A View of Tasmania’s Macquarie Plains
A single shot from the H2 from my November 2011 trip to Tasmania. Taken from the Gordon River Rd just before you go over the River Derwent as you travel toward Bushy Park and the west coast.
H2 | P20 | HC50-110
And a 4 shot pano from the same trip/location.
H2 | P20 | HC50-110 | f8 @ 1/500
The Hasslblad H4X upgrade for H1/H2/H2F owners
I am currently drooling over the body available under the upgrade plan and trying to think where I can get my sticky little paws on the odd $5,000 (HA HA).
It looks absolutly wonderful piece of kit and I do hope I can get one.
Comet Lovejoy
Comet Lovejoy, originally uploaded by Photography by Odille.
I have been going out every morning trying to capture this comet and finally we had a cloudless eastern sky! A bit fainter than I would like, but the H2 does not handle low ISOs well, and the only usable shots are from the Lumix.
26 Dec 2011; 0442, Terranora looking east, NSW far north coast, Australia Lumix FZ35, f2.8, 30 secs, ISO 200 (P1080495)
Tomorrow I will try from somewhere down nearer the water. There is a spot on the Tweed River outlet opposite the end of Dry Dock Rd where I think the comet and southern cross might be reflected in the water, I won’t know until I get there in the morning. If that doesn’t work I’ll go to Snapper Rocks and shoot over the ocean. If any of the togs I was speaking to today would like to join me, love to see you. You can tell where I am by looking for the big yellow Kia Pregio van!
Shooter’s Kiln, Shooters Hill, nr Hayes, Tasmania
On Sunday 30 October 2011 two RedBubble friends, Brett & Greg, showed me some of the Oast Houses in the Derwent Valley. We visisted a couple of commonly known ones first, Valleyfield and this one, Shooter’s Kiln at Shooters Hill west of Hayes on the Lyell Hwy. [
This shot was taken a few days later when I decided to revisit this one and try from a different spot a bit further up the road – you can see it is a more head on angle than my earlier colour shot.
I found a very interesting history of the Derwent Valley Oasthouses by John Redecker online at www.johnredekercards.com/our-oast-houses-story-and-photos…
H2 | P20 | HC 210mm
I can now offer iPhone 4 hard cases
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Allows access to all device features; iPhone charges while in case
Special keyhole ring keeps photos completely unobstructed
I currently offer the following case styles: iPhone 4S & 4 Deflector one-piece case. Fits all mobile provider versions. I hope to be able to provide iPhone 3/3G and IPad cases very soon.
Check out my Photobook online
You may recall an earlier blog entry when I won the prize of an Asukabook. Well, I finally got it done (whew!) and the link is here. The absolute centres will not be visible when if is bound so the middle of the spread images (which I split in half) and the centred printing will seem closer together. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hummed and hahed over the images and I am still not satisfied but it will be nice for my coffee table and as a ‘showpiece’. There is a link to it here in the Asukabook online gallery, it will be online for 12 months. 
The Red Leaf
A shot from my trip up Currumbin Creek – you could truly say I was ‘up the creek’ (a great Aussie ‘affectionate’ insult) , especially when I slipped and landed flat on my back and ended up lying there, a camera in each hand stuck safely in the air, and although it hurt like blazes, laughing my head off – in January 2010. It was supposed to be a camera forum meetup but only 1 guy showed up, however we got some great shots.
THis is the creek well above the Natural Arch, I walked right up to the end of the path to the old sawmill site then kept going from there. Luckily we had been in drought, you cannot get up there, as you have to rock hop in the creek, in wet weather.
Detail from a pool well upstream.
H2 | P20 | HC f2.8 80mm
Last Call
There are fires burning in Qld and NSW, some bushfires and some due to control burns pre-summer, and we are having a very hot spring spell, and the result is a crimson orb at sunrise & sunset.
