a tourist looking out at the view from the lighthouse. Hope you like.
This is how you do the bearded dragon pose in the gold coast. There is something about this image that i really like. I think perhaps the shallow depth of field and the nice filtered light just on the lizards head. I was fortunate that he held this pose long enough for me to get into position.
Another beautiful moody morning on Kingscliff beach. Such a great place. This is a single exposure at 1.3 seconds. I think just the way the wave rushed in for a portion of it made for such a great misty look in the water.. Nice light over the rocks too.
This is my version of a selfie. I am doing Sparkle Poi over the Lost City with the Milky Way in the background. It was slightly cloudy overhead with snow still in the shrubs and sprinkles of rain. All worth it though for this image. Looking forward to the Christmas holidays, hope you are all ready to celebrate and relax!
The spectacular sunset from last night. Many of you got to experience the storm first hand, but it was beautiful from a distance... This is a view over a harvested field in Cowra looking back towards Bathurst. The cloud was amazing, difficult to capture all the shades of pink. I had hoped to get a more interesting foreground but when chasing a sunset shot like this you only have a few minutes to capture it, so you have to settle for the best location you can find quick! Looking forward to storm season :)
Well I not intended to actually share this shot, but I do like to keep you on your toes. I actually thought it was a nice shot in the end and it's quite interesting to see a part of my town I have never seen before. I don't understand how this all works, but pretty sure it starts on the left and ends on the right in the river.
Wallerawang Power Station is a thermal coal power station, located near Wallerawang, in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales,Australia. The power station is equipped with two turbo-alternators of 500 megawatts (670,000 hp) each, supplied by C. A. Parsons and Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Due to dwindling demand, the first of the two generating units was mothballed in January 2013, and the second in April 2014. [wikipedia]
"Mum... Why don't I look like you?". I finally spotted this rare white Kangaroo. The sun was setting and I didn't have my camera with me. I rushed home, got my gear and headed back out. To my delight they were still there. I managed to snap this shot at 600mm before they bounced off out of my view. It was getting quite dark, so I am looking forward to getting a better quality shot in sunlight one day. It certainly was a treat to see such a rare animal with my own eyes. And no, this is not a photoshop trick, they are real. Feel free to share this image or give it a creative caption :)
The view from the highest point of Hamilton Island, Passage Peak. This was my favorite view out over the Whitsundays. It was not a hard walk, but it was long and really really humid. This view makes it all worth while though. I just love the vibrant blue water at Hamilton Island. Polarizing sunglasses are a must up here; they really emphasize the rich blues and the contrast of the shadows of the clouds. I had originally only planned to stay for 5 minutes, but once I saw this view I couldn't bring myself to leave it for quite some time.
Wishing you all a peaceful evening and great week ahead.
It is amazing how different the world looks from the air. Bathurst welcomes you with open arms. I got lucky early Saturday morning, the road was closed, there was no one around and the sun poked through the moody clouds at just the right moment for this beautiful shot of the Bathurst Court House.
Such amazing spread of feathers on this Currawong. This guy can fly like a master. I thew up a little bit of food, and he caught it mid air perfectly. I'm not sure if I like this shot. Be interested to hear what you all think. Perhaps its just because its such a common bird, maybe if it were a bird of paradise it would be different ;)
An unusual composition aiming to capture the beauty of the foreground and the unmistakable skyline of the Warrumbungles. For those of you that don't know the Warrumbungles is a national park near Coonabarabran in New South Wales. It is also home to the Siding Spring Observatory as it's spectacular place to view the stars in NSW.
Hope you all have a peaceful evening.
The FA-18 Super Hornet Jet over the V8 Supercars at Mt. Panorama Bathurst. This was an absolutely spectacular show. I was expecting just a flyover, but it went for a good 10mins, full of tight turns low passes, stalls, and a bunch of things I don't know the names for. I love this shot, such clarity of the metal and seeing the jets and heat coming of the back makes it. The Sigma 150-600 at work again. I had a sore arm holding it up by the end of the show....
Another shot showing the air condensing during a tight maneuver. Love it!
The familiar skyline of Katoomba featuring the Carrington Hotel in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia.
I was asked by one of my followers some time ago if I had a shot of the Katoomba skyline. I didn't at the time but after scouting I eventually came up with this shot which I am quite happy with. I actually took this shot from Leura to get a nice perspective of the skyline. Thought a monochrome image might suit this subject and this dreary day.
Hope you all are having a good week and enjoyed the race yesterday!
Rainbow Lorikeet - Gold Coast, Australia
Look what I found, now just need to see where Marty got to! Good to see he is following local laws and got it registered today.. I even saw his hoverboard in the car sitting beside the flux capacitor.
Beautiful sunset in the Blue Mountains at flat rock. It was quite a popular spot that evening, I saw a bride and groom getting their wedding photos taken there, a few car loads of people come and go. It's quite accessible off kings tablelands road with no walking required. On a side note, It's also a location for the film clip 'Love is only a feeling' by The Darkness
Very cool display by the Hot Wheels guys at the WTAC this year. Trophy truck jumps a drifting ute down the main straight. It was a super hot day with pro cars lapping a second off the lap record. I saw the hot wheels car at the V8's last week, but got a way better view today at eastern creek today :)
Hope you are all having a stella weekend!
I have been wanting to do a shot like this for a while. This is a steelwool spin through the abandoned railway tunnels near the zigzag railway. Was good fun and a little spooky in there by myself. FYI, the burning embers burn, I will remember a hat next time ;)
Hope your week is off to a good start!
Happy Race Day!!! Looking forward to the big race today. Looks like weather will be a factor which should make things exciting. Captured this snap of the Harvey Norman all female team during qualifying at Supercheap Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama 2015.
Sooo much pollen, so little time. The easy life for these bees, no long flights to find their pollen. I love the layers in this shot, green crop (what is this by the way?), sheep, canola, bees, horizon. Taken with the sigma 150-600 gives many landscape opportunities.
God rays over the canola fields. These were shining for quite a while so had to make sure I found a shot which had both canola and the Godrays :)
Didn't realise this was a duck when it flew over, sees a ways from water here, but I am sure he knew were he was going. I love the layers of colour and nice contrast of the duck in the sky. Cool little blue feathers he has too :) This one was taken at 600mm 500th second at f/6.3
This is one of my favorite compositions from the trip. The nice curve and mix of colour with the two opposing focal points, one natural and one man made. It is nearly like a natural ying yang symbol.
I reckon this would make a nice desktop background. Super simple and plain, but still regognisable. It's nearly split into perfect thirds, focused detail in foreground, yellow blur in background, white blur sky.
I love a dead tree, and what better than one in the middle of a canola field. Just beautiful. I love the the farmer doesnt cut it down for wood and to make working the field easier, but simply goes around it. I got lucky with the weather, clouds make some interest in the sky, but the sun still poked through when I needed it. If you look carefully there are actually a few birds perched in teh branches.
This is one of my first shots with my new 10stop ND filter. It's a 30 second exposure in full sun. It got some movement captured in the clouds, they were not moving fast enough for the full effect. Yes, thats the dead tree in the middle there, just goes to show what focal length can do for different compositions of the same location.
Same location again with the same dead tree, but this one from a different perspective, taken about 5m above the last shot, really brings the canola to be the focus of the shot rather than the sky.
This shot has such an etherial feel to it. The dark storm clouds in the background contrasting with the late afternoon sun setting off to my right lighting up the fields and the trees.
This one gets the title of the blog post. Nothing but a field of golden yellow canola. I took this in the same area as the "abstract Canola" shot and was unsure if I should post both, but I think they have their own unique charm. Would be interested to hear which one people prefer.
This one has 2 trees separated by about 10kms. An unusual composition, this gum tree is surrounded by colour, something which is quite unusual for this kind of tree. But you know me, I love to find shots which a bit different from the usual you have seen before :)
A 51 megapixel stitched panorama. If you want this one, you can have it printed as large as you like! :) Crazy to think the new 5ds takes images this large in a single shot. It was a beautiful sunset in Corwa that evening. Bellevue is certainly a nice location to take it all in. You can see the "Golden Tree" in the bottom left of this image.
I noticed the fog rising from a dam on my way home. Fortunatly there was a safe spot to quickly park to get this shot. It was quite dark at this stage after the sun had been down a while, but the sky was still full of colour. This is a long exposure making the moving cours have a ghostly appearance. So much colour in this shot.
Well that's it.. I hope you enjoyed the little trip in the central west around the Cowra, New South Wales, Australia. It really is beautiful this time of year (early spring).
Feel free to order prints or desktop wallpapers directly from the site. If you would like to use any of these for commercial purposes please send me a message via my contact page. Hope you enjoyed!
Lola the border collie is an escape artist, but this hole is a little too small..... Or is it.. Super cute, such a photogenic pup. Reminds me of a Ben Folds Five song. Happy week all!
A beautifully shaped cave entrance with views over the Kanimbla valley located in Mt. Victoria, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia. I can't believe I have never found this place up till now, its such a photogenic location. It was a nice surprise to see the Gary P Hayes Gallery right at the start of where the walk begins. I dropped in to say hello and we had a great chat. Thanks for the directions to the cave ;)
There are two levels in the cave and a conveniently placed chair to climb up. I wish I had a photo of the crazy position I got myself into to frame this shot. It certainly wouldn't meet any OH&S standards that's for sure. I wanted to get right up close to the crack in the rock about 10 foot off the cave floor. It makes for a nice leading line drawing your eye through the image and out into the view of the valley.
I just love the teardrop shape to the cave entrance. There is some crazy dynamic range in this shot, I had to shoot 5 exposures and blend them just to get all the detail of the cave as well as the valley. I have been dying to share this one, but been too busy with other projects. I hope you enjoy!
