In late July I headed to the northern end of  Shelly Beach where I was excited to find an extremely intriguing selection of rock formations at the foot of the headland. I’ve photographed the headland from the other side (Moffat Head) but this side was new to me. I visited the same spot for two consecutive sunrises both disappointingly producing clear blue skies. I tweaked my compositions for the second visit and came to terms with and even began to quite like the clear sky – a more dramatic sky may have competed with the rock formations too much. Unfortunately on the rock face was somebody else’s artwork – a patch of graffiti. I found myself with a difficult decision whether to clone it out or not. I like to keep my images true so it was a hard decision. I felt I wouldn’t use the shot with the offending eyesore so it had to be done.

Shelly Beach

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
1s f/16.0  iso100

Several weeks later I returned for sunset with clouds in the sky, only to discover my new favourite foreground rocks had been engulfed by sand from some recent big surf. I spent the afternoon  looking for close ups of the many interesting rock patterns on the walls of the headland. For the record somebody had cloned out the graffiti for real and the natural beauty had been restored.

Rock Abstract

 Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
4s f/11.0  iso100

Mt Ninderry is my local iconic focal point and a good location for a last-minute photo shoot. On the way home from a family afternoon the clouds caught my eye. So I went straight back out – although the sky didn’t live up to expectations I got a shot I was pleased with.

Mt Ninderry

 Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
0.6s f/16.0  iso100

My wife and I recently spent a Saturday morning climbing Mt Cooroy in the north of the Sunshine Coast. Having viewed it many times it was great to reach the summit. The trip was designed for exploration rather than photography but in the shaded forest of the mountain I found a close up of a tree trunk that caught my eye. The aim was to take a series of shots to focus stack the final image but my 24-105L lens failed giving me an error message – I took 3 shots before the lens gave up completely still needing a couple more to cover the whole range of focus. I’ve included the image here – but as you will notice it is soft in certain areas. The lens has now been couriered off to Canon. Keep you posted.

Bark Detail

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
6s f/16.0 at 90.0mm  iso100

With Spring fast approaching I thought it was time to share with you some of the photographs I have taken over the Winter.

During July I visited Mapleton State forest and explored an area of it I’ve not visited before. It is home to one of the lesser known local waterfalls of the forest, Gheerulla Falls. They are in a scenic corner of the forest that would be even more impressive after a rainfall. We are nearing the end of a very dry ‘dry season’ therefore only a trickle of water was flowing over the rock face. I photographed the falls from numerous vantage points for later review as I will be back to photograph these falls in the future.

Gheerulla Falls

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
13s f/22 iso100

Further downstream I discovered an enchanting scene with an old twisted Tallowwood tree growing out of a dry creek bed. With its gnarled character it stood out against the backdrop of the surrounding forest making it a great subject to photograph.

Gnarled Gumtree

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
6s f/11.0 iso100

The following week I returned to the same part of the forest to complete a 22km walk to really get a feel for this forest. A bright sunny winters day was perfect for walking but not for photography. I photographed Gheerulla Falls again fine tuning compositions before starting the long walk. There was whole range of very different scenes along the way which I look forward to capturing with more time and less harsh conditions and next time I will lighten my load as 10.5kg was too much of a burden.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed an early morning view of Baroon Pocket Dam from the top of the Blackall Range. A thick layer of fog was lying on the water making it as wintery a scene as you will find in south east Queensland.

Baroon Pocket Dam

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ,Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
1s f/16.0 at 60.0mm iso100

The past months have flown by, bulk picture framing orders, bouts of the flu and a viral infection have been keeping me busy/out of action. Unfortunately my camera and blog have suffered!

SALT’s  winter edition (a quality lifestyle – tourism magazine) has been out for several weeks now and has one of my images for its double spread front cover. The magazine usually uses well known Australian Landscape photographers Peter Lik, Christian Fletcher and Nick Rains – so it was satisfying to see my work presented in the same way.

The magazine is circulated throughout The Sunshine Coast and parts of Brisbane. It can be viewed online at www.saltmagazine.com.au - click  ‘online mag’ to read the publication.

I have been out with the camera a couple of times over the last week – it feels good to be back in the great outdoors – so there will be something new very shortly.

Point Arkwright is one of my favourite places to photograph on the Sunshine Coast and luckily for me one of the closest. It consists of a rocky headland, rock shelves to the north and a beautiful sandy beach to the south. I have been drawn to this particular rock ledge several times before – it provides great foreground for the view south. With big surf and the high tide washing over the ledge I couldn’t ignore it – even though it’s an old location I got a shot completely different to anything beforehand.

For how I visualized the final image it meant getting wet – no problem – I get wet most times that I photograph the coast. I also needed to get low to emphasize the size of the waves on the horizon before they broke – this required some courage (or stupidity) as the surf was extremely erratic with remarkable force in its surge and my camera was only inches away from the surface. This image doesn’t show the highest surf – in some of the exposures I took it completely engulfed the ledge. I found a solid position for each of the tripods legs – they were placed in a small crack or crevice – this meant I could hold pressure down on the tripod without fear of the legs slipping. Otherwise the sea would’ve certainly pushed my gear over. Most times when I have my tripod in the surf it’s enough to keep my hands around the camera during exposures – ready to catch my gear if needed. On this occasion a more hands on approach was needed – literally.

Sea Fever

Canon EOS 5D Mark II,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
0.6s f/16.0 iso50

I know next to nothing about poetry but while I was surrounded by the saltwater, immersed in its power, the poem ‘Sea Fever’ by John Masefield entered my head. The poem is my favourite – other than Spike Milligans poems I wouldn’t know many more. I love how it evokes feelings in a way that you can almost smell and hear the sea. The title of the image was resolved there and then – before the image had even left the camera.

Now this is a little cheesy – but as I’ve shared with you how the title came to be, I can’t really mention a poem and not share it. I will never do this again – I promise.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again,

to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship

and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song

and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face

and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again,

for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call

that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day

with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume,

and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again

to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way

where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn

from a laughing fellow rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream

when the long trick’s over.

- John Masefield

My family joined me on this visit. While I was having the time of my life up to my waist in rushing surf my two young children – supervised by my wife – were also having the time of their lives running around up to their waists in sea-foam. This shot is the same ledge photographed a little later and from an angle I’m more used to.

Pt Arkwright Dusk

Canon EOS 5D Mark II,Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
8s f/16.0 iso100