A friend and I went down to Chinderah and shot across the river for good results, and at the very end of contact with teh sun were rewarded with this lovely scene. That band of pines old Sol is disappearing behind are just across from my house!
Red Sun
There are fires burning in Qld and NSW, some bushfires and some due to control burns pre-summer, and we are having a very hot spring spell, and the result is a crimson orb at sunrise & sunset.
Care to Vote for my Image?
I have entered my image Old Jetty Remains, Kinloch, which is my all time most popular image on RedBubble and several other groups where I have it up, in the 2012 World in Focus Travel Photography Contest.
If any of my readers would care to vote for it I’d be stoked. The link is here.
Cheers from Odille
Four Bronze certificates
I entered these four images in the 5th annual Better Photography Magazine Photo of the Year Competition – all I had entry fees for at the time. I was pleased to be awarded four bronze awards but wish that one at 79 had gained just one more point and it would have rated silver! Still, it is better than last year ( 4 bronze awards from 5 entries but lower scores, at the bottom end of the range).
Next year I plan to hoard my pennies and enter up to the limit of 20 entries
The Mill by Night
A friend and I went out yesterday morning (6 July) for a bit of a prowl around. Our sunrise shots were not much due to a lack of cloud but this pre-dawn stop at the local sugar mill was certainly worthwhile!
H2 | P20 | 50-110 @ 50 | f8 | 20 secs | ISO100
River Reflections
A friend and I went out yesterday morning (6 July) for a bit of a prowl around. Our sunrise shots were not much due to a lack of cloud but this pre-dawn shot looking east down the Tweed River from Murwillumbah, with the Condong Mill in the rear ground, is a ‘good ’un’.
H2 | P20 | 50-110 @ 50 | f8 | 20 secs | ISO100
Another Pool in the Forest
Another pool on Cave Creek in Springbrook National Park, a fair way upstream of the natural Arch. I was initially not sure if this was worth processing but after playing with it a little it suddenly hit me with a WOW moment as I did some adjustments.
Canon 1DMkIIN & 24-105 L
Just a Pile of Rocks
Rocks in Cave Creek, Springbrook National Park, a fair way upstream of the natural Arch. I liked the light in this one.
Another where I wish now with hindsight (that wonderful thing!) I’d done a frame either side. Still, I can go back there on a similar day.
H2 | P20 | 80mm, January 2010
Swan Family
Another from the Vintage Lakes wetlands
Swan Lake
This pair of swans struggle along every year on the local wetlands to raise their brood. They always start off with 10 or so but are lucky to bring 2 to maturity. The problem is the eels that have gotten into the waters, they take the cygnets from below the water.
They are very accustomed to humans as the residents whose homes back onto the lake feed them regularly.
Canon EOS30D & 70-200 L f4, taken at Vintage Lakes wetlands, South Tweed Heads, NSW
——————–
Adult Black Swans have a mostly black body, with broad white wing tips visible in flight. Their bill is a deep orange-red, paler at the tip, with a distinct narrow white band towards the end. Younger birds are much greyer in colour, and have black wing tips.
They are found throughout Australia with the exception of Cape York Peninsula, and are more common in the south. The Black Swan has been introduced into several countries, including New Zealand, where it is now common, and is a vagrant to New Guinea. Adult females are smaller than the males.
Preferred habitat is larger salt, brackish or fresh waterways and permanent wetlands, and they require 40m or more of clear water to take off. Outside the breeding season, they often travel large distances, flying at night and resting during the day with other swans.
Vegetarians, they eat algae and weeds, obtained by plunging the long neck into water up to 1m deep. Occasionally birds will graze on land, but they are clumsy walkers.
Black Swans form isolated pairs or small colonies in shallow wetlands, and they pair for life, with both adults raising one brood per season. The eggs are laid in an untidy nest made of reeds and grasses. The nest is placed either on a small island or floated in deeper water. The chicks are covered in grey down, and are able to swim and feed themselves as soon as they hatch.
swan lake_MG_9753
Lunar Eclipse Montage, June 2011
I thought I had posted this ‘back when’ but I didn’t. So here is my take on the recent (very dark) lunar eclipse.
