It’s been a couple of months since my last blog because it’s taken that long to find enough time to work on the images in this series. Being detail oriented, and probably obsessive, I can easily spend two days solid processing a single photograph to bring it up to a standard that is ready for huge prints.
Firstly let me wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope you got through the holiday period and emerged unscathed into the bright new world of 2019. It’s been a bit of whirlwind of activity here, but I find myself with a moment of peace just now to catch up on this blog. As usual I’ll try to describe, at least briefly, the trips that lead to these images.
As we head towards the tail end of another year I thought I’d better catch up on blog posts. Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who helped spread the word of my little exhibition in Bendigo back in September. All the wonderful compliments were much appreciated, as were, of course, the support of those who purchased exhibited pictures. There is always something very gratifying about seeing work I’ve laboured so hard over come to life in big prints. Thank-you all.
Now, onto the usual meat of these ramblings, namely trips and new images. Let’s see. I don’t have too much to present in this round, though it hasn’t been for want of trying. Maybe my standards have risen, but I’ve withheld a number of new images, despite the time invested in capturing and producing them. The test I come back to, for gallery inclusion, is “would I hang it on my wall?” If something is “nice”, that’s not enough for me. It really needs to be both beautiful and compelling, as well as technically without flaw. All the more so in this digital age where we are inundated with a constant stream of imagery.
It’s been a while since my last blog entry and that is mostly down to the volume of time (and money!) that has gone into preparing for my upcoming Australian Landscape Photography Exhibition. I’ll talk briefly about it and then get onto a trip report for the last few images.
During the whole of September 2018 I’ll have some of my work on display in the Bendigo Bank Central Arcade in Bendigo. There should be three large framed prints, including one at 60 inches wide (plus mat & frame) of Craigs Hut under snow that looks truly glorious if I do say so myself. We’ll also have a dozen or so 36 inchers on display, all professionally roll mounted on foam core and matted, as well as maybe one canvas if we can fit it all in. The work has been hand titled and signed and will be available for sale. Just shoot me an email or call if you’d like to purchase anything on display.
So where have I been roaming of late? With only a few days spare I headed north looking for good light. My first port of call was Coalcliff where I invested some time into the Sea Cliff Bridge, a scene that just begs to be photographed. At one point I was inundated by a couple of dozen fellow photographers taking to the rocky cliffside like a flock of goats, one after the other, and decided to seek a less obvious vantage point. Ultimately, however, I came away unhappy with my compositions and the light in general, so refocused my efforts the next day on the sea pool which I’d attempted before.
Greetings once again. Another couple of months have slipped by us since my last blog, so I thought I’d better write up my recent images. They are all reasonably local, no more than a few hours drive away. Whilst each required multiple separate trips to get the light at its best (one took decades!), they share in common one feature, being fairly family friendly. This year I was able to enjoy each with our seven year old boy who loved the experiences. So fellow parents reading this, here are three hiking locations you can reach from country Victoria or Melbourne.
Well here we are again with another photographic update from my landscape photography adventures. As you can likely determine from this series of images, I was able to head up north again, making it as far as a hot and humid Queensland. Here I spent some quality time in Lamington National Park seeking out waterfalls I’d not photographed yet.
One of those was Morans Falls, where I had my first encounter with a strange form of wildlife I’ll call the YouTube generation. Four young lads and their drone, one of whom posed semi-clad upon the cliff top and stared off into the middle distance, whilst the others snapped photos and piloted their craft to film him. It was an unusual experience. I’m certainly more used to being alone during my photographic endeavours. However I felt encouraged to hear their rather vocal appreciation of the quality of light we were granted, and the splendid natural environment that surrounded us.
With Christmas nearly upon us for another year, I feel the need to present my final images of 2017. As you can see the obsession with high country huts continues unabated. A crazy bike ride through a lightning storm with a blown tyre yielded a view of Witzes Hut that is hopefully evocative of the isolated and dramatic scene. Alone in the wilderness with nothing but thunder, torrential rain, and wild horses for company… the things us landscape photographers do!
With only three days spare I once more set out in search of landscape images. The weather was cloudless and windy to the east and north so I headed west instead, making for Adelaide. It’s a long drive in the dead of night. Big freight trucks rattle along and the occasional lonely town slips past, but mostly it’s just hours and hours of staring into the little cone of light in the darkness. The South Australian border came and went, then finally the steep descent into the city began, fortunately still well ahead of dawn.
So here we are again with another exciting instalment of my life as a landscape photographer. Ha! Yeah, okay, that was a bit much. As you can see from the images, I haven’t exactly journeyed to distant realms these last few months. That never ending duty of keeping ahead of the bills has placed my focus elsewhere for the most part. However, I did manage to see the snow once this season, and hopefully made the best of it.
With my wife and our little boy on a plane to Sydney for a family event, I was free to go in search of photographic potential. Getting them to the Melbourne airport on time for a pre-dawn budget flight was nothing short of a nightmare. What Machiavellian mind created that twisted hell I know not, but suffice it to say some peace in the mountains was certainly welcomed afterwards.
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