On my way home from WA.

On my way home from Karijini I made a few stops along the way and randomly stopping on the side of the road as I did in this shot because the sun was popping in and out of the clouds behind me, so I stopped at this lonely tree and just waited for the sun to come out. Lucky enough I didnt have to wait long either. We had this sort of cloud cover all the way from Karijini to Halls Creek. Flemming I know will love this sort of shot.

This next shot was taken in the ampethertre of the Bungle Bungles which is about 110kms from Halls Creek and the once you get off the highway and into the private property you hit a road that is just not good for cars at all. Its as rough as they come. The drive in which is never upgraded by the owners is just over 50kms to the visitors center.  This drive took me the better part of 2 hours. Its is a nice place to visit and I am sure I will go back at some stage, but not in a hurry, just way too rough. I exposed for the left hand side and the sand was 6 stops brighter and the slide could not handle it, but I do like the softness of the left hand side of the shot. One thing that did stand out was you could hear every voice, every rock crunch as you walked around this massive hole in the formations.

Flemming said to me that when I arrive at the Bungles I would not see any clouds, well I got there and I think I was there 2 hours and yes it was all gone, but I still managed to get a photo that did not have total blue skies in it.

This last shot I  took in Kununurra and it was there that I stayed with friends and where the all the traveling had hit as I slept for 9 hours solid and left early the next morning to find myself tired within the first hour of driving home. And by the time I was an hour from home I had to stop for a nanna nap. But it was one of the best trips I have done and would do it all again no problems at all.

Karijini National Park

At last I received my slides back from the lab that I took inside Karijini National Park and you will see why I loved it so much. I owe much of the credit to my photos to our guide Brydie of West Oz Active Tours who took us down for the 2 days of the 6 that we stayed there, and if it wasn’t for her holding up her leave we may not have been able to go as Dan had damaged his sholder not long before we arrived. Be sure to look them up if you go there, a very professional and experienced team.

The first shot was taken at Kalamina Gorge which is an easy access and easy walk as well. This shot before we took it Rod Thomas and I cleaned up the mess that had built up in the water as the water was slow flowing. I am pretty happy with this shot and how it came out on film as it didnt look like this when we shot it. Maybe had something to do with the warm glow on the cliff face above us.

This shot took me over 20 mins to get as we were having lunch and Brydie told me to go and have a look further up the gorge, we as sson as I saw what she was talking about I ran back and grabbed my camera as the reflection in the water was cleaner than a mirror. But as murphy would have it as soon as I set up to take a photo in came the wind. Hence why it took me so long as I just waited for it to drop and I am gald I did. Another favourite of mine.

Hancock Gorge would have to be the one of the nicest gorges I have seen, Reigans Pool was another. This pool is accessable without the guides and takes about 30 mins to get to, you have to pass a few waterholes, a step ladder and spider walk. I arrived here with a little bit of fear as I had fallen the day before and hurt myself and didnt want to again, but I did fall and just swam acroos the frezzing cold water to the other side. Going back was tough as I knew how cold the water was going to be. But it was worth the effort of it all.

Looking back over the edge past Hancock gorge is as far as you can go on your own, from here down you need a guide. This is looking down to Reigans Pool and I owe the credit to Rod for this shot as I didnt even consider it as I was looking at the previous shot took much and I am glad he took some shots.

In summary of Karijini, I cant rate it high enough, it would have to be the best place I have had the pleasure of visiting in Australia to date and would go back in a second. I am just so pleased that I got to spend it with Rod and Flemming to talk about the days adventure over a beer at the end of each day. Cheers guys.

The Gibb River Road

THE GIBB RIVER ROAD

About 5 weeks ago now I hit the Gibb River Road and people had warned me about the state of the road, but I though how bad can it be. Well once I turned off the highway and started the long 670km drive, I realised that what I was in for was going to be a long drive as my car was shaking like I had never expierienced before on any dirt road. Though if you ever got into any trouble at all, a helping hand was always close by as there was a lot of traffic going through there.

ELQUESTRO LOOKOUT

This lookout is a little difficult to get to, it has a sign posted at the bottom before you head up, 4WD only, and without a doubt its the only way to get up unless you are on foot. The track is a very steep and long and not in your life would a 2WD car make it. But I seem to be lucky and get yellow skys in my sunrises or sets as I got a nice one at Uluru as well a while back.

