On the morning of the 17th September 2009, I was headed out to Terrigal beach on a lovely clear pre-dawn morning to photograph the conjunction of the Moon and Venus.

When the sky became too bright for the conjunction, I took advantage of the lovely colours of the dawn to capture some images of the sunrise and a few impromptu waterfalls as large waves crashed over the rock ledges near by.

Terrigal Sunrise. Click image to see a larger version.

The pre-dawn colours were magnificent, as they reflected off the surface water on the rock ledges.

Dawn Waterfall Colours. Click image for a larger version.

Please continue reading to see the rest of the images from the session.

Read the rest of this entry »

It was early January 2009 and I’d just come home from a family holiday at Birubi Beach and found a package waiting for me – a christmas/birthday present I’d bought myself, a new (second hand) Canon 20D!

So the next morning I woke early and headed out to Avoca to capture some sunrise photos as a first light with my new toy. Getting used to the menu, functions and dials on the 20D wasn’t too difficult as they’re not too dissimilar to the Canon 350D I’d been using for about 2 years.

It was a lovely summer morning and I started on the beach at Avoca near the inlet, but wasn’t inspired by the view so I headed around to the rocks at the South end of the beach and found much more inspiration, including this first shot of the series.

The Rocky Sea at Avoca

The image above was taken with my Canon 20D and Sigma 17-70mm lens at 25mm, f/6.3, 1.3s at ISO200.

Please read on to see the rest of the images from the Avoca Beach Sunrise session.

Read the rest of this entry »

In late December 2008, my family and I were camping at Birubi Beach Holiday Park when we heard some of the “neighbours” talking about a big storm approaching. I booted up my laptop, connected to the NextG wireless modem and checked the weather radar. Sure enough, a massive cell was heading straight towards our location. We had about an hour before it was going to be upon us.

As the wind started picking up, the campers busied themselves putting away loose materials and tying down their tarps and tents. Once my household duties were complete, Jacob and I went for a walk to the nearby carpark up at the Birubi Beach Surf Club to take some pictures of the approaching storm.

Here’s my best image of the set, the last in chronological order.

Massive Storm Approaching Birubi Beach

Continue reading for more.

Read the rest of this entry »

On the night of the Smiley Face Conjunction, before the sun set and the conjunction was visible, I was able to capture some dramatic sunset scenes over Brisbane Water, from Yattalunga and Green Point on the Central Coast of NSW.

I captured and processed these using HDR techniques – a way of representing a greater dynamic range in a single photo by using multiple exposures of the same scene (under exposed, correct exposure, over exposed).

It’s a fairly new technique for me and not everyone is a fan of the type of images it can produce – sometimes producing unrealistic fairytale type images, or with halo artefacts, depending on the extent of the processing. 

Escape With Me

Please check out the rest of the photos and I’d love to hear what you think. I need more practise in both capturing and processing HDR images like these, so bare with me

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the October long weekend, my family and I visited my Mum and Dad on their property up at Bellingen. They’ve called their 50 acres Allannie Ridge, a play on words combining both of their first names.

Bellingen is about 40 minutes South West of Coffs Harbour, and my parents property is down one of the valleys stretching out from Bellingen. 

My Dad built their house, the shed, everything. He’s an amazing tradesman – I wish I had even a quarter of his DIY skills! The images below were taken on our visit there – the first one is a 5-frame panorama and the second is a night HDR shot with star trails. 

Allannie Ridge

Allannie Ridge at Night

Thanks for looking.