I set up my camera to do timed interval shots in batches of 10. These are images taken 10 mins apart starting at 0426 and finishing at 0535 (yes, my minutes didn’t come out exactly because I varied the interval as I went along). As the sun set during totality we don’t get the last phases.
I’ve always wanted to do one of these and am quite pleased with this one.
Taken from Terranora, far north coast NSW, looking west (of course) with Hasselblad H2 / PhaseOne P20 back / HC 50-110 zoom
montage 10min intervals
Cape Byron Light
Another shot from my November 2009 visit to Cape Byron. I like the looking up aspect images as they give some sense of the immensity of the lighthouse when you are close to it. The structure has a great ‘presence’.
On this particular morning I had decided the night before to set off early for sunrise at Cape Byron in November 2010, I woke up nice and early – 3am, it’s a 45 min drive and we have daylight saving. I’d assembled everything the day before, charged the batteries, cleared the media cards, made the coffee bag ready. I just had to boil the kettle for the thermos and get dressed.
And it’s raining – and I mean pelting down. I’d hoped for gorgeous red skies etc. I lay under my nice warm doona with my Siamese of the bedchamber, Miss Honey Bunny, cuddled up beside me and I nearly didn’t go! In the end I had a quick peek at the weather radar online and decided as I’d gone to all the trouble . . . and clouds might be interesting . . . So glad I did!
H2/P20/80mm
This is Australia
Sunset through a windmill near Allora, on the Queensland Darling Downs north west of Warwick, January 2010.
H2/P20/80mm
Low Tide
A sea plant cling ing to a rock at low tide at Waipapa Point, southland, NZ. I liked the sublte colours in this succulent like sea plant and have processed it to bring out those and the delicate gold of the sand.
Canon 1DsMkII & 15-35 zoom @ 35mm
Dolphin Beach (NOT MY PHOTO)
This beautiful shot is by Alan Nicol (his website here, and click on the photo to go to his Glickr where you can comment) http://alannicol.albolio.com/home/ but is just so beautiful I thought a bit of extra showcasing would not hurt.
I’d LOVE to get a shot like this! I am green with envy.
Stunning Time Lapse video and music
I found the most stunning time lapse video on Vimeo (I had seen his Aurora before and then came across this one). It is worth watching all three, though, they are so beautiful.
The music was especially composed by a very talented young lady, Marika Takeuchi, Boston composer and pianist
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marika-Takeuchi/119736281425652 & http://www.reverbnation.com/marikatakeuchi1).
The video was shot using two different cameras plus a host of other equipment (list equipment below), and the data-set for the film itself totaled over 9TB. It took 2-3 week just to compile all the data, and according to Sørgjerd the resolution of the final product was 8 times that of 1080P Full HD.
The entire film was shot in Lofoten, Norway, an area that consists of 7 islands and no more than 24,000 inhabitants, and lies at about the same latitude as Greenland and Alaska. During the day, the temperature (in the spring) hits about 60 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but drops 20 to 40 degrees once the sun sets.
Equipment
- 2 Canon 5D Mark II
- Canon 16-35mm/2.8 II
- Canon 17mm TS/E
- Canon 85mm 1.2
- Sigma 120-400mm
- The Stage-One dolly from www.dynamicperception.com
- Lee Graduated Neutral Density filters and a polarizer
- 4 Manfrotto tripods
Season’s Greeting to all my blog friends
My annual effort at ‘Photoshop art’ placing images of all our cats into a Christmas scene. And the Santa is my partner Warwick when he ‘did’ Santa in 1984 at Coffs harbour’s Park Plaza – it entailed a lot of layering to get this right!
16 December 2011 | Categories: Abstract/miscellaneous images, Cats, Commentary, Digital art, Landscape Photography, People | 3 Comments »