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Day 334 – Low At Sunset

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Low At Sunset

Low tide and a very calm ocean let me explore some perspectives that I have not seen before. I spotted this little rock pool with the waves occasionally washing over into it, but only wish I did not make the mistake of having a leg of my tripod in the foreground, and having to crop it out. I guess it can be a problem when shooting really wide, but I am usually pretty careful with that one… I will be from now on that’s for sure! :D


Tagged: 10-22mm, Hungry Head, Low, Low Tide, Photography, Sunset, tide

Day 335 – Tuckers Rocked

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Tuckers Rock Sunset

Capturing yesterdays sunset was quite enjoyable for me for some reason. Maybe it was just good to kick off my shoes and get out there in the water… It might have also had something to do with the spectacular colours from the smoke haze on the horizon.

Tuckers Rocked


Tagged: 10-22mm, Beach, Bushfires, Repton, Rocks, Smoke, Sunset, Tuckers Rock, Waves

Day 336 – Flattened

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Flattened

Ok, so I have a bit of a catch up to do from the last few days off.

The ocean has been incredibly flat around here lately, and I was after a way to emphasis this… enter my Lee Big Stopper. I took this long exposure (6 minutes) at sunset on a rather dull grey day, and even with such a long exposure, with the fading light it ended up being under exposed.

After increasing the exposure by almost 1 stop in post processing, there ended up being quite a bit of noise in the image… so hence the almost total lack of colour.


Tagged: 10-22mm, Korora, Lee Big Stopper, Long Exposure, Long-exposure photography, Photography

Day 337 – King of Tides

Day 338 – Meabella Hair & Day Spa

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Meabella

A long time friend of mine has recently opened Meabella Hair and Day Spa at Nautilus Resort, here in Coffs Harbour. I headed out there to check the place out and grab some photos for the web site. The place looks magnificent, and offers a one stop shop for all your beauty, hair, nail, massage & reiki wants and needs.

Meabella Relax Meabella Products Meabella Room 2A Meabella Sauna Meabella Room 1A Meabella Front Meabella Reception 1 Meabella Reception 2

For appointments, give Alissa a call on 0499 113 206.

On a photographic note… unfortunately I didn’t have my 360 virtual tours at a point I was happy with, so I decided to give them a miss this time.


Tagged: Australia, Beach, Beachfront, Coffs Harbour, Day Spa, Hairdresser, Nautilus, New South Wales, Resort, Sapphire, Villas

Day 339 – Distracted

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Distracted

I must admit, I have been a little distracted lately. With good reason I think though… I have been planning my next trip away. Less than 4 weeks to go & the countdown begins!

It’s all finished now, so back to my photography! I’ll try to stay focused. :D


Tagged: 10-22mm, Photography, Sunrise, Waves

Day 340 – Something Fishy

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Samyang 8mm Fisheye Beach Test

I didn’t want to get my feet wet – you know that isn’t going to last for long!

My travel kit for landscapes is now complete… that is of course until I upgrade to a full frame camera shortly. :) With the addition of a Samyang 8mm fish-eye lens and a Sirui T1005X 5 section tripod, my gear lust hopefully will be non-existent for a little while.

The Samyang fish-eye is a full manual lens, requiring both aperture and focus to be set manually on the lens. There are 2 ‘downsides’ that I can see some people would say to the lens; 1 – you can not use filters for the lens due to it being so wide (about 167° on Canon crop bodies and a full 180° view on Nikon and other crop sensor bodies), and 2 – you have to get in really close for a subject to fill the frame. Samyang is very well-known for exceptional quality manual lenses at great prices, so if you have not checked their range out yet, make sure you do.

Sirui’s T1005X tripod is amazingly small. Shown in some of the pictures below is my full size Manffrotto 055XPROB tripod along side, which is huge in comparison. The Sirui folds down to about 34cm in length, extends to over 1.4m tall (with ball head), and only weighs 1kg. I did a lot of research on travel tripods, and my main reason for going with this one was that even though it is small… it can still support 10kg making it very sturdy for longer exposures, or for use with my Nodal Ninja panoramic head.