Beautiful stormy sunset over a nice green countryside... Sorry for the dad joke ;)
This shot breaks a bunch of rules of landscape photography, but its different and that's why I like it. Hope you do to.
Dr. Pepper product shot with nice fresh water spray. These shots were taken with 3 strobes. One behind for the for a rim light and to light the water droplets. A primary flash to light the front, and a fill flash on the right to light the shadows at a lower power. The image was shot remotely to get just the right timing of the water spray.
This one was take with a bunch more water from a wider angle. I love the wave looking shape of the water. Makes it look like a Dr. Pepper Tsunami.. So what do you think http://www.drpepper.com. Want to use this image in exchange for an unlimited supply of the drink that keeps me going?? :)
It was such a beautiful day on Saturday. Felt like spring had arrived early, so I thought I would enjoy a drive and a view of this historic train from the 1930's. It was a tad slower than I thought, so I had a good opportunity to talk to some of the locals also waiting on the bridge just near Wimbledon. Apparently there is a local Koala that lives the the trees just near here. I have never seen a Koala around this region so I might have to head back sometime and have a look.
Old stuff always looks good in Black and White right? Would be interested to hear which one you prefer. Personally for this shot I prefer the colour, but for the remaining shots I have posted in B&W. Hope you enjoy.
Now I am not a train person. I must say I was a little disappointed by the lack of steam.. There was a diesel engine on the back which I had heard was just to pull it back to Bathurst. But looking at this image it looks a bit suss. Like there is a little steam jet just behind the main chimney thing.. Is this a 'fake' engine? (clearly I know nothing about trains :) )
It was mesmerizing watching the way the wheels turned on this engine. Took this shot at 2000th of a second to freeze the action.
Nice scenery for a bit of a train trip in the second car.
I thought I would go for something a little different and capture this old farm equipment (anyone know what it is?) while the Loco went past at Perthville.
Well that's it, hope you enjoyed. Always up for something a little different :)
There is so much history to this place. The metro tunnel is 624m long, it opened in 1888 and closed in 1915. Some believe the tunnels are haunted as there have been a number of deaths here. Since their closure they have been used as a mushroom farm and a water reservoir.
I have been meaning to get to this location for quite some time. Little did I know how easy it is to get to once you know where it is. I arrived just as the sun was going down, which was perfect timing as I could get both daylight shots of the entrance plus could hang around till it got dark enough to get some photos of the glowworms.
The original sign was replaced by this flash one in 2012. Depending on the amount of rain the tunnel can flood all the way up to this point. It leaves the tracks quite muddy. Fortunately it was dry enough I was able to venture deep in to the tunnel. I was stoked about how easy it is to access, it is only about 50m from where you can park the car. I love how green it is here.
A classic view of the entrance to the metropolitan tunnel in Helensburgh. When it has been raining a waterfall forms which runs down the right hand side of the tunnel. I love the moss and ferns in this place, makes it feel other worldly and so close to Sydney makes this a quick escape from the big smoke. You can see how muddy it is, I had to balance my way down the tracks to avoid getting too muddy.
I was pretty stoked to see how many glowworms there were in these tunnels. Right in the city. I saw more glowworms in this tunnel than the 'Glowworm Tunnel' in the Wollemi National Park. This is the view looking south not too far into the tunnel. Glowworms are so hard to photograph. They are dimmer than the stars, fortunately they don't move as fast. To capture the glowworms I needed a 2min exposure at f2.8 and high ISO.
Moving deeper into the tunnel the glow worms have gone. I think this is because the tunnel regularly floods above this level so they cannot live here. It is pitch black at this point so required some light painting with our torches in order to expose anything. This shot is taken at f5 to get a little bit more depth of field and over 30 seconds. It was quite eerie this far down, and the graffiti capped it off.
"She told me all the inhuman pain and suffering she had endured was worth it as it finally led her to me... Skunk"
Awww.. Well I am happy for you Skunk. To be honest I was expecting a much darker messaged painted here.
Well I made it to the end.. Well as far as I could get without a swim anyway. I nearly lost a shoe to the thick sticky mud and it took a while for my tripod to settle in to the mud before I could take my shot. There is an urban legend that there is an old steam train under water down here. I love the thought of how it might look but I certainly was not curious enough to get the scuba gear out!
You can see the water stretching out closing the tunnel off in the distance. I love the tones and reflection in this image so thought I would process it in black and white to really emphasize them.
The glow worms looking out of Helensburgh Metropolitan Tunnel. I love this shot. You can see the tracks drawing your eyes out to the greenery outside. The sun had set and outside was quite dark, barely visible to the eyes, but over 2.5mins at high ISO it nearly looks like daytime. It's amazing to see just how much light the glow worms give off, you can see the roof and even some of the walls are lit green. There is also a super bright little fella on the bottom right near the tracks. It certainly took some experimentation and patience to get this shot. In fact just when I thought I had it set up right my battery ran out! Long exposures really sap the juice. It meant a run/walk back to the car to get the spare. But after seeing the result, I am glad I went to the effort. I hope you like this shot as much as I do :)
Just across the road there is another tunnel which is fenced off. This is a much shorter tunnel. So short in fact that you can just see the end of it in this shot. The tracks are no longer here, the walls are covered in graffiti and there is a beam across the center of the tunnel. This was the tunnel apparently used for growing mushrooms and there is still some electrical wiring about. As if it wasn't creepy enough I have heard that the metal beam has been used for suicide. Very sad. I would hate to be the person to come across that, perhaps that is why its all fenced off now. While the tunnel itself is quite dry, there was quite a lot of mud leading up to it, so was tricky to get close enough to put my lens between the fence to get this shot.... Back to the other tunnel now to end on a higher note....
This is one of my favorite images of the series and perhaps all time. I love the connection between the stars in the sky, and the 'stars' in the earth. It's nearly like there are white holes in the sky (stars) because the little blue pieces of sky have fallen down into the tunnel (glowworms). The glowworms came out great in this shot and compliment the tracks leading your eyes deep in to the image where you can see some people with torches at the end of the tunnel. The nice green moss over the textured bricks and scattered light from the trees really add to the mood of this image. Feels like another world.
Well there it is. I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Helensburgh metropolitan tunnel. If you have any questions feel free to comment below. I have been getting a positive response on social media so far so I might look at doing another series soon.
On a cold frosty morning these lambs were super excited to see the sun. They were jumping and prancing around, back and forth. He certainly got some solid air on this jump! I love the warmth of the sun on the lambs while they play with the contrast of the cool frosty blue tones in the shadows behind. I wonder what they were saying to each other, feel free to caption ;)
A macro image of a European Wasp (Vespula germanica). I was a little nervous about getting up so close to this little guy. I hear their sting is super painful. He was quite a good model for me staying very still while I got up close with the necessary lighting to get this super clear shot. Unfortunately not still enough for me to be able to take multiple shots for focus stacking. I presume the europeans have all kinds of wasps and this is just one sort? We certainly do.
It has been great getting out to the Gardens of Stone and the unprotected parts of the Newnes state forest. Such hidden wonders.
I thought I would put together a blog post showing some of my favorite images from my adventures...
A part of the unprotected area to be included in the Gardens of Stone this is just out of Lithgow. I was really surprised to see snow still on the rocks at sunset the day after the snow falls. I would have loved to get out there when the snow first fell. Hope you all had a good weekend.
Newnes State Forest, NSW, Australia
What a spectacular view looking out over the gorge that carne creek runs through. It was a moody cloudy day, but you can just see a ray of light shining on the furthest cliff. I love the way the valley winds it's way off into the distance.
Newnes State Forest, NSW, Australia
There is something about this shot I really love. I think the contrast of the trees against the soft tones in the valley perhaps. These trees are certainly living on the edge.
Newnes State Forest, NSW, Australia
Well something a little different this Monday evening. I like to mix up my photography, from the vastness of the milky way to the seemingly insignificant rock on the ground. I spotted this one on a trail through the Newnes state forest while photographing for the Gardens of Stone. You would not think it from the outside, but it has such amazing layers of colour. Now if there are any mineral experts out there I would love to know what the colours of rock are and their significance.
Pagodas for lunch. This is a shot of pagoda in front of the cave known as Devils Throat. I love all the different textures and sorts of rock in this shot.
The Lost City, Newnes State Forest, NSW, Australia, Milky way.
The Lost City is a location in the Newnes State forest which is currently unprotected. It is not very well known, perhaps because of the hecktic 4wd access track. A big thanks to David for getting me out and back at night in one piece.
The Milky way is truely beautiful. It always does my head in how much is out there that the naked eye simply cannot see. But with the aid of careful planning, a good quality camera, fast lens, long exposures, and careful post-production, it really comes to life! This image is a stitched panorama of 6 individual images. I just couldn't fit it all in a single frame. The shutter speed is maxed out before star trails started becoming noticeable.
It was going to be the perfect night for a great shot, middle of winter with nice cool crisp 'non-distorty' air. A new moon (ie. no moon, that was setting early anyway). Clear dark skys... That was at least until the clouds rolled in before we got there. We actually spent most of the time taking other pictures in the snow and rain. There was still snow on the plants around which frequelty dropped off making a sound and some movement, as if there were animals around bushes.
Fortunatly for about 15 minutes there was a gap in the clouds large enough to get a clear shot of the milky way right over the top of the lost city pagodas. I think some portions of the image were still masked by cloud but for the most part it was amazing. Between each shot I had to quickly wipe the water off the lens from the rain before the next.
It always is nice to remember to put the camera down, and look up. It is so awe inspiring.
How little we truly do know...
Made it just in time to see this spectacular sunset over the Pagodas. It only lasted about 5 mins so had to be quick. It was nice to meet some of the Sydney Morning Herald Clique group led by Nick Moir and Wolter Peeters. You can see some of them making the most of the magical light on the pagodas. I actually had to pull some saturation out of this image because it was maxing out the sRGB colour space which is the most common standard monitors support.
