A HDR Photograph of Tawonga Huts.

A couple of weeks ago I went up to the Bogong High Plains to photograph Tawonga Huts which are a 4 km walk from Pretty Valley Pondage.  Cattlemen’s huts have been located on the site since the late 1880 and have been rebuilt several times over the years with the most recent one being constructed in the early 1970s.

I arrived at the site around 10:00 am (unfortunately well after sunrise) while it was a cloudy day there were prolonged periods of bright sunshine which made for some challenging lighting conditions.  Ordinarily I would use graduated ND filters to bring down the exposure of the sky however in this instance they would have also unnecessarily darkened the hut I was trying to photograph.  Therefore to try and capture the full dynamic range of the scene I decided to take a bracketed series of photographs (with exposure values of 0, +/-2 and +/-1) with the intention of HDR processing them through Photomatrix Pro.  For these images I used my Pentax K7 and DA* 16-50mm lens, the camera was mounted on a tripod and the shutter was fired with a Pentax cable release.

I have included the 5 shots taken below that were used to produce the final image.  These images are the RAW files and are unprocessed, however as you can see I have been able to capture the full dynamic range of the scene with good detail in the sky in the -2 and -1 EV shots, and in the +1 and +2 EV shots I have got a lot of detail recorded in the log fence, shadow areas of the hut and some detail in the overhanging snow gum.

-2 EV

-1EV

0 EV

+1 EV

+ 2 EV

Below is the final image once the above 5 were processed through Photomatrix Pro and Photoshop CC.

5 image HDR composite of Tawonga Huts on the Bogong High Plains (Alpine National Park). Pentax K7, Pentax DA*16-50mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/15sec.

 The final HDR image turned out much better than I had hoped and it is a great representation of the scene; I am really happy with it, it certainly made the 10hrs of driving and 8 km round trip walk worthwhile!

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The Old Pier

A few weeks ago I went down to Clifton Springs near Geelong in Victoria to photograph the remains of an old pier that was constructed in the early 1900’s.  The top deck of the pier has long since been removed and all that now remains are the old pylons.

Pentax K7, Pentax DA* 16-50 mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1 min.

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Gunnamatta Ocean Beach

Over the last few weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time at Gunnamatta Surf Beach which is located in the Mornington Peninsula National Park (Victoria).  The beach is a 3 kilometer long stretch of exposed sandy beach and according to beachsafe.org.au is one of the best surf beaches along the Mornington Peninsula, with consistent 2 m waves all year.  It is however a very dangerous beach with Life Saving Victoria making an average of 113 rescues at the beach each year.  Going to Gunnamatta at the end of winter means I haven’t had to fight the crowds that flock to the beach in summer and it usually just been myself down there and a few keen fishermen.

There are several spots along the beach where there are some large rocks in the sand which make for some interesting photographs if you are game enough to get close to them.  This photo below is of one them and was taken late in the afternoon just prior to sunset; just in case you are wondering I got drenched taking this!

Pentax K7, Pentax DA21mm limited, ISO 100, f/14, 0.5 sec

The sunset last Sunday was incredible, the colours were so vivid and constantly changing.As I mentioned at the start the waves are practically constant at Gunnamatta and you need to keep you remain alert and keep your eyes open, I didn’t and it caused the loss of my DA* 16-50 mm, f/2.8 SDM lens.  So my next post will be on seascape photography tips that no one else will tell you!

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Winter sunset at Princes Pier

One of the joys of having a diesel car and only making short trips in it is regularly having the particulate filter become blocked.  Short of replacing the filter, which costs lots of $$, the only way to clear it out is to take the car on a drive and try to burn the trapped particulates off.  So on Sunday I took went down to Princes Pier in Port Melbourne to try and clear out the particulate filter in my car and take some photographs of the pier while I was down there.

Construction of Princes Pier was completed in 1915 and until the late 1960s it served as one of the major entry points into Melbourne for new migrants arriving by ship.  The pier was eventually closed in 1990 and in the subsequent years a series of fires damaged the pier and several structures built on it.  Then in 2006 restoration work was commenced with the first 200 odd metres of decking being restored and the remaining 400 metres of wooden pylons being preserved.

The remaining pylons are fascinating to photograph and they remind me of the old cattle jetty at Point Nepean but on a massive scale!  At this time of year the position of the sun during sunset bathes the pylons in soft orange and pink light.

The two photographs below were taken 5 minutes apart and show the changing colours of the light during sunset.

Pentax K7, Pentax DA* 16 – 50 mm f/2.8, ISO 100, f/14, 10 sec.

Pentax K7, Pentax DA* 16 – 50 mm f/2.8, ISO 100, f/11, 15 sec.

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Wallaces Hut

Out of all the huts in the Victorian Alpine region, Wallaces Hut is one of my favorites; its a hut I have visited on many occasions and is something I will never tire of.  Built in 1889 from slabs of snow gums with roof shingles made from woollybutt it is the oldest hut in the Alpine National Park.  Wallaces hut was frequently referred to as the Seldom Seen Inn as it is located among a grove of old snow gums, however it is easily accessed by a short walk from the Bogong High Plains Road approximately 7.5 km from the rocky valley dam wall at Falls Creek.

