Trip To Tabbagai

Walking out at Solander towards Tabbagai today there were many rock 'faces' to be seen. Michael Hankey saw faces the other day so I know I'm not the only one who sees faces everywhere I look. I call them the guardians and they can be found reaching out from most rocky outcrops. As the sun was rising I saw another one today who resembled a timeless creature but what intrigued me most of all was the shape alongside it which looked a lot like a hawk. Nothing special in itself, except for the fact I'd just been photographing a hawk. I love the way Mother Nature makes you think - synchronicity.

Although it's a hassle to carry two cameras on shoots I needed the wide angle to capture a specific rockpool I had in mind and I knew from experience that an opportunity which did not lend itself to wide angles would crop up some time during the shoot. Frequently these occasions allow no time for preparation or changing lenses so dealing with the double camera hassle is always worth it.
 The sky was less than perfect on the day so the reflection shot is a composite with a sky from another time.

Intent on the patterns created by the golden sun rays hitting the cliff face I almost missed seeing a young hawk nestled on the ledge. The hawk was to be Nature's gift for the day and although I didn't get the exact shot I desired I'm glad I have a digital memory of the experience. The white arrow not only indicates the hawk's camouflaged position on the rock ledge but serves to demonstrate how effectively the little Powershot SX50 can zoom over quite a distance to capture a subject.

These shots was taken with no tripod so I'm quite satisfied with the detail, particularly on the tiny eye.

 He appeared to sense that he was being observed and as soon as I pressed the shutter for this shot, he left his sandstone perch for a more private position.

Today's Gift

Met up with Chris and Carolyn and drove out in the pouring rain to Cape Solander hoping for the best. After sheltering in the whale watching station, we took advantage of a very brief lull in the rain to show Yena, The Leap and Inscription Point to Chris.

We're very wary of The Leap after Carolyn had a few close calls with waves, but Chris was keen to get as close as possible. I don't know what use a jolly umbrella would have been !

 All I can say is thank goodness for gumboots. In spite of all my precautions many of the shots have water spots on the lens - thankfully rain, not salt water.

I stayed on as it was the first day of my holidays and I wasn't going to be put off so easily by the weather.. Whenever it lets me down a serendipitous gift always seems to cheer me up. This morning it was a hawk which settled in a large banksia tree above my head. I've seen this hawk previously, but only as a tiny blur flying by and impossible to capture clearly