Well I finally got to get some photos of the pagodas at sunset. If the Colong Foundation for Wilderness is successful the sun will set on much of the Newnes state forest and become protected with the extension of the Gardens of Stone National Park.
This one is taken from the top of a pagoda with a nice little puddle on top. I positioned to get a nice reflection of the one cloud that was lit up from the sunset.
I have been keen to try out some new techniques. This image is a composite of 6 others all taken at different focal points to achieve infinite depth of field while avoiding diffraction. You can see the image is in focus from a few centimeters from the lens all the way through to the trees on the horizon. A much easier way to get a similar effect would be to use f22 and focus about 1/3 of the way in the image. But that would result in a softer image.
One of the many hidden locations in the NSW state forest. A big thanks to Yuri and the leaders of this walk for taking me to this location. Not a chance I would have been able to find it by myself! You would never guess there is anything like this from the nearby dirt road. It was good to do some good old fashioned bush walking, no fancy boardwalks or man made stairs here! Oh, and if you were not impressed, look for the people in this image to give you an idea of the massive scale of this cave :)
Pagodas for lunch. This is a shot of pagoda in front of the cave known as Devils Throat. I love all the different textures and sorts of rock in this shot.
The Lost City, Newnes State Forest, NSW, Australia, Milky way.
The Lost City is a location in the Newnes State forest which is currently unprotected. It is not very well known, perhaps because of the hecktic 4wd access track. A big thanks to David for getting me out and back at night in one piece.
The Milky way is truely beautiful. It always does my head in how much is out there that the naked eye simply cannot see. But with the aid of careful planning, a good quality camera, fast lens, long exposures, and careful post-production, it really comes to life! This image is a stitched panorama of 6 individual images. I just couldn't fit it all in a single frame. The shutter speed is maxed out before star trails started becoming noticeable.
It was going to be the perfect night for a great shot, middle of winter with nice cool crisp 'non-distorty' air. A new moon (ie. no moon, that was setting early anyway). Clear dark skys... That was at least until the clouds rolled in before we got there. We actually spent most of the time taking other pictures in the snow and rain. There was still snow on the plants around which frequelty dropped off making a sound and some movement, as if there were animals around bushes.
Fortunatly for about 15 minutes there was a gap in the clouds large enough to get a clear shot of the milky way right over the top of the lost city pagodas. I think some portions of the image were still masked by cloud but for the most part it was amazing. Between each shot I had to quickly wipe the water off the lens from the rain before the next.
It always is nice to remember to put the camera down, and look up. It is so awe inspiring.
How little we truly do know...
Made it just in time to see this spectacular sunset over the Pagodas. It only lasted about 5 mins so had to be quick. It was nice to meet some of the Sydney Morning Herald Clique group led by Nick Moir and Wolter Peeters. You can see some of them making the most of the magical light on the pagodas. I actually had to pull some saturation out of this image because it was maxing out the sRGB colour space which is the most common standard monitors support.
I have really enjoyed exploring this area and still have a few special shots to share.
Well, I thought seeing as though Orange got a snow Album it would be rude not to do one for Bathurst. I have never seen snow this heavy in town before. I was only telling someone the day before where they could drive to see snow and that it never snows in town.. Well it saved them the trip. Town was a buzz, even before the sun had risen snowmen were being constructed in peoples front yards.
Follow the path to snowSnow in Bathurst July 2015
I always love a leading line, in this case the path does the trick.
A tiny sunrise in the snowSnow in Bathurst July 2015
Nice straight dirt road gives a great sense of depth in this image. You can even see the sun just starting to rise on the horizon.
Bathurst Court House under snowSnow in Bathurst July 2015
One of my favorite buildings, the court house, just looked stunning covered in snow, so I took particular care in getting a nice shot of it.
Carillon park in snow!Snow in Bathurst July 2015
Kings Parade was looking great, though the snow didn't really settle on the dirt.
Machattie Park in snowSnow in Bathurst July 2015
The trees had nice contrasting colour against the white of the sky and snow.
Pretty thick snow in Machattie ParkSnow in Bathurst July 2015
Machattie park was beautiful with snow covering the grass quite thick.
One I have already shared, Bathurst train station.
All abord the snowtrainSnow in Bathurst July 2015
I quite liked this image from the railway tracks, something a little different.
Bathurst city under snowSnow in Bathurst July 2015
The snow was even on the road in parts. Here is the bathurst township from a distance. Check out the house right on the horizon of this shot, lovely view it must have.
Stitched Panorama Snow looking eastSnow in Bathurst July 2015
This is a large image. Stitched Panorama of the snow looking east. Such a nice covering.
Choose your landscapeThis is a massive panorama, 27000 pixels wide from 17 shots. Choose which part you want to print! -Snow in Bathurst July 2015
This is an epic panorama. I'm not sure if its even view able on here. It is 27000 pixels wide from 17 shots stitched together. If you did want a print, the resolution is so large you can pretty much just choose which part of the landscape you want to print!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Well I finally got to get some photos of the pagodas at sunset. If the Colong Foundation for Wilderness is successful the sun will set on much of the Newnes state forest and become protected with the extension of the Gardens of Stone National Park.
This one is taken from the top of a pagoda with a nice little puddle on top. I positioned to get a nice reflection of the one cloud that was lit up from the sunset.
I have been keen to try out some new techniques. This image is a composite of 6 others all taken at different focal points to achieve infinite depth of field while avoiding diffraction. You can see the image is in focus from a few centimeters from the lens all the way through to the trees on the horizon. A much easier way to get a similar effect would be to use f22 and focus about 1/3 of the way in the image. But that would result in a softer image.
Night all!
Well that was fun. I was supposed to be heading out to the Gardens of stone on Sunday to get some more photos, but not surprisingly the highway was closed and it was forced to be canceled. Seeing as I was up and at 'em I thought I would go for a drive to Orange.
Snow on a road in Spring Hill
I had heard the road to Orange was closed, but it didn't seem to be. At least not the back way. I grabbed this shot near Spring Hill. A random dirt road sided by beautiful trees.
Snowy beside road Mt. Canobolas
Heading toward the back of Mt. Canobolas things started getting real. I went exploring down one of the pine forest access roads which was covered in snow.
Snowy pine forest mt canobolas
This is the view looking up at the pine trees beside that very road.
Snowy dirt road Mt. Canobolas
Another side road around the back of Mt. Canobolas had these deciduous trees which i thought looked pretty cool in the snow. There were a bunch of birds around this area so I switched to my telephoto lens and when hunting.
Bird in the snow
Score! How cute is this little guy in the grass and snow. He looks like a miniature puffin bird to me. No idea, if anyone knows comment below :) There were a whole flock of them. They kept skipping from one area to the next as I walked toward them down the road. They kept this up for about 500m before finally flying in to the forest.
Kangaroos making a break for it
I was on a roll with wildlife.. Correct lens on and managed to capture these cold Kangaroos seeking greener pastures!
Snow avenue
I thought this avenue of trees looked nice with some solid compression at 150mm
Snowy tar road Mt. Canobolas
The main road was starting to get pretty hectic. Time to turn around I think....
Going to need more than a credit card
After this I went in to town in search of a nice warm coffee, some fuel and a muffin (yes in that order). This is a random house in Orange with a very well covered car.
Orange Main street
I love a bit of symmetry. This is a fairly iconic view of orange I thought. Much of the snow had melted from the road itself. From here on out, most of the shots were taken in the sleet and snow. I am glad my camera is weather sealed.
Snow Fight!
Time for some snow fights! These kids were having a blast in the Robertson park.
Snow Fight!
Dad always seems to cop it!
Snow Fight!
Do you think I warned him what was coming..... Not a chance.
Lets build a snowman
Exhausted... Thanks for posing guys!
Lets build a snowman
Off to cook park for some classy Snow man action. You have to use the tools at hand and these daffodils did the trick.
Lets build a snowman
How cute is this little girl. She has totally got it sussed.
Lets build a snowman
A very cute family. Thanks for posing. And a big thanks to the power of the internets to for finding out who they were so I could get this image to them. If you know anyone else in these pics, please feel free to share the link so they can see them.
Another massive snowman in cook park. It had a slightly halloween look to it though I think.
Lets build a snowman
Driving the streets there were so many people making snowmen in their front yards. I didn't catch the names of these people, so if you know them, send through the link :)
Snow chair- Botanic Gardens
Off to the Orange Botanic Gardens now. Looks like a chilly place to rest.
Snow Fight!
And of course more snowball fights.. Very cheeky..
Snow Fight!
But don't worry, she got as good as she gave.
Vines - Orange Botanic Gardens
The vines made for a nice composition in the gardens. It looks so different under snow.
Nice view - Orange Botanic Gardens
Nice views in the Botanic Gardens in Orange.
Billabong - Orange Botanic Gardens
I really liked this log near the dam in the park. It had Billabong carved into it and made for a cool shot. By this stage i was quite wet and I was loosing feeling in my fingers and toes!
Good Dog
One last stop off at Robertson Park. It was the first time this dog had ever seen snow and he was loving it! I even got a shot of him jumping up and catching a snowball in the mouth. brrrrr.
winter dreaming
On the way home now I stopped of for an old shack beside the road. I liked the dreamy feel of this in creamtone.
I hope you enjoyed my pics of the big freeze! It's always a nice to have some snow about the region. You can use the social media buttons on this page to share or like.
This cute little bird was out and about in freezing frosty morning. I thought we could use a break from all the illuminate bathurst pictures. Is this just a sparrow? So hopeless with birds, I just know they are cute. I was lucky to get this shot because I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. It was about -4 degrees at the time I believe. Looking forward to the days getting warmer that's for sure...
