Hi there
I am currently in the process of updating my website. Please check back soon for the new and improved version.
All in days work
I woke up this morning and felt like taking some pictures. Which is a good thing. I needed to make my own adventure, and clear my head. So instead of fulfilling my obligatory duties, like going to work, I decided to jump in my car and go for a drive, so I quickly grabbed all my gear and a coffee in a travel mug. No second thoughts here, can’t afford hesitation. That’s dangerous! This is pretty much me in a nutshell. Very impulsive, and not very organised (mostly). I’m glad my camera battery was fully charged and all pictures on the memory cards backed up. Good to go! Where to? I decided on an old favourite hang out, Mt Field. Only a few hours drive for me, and plenty of photo opportunities there and along the way.
Mt Field is great because you can access a trio of waterfalls in just a few short walks. And with the new path to Horseshoe falls, it’s really not that hard to get there. If you’re in Tasmania, you should go!
On to some photos!
….ok, so I still need to figure our how to add photos in a nice gallery with thumbnails
After my visit to the National Park, I was tempted to head for Cradle Mountain…
It was nearly 2 O’clock, and a 6 hour drive there is a bit of stretch. I do have a blanket in the car, but I would need to stop for some food, and coffee. Probably a bit too ambitious for an “unannounced” visit. I didn’t care about the fact that it would be dark, in fact, that is exactly what I wanted. OK, I guess I could go there another time. By the way, all of this was playing out in my head while allready driving to Cradle Mountain, but it turns out that in my haste I jumped on the wrong road, so it was probably a good thing.
I ended up heading for Strathgordon, so I followed the road all the way to where it ends at Gordon Dam. I was the only person there, in fact, on the entire journey I think I passed 1 other car. On the way back I stopped at the Wedge Mountain range for this picture
…..insert photo of Wedge Mountain with purple night sky here…….
I took a few photos at dusk, and then had to wait for the stars to make an appearance. I had a quick nap in the car, and after a few photos some evil clouds came rolling in, so it was time to get out of there.
On the way back I decided to make another stop at Mt Field. Just cant get enough of this place. I’ve always wanted to take a picture of a waterfall with a star lit sky as a backdrop, so I set off for Russel Falls, as its the easiest to get to.
….insert picture of the falls at night time here…..
The wind was working against me, and all the spray from the falls was blowing straight onto my face, (and camera). Because there was no moon out, it was very dark, so I needed a fairly long exposure. I used a torch to “paint” in the falls and surrounding vegetation, but this also meant I highlighted all the water spay. Much like driving at night head on into a rain storm with your headlights on. I did make a quick dash to Horseshoe Falls, just to see if I could get a good shot from there, and although there was much less spray, the sky was hardly visible through the tall trees. (But just image some guy with a camera, heavy tripod and headlamp running through the dark bush in the middle of the night to go take a picture of a waterfall in complete darkness. Madness. Surely!)
Ok, so now it’s getting late, and I still had one more stop in mind before the 2 hour trip back home. I do have to work in the morning you know.
Last shot of the night, and probably my favourite.
….insert picture of shed……
I noticed this shed years ago on my very first trip down this way, and always had it in mind for a photo, but never really knew how I could make it a special photo. But with my new found love for “moonlighting”, I knew exactly what I needed to do. When I drove past first thing that morning, I stopped by the owners house and asked permission to take the photo, and also if it’s okay to enter the property to do so. I just wanted to make sure they dont get the shot-gun out when they see some strange guy running around on their farm shining a torch. (Why running? I can explain, but I might keep that for another post)
The End.
PS, I did make it home in time for a few hours rest before getting up to fulfill my obligatory duties. And no, I did not wake up feeling like taking some pictures. Which is a good thing.
Anybody out there?
Camera: Nikon D7000: Lens: Sigma 10-20mm @10mm. F4. 30 sec exp @ISO4000. Camera is on Vanguard tripod. (Heavy, but sturdy. Very glad for this, as it was blowing gale force winds – literaly.) I setup a Timelapse using the camera’s in-built Interval Timer. (no need for my custom IR hack with DLSR.bot) Set for 700 exp at 30 sec with 32sec in between each shot. (This is so that the camera can do its Long Exp Noise Reduction thing) I think ISO 4000 was too high, note to self, easy on the ISO dail… Saving as RAW on one SD and JPG fine on the other. (Yes, this cool camera can load 2(two) SD cards. As I said, it was very windy (and cold), and lots of cloud was moving in. I was in a bit of a rush because the moon was rising fast, and was sure to spoil the dark night with lots of stars. You can see the light from the moon appearing behind the corner post. Pity about the fence really, but there was no way I could avoid it. I managed to pull my car close to shelter the camera and tripod from the wind, and also curl into a ball for a few hours sleep while the camera clicked away. When I woke it was totally overcast so I decided to pack it in. Didn’t really get enough images to make a decent TimeLapse, but I will still put it together and have a look. Overall, I am quite happy with some of the pictures, def a few keepers.