Mushroom Madness

We were lucky enough to be invited down to Mittagong by Shane Arrold whose dad manages a mushroom farm in an old train tunnel built by the convicts. It was the perfect venue for some long overdue light paining with Michael Lynch and a great experience all round. Richard Dudley's daughter Cassie was our most obliging model and we were all able to come away with some great shots thanks to Micky's organisational skills and knowledge of techniques.

ANZAC Autumn

Not able to make the dawn service this year I decided to head to Mt. Wilson for my own contemplation. As luck would have it, the weather alternated between fog and rain. Fog produces amazing atmosphere but the constant drizzle had made the fallen leaves a skating rink. My childhood holidays were spent breathing the invigorating mountain air and striding along paths to lookouts. There was an aura of excitement when surrounded by so much natural beauty, and of course, a child's life is carefree. I yearn for the mountains of my youth, unlike today's tourist mecca. I should have known better than to attempt a visit during such a popular time but I'll know better next time and ensure I arrive before dawn and leave before the first onslaught of visitors. The fog created an otherworldly atmosphere with many of the trees looking as though they belonged in some prehistoric landscape.

In spite of the noise and colour pollution created by the picnickers, I still enjoyed my rambles and was able to rejoice in reasonable solitude once again in Breenhold Gardens as I'd done the previous year in almost identical conditions. The bonus this year was the fog and a chance encounter with the gardener. He divulged the location of some giant red spotted toadstools beneath the chestnut and pine trees. Toadstools are something I'd not yet captured successfully so I'm guessing this was Nature's bounty for the day. As I explored beneath the giant chestnut tree and uncovered toadstools of all shapes and sizes, childhood memories of Noddy and Big Ears surfaced. 

How I yearned to experience living in a cosy little toadstool or midst the roots of cavernous trees. To be able to emerge with the fairies at night. I often think longingly of those days before political correctness soured childhood perceptions, and I am thankful that I experienced a safe, free childhood and that my memories allow me to relive those moments with incredible clarity.

High Tide At Yena

 

 image: our shadows reflected on the sandstone rocks just as the last of the light welcomed the new morning

Carolyn and I ventured down to Yena this morning in an endeavour to catch the elusive sunrise which always appears on work days but rarely during my holidays. It was another early start and I was prepared to be disappointed and wake to a cloudy sky, but the weather was perfect, just a touch of an Autumn breeze to disturb the still air. The waves were high and loud and from first light we were thrilled with the colour on the water and rocks. It is an arresting sight looking back towards the city of Sydney, the juxtaposition of Nature's water and craggy rocks against the Man's modern skyscrapers. There are many places to explore with a seemingly endless number of compositions possible. The natural colours are so spectacular that there is really no need to process the images other than a crop or resize.

image: the city can be seen above the breaking waves in the distance

 I'm no longer one for deep red sunrises, preferring the less saturated colour combinations. We spent more than two hours photographing the location as the light lasted for an extended period and bathed the rocks in the most beautiful golden light. It is my favourite time of the morning and there were so many interesting subjects and compositions: a tiny tug guiding in the large tanker;  seagulls cavorting in the rockpools filled to the brim with clean rainwater;  waterfalls cascading down the rockshelves in between waves;  golden light shining on the windows of the city skyscrapers giving it the appearance of a golden city; a spectacular cloudy sky and natural vegetation reflected in the clean and clear rockpools: fluffy white and pink clouds floating in a rich blue sky; the iridescent sheen created on the rocks by receding waves; and of course those magnificent rock formations with the morning light sculpting large stone faces on the hillsides.

Battling The Elements At Bombo

Excitement was high when some of the Focus group arrived at Bombo Quarry. We were expecting an EPIC shoot with some steel wool spinning courtesy of Mark Silva our lightpainting guru, followed by a magnificent sunrise. The swell was a predicted 4.8 metres, double the usual height, and high tide was due an hour after sunrise. We arrived at 4 a.m after an alarm rise at approx 2.30 as the trip down South from Sydney takes about 1 hour and 15 mins. Due to a cyclone up North the wind factor was almost gale strength and blew us up the path towards the quarry. No sooner had we reached our destination than the first drop of rain descended and it was all downhill weatherwise from then on. Mark packed his whisk away as spinning sparks would be a surefire disaster. Each of us scuttled off to a different vantage point to try and capture at least one shot of some great wave action. It drizzled and blew for the next 3 hours.  Mike Hobbert, one of our buddies, had ventured just around the other side of the cliffs to Cathedral Rocks for an alternative perspective. He experienced worse conditions than we did and was pretty much car bound for the entire session. Nevertheless, he still managed to grab a great shot.

 image: A shot taken by me of one of the rocks in the Cathedral set a few months back

It was so windy I dismissed all notions of finding my way to the best vantage point behind a natural rock barrier. My usual path was inaccessible, blocked by thorn bushes, and the alternative route over large sharp rocks was not an option as the wind wrought havoc with any attempts at balancing. David,  Brendan, Jeff  and Mark made their way to the barrier but were soon climbing around like mountain goats on the rockface. That wasn't to last long before they decided it was safer to be behind the barricade. I stayed playing in a relatively safe spot while I waited for that elusive sun or at least one large wave to make all the effort worthwhile.