EMMA GORGE

My first stop was Elquestro Sation which is only a short drive of no more than 30kms along the Gibb, so I set up my tent and relaxed for a while before planning the next days travel which took me back to Emma Gorge. This is taken in the base of the tall waterfall which is about 1.5km walk amongst some steep climbs, rocky walkways but mostly is a reasonably easy track and is well worth the walk.

ELQUESTRO WALK

This walk is not for the faint hearted, it has 2 stages and the first one ends with a waterfall that is running into a smal pool over a massive bolder and is quite a nice and easy trek. To get to this is reasonable easy and anyone can do it, but once you climb over the bolder you see the blue guided tags turn from a blue to a red you only know it will get harder from here on in. And I was right because with out a doubt its from here on it that the walk becomes very difficult. I started this trek at 7.00am and returned stuffed and exhuasted around 1.00pm, but not before falling over a few times from climbing over the bolders along the way or climbing up steep and narrow walkways but just the long walk that just seem to keep going and going. But it was worth the effort as I was told it would be by the rangers that were behind me in the first stage.

Western Australian Trip

As most of you have read from Rod Thomas and Flemming Bo Jensens posts on the trip to WA over the last month, as I arrived home today I would think to show you all some of the photos I captured on the linhof.

CAPE LAVEQUE.

The top shot is taken at the point of Cape Laveque and was our last night there and I found both James Price Point and Cape Laveque a great place to visit. The local government has been smart though in that the first 90kms of the 200 is dirt and the rest is sealed. I guess its keeps the visits to people who have 4WD’s.

CABLE BEACH: BROOME

I took this shot in the middle of the day, becuase I recall a comment made by Tony that the best time to shoot water like this is in the middle of the day so you get the best color from it. I was standing on a rock as I took this and watching the tide come in, but not paying a lot of attention I found myself almost getting stuck on the rocks. I love the movement of the waves together with the crashing of the wave in the background.

CAPE LAVEQUE

This one was taken at sunrise and this I was lucky to capture the contrast of the sun hitting the beach in between a dark cloud that lingered above me, also this was a longer exposure as you can see the smooth waves that retreated at a very fast rate to what I am used to seeing at any other beach I have been to before. This is also a shot of the tail end of the storm front that we awoke to that morning.

EL QUESTRO CAMPING GROUND

This last shot was taken as the sun rose up from behind the mountians in the area, as I had arrived late the day before I had not yet checked out the place for any locations for sunrise, so this shot was taken in a rush to capture the color in the sky, and to my credit it worked for me.

The trip as a whole was outstanding to say the least and Karijini for me was the highlight without a doubt. As Rod and Flemming have conveyed thier thoughs and grattidue about coming with me to Broome and Karijini, I would also like to thank the both of them for making a trip I intentionally planned on doing on my own a whole lot better and to both of you a big thanks as I was a little nervous about it all. But that was soon gone after metting you both. Cheers guys I had a ball.

I am off to Melboure next week for 7 days to catch up with family and friends, so stay posted as I will have images from Karijini, James Price Point and the Bungles to follow.

Priceless Point, Western Australia

 

 

 

Yesterday Flemming Bo Jensen and I travelled up to and small untouched beach that is about an hours drive out of Broome on the way to Cape Laveque on a very rough and ungraded road to catch the sunset on the very red  rich cliffaces next to the pristine beaches.

The loaction was given to us by a local photographer here by the name of  Nigel Gaunt of Red Dirt Photography. And wow weren’t we impressed when we got there. We did have one small hick up in that we got bogged on the beach and with only minutes to spare I managed to get off one roll through the panoramic and a couple of digitals shots as well. But what an amazing place it was to visit and I am sure that Cape Laveque will be just as nice once Rod Thomas gets here today and before we all head up tomorrow there for a few days. Here is one of the shots I took yesterday.

Back in 6 weeks, Off to WA

Tomorrow will be my last day in the NT for the next 6 weeks. I am heading to Western Australia for a long awaited trip through the Kimberlys, Broome, Pilbra and Bungles.

I am also pleased to have received an email from Flemming Bo Jensen of his intention to join Rod and I for a few days from Broome to Cape Laveque before he heads back to his hometown. It will be great to put a face to many emails over the past 12 months.

I will try and post a small blog along the way, but if I dont be sure to come back and have a look at my new images from this trip in July.

