A Picture Within A Picture

The New South Wales Art Gallery was the destination for The Not Only Black And White Meetup group. The " Picture Within A Picture"  Challenge for the day was to use the 1:1 capabilities of our camera to  photograph one of the bronze or marble statues within the Art Gallery of NSW to include a picture in the background from the Galleries painting collection.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable and challenging task. The most difficult aspect was to capture both statue and painting and control the depth of field and exposure for both. It required a lot of experimentation and some careful positioning.

As with any day out, the enjoyment didnt commence at the location. We made quite a few stops on our way to the Gallery. Alighting from the train at Town Hall Station we headed first towards the War Memorial where we experimented with reflections in the aptly named Memorial Pool Of Reflection. 

The stately Moreton Bay fig trees are always a drawcard for me and we had many opportinities to capture some of these beauties in both Hyde Park and the Domain. 

The bonus for the day was a bride and groom who posed for some lighthearted photographs in front of the Archibald Fountain. 

The walk towards the Gallery led us past some of Sydney's historic landmarks and buildings including the grand St. Mary's Cathedral. 

We were on the lookout for some spiderwebs, yet another photographic challenge issued from our local camera club.  

Perhaps the grandest of all the figs we saw is situated in the Domain and unfortunately its welcoming arms which reach towards the ground seem to attract youths keen to stretch its bounty to the utmost. 

 Last but not least we entered the Gallery and the fun began.      

My favourite image of the day.

Sleeping Bombo

Joined the Not Only Black And White Meetup group for yet another trip to Bombo Quarry.  We hadnt anticipated an exciting day as the swell was low, the sky was a cloudless blue and the time was too late to catch the good light. However it's always enjoyable to get together with this welcoming and amenable group.
The impressive size of the quarry is difficult to establish without some scale reference so the  following image smattered with Meetup members should serve to illustrate this for those who haven't been lucky enough to visit the quarry.

As the swell was not particularly exciting I spent most of my time photographing the view from the quarry. I love the golden grasses which dot the quarry landscape.

 Due to the absence of large waves people had the opportunity to approach the window between the twin pillars. This is generally impossible, particularly when the waves are high because they frequently crash right over the top of the pillars with great force and cascade down the western face like small waterfalls.

One exception was the small swell hitting against the eastern walls of the basalt columns 

 There were still many reflection pools even though the rainfall had not been particularly heavy.

 

Only thing to mar the day was a rogue wave which dumped on Ruth and appears to have put her Canon 6D out of action for the time being. Bombo has much beauty but as with any coastal formation, is witness to the unpredictablility of Nature. Even on this relatively calm day there was the occasional freak wave which endeavoured to catch the unaware. The secret is to sit high enough to be able to gain an effective composition while at the same time ensuring you have adequate rock cover as protection, if not from the waves, at least from being dragged into the swirling waters below.

Bombo never disappoints, irrespective of conditions, and while the rockpools were generally shallow and filled with less than inviting water, many beautiful reflections were still evident. It very much depends on the angle of the camera and proof that reality can be transformed by a single shutter click.

It's always an opportunity to play around with processing when skies are uncooperative so sometimes the vagaries of weather can have a positive effect.

Following the walk down to Bombo the group moved on to Kiama for lunch where some of us amused ourselves shooting the local seagulls. I could spend hours watching these little creatures derogatively described by some bird haters as 'flying rats'. I find their antics amusing and after all, they hav eas much right to eke out an existence from their surroundings as the humans who share their planet.

Unfortunately my depleted energy levels after hours of rock hopping prevented me from joining the group on the walk along a long stretch of beach towards Rangoon Island at Minamurra.

Southern Coast Meetup

A first outing with the Not Only Black And White Meetup Group titled " Southern Exposure - day trip with pools". The aim was to visit the coastal pools between Coalcliff and Port Kembla.  I'm not an admirer of built pools, always preferring the natural rock variety. However the Meetup was an opportunity to connect with like minded people and I preceived it as a challenge to be able to capture a creative image so it was a great learning opportunity.  As the meeting time was 9 a.m I decided to have an earlier start and dropped in at Bald Hill where I spent some time photographing the paragliders.  

The group's first stop was Coalcliff.

 The time was later than optimum, the light was brighter than optimum and the pool was full of club sprinters so it was difficult to capture a satisfactory shot. 

The pebbled shore and rock formations provided other opportunities to experiment with compositions and light shards shimmered on the surface of the ocean and shore, always elusive to capture digitally.

 

Wombarra is always a rewarding location as there are large boulders, rock shelves, and the wave flow can be exciting on a large swell day. Tide was mid height and some interesting reflections were created in the many small rock pools on the shelves.  

The tall order for the group remained unfulfilled as there was much of interest to occupy us at each location and of course there was the distraction of a delicious lunch at the "The Black Duck Restaurant",  hosted within the Scarborough/Wombarra Bowling Club. Certainly an inauspicious looking location but we were impressed by the flavour and size of each item on the menu and the service was efficient and friendly.

Next stop was Austinmer where the pool looked like a bomb site as they are doing some sort of renovations to the swimming pools, so observing families amusing themselves in the natural rock pools was the name of the game.

Due to a small misadventure three of us detoured to Gloucester Boulevarde where we discovered a great little natural rock pool. Unfortunately we were called away to meet up with the rest of the group at Flinders St. to observe the smoke streaming out of the enormous funnels at the Steel Works so that exciting little location will have to wait for another day.

Sydney Icons Walk

The Sydney Photo Fun Meetup group linked up at Milson's Point for the Sydney Icons Walk.  The Opera House, perhaps the most well recognised icon, looks resplendent in the Golden Hour. This shot was taken from the ferry on the way to Milsons Point wharf.

The weather was perfect for the task but unfortunately there was a large barge with a particularly unattractive cargo which seemed to always be in the foreground irrespective of location.

Luna Park is always a difficult subject because there is so much foreground and background clutter. I guess the challenge is what makes it more exciting. 

And perhaps most obvious of all and one of the most over photographed of Sydney's icons,  the over arching Sydney Harbour Bridge

Choose A Colour

This weekend I joined the Sydney Street Photographers' Meetup Group in the city. The challenge was to select a colour from a hat and then walk from Hyde Park towards Circular Quay snapping shots along the route which were predominantly the chosen colour. I drew brown which wasn't particularly inspiring but nevertheless it provided a focus for the day's shoot and was something I'd not participated in previously. 

Up until just recently I've not been a fan of portrait shots but I find myself becoming increasingly drawn to candid shots, particularly of children. The challenge is to capture them making eye contact and standing relatively still.

St. Mary's Cathedral was yet another opportunity for some iconic subjects. It is always intriguing to observe the architectural contrast between the old and new.

The three hours allocated for the task passed quickly indeed, mainly because I allowed myself to be continually distracted by the amazing Moreton Bay fig trees dotted through our city. Walking past the gigantic fig trees just outside Hyde Park Barracks I was delighted to see some demonic faces hidden in the trunk's folds. Faces in the trees are always a highpoint of a city walk.

 

Possibly the most exciting facet of the walk was observing the hundreds of fallen crinkled golden leaves which herald the pending arrival of Autumn, my very favourite Season.