How Much Is That Doggie ?

Attended an open day at the Guide Dogs Association at Glossodia. Was really impressed by the cleanliness and the warmth and helpfulness of the staff. My mum taught me never to trust a person who can't empathise with animals and I've discovered she wasn't far off the mark. Another bonus was that it was a great day to be out and about in the country with my daughter.

Blue Moon

Seems as though "blue" is the only word I'm able to associate with moons. Haven't seen a decent full moon let alone photographed one, since late 2011 due to a myriad of unfortunate co incidences and conditions.  The Supermoon earlier this year was a complete fizzer in Sydney. I headed down towards the beach at Cronulla in spite of stormy predictions. I wasn't prepared to take the risk of being a slave to weather forecasts just on the slim chance that the moon would find some way to force its way through the cloud cover and leave me with recriminations and regrets and others with stellar images.

It wasn't to be of course, so I had to content myself with watching the antics of a bridal party led by a dill of a photographer onto the beach in the gusty wind with rain obliterating any semblance of style left in already bedraggled hairstyles. The beauty of being an eternal pessimist !

It was looking good the previous night when the moon rose clearly visible above the horizon. There were minimal clouds but that's better than full cloud cover, so it looked promising for the following evening. Was looking good until a thick cloud bank settled right slap bang in the centre of the horizon and completely covered the moon until dark descended and all we were left with was a golden orb - not the sort of moon I'd wanted at all.

Looks like another moon chase next month.

Paulownia Plantation

As it nears the end of my holidays I decided to head for the mountains on a waterfall hunt. Travelling via Richmond I decided to spend some time photographing the Paulownia Plantation which I'd noticed on a previous trip to Mt. Wilson. A popular location for wedding photography, the plantation has also appeared in some shots from the Focus group on Flickr and Facebook. Although visible from the road the view is somewhat obscured by rampant choko vines and blackberry bushes so not to be deterred I elected to travel round the perimeter of the block to see if I could find a less obstructed POV.

My gift for today was a beautiful old gentleman called Clive who serendipitously pulled up next to me on the access road and invited me onto the plantation. Clive proudly told me he was 83 years old and had recently recovered from heart surgery. Accompanied by Brownie his faithful dog he headed off on his tractor to do some control burning after inviting me to stay for as long as I wished. He even suggested I call back in Spring when the trees are adorned with their lilac blossoms.


After a few hours spent wandering amongst the majestic trees I set off for Leura Cascades to try and capture some waterfall shots. It was great practice for slow exposures but I was limited for time having spent so long at Richmond. But it was worth it - another item ticked off my bucket list !!!!!!

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

Stormy Day At Yena

Back to Yena expecting great things with a 4.8 metre swell anticipated following the Super Moon which never arrived ! Unfortunately the tide was low so the waves were less impressive than expected and I couldn't really relax due to the impending rain. At one stage there was a tiny chink in the cloud cover which allowed a bright patch of blue to emerge for what seemed like only a nanosecond. 

It's disappointing that still images really don't do justice to wave power and majesty. Carolyn decided to navigate some tricky rocks in order to capture some waterfall flow but I elected the easy way out and spent my time observing the waves crashing against the rockface. I love the light which is reflected in the rockpools after a storm. I thought I'd try a B/W conversion for a change.

Cronulla Swell

Ended up back at Cronulla today as a planned walk the day before to Boat Harbour had taken a sharp detour and been a waste of time photographically speaking. I'd walked for a kilometre or so before I realised I was headed away from the coast and into scrub where there was absolutely NOTHING of interest to photograph. I decided to try for a Cronulla sunrise this morning. At least there's water, and water never fails to deliver. Combined with a large swell the surfing is usually mesmerising to watch. Can't say it was spectacular as far as sunrises go, but being out in the fresh air in the still of the morning is food for the soul.

 Photography is a learning experience. Almost every time I go 'out and about' a perspective shift is generated. Reviewing my images from today I realise my landscape shots are generally cut in half. I need to make a conscious effort to decide whether I want the sky or the foreground to be dominant because I really don't think it works well according to a 50/50 ratio.

