February 2016 RECAP

Updates

We're now officially homeless as we've now moved out of our Sydney apartment and will be travelling for the next two months.

I've returned from a brief trip to the Blue Mountains to visit my grandparents. What a scenic location for photography. The vistas are beautiful throughout the day, but even more so during the golden hours, with the sun rays illuminating the valley floor below.

I'm now mid-way through a camping road trip down Australia's south east coast with my father. Starting from Berry, NSW, we'll be travelling to: Bermagui, Cape Conran, Phillip Island, The 12 Apostles, Otway National Park and Laurel Hill before returning home. I'll be home for a couple of days before heading off again to America with Ivy.

I'll be updating this blog with snaps from the trip, so be sure to check back and follow us on our journey's across America and Europe! :)

Highlights

I almost didn't make it out of bed for this one, but sure glad I did. With thick clouds on the horizon, it was looking to be a dull morning. However right before sunrise, the sky began to open up. The sun was allowed to shine through, illuminating the clouds above and rock wall below.

This was taken from Govetts Leap lookout in the Blue Mountains, under the light of a half moon. To help reduce the noise in my astrophotography, I generally take about 10, 13 second exposures at around f4 and iso 3,200, and then combine these back on the computer, using a median stack mode in Photoshop. This helps to minimise the random variations in noise at the higher iso levels required in astrophotography.

I hadn't been out to capture sunrise for some time, so this morning my alarm was set for 4am to head out to Bronte Beach. There wasn't too much colour in the sky, however after the sun rose, I saw this father and son about to enter the ocean pool. I got myself into position to hold the camera down low, focusing on the gentle ripples as the pair slowly entered the water.

The morning's golden sun rays, shining down through to the valley floor of the Blue Mountains, from Govetts Leap lookout.

This is the first of my images taken on a road trip with my dad, travelling down Australia's south east coast. It was shot on a secluded beach near Bermagui, nestled between the iconic Camel and Horse Head Rocks. I'll be sharing plenty more photos from that trip in my next blog post :)

January 2016 Recap

This marks the first in a new series of posts where I take brief look back at my photography over the previous month. It will be a highlights package of some of my favourite images, as well as a place for me to cover any new developments for those interested :)

Updates

February will see me take a two and half month leave from my job to go travelling. First up is a trip to the Blue Mountains to spend some time with my grandparents there, before going on a road trip down Australia's south east coast with my father. Along the way we'll be visiting some great photographic opportunities including: Horse Head Rock, Phillip Island, 12 Apostles and Great Otway National Park.

And then in March and April I'll be travelling to America and Europe with my girlfriend. I haven't been overseas since 2008, so I'm super excited to go adventuring across the world again. Looking forward to sharing the full itinerary next month!

Highlights

We were on a family drive through the Jamberoo countryside when I saw a trio of Rainbow Lorikeets perched high up in the gum tree, feeding on the flowers. The overcast weather brought out the bold colours of the bird and flowers against the deep green back drop. I was glad to have my 250mm lens on hand which allowed to get in close, and draw attention to the lorikeet's magnificent plumage.

Taken just before sunset, the soft evening light from the right hand side of this image illuminated Ivy in a gentle glow, contrasting against the the rough, urban warehouse setting of Carriageworks, Redfern.

On the evening of my birthday earlier this month we ventured out to Mrs Macquarrie's Point to watch the summer sunset which bathed the harbour beautifully in a soft pink light.

This long exposure of the iconic Sydney skyline was taken from the north side of the harbour, from Kirribilli. While Jeffry St Wharf on the bank of Milson's Point offers the busload's of tourists postcard-perfect views of the city, try venturing east along Kirribilli Avenue, before turning down Beulah St to each Beulah St Wharf which offers (in my opinion) a better view of the city that's far less crowded.