Now everything fits into a compact Lowepro Passport Sling bag. Tripod, camera with lens attached, an additional lens, Lowepro S&F filter pouch 100 (with an assortment of Lee and Hitech filters), along with spare batteries and cards. Not shown is my camera, and my Nodal Ninja NN5, which I also plan on cramming in there somewhere. I think this will be the perfect travel kit for me.

Sirui T1005X Tripod Travel Landscape Kit Samyang 8mm Fisheye Detachable Hood Samyang 8mm Fisheye Samyang 8mm Fisheye Hood On
Tagged: 10-22mm, 17-55mm, 8mm, Bag, Filters, Fish-eye, Fisheye, Gear, Hitech, Kit, Lee, Lens, Lowepro, Manfrotto, Nodal Ninja, Photography, Samyang, Sirui, Travel, Tripod

Day 341 – Short But Sweet

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Scraper Light Painting

Results from a short but sweet light painting session with Dan Murphy. We headed out to check out some earthmoving equipment in a new section of a local housing estate. Clearly someone nearby was questioning why there were two idiots waving coloured lights around, and called the police on us. I think even the police were wondering why there were two idiots out taking photos in the dark. :D

No earthmoving equipment was harmed in the making of these images.

Dozer Light Painting


Tagged: 10-22mm, Earthmoving, Equipment, Heavy equipment (construction), light painting, Long Exposure, Photography, Police

Day 342 – Merry Christmas Everyone

Day 343 – Goodbye 2012… Hello 2013

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Sydney New Years 2013 21

Happy New Year!!!

I managed to tick another item off my bucket list by welcoming in a new year, in what I think is one of the most beautiful an iconic harbours in the world… Sydney Harbour.

As friends opened the door and welcomed me into their apartment, I was greeted with the magnificent panoramic view of what McMahons Point has to offer.

Sydney New Years 2013 02

Of course shortly after that the beer was flowing, and so were the tequila shots as I learnt the rules of the house. A boat cruising past the front door, 2 trains on the bridge or 2 rivercats on the harbour, 3 helicopters, 4 water taxis, 5 ferries, 6 Luna Park rides going at the same time, 7 harbour cruises, 9 sailboats or 10 seagulls on the edge of the pool all required a shot. Then there was the attempted re-creation of the Opera House from lime wedges… the things you do for fun! :D

Sydney New Years 2013 03

The anticipation grew as the sun set, and the harbour filled with boats all wanting a front row seat to the fireworks spectacular that Sydney in renowned for. The early show looked more like a trial run, and was just a tease to the main event that let loose as soon as the clock struck midnight, and we said hello to 2013.

Sydney New Years 2013 04 Sydney New Years 2013 09 Sydney New Years 2013 16 Sydney New Years 2013 07 Sydney New Years 2013 14 Sydney New Years 2013 05 Sydney New Years 2013 15 Sydney New Years 2013 06 Sydney New Years 2013 18 Sydney New Years 2013 12 Sydney New Years 2013 17 Sydney New Years 2013 11 Sydney New Years 2013 19 Sydney New Years 2013 10 Sydney New Years 2013 20 Sydney New Years 2013 21 Sydney New Years 2013 08 Sydney New Years 2013 13

A massive welcome and thank you to all who have recently begun to follow my work. I have received so many wonderful comments in the last week. I have not had a chance to read all of them and check out your page, but I will make time by the end of the week. A huge thanks must go out to WordPress for featuring my site, along with those that have re-blogged posts on their site.

To my longtime followers, thank you for all your kind words and support in 2012. I hope I can keep things interesting in 2013, and continue to grow and push myself to get that awesome shot to share with you.

Best wishes for everyone for 2013.

