During a visit with Kurt in Yallingup, Western Australia we were having a beer in the afternoon discussing macro lenses in his outdoor dining area and over his should noticed this frog in the buses behind him. There was a fair bit of elbowing to get in close enough to get the shot - duelling 100mm macros - the frog didnt seem to care.
Landscape
Daintree Rain Forest - Far North Queensland
Walking through part of the Daintree on a visit to Mossman Gorge, I came across this part of the river. The Daintree is a truly amazing place with an estimated age of 140 million years. It combines raw beauty and the ever present danger of crocodiles just to keep you on your toes. You have to really want the shot to leave the tracks as I did here to get to water level. Shortly after I was reminded why it is called a "Rain Forest" with what sounded like a plane landing, the rain pelted the canopy, and then shortly after, me. I stuffed my camera gear into my bag and walked another half an hour back to shelter.
Noosa Sunset
A Noosa Beach sunset - this shot was taken along the point towards the popular surf break in the national park. There is a little bit of HDR in this, but it is mostly a combination of 0.6s exposures to capture the movement of the surf.
Canon 5DmkII ISO100 f/5, EF16-35mm L f/2.8 II @ 35mm various exposures from 0.6s to 10s.
Orpheus II
This is my favourite image captured at Orpheus Is. We hiked over the island pre-dawn through the dense rain-forest for about an hour and a half to get to this beach. The track was steep and frequently diverted due to fallen trees from Cyclone Yasi. I was scouting around the beach when I saw the sun breaking through - a mad scramble to setup the tripod and capture a series of images.
Orpheus Island
After attending a Fine Art Printing workshop with Les Walkling at the CCP in Melbourne, I decided to attend the week long version at Orpheus Island - what a fantastic opportunity to use the latest Epson printers & inks with as much paper as we could use! Many thanks to the sponsors of the week, Kayell Australia, Nikon & Hasselblad. Some fantastic coaching from Darren Jew as well on underwater gear and techniques (more images to follow). I was very pleased to have this print judged best print of the week (had to be shot on or around the Island during the week).
Canon 5D mk II 16-35mm f/2.8 L II @ f/16 Three exposures - merged with Photomatix Pro.
Misty morning @ the vineyard
Walked over to work @ 7:30am - was a warming 2 Deg! - and had to run back and get the camera. Fantastic golden light through the mist of the morning. I liked the reflection in the dam. This is taken with the new 70-200mm f/2.8 L II IS USM lens - "sweet-o".
Canon 5DmkII 1/160sec @ f/11 ISO400, 70-200mm L f/2.8 II IS USM @ 123mm. No filters.
The Great Ocean Road - Lorne
We spent a great weekend down in Lorne on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The most famous landmark, and most often photographed landmarks are the twelve apostles. The twelve apostles are about 2 more hours drive, so that didnt happen this time. I think a special trip will be required. The weather on Saturday was great and an excellent clear morning, but a huge swell was pounding the coast which developed over the weekend to be massive - surf as big as I have seen in Margaret River, WA. The sunrise was good, but not spectacular. Here are a couple of my favorite shots from the morning - this spot is just south of the Lorne Jetty.
Canon 5DmkII 5secs @ f/16 ISO100, EF24-70mm L f/2.8 @ 24mm. Lee 0.9 SGND filter.
Sugarloaf Rock - yes..another one
I know - more shots of Sugarloaf rock - just a great site. This rock is off Cape Naturaliste in South West Western Australia. This shot is a stitch of 7 frames shot portrait with lots of overlap. This series of shots was taken between rain showers - the clouds look great!
Canon 5D mark II 0.8sec @ f/18 ISO100, EF16-35mm L II f/2.8 @ 18mm. Lee 0.9 SGND & Lee 1.2ND filters. Stitched with PTgui Pro and cropped square in Photoshop. I have series from this location and will put up when I finish processing them.
Cottesloe Beach
Overnight stay at the OBH (Ocean Beach Hotel) in Perth, Western Australia. I setup on the rocks for this shot before dawn and waited. After the shot, I grabbed an excellent fresh OJ and a great latte at il Lido over the road. The main building in this shot is the Indiana Tea House.
Sunset at Trigg Beach, Perth Western Australia
Just flew into Perth and made a run straight to the beach! I miss this coast now that I live in Bendigo. Here is a shot from Trigg Beach just on sunset tonight.
Canon 5DmkII 30secs @ f/16 ISO100 EF16-35mm L II f/2.8 @ 25mm. Lee Big stopper 10 stop ND, Lee 0.9 soft GND.
A few shots from a twilight trip to St. Kilda foreshore
Cape Woolamai
A combination of HDR and long exposure.
Canon 5DmkII 1/20sec @ f/16 ISO160 EF16-35mm LII f/2.8 @ 27mm - 0EV (plus -2EV, +2EV) HDR using photomatix blend with exposure 30sec @ f/16 ISO160 plus 7 other exposures (1/25sec) of different wave patterns to convey the feeling of being there with the wild ocean. Lee 0.9GND on all frames, Lee big stopper on long exposure in addition.