Well the excitement has been building over the past few weeks and it's finally here. After a few hiccups with the first event which you can read about on my Illuminate Bathurst blog post the latest installment is set to be a cracker and is happening tonight (4/7/2015) starting at 4pm. So rug up, strap on some skates and be ready to enjoy some good wine and music. You can see all the information on this evenings proceedings on the Bathurst200 Illuminate Bathurst update.
But now for what you came for.. Some photos of the event. I will be adding to this Blog post as the event continues so please be sure to check back in and see all the pics from this fantastic event.
Illuminate Bathurst SetupIce rink setup
This one was taken on Thursday night. You can just see the worker on the ice hosing it down. They had just laid the Bathurst logo on the ice and were sealing it down. It's so nice to see the lights in town, gives a sense of activity and life to the town. People were often walking past having a bit of a look around.
Ice Skates in Bathurst!?Plenty of skates for all!
There have already been a few people lucky enough to have a skate on the ice, our Mayor being one of them. But rest assured, there are plenty of skates for all. This weekend is already booked out, but there are still plenty of spots available throughout the week.
Come join the penguins!Bathurst200 Winter Illumination ice rink
Come down and join the penguin conga line! These little guy are keen to get out on the ice. I am too. Something a bit nice about outdoor skating at night. These guys will help you out if your not a great skater and want some freedom from the walls!
Will you join Ron on the ice?Penguins help you skate
Oh, did I mention they are cute... Ron is leading the charge here. Go get 'em mate..
Star of Bethlehem at Bathurst Winter IlluminateI love this shot and how you can see Venus and Juptier slow close in the background
Flying high. This gives a great perspective of Kings Parade and what you will see tonight.. You can also see 'The star of Bethlehem' in this shot, Venus and Jupiter are still quite close in the sky. There is a plane flying over to the left too. I like how you can see the reflection of the ice rink in the courthouse.
Bathurst200 ice rink
No mistake where this is.. You go Bathurst. Really like all the hard work and events the council have been putting on this year. It's nice to see Bathurst being promoted as more then just a race track (not that there is anything wrong with the mighty Mt. Panorama). I just hope that it doesn't all stop after the bicentenary.
Bathurst Ice Rink sunsetLooking amazing
I think this is one of my favorite shots. Taken from the ice at sunset.. My feet were freezing and the tripod was far less stable than I am used to. Will be interesting to see how the ice fairs with hundreds of people skating on it over the next week.
Illuminate BathurstOne of the bolder projections on the Courthouse as part of the Bathurst 200 celebrations
Looking forward to seeing what 'present' themed projections they have come up with for this weeks illumination show.. This is a shot from the last event which I quite liked.
Bathurst Ice Rink elevated
Another fav of mine which really highlights the features of the park from the war memorial to the ice rink and the carillon. Well that's it for now folks, see you out tonight. Don't forget to rug up, and pop back here for updates :)
What a great night! All I have heard is positive feedback, I wasn't aware of any major dramas this time around and there was such a variety of things to see and do I was floating around the whole evening getting various shots of all the action. The crowds were large but built slowly from the 4pm start. I think many people electing to come down once it got dark for dinner and the lights. For this section I will post up some of the shots taken during the daylight hours of the festival. It's a very small selection of the photos I took, so if you are after a specific shot to licence or for a print send me a message on my contact page and I will see what i have.
Swing Factor - Illuminate Bathurst
Swing Factor got the atmosphere started from Denison College with a stunning backdrop in the heart of the city.
Food Stalls - Illuminate Bathurst
The sun set behind the buildings in town and the food and wine stalls were already getting some interest from the crowd. I love the setting sun lighting up the lanterns from the first Illuminate Bathurst Festival. A nice touch.
Jo Carter carving it up in BathurstAustralian National Figure Skating Championships 2007
It was great to see Jo Carter in action. She is the 2007 Australian national champion and wowed the crowd with her performance. It was tricky to get a good view, so time to get a better perspective....
Professional Skaters showing the crowd
The professional skaters doing there thing in Bathurst's temporary outdoor ice rink. These guys really drew in the crowd, what an iconic regional location to do it in! In this shot I ran with a slower shutter speed to really try and capture the motion of the skaters, I think it works well :)
It didn't take long for the wine and food stalls to start filling up. It was good to see they really stocked up this time, no dramas getting food all night. This is a different perspective from the top of one of the nearby buildings.
Well the end of the performance and the pro skaters bowed to the applauding crowd. It was a really good perspective to see them do their thing. I have a short video too, so if there is enough interest I might get it up on youtube or something.
Well after the crowd got to see how it is done they got the opportunity to try it for themselves. The ice rink was sold out on the weekend, there were people skating all night, but what I was surprised about was there was a decent crowd watching all night too. Always good for a laugh and quite a few stacks too.. Hope everyone was ok..
Food and Wine markets
Well as the sun went down the crowds increased and food and wine markets were doing a cracking trade. There was such a nice selection of local businesses. Personally I went for the roast lamb roll from porters. Nice and warm hit the spot in on this chilly winters evening.
Happy faces at the markets
Served with a smile. I it seemed like everyone was enjoying the night. The low light certainly pushed the camera to the limit. Depth of field is a trade off with image quality in low light conditions. I chose to capture the nice smile of the customer in focus for this one...
Carillon a light
I love the blue glow of the Carillon this time. Certainly easier to capture then the red too ;) Was nice to see a lot more seating this time, the lights in the street added to the atmosphere too.
CenteredProjections from inside the courthouse
Well, Had to have another go of this shot this time round. Took the tripod this time so I could get a better perspective. I just wish I had waited a little longer till the silent disco started up. It was quite popular. I liked the new location on at the courthouse. This is a 30 second exposure. It captures the moody light and a sense of mystery in the shadows.
Bathurst200 Ice BlockBathurst200 Ice Block 1815-2015
Elsa was guarding this fancy block of ice... Anyone know how its done? very cool. (terrible pun not intended.. but then not deleted either).
Sheer JoyThe snow machine was a massive hit with the kids
Sheer Joy!! The kids loved the snow machine so much. I captured this one on the fly and was so happy with the result. There is something about it, I can't quite put my finger on, full of emotion I guess.
Crowd watching ice groomers
Crowd watching ice groomers and pro skaters in between sessions. It's amazing that the rink has been fully booked out for the entire week. Enjoy everyone!
Father and SonTaking photos of the light show
The alleyways were projected again, this time round, a lot more colourful. I thought this one was cute as you can see a father and son taking photos of the light show.
Amazedchild trying to make their way through the maze
Amazed - A child trying to make their way through the maze of glow in the dark strings.
Arabesk violinist - a true performer
Arabesk! One of the coolest bands I have had the pleasure of seeing in a while. This is Veren Grigorov playing his violin to the backdrop of the carillon in Bathurst as part of the Illuminate Bathurst Winter Festival. Lest we forget the sacrifices that were made which enables us to be so free to celebrate like this.
Veren is a true performer, cheeky and fun. He had the crowd up and dancing and having a great time. This is one of his more serious moments. I have a stack of shots of this band, I will endeavor to pick a few more to post up.
Smoothest drummer there isArabesk really rocked the crowd
Calvin must be the smoothest drummer there is. You rocked it mate.
Cirkus Surreal wowed the crowdwhat a backdrop for cirkus surreal
Cirkus Surreal wowed the crowd. What an amazing backdrop to perform. Well done guys, really impressive stuff :)
Silent discoSilent disco was rocking most the night on the court house steps
Silent disco was rocking most the night on the court house steps. This one is a 30 second exposure at ISO100 for a nice motion blur and maximum quality.
Nice Carmultiple projections in the back alley this year
Nice car... There were multiple projections in the back alley this year :)
Family friendly food stalls
This year there were 3 food areas which helped with the queues. This is the family friendly area with yummy pocket friendly options.
Frozen x2 - Pretty sure these people must have been frozen watching Frozen. It was screening all night during the Illuminate winter festival. There is talk of making this an annual event which I think is a great idea.
Bathurst 200 carillon. I like the shadows of the lettering on the memorial. Its amazing how many people were getting photos with the 200 sign.
lightning poithese toys aint cheap
I was very impressed with these glow poi dancers. I can actually spin myself so I jumped straight online to get some of these pixel poi.. Turns out I might need to sell a few more photos, well over 1000 dollars. They are led strips that change with motion to make a picture in your mind. Very cool effect.
Everyone wanted a photo with Elsa!even the snowman
Everyone wanted a photo with Elsa! Poor young lady must have froze sitting on that ice chair all night!
Roving Illumination RobotsThese dudes were cool
Roving Illumination Robots by the markets. These guys were cool and very popular with the fans.. Made walking on stilts look easy!
Good Photo!
Nice photo!
ArabeskI had to include a full band shot. I have so many
Arabesk. I had to include a full band shot. I have so many others if anyone wants to see.
Well that's pretty much it for the main celebration night. I hope you enjoyed. If you want any images you can buy prints directly from the website or contact me for commercial licencing. I have many more shots, if anyone wanted something specific, but this gives a good sample of the evening.
Swirls - Court House projectionPart of the Illuminate Bathurst Winter Festival
I made it down during the week of Illumination to get some shots of the courthouse lights without the crowd. The Swirls were by far my most favorite projection so far.. Very cool, really needs a video to do it justice.
letters - Court House projectionPart of the Illuminate Bathurst Winter Festival
The letters were probably my second fav. Pretty cool. I haven't studied them yet to see if I can spot any words, can you?
Up close and personal - Court House projectionPart of the Illuminate Bathurst Winter Festival
Up close and personal. Thought I would try out a different angle. It towers above
IMG_5172
I loved the fairy lights in the trees... Can't we just keep them all year round??
Fairy lights in the treesIlluminate Bathurst winter festival
I am always a bit of a sucker for abstract photography. This is the fairy lights in the tree waaaay out of focus.. Such nice bokeh on this lens.