The photograph below was taken on a particularly chilly morning during late spring after a night of light snowfall.

An old Parks Victoria sign at the hut which has now been replaced gave an evocative description of the location.  I have repeated the text below.

It’s the 1890’s… David Wallace and his three sons Arthur, William and Stewart had recently built the “Seldom Seen Inn”.  They made the hut as a shelter for their visits, when they mustered their cattle off the high plains before the winter snow.

Sitting around the open fire with a cup of billy tea they’d recall their days.

Like when the lean-to door was left ajar and a cow got stuck inside and died!

Or when William was stuck here in bad weather and there was no dry firewood!

With numb hands, a knife and patience, a fire was made…necessity being the mother of invention.

No easy access through the high country in those days, just rough tracks made by cattle and the few bush characters who came here.

If ever you find yourself at Falls Creek take the time to visit Wallaces Hut, its certainly something you won’t regret.

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Aireys Inlet

Earlier this year I purchased a Pentax K-01 as a backup for my Pentax K-7.  As the K-01 is a mirrorless camera I initially thought that I would miss the viewfinder, and while I did at first, I have come to really like using the LCD screen and find it much easier to compose a photograph on the LCD rather than with the viewfinder; especially as I wear glasses.  Although it was supposed to be a backup camera I am finding lately that I am using it more and more.  I find it a joy to use and out of the K7, ME Super, or K-01 the K-01 is the camera that for me at least begs to be used, when you pick it up you want to take photos with it.

Last week I purchased a  Pentax DA 21mm F3.2 Limited lens to go with the K-01.  This lens is one of Pentax’s ultra-thin pancake lenses and its small size makes it a great match with the K-01.

To try out the new lens I took it and the K-01 down to Aireys Inlet along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria (the ME Super came along too, but I have to get the film developed to see how those photos turned out). The photograph below was taken at Fairhaven beach which in 2008 was rated as one of the best beaches in Victoria.

Pentax K-01, Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 ltd, ISO 100, f/8, 4 sec.

I am really happy with the DA 21 mm f3.2 limited lens.  The images it produces are incredibly sharp with stunning colours.  I think this lens could be the start of a collection of limited lenses; time to start saving for the 15 mm one!

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Sunset at Whiskey Bay – Wilsons Promontory National Park

On Friday I went down to Wilsons Promontory National Park, or The Prom as its affectionately known, for a spot of camping.  Over 50000 hectares in size The Prom is the southern most tip of mainland Australia, and has been a national park since the late 1890s.

Unfortunately the camping didn’t exactly turned out as I had hoped as it was school holidays (which I forgot about) and it seemed like every body in Melbourne had the same idea; needless to say it was extremely crowded!  Nevertheless it was too good an opportunity to let it go to waste, so I headed out to Whiskey Bay to see what the nights sunset had in store.

This first shot was taken while the sun was just above the horizon.

Pentax K7, DA* 16-50 mm f/2.8, ISO 100, f/16, 1 sec.

This second one was taken over 45 minutes later once the sun had gone and it was almost dark.

Pentax K-01, DA 18-55 f/3.5-f/5.6, ISO 400, f/5.6, 30 sec.

While the camping may not have been great, the chance to visit Wilsons Prom and do some photography was too good an opportunity to pass up.

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Wildflowers in the Victorian High Country

The photograph below of alpine wildflowers was taken at the end of December 2012 near the start of the Crosscut Saw in the Alpine National Park.

Pentax K7, ISO 100, f/11, 1/50 sec, Pentax SMC DA* 16 – 50 mm f/2.8.

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Endless summer at Chelsea Beach

This year in Melbourne we have had one of our driest and warmest summers in decades, and last Sunday I went down to Chelsea Beach to photograph the sunset.

I have put a couple of the shots from my visit below and the colours in the first one reminded me of the movie poster for the classic 1960’s surfing movie Endless Summer.

These shots have not had their colours changed in Photoshop, I used a 8 stop ND filter when the images were made, and the sunset of the evening did the rest of the work.  These shots were taken with a Pentax K-01, which is really starting to grow on me and in many ways it is better than my K7.

This second shot of the pier I found more difficult, but maybe it’s just me, but I found it challenging to symmetrically line up the pier such that the poles were evenly placed at the start of the image while the end of the pier was centred.  Anyway after a bit of mucking around I finally got there and came away with this shot.

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Getting Wet Feet at Half Moon Bay

Last Saturday evening I went down to Half Moon Bay near Sorrento in Victoria to take a few photographs of the days sunset.  The bay is about a 2.5 Km walk from the car park and it is a quiet secluded beach surrounded by sandstone cliffs.  Standing on one of the rock platforms watching the sunset I grabbed this shot just as the sun touched the horizon.

However while this was going on, to my left and behind me, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks I was standing on seemed to be getting louder and louder.  I put the camera onto burst mode turned around and took the following shots.

This first one is of one of the waves as it just hits the rocks.

Then eight seconds later this is the next shot and before I knew it both the tripod and I were up to our ankles in seawater.This continued on and off while I was taking my photos of the sunset and made for a wet walk back to the car in the dark.  But it was worth it, I came away with a good shot of the sunset and had a blast as well!

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