My first image is pretty lacklustre as far as images go but I was determined to capture something different this time around. I needed to get down low to avoid the wind so my I've attempted to apply some effects to create some eerie images which are so suited to Bombo. In the pre dawn light there was no contrast in the sky and the basalt walls were dark sentries bordering the quarry, the only light source supplied by my headlight.

Using a similar composition, the mood generated by the rocks is dependent on the processing selected.

Visions of breakfast called us towards Kiama as most of us were drenched by this time and regretfully made our way back to the carpark. There was a short break in the sky and we were rewarded with a double rainbow and the lush green hills of Kiama Downs. Such  a contrast to the dark deliciously foreboding aura evident in the quarry. The evidence of a few lingering raindrops on the lens can be seen near the stone wall. 

Many people would deem this a failed shoot because there was no steel wool spinning, the sun never really rose, there was minimal opportunity for long exposures given the strength of the wind, and the intermittent rain made lens cleaning a real chore. However, we unanimously agreed,  we had an unforgettable time as witnesses to the power of Mother Nature and that we were energised rather than demoralised by our Bombo experience. Plans are afoot.

It's All In The Details

A strong personal fascination is developing for a nondescript little 'weed'  frequently encountered on my rambles. Eventually tracked down and identified as Ribwort Plantain, my mind goes into 'May Gibbsian mode' whenever they appear, summoning a myriad of anthropomorphic images.

Always intrigued by the general definitions of weeds as being undesirable, unattractive, troublesome, inferior, unwanted or valueless, contrarily I admire the persistence of these little sprigs which only serve to illustrate the power of Mother Nature and her refusal to be tamed by mere mortals. Plantains are known by many names and appear to be spread far and wide form Europe to the Americas and of course Australia.The Irish espouse their virtues and seem to look beyond the 'weed' reputation.

Lacking visual impressiveness for most people, these tiny subjects are frequently dismissed. Looking beyond the obvious, I discovered that plantains are not only a  food source for many tiny animals but a salve for some medical conditions. 

Fixations with relatively innocuous subjects is quite liberating because the beauty of the subject remains immune to overexposure. Once a subject is photographically popular, the senses are assaulted on a daily basis with multiple variations, which for me, compromises the appreciation factor . This is particularly evident in groups.  The moment a shot is posted of a new location there are requests for details and co ordinates. Shortly thereafter, there are multiple postings of said location.  Sunrises, waterfalls, fireworks and sunflowers have recently been focal points and the photographic community seems to be in general, supportive and generous, unselfishly sharing locations and settings.  However, any appearance of a competitive element always removes the intrigue for me, so I'm always enthusiastic about pursuing less popular alternatives, therefore the minutae rather than the grandiose, frequently captures my attention. The beauty and impressiveness of an enormous wave set or pristine sunrise is undisputable but there is also great beauty inherent in the smallest natural details.

Photographic Hiatus - Memories of May

Time passes so quickly. Having been out of action with yet another injury I'm more keenly aware of how far behind I am with post processing. I've been experimenting of late with my Samsung Galaxy III. I was feeling optimistic about some images I shot of bees on gum blossoms, however they look so much better on the phone screen than they do on the computer so I doubt I'll be replacing my SLR anytime soon as my main camera.

Gum blossoms and banksia trees always trigger childhood memories of May Gibbs and her gumnut baby books. 

May loved the Australian Flora and Fauna and has immortalised them with her magnificent illustrations. 

I've endeavoured to photograph them for a few years now but the blossoms particularly have been always elusive, nestled up too high for access. I was lucky enough to locates some bushes this year which were in deep blossom with a bonus supply of juicy little bees.

 

This little blossom still seems to have something interesting to offer a tiny visitor

 This shot provides a good view of the laden pollen baskets on the little fellow's legs.

The Way South

I'm way behind with documenting my trips but there are a few locations I intend investigating again during my days off. I'd like to discover some fresh locations which haven't been 'over photographed'. Athough I am keen on exploring some of the Northern Beaches I realise I need to be in the right frame of mind in order to negotiate the traffic with as little angst as possible. So a little project I'd like to undertake is to create a video sequence of most of the beaches or interesting locations  from Wattamolla as far as Kiama. I generally dont find concrete pools particularly attractive, however there seem to be some hidden rock pools on the route which will make the experience more interesting for me. It is difficult to gauge the optimum time for photography at each of these locations because most of them are tide dependent.  High tide frequently blocks access to many of the rockshelves and unless you're careful it can be difficult to negotiate a way back to safety. I'd recommend visiting each of them at high tide and low tide which makes it quite a time consuming process.