 Impressive waves generated by the large swell

 The extensive spray over Solander Point

The iridescent glow produced on the sand as the water flow receded

The Leap Without The Leap

This morning Carolyn and I investigated "The Leap" which is a favourite spot for divers accessed off Solander Drive between Inscription Point and Yena at Kurnell. Carolyn's map is a beauty for documenting all the hidden treasures out at Kurnell.

View Yena in a larger map

It was a reasonably steep yet easy descent on metal steps but I'm afraid I chickened out and elected to shoot from up higher as the rocks at the base are notorious for being quite deadly and slippery and I don't want to risk being out of action again like last year.  All in all it was a good morning, other than losing my camera footing for my tripod and not being able to christen my ND filters.

It was amazing to see the difference in sky colour dependent on which direction we were facing. There was initially some promising red, but this soon disappeared and was replaced by gold, pink and tangerine. It certainly wasn't the best sunrise I've ever seen but it certainly wasn't the worst.

1. Facing away from the city

2. Facing towards the refinery

Facing towards the City

  Facing towards the City

I love the faces in the rocks all along the sandstone cliffs in the Botany Bay National Park. They remind me of creatures embedded in the sandstone. It is not as if they are imprisoned, rather that they are just maintaining guard in some fashion. I was disappointed that I was unable to get a better angle on the guardian of the cranes at the oil refinery - maybe next time :-) My friend Carolyn affectionately refers to them as 'the giraffes'.

Facing towards Port Botany

The Nun's Pool

Yet another attempt to capture sunrise colour, this time at Shelley Beach with two photo buddies. Unfortunately the promising red glow in the sky dissipated and all we were left with was a pink shade of sorts and I regret to say I was not positioned particularly well. However I've heard there's a light at the end of every tunnel, and my light was a few dolphins arcing through the water, enough of a gift for one day.  If you look VERY closely the dolphins can be seen catching a wave on the very left of the image.

The customary breakfast was not to be had as the Nun's Pool Restaurant didn't open until 8 a.m. It was named after a rock pool where nuns used to bathe by the park so I wandered down to the actual pool. Rock pools hammered out of rocks at the ocean’s edge making a natural swimming pool, are one of Sydney’s defining characteristics. 

Vivid Sydney 2013

 Vivid is pretty much what you make of it - it definitely pays to do your research and it's my opinion that a few trips are necessary to really milk it for what it's worth. Rainy nights are great if you travel with protection as the reflections are almost better than the installations themselves. Late at night just before closing is also a prime time as long as you've targeted one or two favourite installations to photograph. The crowds have thinned and the tripods are safer. They can be used for their intended purpose rather than a protection against over enthusiastic kamikaze crowds or wretched children running unsupervised. 

I've also found it helpful to wait until some images are uploaded to the main site. This provides you with an idea of what may be a good POV or location from which to shoot. Some great shots can be taken from the courtesy ferry for those not lucky enough to own their own watercaft. I  couldn't find one site which documented all the installations, but the ABC has some audio guides available.

Lost Opportunities

Yesterday I missed the sunrise of all sunrises. The sky was on fire and I missed it all because I decided it wasn't worth driving for 1 and 1/4 hours each way if I had to be back to work by 9 a.m. It seems I'm doomed to always have diluted sunrises. In order to cheer myself up, today I made my way down to the abandoned railway tunnel at Helensburgh hoping that I could placate myself on a rainy day by photographing the waterfall which cascades down beside the tunnel.

View Helensburgh old train line, tunnels and station in a larger map

Unfortunately, the waterfall wasn't nearly as impressive as I'd expected and there was so much water on the old railway tracks that I was up to my calves in mud in no time. I've since seen the waterfall in full flow and it would probably be worth a return trip as long as I can work out how to get over those sleepers without incident 

An interesting video of the same location

I didn't have the enthusiasm to continue, so headed for Coledale beach to shoot some wave action where I had the pleasure of being swamped by a rogue wave and ended up with water up to my thighs and my gumboots full of water. Luckily I had some spare socks and a towel as it was pretty chilly down there. I was rewarded for my efforts by the appearance of a rainbow on the horizon, or to be more precise, a double one!