From a distanceCarillon and Church lit up for Illuminate Bathurst Winter Festival from a distance
It's nice to see town lit up from a distance. This one is shot at 480mm and gives a different perspective on town center. You can even see the old gasworks looking large in the background. The bells are even going in the church as they were practicing playing them that evening.
Feeling centered at the Cathedral Cave in the Gardens of Stone, New South Wales, Australia. This is a different angle of this cave from the one I shared a few days ago. The cave is so big I had to stitch multiple vertical images into this panorama to fit it all in.
I would love to know which image people prefer.
One of the sights that really adds to a nice country drive through the central west. I loved the look of this old abandoned cottage beside the road, so stopped to take a pic. I can only imagine the stories this shack could tell...
Sometimes Mondays feel a bit like this after a great weekend. Hope you had a good one too. Hope you like the pic!
It's challenging to get a nice milkyway shot with so much light pollution around. But I think it came out pretty good in the end. Enjoy.
I have no idea what type of bird this is (let me know), but he reminds me of the Angry Birds mobile game. I didn't do anything to annoy him I promise. Just my mere presence in his giant nature playground was enough to incite this look.
If you are feeling creative feel free to caption this pic in the comments below..
One of the many hidden locations in the NSW state forest. A big thanks to Yuri and the leaders of this walk for taking me to this location. Not a chance I would have been able to find it by myself! You would never guess there is anything like this from the nearby dirt road. It was good to do some good old fashioned bush walking, no fancy boardwalks or man made stairs here! Oh, and if you were not impressed, look for the people in this image to give you an idea of the massive scale of this cave :)
Have a good week all!
It was so peaceful getting to this Currumbin for sunrise. The beach was so quite compared to snapper rocks. A great way to start the day. I love the clarity in this shot and the warm morning sun just touching the tops of the rock. As much as I enjoyed my stay in Queensland.. Gotta back the Blues for tonights game!! :)
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This was one of the popular displays you could get up close to at Vivid Sydney 2015. This is a 4 minute exposure to enable a nice large depth of field without noise and blur the crowd giving a nice light painted celebration feel.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
What a beautiful country we live in, and what a spectacular five minutes of light to capture it. A dream shot, capturing this location with waterfalls that flow off a cliff directly in to the ocean at sunset. I knew exactly where I wanted to capture it, how I would capture it, and how I expected it to look. I am pleased to say, I can now see the image from my mind on screen, and now you can see it too!
It was an epic walk, one which required much care leaving this location in the dark. With low battery power in my 'torch' I had to ration its use and walked much of the way back by star light only using it when needed for rocky sections and creek crossings. I had a very busy weekend of photography taking over 1000 images. The things I do for my passion. I think this is my new favorite image and likely end up as a massive print on my wall :)
Thanks for reading. If you appreciate the work I do, please consider buying a print or throwing some change my way via my Pay Pal virtual Tip Jar :)
This is a timelapse of Sydney Harbour during Vivid Sydney 2015. It is comprised of over 350 shots taken on a Canon 6D and scaled down in to a massive 4k HD video.
There is so much detail to see in this clip, from the vivid projections on the Sydney Opera House, to the lit up boats coming in and out of the Harbour, the plans flying in the background, the massive crowds of people moving around The Rocks. Enjoy watching full screen in HD (looped a few times for your enjoyment).
Thanks for checking it out. It took some doing, but is one of my favorite pieces of work. If you appreciated it, please consider throwing some change my way via my Pay Pal virtual Tip Jar :)
What a delight to see the moon rising over the Sydney Opera House during Vivid 2015. I spent a good 5 hours, and over 20000 steps shooting vivid on the weekend. I had hoped to get there earlier but it was worth making the trip before it finished. Some nice new additions this year. I hope you are not sick of seeing images, because I have a stack.. I will try to break it up a little :)
This old camera is so different from what we have today. But the basis is the same. To me that means simulate the eye to capture the light from a moment in time. For memories, for art, to document.
Well its that time of year. First day of Winter and how cold was it with a max of 9 degrees today in Bathurst! Best part of winter is a nice cosy fireplace. Hope you all are keeping warm!
I love the epic feel to this image. It is a composite of multiple long exposure images showing off a nice angle of Carlotta Arch. You can see the stars trailing in the sky due to the long exposure. It was kinda spooky walking around the caves at night. It takes some time too, with each image requiring multiple 60+ second exposures. It took a few goes to get this one right, I think I was sitting here for about half an hour before I was convinced I had captured all the light I needed. Was well worth it though, got some pretty sweet shots.
Not the best time of day to be shooting, but thought I would share anyway. Nice to get out and about at lunch time every now and then. Autumn was funny this year, seems some trees were bare while others still green. The park is beautiful at the moment though.
It's so cool to see my photos printed and framed, the way they are meant to be :) You check out some of my work which is currently on display in the Bathurst 200 shop. Its located in the arcade just down from Annie's Ice cream on George street between 8:30am-4:45pm.
Don't forget, all my work is available on my website in the gallery section as quality prints or digital downloads. Hope you had a great weekend!
A classic Australian scene. Beautiful Gum frames this old shed. What more need be said really. This scene caught my eye while driving on a local country road. Worth turning around for this shot :) Hope you like and your week is going well!
I took this one a while back. It was very late in the day and getting quite dark in the valley. Such a nice walk. This was a 30second exposure at ISO400, you can see the ferns are not even blurred.
Grand Canyon Track Blackheath
Such an epic place to see the sunrise. Just north of Kiama this is not the most obvious place to visit for tourists but it should be... The blowhole is cool, but this place feels like another country. It's a photographers playground, I look forward to going back sometime and trying out few more shots.
It's such a nice drive out to Mt. Irvine, lovely windy road through the dense bush at sunset. Not sure what sort of trees these were, but not too much autumn happening there at the time.
Well this year Bathurst turns 200 and what better way to celebrate then our very on Vivid festival. This is just a taste of the opening Illuminate Bathurst. The lights will still be on for another 10 days, and there will be 2 more similar events through out the year.
It was great to see the town getting behind the event with some of Bathurst's finest food and beverage specialists with stalls keeping the crowds fed throughout the night. This stuff was far from 'carny' food! Great stuff guys, really added to the event.
And what goes well with great food and fine wine... Amazing music of course. What a beautiful backdrop for such a mix of fantastic music.
From the inside looking out. It was a great perspective at the doors of the courthouse looking out at those massive crowds. I was really impressed with the turnout. Nothing like a camera bag as a makeshift tripod! It was such a weird reflection/lens flare on the column, looks like a little elf or something.
By far my highlight of the event were the spectacular lanterns created by locals and paraded through the crowds. Everyone was very respectful and there were many proud parents taking photos as they went past. Certainly tricky to get a good photo of, but I was very happy with how this one turned out. The mighty nifty 50 saves the day. By far the cheapest lens in my kit, it still gets use. Whenever anyone asks me for advice on what lens to get when starting out, this is always it.
Off the beaten track, some of the local alley ways were also given a treat. This was an interactive display in the foreground with some historic faces looking out the windows of the old tafe building in the background. Im not sure if the project was in the van, but it certainly was unfortunatly parked! I had got my tripod out by this stage, so the quality is dramatically improved as i could run longer exposures and lower ISO.
What's that? I can't hear you... It was great seeing these people go off to the silent disco. A pretty nice projection on the side of the church bar kinda felt like a haunted house. This is a nice long exposure so you can see the glowing headphones moving around while people dance about.
Finally A shot of the Courthouse from in among the peoplescape. Given that the illumination of the courthouse was marketed as the main event, I felt sorry for all the people that had traveled so far to see it, because, while good, it was disappointing. The floodlights were left on due to security reasons, which is fair enough. But they were only using the center projector on the middle of the building. There is a lot more to the show as on thursday night I saw them configuring projectors for the side of the main dome. I can only assume there were technical issues getting it all set up in time, which is a shame because thats what the 000's of people were there to see. I have focused on the event as a whole and will share some shots of the main illumination when they get the lighting all sorted, so stay tuned.....
Overall this was a fantastic event. A big congratulations to the Bathurst200 team and all that were involved in putting this together. I look forward to heading down during the week and getting some shots of the full show when it's not so busy. It was great seeing the town so alive and busy, I hope that we see more events like this in the future.
Happy Birthday Bathurst.
Dave.
David Roma Photography
So after the bulb was replaced at 9pm on a cold Autumn night (cough, winter) I found prime position and took a bunch of shots from dead center of the bathurst Court House. This image is a blend of two shots, a long exposure to get the clouds and stars in the sky and a quite short exposure to get the individual projection rather then a big blur of light. It's a very difficult scene to capture in all its glory. There were so many cool projections, it was hard to pic just one. I think this one really emphasizes the architecture (plus it was a bright one so the quality is better:) ). The show runs till Sunday so do yourself a favour and check it out! :)
You can see the full show in a HD video I uploaded to youtube here:
Can't resist a good Milky Way shot. Even with the light pollution around, it still came out pretty good. Always helps to have some nice foreground in shot. This is a single exposure, 15seconds, f2.8, ISO5000. I was pleasantly surprised that it all looks pretty much in focus considering the wide aperture. Ideally I should have focus stacked the image. Hope you are all having a good week!
Right next to 'The Avenue'; possibly the most photographed autumn view in Australia is this nice little park. This year was not nearly as spectacular as previous ones, but there are still pockets of beautiful autumn trees around.
This is one of my favorite seascape locations. This was such a spectacular sunset on the day I took this on my last visit to the Gold Coast. It took a while to build up the courage to cross the gap, but got here in the end. The tide was coming in and the sky was fading fast, so I didn't have long. This was the first shot taken on the other side of the rock, and has the strongest colours in the sky. After the sky faded I didn't waste too much time timing the waves again to cross the gap back to the mainland. Didn't really fancy spending the next 6 hours out there waiting for the tide. Hope you all had a great weekend.