Wannasurf - a great resource for surfing locations with maps .
A map of Wollongong beaches and rock pools 

Some of the locations yet to be explored or re-photographed:

 

 The beach is known as Jones Beach

The Tram Graveyard

I'd previously read about the graffiti covered trams which used to be housed in the former Rozelle tram depot, located in Glebe and as they've since been moved I was unable to get to see them. I have fond memories of tram travel as a child when I went out to visit my grandparents at Randwick. The following video provides a snippet of historical information .

It remained a great mystery as to where they've been taken and I was still on the hunt for them as they represent a wonderful memento from Australia's early history. The following video shows them before they were rehoused or perhaps many of them were simply destroyed.

Thanks to Alex Taylor (Visual Cocaine) another member of the Focus Group, I was alerted to the location of a few other old trams. As luck would have it the location was only a 15 minute drive from home. Alex had provided some great background and advice on his blog so I went very well prepared. I guess it's always a risk going to these places alone but everybody else was out celebrating Australia Day and I'd decided to visit mid afternoon so I was pretty sure it would be deserted.

Looking back through the images today I'd like to try and create a slideshow as a type of homage to these old veterans of the track. Everyone has their processing preferences for digital images and I think it's important for viewers to appreciate the intent behind the images. Many people dont like vignetting but I think it can be used to achieve a purpose. This is a secret location in many ways and the trams are only partially visible when the doors to the shed are slowly opened. I think vignetting is a method of doing a partial reveal which suits this location.

 I was quite saddened by my visit as the trains stand like prisoners crammed together side by side and susceptible to all forms of attack by vandals who have scant respect for their historical value. They stand in the dark littered with human detritus, scars of a myriad of attacks on almost every surface. Paradoxically, a few hundred metres away at the Loftus tram depot, their indulged cousins are housed in relative opulence and lovingly maintained by a league of volunteers. I wonder why some have been assigned to the graveyard and others have been championed ? I do admit to feeling a little uncomfortable in the dark alone and I wasn't inclined to attempt to board the less accessible vehicles, so I've probably missed out on some great shots. Spookily, after I'd left the sheds and was walking towards the exit there was a loud bang from inside, the source of which shall have to remain a mystery.

After 3 successive visits, one with company which was the most enjoyable shoot, I'm still working on processing the hundreds of shots I captured. I've also heard from a photo buddy that the trams share the shed with some brown snakes which has somewhat compromised the attraction of any future visits. I've recently uncovered some images of the transferring of the trams to this location and am somewhat surprised it attracted no media attention. 

Back To Bombo

Bombo is such an atmospheric location irrespective of weather or Season. There is always something to explore. I set off early with two friends,  and we were treated to some great photo opportunities, from fog enveloping the landscape on the trip down, to the craggy headlands and reflections of Bombo Quarry, then on to a feast of sunflowers in a garden at Kiama and finally, to the exciting discovery of a 'secret' cave at Cathedral Rocks. 

We were treated to some great foggy patches on the way down South and stopped a few times to try and capture the scene, however I was aware that we didnt want to linger and arrive at Bombo when the sun was too high.

The swell at the quarry was less than impressive but I was keen to show Megan and Carolyn the access point for high tides and big swells. I'd serendipitously uncovered a path of sorts on a previous visit which led through the bushes and allowed me to bypass the dangerous irregular rocks. There are a few natural rock stairs which allow you to look down onto the water.

After a few hours enjoying ourselves in the quarry we headed for the obligatory brunch and a refuel as we were so thirsty after being in the hot sun.  On our way into Kiama we were treated  to a display of sunflowers in a local garden. Megan's sharp eyes had seen them on our entrance into the township so they were well worth a stop. The wind interfered with our attempts to catch some really sharp shots but we at least have a digital memento from the day.

On the way home we made a detour via Cathedral Rocks as a type of recon trip for a future visit.  While speaking with a local, Carolyn discovered  there was an accessible walk to the top of the headland along Cliff Drive. It gave us some magnificent views down onto the Cathedral Rocks area and provided a number of new POVs to explore. 

 A few photographers have used the cave at the Rocks to frame sunrise shots however the exact location had proven to be elusive. We knew nothing other than the fact that it was only accessible at low tide so we were really excited to see it so clearly from our high vantage point.

 Its a wonderful view from up on the headland and has provided us not only with enjoyment on the day, but some ideas for future sunrise and sunset locations.

My only regret was missing out on the opportunity to capture an enormous sun filtered by cloud patterns as we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and Nature has her set timetable .