Pied Currawong

Canon 1Ds III with 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS USM lens @275mm f5.6

The above shot was created recently while I sat in our "Troopy" having lunch. I'd like to spin you a yarn about how difficult it was to capture this image of the Pied Currawong, or Strepera graculina to his friends. I'd be fibbing if I did that because this guy and in fact most of his extended family were anything but camera shy.

At one stage he even ventured into the troopy and sat on the steering wheel with me seated right behind it. I'm pretty sure it was my lunch, rather than my company that he really desired, but it matters not. To get this shot the only technical problem was getting it into his head to sit on a nearby fence so that he was outside my minimum focus range.

If your wanting to check out some real nature photography may I suggest Laurie Excells blog, to see some images created in Alaska over the psast week.

Grampians wild flower spectacular

If you have any interest in Australian wildflowers, the first week in October is the time to be in the Grampians. The bushland around the Grampians will be alive with wild flowers beyond your imagination. There are a couple of spectacular displays of wild flowers on in the area during that time as well. The Pomonal Wild Flower show, is I’m told not to be missed, click here for more info.

My brother, has just returned from Halls Gap, which is right in the centre of the wildflower action. He tells me that already the display of Wattles in the bush is amazing, and at night the perfume from these natives is just sublime as it fills the valleys. He also reckons, this year will be fantastic for wild flowers. So as a photographer you know were I want to be.. See you there.

Went hunting this morning.

Canon 1D IIn with f4.5-5.6 100-400 IS

Tried a little bird work this morning with no a lot of success. What's the saying? "Some days are diamond and some days are stone", well today was a little closer to stone. The only shot I manage to get that will end up in our stock archives, is this Little Pied Cormorant, who had just jumped off her nest and was not all that please to see me.

But hey, that's the fun of doing this stuff, You never know unless you try. Check out a few more of our Australian Water Birds stock images here.

So its still winter

Canon 1Ds III f2.8 16-35mm II USM @ 35mm

Yep I know it doesn't snow in the outback, well not very often anyway. Last week the outback photographer was in the Grampians in South Western Victoria when we had a very lite sprinkle of snow overnight. The dull grey Australian bush takes on a new look when dusted with freshly falling snow. This shot was taken early morning before word got out and tourist started to flock onto the mountain. In fact I had to all but run up the road to keep ahead of a group of young and very excited children who were undoubtedly seeing snow for the very first time.

St Kilda Jetty and Pavilion.

Canon 1Ds III, f2.8 16-35mm lens

This is the “New” “Old Pavilion” located at the end of St Kilda Jetty, a popular beach side suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The original pavilion was constructed in 1904, if I remember correctly and became of on the icons of Melbourne, until its untimely destruction by fire just short of its 100th birthday in September 2003. So missed by locals, it was decided to rebuild the old girl using original drawings from the 1900’s.

Today the new building stands at the end of the very popular St Kilda Jetty and is witness to many thousands of visitors who flock to the area for a bit of R & R. The outback photographer was able to capture this shot of the pavilion, minus people just by getting out of his 4 star hotel bed early and taking a stroll along the water front before heading off to work. I’d love to tell you the early morning walk was about enthusiasm to get the shot but to be honest it had more to do with the hotels air conditioning unit, which sounded a lot like the engine of a Boeing 747 at full power… all bloody night…

Hey.... while I think of it, Vincent Larforet is currently shooting the Olympic for News Week, and he along with a couple other great sports shooters has regular posts to his blog and also the News Week blog

Some great insights into how those amazing sports pictures get to your morning newspaper. Photographers will appreciate some of the difficulties these guys go through to get pictures. I particularly like Vincent's story of getting a picture of the fire works over the Great Wall... priceless.

White Faced Heron.

Canon 1D IIN with 100-400mm 4.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

This morning before sunrise, the outback photographer found himself in a small open boat quietly drifting along the banks of the Murray River just checking out the abundance of bird life that inhabits the river banks early in the morning. Every few yards there was another species of bird, having a drink, fighting over the best tree limb, waiting patiently for breakfast, or preening themselves in preparation for another busy day of survival.

Every photographer knows that the great light happens first thing in the morning or just before sun set. Funny thing is you rarely run into another photographer out and about before day break. Which is a good thing for those of us who are out there doing it. Anyway this morning was quite special, and I was able to bag a couple of nice shots for our stock collection.

The White Faced Heron, above was happily waiting for breakfast when I turned up. Slowly drifting up on his position, hoping all the time that I wouldn't be noticed. As if he wasn't going to noticed a great big photographer, sitting in an open boat, moving toward him. Anyway the inevitable happened before I got close enough to get the shot I wanted, but in leaving he gave me the opportunity to get some panning practice in, which I badly need.

Erskine River, Lorne.

Canon 1Ds II with f2.8 16-35mm "L" lens

Finally today we started to see some rain here in Mildura, the first for quite some time. Not enough mine you to do anything except lift the spirits of locals a bit and maybe wash some dust of the trees but every little helps. Listening to the rain falling on our studions iron roof makes me want to pack up my camera gear and head into the bush again. There is nothing quite like shooting the Australian bush in the rain.
But that's not going to happen for a while at least so I've dragged out this shot, created on the Erskine River, in Victoria's Ottway Ranges a couple of months ago. Yes even there the drought is making itself felt but at least it still feels and smells like a rain forest. Meantime the outback photographer is back to his trusty Macpro to process some more images and listen to the rain keep falling. (hopefully)

Another green pic.