Port Noarlunga Sunset, South Australia

Today I have been going through my slides and before I had my Flextight X1 scanner I would not look at shots I had taken as nothing more than just panoramic.

So now I can scan part of an image and crop it how I see fit. This is a definate case where a photo I had taken was too loose as a 617 panoramic, but not as a medium format crop.

I took this a couple of years ago now down at Port Noarlunga when I was living in Adelaide. Maybe a shot Christian Fletcher could use on his new stock site.

Ben Messina’s New Zealand Trip

Ben just informed me that he went to New Zealand packed with his new Canon 5D Mark II as well his Fuji GX617,  he is also planning a trip to Tasmania as well.

One of my favorite shots is his shot with a tree in the mist, just stunning.

Check out his new images and he will have some more come. Copy and past the URL.

http://www.gallerym-australia.com/index.php?current=Painted_Hills500.jpg&more=true&pic_id=629true#main

Linhof 617IIIs review

As I mentioned in my previous post on my blog, I would like to give my thoughts on the Linhof 617III s Panoramic camera since buying it a couple of weeks ago, and now that I have had a chance to take it out and run it through its paces, here is what I think about it.

The first thing I noticed about this set up is the weight, my old Fuji weighted in at 2310g and the Linhof weighted 2900g with a 90mm lens. And its noticeable difference straight up.

Other things that are different is the back comes off completely where as the 2 Fuji models don’t which can be difficult to load and unload film if your not careful where you place the back as you can’t just buy a replacement. On the other hand the body is made of die cast alloy and feels solid as a rock. But if that’s all that is only issue then really I don’t have a lot to worry about.

On the positives, I can now open up to 5.6 but in saying that Linhof recommend that to get the full effect of the centre filter you should stop down at least 2 stops and you will then have no issues with the fall off which is 1/1/3 stops. Also now with the 90mm I have 115 Degree angle of view as apposed to 80.3 with the Fuji 105mm which may not seem a lot, but when shooting landscapes of distances that are further away, its ecommpases a lot more. The viewfinder is very bright as well and also has lines that will give you a guide when paralex error come into play. The 90 mm lens can also focus a lot closer than my old Fuji, from the min distance of 3trs to now I can focus down as close as 1.2 mtrs. The lens also has a B and  T setting which is great if you are not confident on your cable release staying open for extended amounts of time. I also like the fact that you can carry the camera on your back and the view finder in your pocket for quick compositions.

Today I received back my first transparencies and looking through the loupe and to see the clarity and sharpness is an abosulte winner, its is sharp from edege to edge and I am blown away at what I saw on the light box. I have added a slice of the neg to show the sharpness and I now know that I am more than happy with this camera and will get complete enjoyment out of using this in the coming years, and now I can understand why Peter Lik and Ken Duncan have these camera, just magnificant.

Linhof T 617 Limited Edition Camera.

Today I received with much excitement a second hand Linhof  T 617  Limited Edition that is based on the renown 617IIIs series that Rod Thomas was selling. He mentioned to me that he wasn’t using it to its full potential anymore and that it was just sitting in his cupboard. I was also concerned that buying this camera I wouldn’t be able to sell my trusty Fuji 617, but she is all packed up and ready to be shipped out already this Friday, enjoy the camera Macca.

I had been periodically looking for a replacement camera with a 90mm lens as there have been more times than not where I had wished I had a 90mm lens to give the viewer of my work more of what I was seeing.

And I had pretty much given up on looking anymore as the US dollar had dropped so much in the last 6 months that it wasn’t even worth looking for one form overseas anymore. But that was until I saw a post on Rods blog saying he was selling all his film and from that I thought well if he is not using the film then he musn’t be using the camera he has, so I asked the question and to my surprise he made an offer on his Linhof that I knew I would never find anywhere else. Plus he offered with the kit all the film, a 95mm polarising filter, Xpro Cokin filter set, sealed pelican case.

It will be an awesome camera to take with me to Western Australia on my next major trip this year, plus I will enjoy the company of Rod where we will meet up in Broome before heading to Cape Leveque and south to Karainji for 2 weeks of my 5 week trip of Western Australia.

I will be heading out to Katherine Gorge this weekend with a bunch of friends and it will give me the chance to test the camera out and see the results of both the ease or not on the use of the camera and also the quality of the lens. So come back and see my next post that will have results from the camera. But from what Rod tells me I am sure I wont be dissapointed at all.