What a beautiful King Parrot enjoying the rainy weather.
I would recommend anyone who visits the Gold Coast check out the Natural Bridge at night. Photos honestly cannot do it justice. It's lit by hundreds of glow worms and it feels like another world. Like seeing galaxy's of green stars in a cave with a waterfall. It was one of the most technically challenging images I have ever taken. This is a single 79second exposure at ISO2500, any longer and the movement of the worms is visible and the noise gets terrible. I got lucky with this exposure as some walkers had briefly lit up the falls with a torch. I tried not to use much light within the cave as its not good for them apparently.
Had a great chat with some other photographers there. I walked down at sunset, and hang about for an hour or two until it got really dark. The walk back out was quite nice too with little clusters in beside the track. I think I even saw some bioluminescent mushrooms! So yeah, that probably clears up any questions on the previous mystery image I shared. That was a close up of the glow worms. The red glow was another photographers focus light, which fooled my cameras auto white balance and shifted the green glowworms to a blue colour.
Anyhoo. Hope you enjoyed the read, feel free to ask me any questions. Have a great week!
Ok, no hints here. For the first person to guess exactly what it is in a comment below I will email you a coupon code for a free desktop wallpaper.. Good luck! :)
Sometimes people add a personal element to landscapes. This was a random guy enjoying the sunrise. I was able to quickly re-position myself to get a nice composition. Managed to even get him mid movement with some nice waves at the same time. It started off as a disappointing sunrise, but the God Rays and last minute cloud made for a nice shot :) This image is really growing on me. I love the connection between man an nature.
I took this image last week when we had a spectacular sunrise. Unfortunately I missed the best bit, but it makes for a nice composition with the orange fading to the blue in the center. I would normally straighten my verticals for architectural shots however this one was to be more artistic and get the sky as much as the building, which is not really an option with this wide angle lens.
Looking forward to Illuminate Bathurst when this beautiful architecture will be lit up like Vivid Sydney as part of the Bathurst200 bicentenary celebrations on 9 May, 4 July, 9 October.
Do I get points for a creative title! :) I have no idea what this flower is but it looked nice in the sun. If anyone out there can help me out that would be great. This was one of the shots I took when testing out the Sigma's ability for macro. It was taken at 600mm from about 1.5 meters away. Not too shabby. I liked how there is so much contrast in this shot, to expose the flower correctly the background is so dark. Anyway, I haven't shared a flower for a while, so here you go :)
One of my favorite views is a foggy Bathurst viewed from Mt. Panorama just after sunrise. I took this one on Monday, such nice light across the fog, gives an other worldly feel to it. I have another shot of just the house floating in a sea of cloud but this one tells a more complete story I think.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
Awesome lightning show in Bathurst tonight. This is the view west from the top of Mt. Panorama. Pretty cool to get lightning and sunset all in one shot. There were quite a few people popping up to check out the show. Still going now if you look out to the east :)
How cute. He looks like a baby dinosaur. He was an agile little critter. I have never seen anything like him, especially not in Bathurst. If anyone can I.D. him for me that would be great. He was about 10cms long, looked quite soft, has a semi transparent white patterned tongue which is not forked. I know I have some experts who follow my page, I'm sure we will find out in due time. I randomly found him in my kitchen sink last night, couldn't help but get a photo before returning him to the great outdoors. Hope you find him as cute as I do. A nice little break from all the landscapes of late.
One from the archives to break up all the water shots.. Back home and its coooold. I love the sense of depth in this one given by the mist and the compression from the long focal length :) Hope you all had a great weekend!
This surfer was training for a competition at sunrise this morning at Fingal Head. I love the way the early morning light shines through the wave. There were a bunch of surfers in this spot and they all cheered when she jumped on one of the biggest waves of the morning. She is even trailing a hand in the wave and has her tongue out for extra concentration. Had a friendly chat to the coach and a fellow photographer. Thought it would mix up the sunrise shots a bit :)
This was one of those spectacular sunset moments where it had me running for my camera! Always love the 'God Rays' and this one is a cracker. Got lucky with a flock of birds too :)
Beautiful one day, perfect the next... Well so they say. This is the view from Fingal head in New South Wales looking up the coast toward Coolangatta Queensland. It has been quite a few days of rain, but has made for some interesting skies. I have enjoyed my stay so far and today was a beautiful sunny day. Hope you all had a great easter break.
Was very happy I dragged myself out of bed in the dark while raining again. I left a little late so was racing to the beach as the sky were turning while I was half way there. I found this place by looking on google earth for rocks along the beach, they always make for a some nice foreground. The beautiful colours didn't last long, but that didn't stop me hanging around shooting for over an hour. So many photo Opportunities in the Gold Coast region. Lovin' it.
Sunrise at the beautiful Giants Causeway in Fingal Head. I was so stoked to get back to this location after a quick visit last year. I left in the drizzle in the rain. By the time I got there, it was pouring... Made for an uncomfortable walk our the sandy path with all my gear huddled under the umbrella. I was really regretting leaving the nice warm bed thinking I would not even see the sun. Taking a few shots awkwardly from under the umbrella I was glad to see the sky start to break up, yay, I will actually get to see the sun!
I love how the light shines across the top of the rocks in this shot. Its actually a single exposure at 1 second. I do have another shot with a longer exposure, but I prefer the extra movement and interest in this one. I hope you all have a fantastic Easter holiday. Expect to see some more seascapes from the 'not so sunny' Gold Coast...
Sometimes simple is the most beautiful. After a few days of waking up, seeing no high cloud and going back to sleep, I thought I would actually get up and shoot regardless. No wide angle full of pink clouds, no leading lines or interesting foreground. Just a simple composition of that big bright disc in the sky... Good morning all.
Well what an epic adventure this was. I only had morning available with a long time friend and photographer on the Gold coast and after a few solid days of rain decided to head up to O'Reillys for some waterfall action.
Unfortunately the rain did not let up. We woke up at dawn to the sound of pouring rain, that was our lot for the day. Determined, we grabbed our umbrellas and heading up the windy road to the national park and started our trek. It is a fair walk to get to this waterfall but started out quite easy with a nice wide cement path which was fine for umbrellas all be it a little awkward.
After a few kms of walking the track had long turned to wet leaves and narrowed quite a bit, then I made the mistake of looking down to my feet. To my horror there were what felt like hundreds of leeches all over my feet and legs. No I am no stranger to the bush, and am not concerned with the odd leech, but the sheer number is a little unnerving to say the least. Not being prepared with gators or salt it was the old 'flick' method of removal.. This works in most cases except where they have latched on for a while and got a good grip, then you really need a good scratch and or pinch. which usually results with them latching on to your hand. This is all while trying to keep your gear dry and having one hand busy holding the umbrella. After that was dealt with we continued on toward the first waterfall.... If only it were that easy. With no exaggeration I think I made it like 50 meters and had another 5 leeches already on me. This continued over and over until we finally made it to the waterfall..
Happy for a break from the paths of doom I captured this shot from some slippery rocks below the falls. It's quite a skill operating a camera, multiple lens' on a tripod in the pouring rain. Not one which I am particularly good at or really want to practice. The original plan was to continue on for another 5kms or so the the larger waterfalls in the national park, but I was happy to cut my losses and catchup over a nice lunch and some coffee...
I'm shocked you made it this far! sorry for the novel, just a very memorable experience for me at least in the life of a photographer.
The beautiful Cathedral Rocks. I thought I would share a wider angle view of this area so you can get an appreciation for how it looks. I could have spent hours here there are so many different rock formations to explore. The cave is out of view in the bottom right hand corner of this image. I love the timing of this shot with the nice colour of the wave crashing into the rocks. Look forward to returning at low tide so I can get right up close for some more epic type shots :)
This one is best view large... Unlike Bombo quarry, this place is not as epic in person as in many photographs. Don't get me wrong, its worth the visit, but from some of the photos I have seen of this place makes it look so massive and so epic. The original plan was to get this photo at sunrise, unfortunately sunrise was going to coincide directly with high tide, so there would not be a chance I would have got in here.
Having said that this sunset shot was not too far off high tide and it was coming in quick. After taking photos around the area for about 40mins I was eyeing off the motion of the water entering the cave. I could see some dry rocks right at the back of the cave which indicated some refuge at least temporarily, however the height of the water varied dramatically from 1 foot to over a meter. Against my better judgement I waited for the right timing and went for it.. Making it in and with the water approaching fast I quickly discovered another problem.. The cave was literally swarming with mosquitoes. I think I spent a total of about 30 seconds in this cave. It was the quickest composition and setup I think I have ever done.. Waited for the water to go out. Place the camera, compose, press the button and do a stupid dance to keep the mozzies off while couched and prepared to grab the camera as the next wave crashed in. Needless to say I managed to make it out with dry gear. I can't say the same for my mozzie bitten body.
It's not the composition I was after, I was only traveling with a small tripod but I think it turned out pretty good regardless.. I will return one day, equipped with my full sized tripod, a tide chart and a stack of mozzie spray!
This is one of my favorite images from my recent trip down south. Photography is all about capturing the light. This is an uncommon view of Bombo as I was looking for compositions which complemented the limited number of clouds in the sky lit up by the sunrise. Bombo Headland was an amazing place to visit. It feels like another world there and recommend anyone heading Kiama way to check it out. It was well worth the trip out in the dark to see the sunrise in the beautiful location.
They are the weirdest looking animals with a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver and feet like an otter. Apparently they thought it was a hoax when first encountered and I can see why.
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) also known as the duck-billed platypus is a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth. It is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record. You can read all about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus
This was the view of the storm after it passed over looking to the north. As the solid storm clouds started to break up it allowed the sun to shine through the gaps making beautiful light rays contrasting against the dark black clouds. It was cool to see the light spots in the valley and correlate those to the gaps in the clouds above. I really enjoyed my little adventure out to Pulpit rock. I hope you have enjoyed the best of the many photos I took while there. Thanks for all the feedback, on the last couple of photos. Happy hump day!