Canon 1Ds II with 16-35 f2.8 USM

You can't blame me from posting another green picture can you. The promised rain around here didn't arrive again, "Oh what a surprise..." Then today I read that El Nino is in decline meaning the end of the chances for above average rainfall this winter. Seeing that we're currently running at just under 25% of our normal rainfall for the months January through April, I guess we had better get use to working with a lot of brown and dusty backgrounds.

The above dose of green was shot along the banks of the Erskine River in the Ottway Ranges west of Melbourne. Tomorrow I'm off to photograph a very dry and cracked lake bed, so that should be a lot of fun.... seriously.

Waterfall Wednesday

Canon 1Ds II, f2.8 16-35mm USM L.

Eight hours of tramping over countless kilometres of bush tracks in search of great locations to create fine art images was the name of the game today. Were we successful? Well to be honest at this stage I have no idea. we found a couple of great spots which I guess we will us some time in the future.
Robyn found one site which see has named the Nymph Rock, which has huge potential for working with beautiful young models to create simply stunning portfolio images. Why call it the Nymph Rock? A good friend of ours who earns his living shooting beautiful women, naked for magazines and calenders, often refers to a natural locations as "great but really needs a beautiful Nymph". Todays spot is a great shot waiting to happen, all we need to do is find the beautiful young nymph. Check out some of our friends "clothed nymphs" here.

While hiking today, I discovered that I need to do a lot more walking. Yesterday I chose a cheap pair of new walking boots because I thought the trail would be simple, easy walking, but it wasn't. After several kilometres of walking over rocky unstable boulders on a nearly dry river bed, I realized that you get what you pay for...

Good walking boots have good grip, are padded for comfort and have great ankle support for when you loose your footing on a loose or slippery rock. Bad boots are often not comfortable but worse than that they are prone to loosing grip just when you need it most. If I choose to put my foot on a certain rock and it moves causing me to loose my balance, thats my fault and I deserve to fall or injure myself. That happens enough already. I don't need boots that let go on a perfectly good foot hold. Note to self never ever use poor quality walking boots when out in the bush. A sprained ankle a couple of hundreds metres from my car isn't a problem, but the same injury 2 days walk from the car is a major problem.

Today, my good walking boots came out, but all to late, the old legs are killing me and suspect the repairs to the trusty old boots may need a bit more wearing in. I think I'm looking forward to all day driving tomorrow.

Sunrise at Lorne

Canon 1Ds II, f4.5-5.6 100-400mm L USM.

A few minutes of beautiful light this morning at day break, before the dull grey skies took over again. This shot of fishermen at the end of the Lorne Jetty trying their luck as the sun rose behind them, was one of a few that I got. Dozens of locals and tourist were out and about this morning in this well known tourist resort situated on the Great Ocean Road in Southern Victoria.

Anyway we're off to tread the tracks of the local rain forests in track of some useful images now so I look forward to posting some of todays pics later today.

Old and new.

Canon 1D IIN 16-35mm f2.8 @ 20mm

While looking for breakfast yesterday morning in Ballarat, I was struck (no not literally) by the contrast between the old building built in 1878 and modern lamp post with new advertising banners attached. I'll post a few more Ballarat pics later, as I have a whole lot of catching up to do over the next few days.
WE had a great shoot while there but we won't be able to show you any of those for a while due to commercial obligations.

Port of Echuca

Canon 1Ds II with 16-35mm f2.8 II lens.

Traveling back from Deniliquin the other evening, I decided instead of cutting across country, the shortest route, I would go the long way around and travel down the Murray River from Echuca to Mildura. Along the way stopping to check out a few potential locations and also avoiding some really dusty roads.

I hadn't been to the historic Port of Echuca for a few years so it was a good chance to check out the place again. There is currently some repair work being carried out on the wharf area so access is quite limited. For those of you who haven't been to the Echuca Port it is an area of the town which fronts the Murray River and wharf. Apparently in the pioneering days this inland port was one of the busiest ports in Australia. With riverboats gathering cargo from along the length of the Murray River and it tributaries and transporting it back to Echuca. Today the wharf and what would have been then the main street, are kept much as they would have been during days long past.

There are a large number of paddle boats moored in the vicinity, some of which take daily river cruises, while others are privately owned and spend their time gently moving around at the end of their mooring ropes to the tireless rhythm of the river. If you've ever wanted to check out the Murray River from a Paddle Boat then Echuca is probably the place to go. Sure there are heaps of river towns offering cruises on "authentic paddle boats" and generally these are great products, Echuca's advantage is in the number of boats available , the amazing wharf and the fact that unlike most other river towns, the river is very much like the true Murray, narrow with high banks and river gums on both sides, as opposed to large open expanses of water artificially controlled by locks and weirs. The Paddle boat above is the Henery Charles which is moored just above the Echuca Wharf.