Exotic Locations . . .

. . .don't always have to be far away. Today, after dropping Amy off at work, I decided to go for a short walk down to the creek. Because we've had some serious rain over the last 24 hours or so, the waterfalls were flowing nicely. 

I spent about an hour or so at this location getting soaked. I played around with various angles and heights. I'm glad I've got a good tripod that can withstand getting wet, and is tall enough. I brought along the ND400 filter and was achieving about 30 second exposures at f/22, ISO 100. I would have liked to have used say f/8 or f/11 (I think f/22 pushes the limits of diffraction on the EF17-40mm f/4L), but a) there was too much light, b) I didn't have enough ND filters, and c) I don't have a remote shutter release yet (that will be remedied shortly!).

As I was leaving (read: crawling on hands and knees out of the slipper creek), I noticed a bark piece that had been stripped off. I thought the leaves provided enough contrast to provide an off-center focal point.

On a side note, I've made a resolution to try to post more pictures (on Whirlpool, OCAU forums) for feedback/critiques. I feel that I haven't really improved in the last few months, and am looking for more challenges.

As always, any comments or critiques are more than welcome! Feel free to post below. Thanks!

Botanical Gardens, Circular Quay Photowalk Results

Our planned photowalk was a minor success! The weather on Saturday started out gloomy (overcast and raining), but soon cleared to a glorious sunny afternnon, with some residual cloud. We followed the planned route and enjoyed some good time in the Botanical Gardens where some participants got lost in trees, others found wildlife and others simply disappeared (JYP!).

Throughout the afternoon we experienced fantastic afternoon light with looming clouds to break up the sky, rainbows and the odd thunderstorm. The photographers experienced a wide range of challenging shooting conditions.

We ended the walk a little earlier than planned (the sunset wasn't spectacular by any means) and we were all looking forward to the excellent food at the Lowenbrau.

I've obtained contributions from some participants, with more to come! The full gallery can be viewed on the Photowalk Galleries page.

Outstanding Photographs

Seeing as I've only had contributions from 2 other photographers, I'd like to show my favourites from their contributions.

IDL

JO

Fantastic stuff!

Flying Penguin

Flying Penguin, originally uploaded by dr.r.lam.

Supposed to be reading for Journal Club. Oropharyngeal Dysphagias seem less interesting than post-processing images from a while ago. I found this one I took during one of Chris Bray's Photo Workshops. I like the black and white conversion. It seems that removing the colour element sharpens the outlines of the two penguins and makes them stand out from their surrounds. Two silhouettes (one positive and one negative).

Botanical Gardens, Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge Photowalk

Date : Saturday 22nd May

Time: 2:00pm

Start : At the front of the Conservatorium of Music

End : Dawes Point (southern end of the Harbour Bridge)

Route : Proposed Route

Dinner : Lowebrau Beer Hall in the Rocks.

Welcome! If you have made it to this site, consider it your official invitation to this photowalk. Feel free to invite friends and family (and other photo-buffs) along for the ride. This is FREE!!!

I think the planned route (check it out here) is about 4.5km should be easily doable by everyone on the walk (with gear). It starts at the Conservatorium of Music, through the Botanical Gardens, around the Opera House, along the waterfront (or through the Rocks) and ends up at Dawes Point.

Regardless of the weather I will be at the start (Conservatorium of Music). The best way to get there is probably Cityrail to Martin Place and walk up the hill, or get to Circular Quay and walk up the hill!

The starting time is quite late in the afternoon (nice golden light hopefully!), but gives us plenty of time to wind our way down to Dawes point for sunset. Sunset is predicted to be at 4:55pm. Astronomical Twilight ends at 6:25pm. That gives us roughly around an hour and half of blue-hour which is plenty of time for great photos of Luna Park and Blues Point etc.

Afterwards, dinner is planned for the Lowenbrau in the Rocks. I'll make a reservation beforehand once I know the numbers so it should be a great place for chimping. (Chimping is a term used for reviewing your shots on your lcd screen on the back of your camera, usually accompanied by lots of ooh, oohs and aah, aahs)!

Important points!

• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Bring a warm (and/or waterproof) jacket. It probably will be windy.
• Camera (DSLR or Point-and-shoot)
  
• Charged battery (or two!)
  
• You’ll want to bring a couple formatted memory cards so you don’t get caught short. If you’re shooting raw, 8GB is a great place to start and should get you through a photowalk. Bring two if you have them though.
  
• Wide Angle Lens for shooting large buildings, stores, or full downtown area scenes.
  
• Telephoto lens. A 70-200 or 70-300 is always nice so you can zoom in and really capture your subject without lots of distracting things around it. 
• Consider a tripod but it’s not necessary. Our walk is in the evening, so a tripod will probably come in handy, but be mindful that you'll have to lug it around!
  
• A good photo walking strap that won’t slip off your shoulder.
• Oh and just in case it rains, bring a plastic bag and some rain gear to put over your camera. A simple grocery store plastic bag can work but if you want some extra protection, Kata makes a rain cover for DSLRs.

After we're all done, I'll post some photos on this blog, and in a Flickr group so we can all check out the beautiful photos that were made on this day!

Don't forget to contact me (best by email) if there are problems!

If you are inviting other people, please get them to send me an email too! This way I can keep in contact with anyone and advise them of last-minute changes. 

Can't wait!

Richard.