The warm sun was nice on my back after the cold ferocious winds roared through the valley while I sheltered in the cave nearby. I had a great view of the storm rolling over Pulpit Rock and ventured out after the rain had ceased to capture this view of the valley. I really liked the leading lines of the fence as well as the before and after type view; with half the valley in sun and half under dark dark clouds. I was tempted to hang around and for the sunset, but it was still a good 3 hours away and thought I had been there long enough already. The image yesterday was exactly to my right of this shot and I think I will share one more image from this trip of the view to the left.
Pulpit Rock, Blackheath, NSW, Australia
Well, what a great experience. I was out at this lookout for a few hours and was able to watch this storm cell form from virtually nothing, roll right over the top of me and diffuse in the north. This shot was taken about 10mins before this storm hit. And hit it did. I was down taking photos from the chair when the big rain drops started hitting. I grabbed my gear and quickly retreated to a nearby cave. Just in time the wind was cranking, and it was pouring rain. I think the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in minutes and I have never seen such intense rain and wind so close to a cliff.. Rain was shooting up out of the valley at crazy speed. I was so grateful for that cave, my umbrella would not have done a thing in retrospect. After about 30mins the rain stopped and I was able to venture out and grab a few more shots as the sun came out and lit half the valley while the other half was covered in black cloud. I got some nice shots which I will share sometime soon. Well if you got to the end of this novel, I'm impressed.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
Looking forward to beautiful views like this in the central west. This is one of my favorite Autumn views in Bathurst that I didn't get a chance to share last year. Expect many more. I am also planning a trip to Mt. Wilson where I have seen some of the most spectacular Autumn views from anywhere in the world. Its a beautiful season with nice weather free from hay fever :) Just need to plan an escape for winter! :)
I'm not sure exactly why I like this image so much. I find it quite peaceful for some reason. It's an interesting composition that breaks some basic photography rules... But I think its the composition that creates interest. The pole is exactly in the center, the space on the left is equal to the space on the right, though with the silhouette of the Kangaroo Tail on the right it it gives the illusion of a smaller area. Perhaps this image speaks to the emptiness on the left, and the feeling of life and home on the balcony on the right. Growing up in the country I am not one for apartments, but they are growing on me. Would be interested to hear what others think of this image.
I love architecture photography, and what better than mixing it up with a beautiful sunset in the lovely Thredbo Village. This was a nice warm evening, fairly quite this time of year, but the mountain bikers sure do get good use of the mountain in the off season. I would normally ensure my vertical lines are all straight to be true to the architecture, but was going for more of an artistic shot with this one. It was quite challenging lighting to capture the entire scene, with bright lights int he shop, dark building and bright sky in the distance I had to blend multiple exposure. The Canon 6d has good low light and dynamic range, but not that good :) Looking forward to sensor technology improving to the point where this could all be done in a single shot.
This is another shot of a beautiful Giraffe at Taronga Western Plains zoo in Dubbo. It was captured with my Sigma 150-600 @499mm, 1/2000sec, f6.3 ISO320. This one was shot handheld from a moving golf cart. While you can drive around the massive zoo in your car, it is good fun to take the little safari carts around. I was pretty happy with how well this shot came out while moving. You just have to be careful while tracking the animal through the viewfinder that you don't knock your driver out with the lens! :)
A bit of Monday Motivation :)
A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, produces edible seeds, and is also the source of the crude drug opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drugs. Following the trench warfare which took place in the poppy fields of Flanders, during the 1st World War, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime.
I was going through my photos from the Bathurst 12hr and couldn't resist but to share another one. Such a beautiful car, its lines and symbolic red colour are really emphasized in this image. Thanks to Vicious Rumour Racing for getting this car on track. Driven by A.Montermini, Bsimonsen, R.Loberto they came in with an impressive 6th outright.
Hope your week is off to a good start everybody!
Godzilla is king of the mountain once again! And what might be even more impressive is that just a few years ago, 2 of the 3 drivers were just playing Gran Turismo on their playstation before winning the GT Academy. It just goes to show how good driving simulations/games are getting, not to mention the reliability and dominance of a Nismo GT3 car.
It was a fantastic event, with attendance up, full coverage by channel 7 and an amazing line up of cars. This event keeps getting bigger and better. I Look forward to seeing the mighty GTR defend its title again next year. I hope that perhaps one day, Mt. Panorama might be included as part of a 24hr series, but for now, the Bathurst 12hr is a fantastic event and is well worth a trip to see.
Laurens Vanthoor is now the new lap record holder at Mt. Panorama in Bathurst with a blistering time set in qualifying of 2:02.55s. Markus Winkelhock started the race in the Phoenix Racing's Audi R8 at sunrise getting the brakes glowing red hot coming into the chase.
It was an amazing atmosphere at the start of the race this year as it's getting more and more popular. Watching the starting laps from the chase is awesome as the sun rises and the rotor glow slowly fades. All day the positions have been shifting between the Audi R8, Ferrari 458, Mercedes SLS and mighty Nissan GTR Godzilla.
I was up the mount doing a photo shoot for a company and thought I would get a few shots for fun afterwards.. So pumped for the Bathurst 12hr this year. Here is a photo I took just after sunset tonight of the teams practicing their pit stops. Who are you backing for the race???
Solid Advice.... I stumbled upon this, walking around the headlands in Dee Why searching for some nice sunset shots. I'm sure there must be some pretty full on back-story behind this message on the rocks, so I hope posting this doesn't offend. I thought it a good reminder not to give up in mind or body. There is always something to live for...
Happy Australia Day!!!!!
Check out these dudes getting in the Aussie spirit and pulling some major air this Australia Day weekend on the Thredbo Cannonball DH track!
I took this photo during the 500px photowalk last year. Only just got around to going through them all.. This is a 20 image hdr panorama. Quite the effort to create however it really captures the entire scene and has the ability to be printed huuuge :)
Hope you are all doing great, haven't been around for a while, but should be posting a bit more regularly now..
I recently drove past this location and remembered that I never shared the image I took here. When showing some family they mentioned it looked like an Alien, hence the title. Its often tricky to perfectly center an image, it really bugs me when its out, but fortunately I nailed this one :)
Hope you all are having a cracker week!
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/landscapes
FYI, all of my images can be purchased as desktop wallpapers and prints. It's fully automated with credit card and Paypal support. Simply click the image, and follow the buy prompts.
Hot off the press… This is the stunning moonrise tonight in amongst some light cloud and trees. This is a shot I have always wanted to do. Its one of my more challenging photos to capture. It was taken at 1200mm and has not been photoshopped at all. Only cropping, brightness/contrast corrections. My Ideal shot of this would be a single dead tree filling the size of the moon, however it was hard enough to find this location. Perhaps one day I will find the elusive shot, it takes a fair bit of planning to be able to pull off.
Anyhoo, hope you like it! one more shot ticked off my checklist :)
One of the many random journeys down dirt roads on my recent travel resulted in this image. I didn't find the Aboriginal Burial site the information sign mentioned, but I did score some very nice timing for this simple but interesting shot. The Train drivers were staring straight at me holding my massive lens and gave me a little toot as they went by.. :)
Hope you all are having a cracking start to 2015!!!
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/landscapes
Taronga Western Plains Zoo - Dubbo, NSW, Australia
Three Cheetahs sitting in a group (coalition) when one spotted me. Taken with my Sigma 150-600mm lens at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. I have been dying to try out my lens on something other than birds and kangaroos. What better spot than a trip to the zoo. It was a cracking hot 34 degrees that day, many of the animals were painting in the shade. I was panting too carrying my 13kg kit around. But its shots like this that make it all worth it. Such a beautiful animal and fast to boot. Would love to see one of these guys in full flight one day.
Well, its holiday time!!! I will at be spending at least some of my time back on the beautiful Gold Coast which I am very much looking forward too. I am not sure how frequently I will be able to post over the next few weeks, but rest assured, I will be taking plenty of photos! I am sure you will all get to appreciate the beauty of this great country through my lens in the very near future! :)
Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year filled with hope and joy!
One of the many ducklings in Machattie Park at the moment. Very cute little fella. He was getting quite a bit of speed up. Happy with the range and sharpness of this shot. Taken with the Sigma 150-600mm lens @600mm f6.3 1/250sec, ISO 640.
Beautiful Ireland
Liscannor, County Clare, Ireland
I went for an early morning walk while staying in Liscannor and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. When I think of Ireland, I think of these views. So many rolling green hills, historic buildings and rock walls. Beautiful, peaceful, memorable..
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/travel
The fastest speed of many cameras is around 2000th of a second. Even if you did manage to time this right, that is still too slow to avoid seeing motion blur in this kind of fast moving subject. What you are seeing here is actually a 2 second exposure in a dark room where the only light the camera picks up is from two flashes firing on their lowest (fastest) power setting (1/128) which is ~24000th of a second.
Just out of frame where most of the splash is, I have a flash pointing down from the roof which is attached to my triggertrap sensor which is listening for the sound of a balloon popping. Triggertrap is an attachment that connects to your phone to use its sensors as a trigger for your flash (or camera). For this shot it is set to sound mode with the threshold just high enough so the sound of the shutter opening on the camera doesn't set it off, but just about any other sound does.
I press the shutter button, quickly (and quietly move into position) and throw the dart at the balloon (which I can't really see because its so dark). All goes well, the shutter is open, I hit my target, the flash fires (and so does my fill flash in slave mode) and the magical moment is captured forever.
The balloon full of water was attached to some strong elastic which promptly bounces out of place before the image is captured so it looks as if everything is suspended in mid air. Just make sure your camera gear is well out of the way of the impending splash!
I have found Triggertrap to be too slow for many applications (like this one) when connected to the camera. In order to capture high speed objects you really need to connect directly into a flash. The sound and vibration sensors are amazingly sensitive. a sneeze in the next room, walking to heavily, the sound of the camera shutter, all set it off. Probably has some good home security applications ;)
The motion sensor seems ok for slower moving applications, but obviously needs light, and was not sensitive enough to track a golf club swinging right past it.. The sound sensor on the other hand was triggered by the whoosh of the club through the air. If anyone has any ideas on how I might use Triggertrap to capture the compression of a golf ball as the club hits it, I would love to hear them. I haven't found a setup consistent enough to get this exact moment. I might need a laser trigger for this little application.
Update:
Here are some other shots taken with the same technique. Enjoy! :)
Happy Weekend Everybody!
Just a quick post to share this amazing rainbow I took earlier this week. It was one of the brightest ones I have ever seen. It was a full rainbow from end to end, but I chose to use the new Sigma 150-600mm to shoot just one end of the rainbow to see if I could find the gold...
This is one of my new favorite images. With all the storms around at the moment, it’s a great opportunity to get some really nice contrasting light. I love the balance of the brightly lit wheat with the dead trees and dark stormy looking clouds. Gives me a sense of the beauty and wisdom of the old. With the new and fruitful in its wake.
Anyhoo, this was taken with my favorite new toy, the Sigma 150-600 at 150mm f/11 ISO100. Hope everyone is going well. Not long till the Christmas holidays!
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/landscapes
Silvereye or wax-eye (Zosterops lateralis) is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west pacific. Silvereyes breed in spring and early summer (mainly between September and December), making a tiny cup of grass, moss, hair, spiderweb, and thistledown, suspended from a branch fork in the outer reaches of small trees or shrubs. They lay two to four pale blue eggs, and two (or sometimes three) broods may be raised during each breeding season. The eggs hatch after about 11 days, and the young fledge after another 10 days. The juveniles are independent at 3 weeks and able to breed at 9 months.
I captured so many images of this cute little bird enjoying the cool water from the fountain on this hot summers day. I was out giving my new Sigma 150-600mm lens a good workout. This shot was captured at 250/sec, f8, ISO2000 @600mm. I am loving all the new photo opportunities I get with this lens.
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/wildlife
Bathurst, NSW, Australia
Since my image appearing on the front cover of the local calendar to celebrate Bathurst’s Bicentenary I have been bailed up quite a few times by people commenting how much they like the image and how I went about taking it. I always enjoy talking photography with people. I thought I would share another image from that morning. This one is taken from a different angle. It’s a 30 second exposure to get enough ambient light on the courthouse but without over exposing the steel wool spin (probably went for 10 seconds or so). I love the deep blue sky in this exposure and the perception of depth from the arching embers. While it looks super impressive with such a long exposure while you doing it its not nearly as bright.
Hope your week is off to a solid start…
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/architecture
Bathurst, NSW, Australia
This shot was taken from the top of Mt. Panorama on the first day of summer, what a welcome! The blue hour is a spectacular time to take lightning photos as you still get the detail in the landscape as well as the bolts in shot. I also had a good yarn to Craig from Country Fruit, always fun to meet others who share a common passion and be able to share photography tips.
This was a single 13 second exposure, ISO 100, f/9. Basically you want to set your camera up for a good exposure of the background where the aperture controls how bright the lightning will appear. If my maths is right and I ran an aperture of f/18 for 52sec I would get the same exposure of the landscape, but the lightning would be barely visible (if at all). This is because the lightning is only there for a split second while the light from the scene is soaking into the sensor for the entire 52 seconds. So basically, if your lighting is over exposed you need to narrow your aperture, if it is too faint, you need to widen it.
http://www.davidromaphotography.com/landscapes
The PracticalityThe focusing was really good, was able to shoot through fences and focus on animals, it was fast and responsive. Hardest thing is being able to position the focus point on the eye/head at 600mm. The minimum focus distance is a little lacking and quite noticeable (260cm) in comparison to the canon. Will be interesting to see if it works with macro tubes.
The lens collar is awesome, well balanced (albeit a little front heavy at 600mm), it turns and clicks into place every 90 degrees which is nice. It was easier to use on top of my manfrotto 055 than I expected, and the ball head was able to lock the heavy lens in any angle i wished.
The Manual override focus worked quite well, while I didn't use it much, it was handy for the bee shot or anything which was very small that I wanted to focus from close range. I haven’t played with the focus limiting switch much yet, mostly because I didn’t really have many issues with the camera getting focus quickly.
The instructions indicate OS mode 2 would stabilize in the vertical plane only. This was a bit of a disappointment to me as I had hoped it would sense the direction of motion like some of the canon lens’ do. I haven't tested, but I assume this means i couldn't track an object moving vertically.
[UPDATE - Sigma America have read this review and informed me that OS 2 does in-fact detect vertical or horizontal panning and corrects accordingly] :)
So rather than ranting on, I think you all agree that the proof is in the pudding, or the images at least. I will share a bunch of sample shots here, with their 100% crops (ie. Actual pixels, zoomed in to 100%), with no modification at all to the RAW, simply saved as jpeg straight out of lightroom.
Note: mouse over each image to see details of the shot
The reach and versatility of this lens is awesome. Below is comparison of the lens shooting on a tripod from 150mm (widest), and 600mm… Thats quite a bit of reach! :)
Sigma 150-600mm Zoom test 1Canon EOS 6D, f/5 @ 150 mm, 1/320, ISO 100
Sigma 150-600mm Zoom test 2Canon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/125, ISO 100
This is one of the few images that were shot with direct front lit sunshine. It shows in the 100% crop, this lens is amazingly sharp when paired with 100iso. Just imagine this one if I shot it at f8 ! :) This shot also highlights how good the autofocus is that I could find the spot through the twigs and focus on the bird without issue... Handheld.
This shot shows off its ‘macro’ ability.. It has a 1:5 magnification ratio. This shot was taking in fleeting light, fully shaded as the sun went behind the hills. Its taken about 1cm from its minimum focus distance (260cm) handheld. (yeah, it was one of about 15 attempts :) )
Sigma 150-600mm - Honey Bee macro testCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/250, ISO 4000
100% crop of Sigma 150-600mm - Honey Bee macro testCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/250, ISO 4000
I have always wanted a lens that could shoot the moon. Hrm, I wonder how it would go with a 2x converter! This one was taken on a tripod. The moon was high in the sky right at sunset. It was a good test to use the zoom lock and stop the lens creeping back down when pointed over 45 degrees. I just love the detail in this shot! yay :)
On the downside, it does show one of the few flaws of this lens. The quite strong vignette. This doesn't really worry me though, its one click in lightroom to add the lens profile and fix this up. I tent to add vignette to most of my images anyway.
Sigma 150-600mm Moon test shotCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/250, ISO 100
100% crop of the Sigma 150-600mm Moon test shotCanon EOS 6D, f/9 @ 600 mm, 1/50, ISO 100
This lens deals fairly well with solar flare. At least at 600mm pointing directly into the sun. Loses a stack of contrast and has some artifacting, but nothing that really put me off.
Sigma 150-600mm Solar flare testCanon EOS 6D, f/10 @ 150 mm, 1/500, ISO 400
These little wallabies posing ever so nicely behind some cyclone fencing.. No worries, at full zoom, you can shoot straight through and wouldn't even know it existed!
Sigma 150-600mm test ability to shoot through fenceCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/160, ISO 2500
This handheld shot shows the ability of the Sigma 150-600mm lens to focus and capture moving subjects in low light. It's also testament to the Canon 6d's low light ability. Oh and that's not ice. It's the N of the 'MOUNT PANORAMA' sign (kinda like our version of the hollywood sign, lol).
Sigma 150-600mm test - On the moveCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/500, ISO 8000
100% crop of Sigma 150-600mm test - On the moveCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/500, ISO 8000
With all these 600mm wide open shots, I thought I better show one in the more mid range. This is Handheld at 210mm. It also shows off some colour reproduction in the fleeting light.
Wow, how cool is this handheld shot.. Its pretty much a solid colour background, who would have guessed there is paddocks and trees and kangaroos back there. I haven't played with really long lenses before, but wow, what a pleasing result :)
Sigma 150-600mm Bokeh testCanon EOS 6D, f/6.3 @ 600 mm, 1/500, ISO 640
| Lens Construction | 24 Elements in 16 Groups |
| Angle of View | 16.4º-4.1º |
| Number of Diaphragm Blades | 9 |
| Mininum Aperture | f22 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 260cm/ 102.4 in |
| Filter Size (mm) | 105mm |
| Maximum Magnifications | 1:5 |
| (Diameter x Length) | 121x290.2mm |
| Weight | 2860g |
| Canon mount (others available) | DG,OS,HSM |
Well to summarize... I don't see the point. I'm sure teleconverters have their place, and obviously people get some great results. But in my sort time with this lens, body and teleconverter, I found the results underwhelming. I think I would achieve results just as good simply heavily cropping my images without the tele.
First of all, I was worried about the stability and weight of so much gear hanging off this lens, but that was unfounded. The camera body is relatively light, and the 2x extender is well built, It felt solid locked in, no dramas there.
The second major issue is no autofocus.. I'm not saying it's bad.. It's non-existent, it doesn't even try. Having said that, chances are if you are shooting at 1200mm you will be on a tripod, and is manual focus that bad if you are on a tripod. I find myself usually using the live view at 10x and manually focusing anyway when mounted on a tripod shooting a static object.
Now this is a borrowed 2x converter from a friend. They have not reported any issues with it. However on this lens probably 40% of the time I connect it, the aperture zeros out. After disconnecting and reconnecting its normally fine and I can control aperture again.