Sydney New Years 2013 22


Tagged: 10-22mm, Australia, Fireworks, Long Exposure, McMahons Point New South Wales, New Years Eve, Photography, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Travel, WordPress

Day 344 – My First Sunrise of 2013

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My First 2013 Sunrise

Heading back to work today after a few weeks off gave me motivation to get up early enough to catch the sunrise, in fact the first sunrise I have seen this year!

I do admit I have missed getting up for this part of the day.

1 week until I am holidays again though… I thought I better ease myself into 2013! :D


Tagged: 10-22mm, 2013, Coffs Harbour, Photography, Sunrise

Day 345 – Getting Back Into The Rhythm

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Back Into The Rhythm

It feels like I am getting back into the rhythm of things again with the last 2 mornings resulting in images that I like…. I’m happy with that! :D

I shot this one, and then thought I wanted to recompose to get lower and wider. By the time I did that, the sun was too high in the sky, and was flaring across the filters and lens pretty badly… So this ended up being the keeper of the morning.


Tagged: 10-22mm, Australia, Hungry Head, Photography, Rocks, Sunrise, Waves

Day 346 – Reflecting The Sun

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Reflecting The Sun

I couldn’t resist this image once I spotted the reflection of the sun on both this rock and the sand this morning.

I was almost going to clone out the sun flare, but I thought of how much trouble they would go to adding the flare into animations these days, so I left it alone… for this time. :)


Tagged: 10-22mm, Australia, Photography, Sunrise, Tuckers Rock

Day 347 – Goodbye Coffs Coast

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Goodbye Coffs Coast

It’s goodbye to the Coffs Coast for a few weeks as I am off on another adventure overseas.

This shot is a 5 shot vertical stitch using my Nodal Ninja NN5. Pretty much straight out of the camera too. I would have liked to have done a HDR of this one to tone down the highlights a little. :D


Tagged: 10-22mm, Coffs Coast, Mid North Coast, Nodal Ninja NN5, Photography

Day 348 – A Taste Of Zeavola

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4944776540_f7d5c6f6ff_o

I have just landed at Zeavola Resort on Koh Phi Phi Don Island, Thailand… and Wow! I hope you all forgive me for not writing much right now, for I am off to see what other luxuries Zeavola has to offer. Expect a full report when I arrive home though.

I have a few posts to do since this is my first reliable internet connection that I have had for a little while, so maybe I can catch up from my private hideaway tomorrow. :D

A Taste Of Zeavola


Tagged: 8mm, Asia, Island, Krabi, Phi Phi, Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Island, Photography, Phuket, Resort, Thailand, Travel, Zeavola

Day 349 – Back To The Start In Phuket

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Patong Beach Sunset

Sitting back watching the sunset over Patong beach, with the locals playing soccer on the beach, and a person parasails overhead.

Finding a reliable internet connection proved to be a hassle while traveling, so I am going back to the start of my trip over the next few days and going though some photos. Our first stop was Phuket, where we stayed at Baan Laimai Beach Resort in Patong.

Baan Laimai Patong Beach Pool Baan Laimai Patong Beach Sunset Patong Beach Baan Laimai Patong Beach First Drinks

While being in a great location opposite Patong Beach, the little touches make all the difference, and I don’t think I would stay here again with much better hotels close by – for just a little more cash. I would however recommend the food from the restaurant, and the live band was fantastic. There was plenty of shopping, catching up with friends from other trips to Phuket, lazing on the beach, and kicking back by the pool… what a way to start a holiday.

We spent our last day in Phuket down at Karon, and witnessed a couple getting some wedding shots on sunset. It drew quite a crowd of onlookers, and a few saw it as an opportunity to borrow a reflector from the photographers for an impromptu model shoot… and I had to have a little laugh :) I would imaging the wedding photographers got some great shots with such a beautiful sunset.

Karon Beach Sunset Photography Karon Beach Sunset Wedding Crowd Karon Beach Sunset Wedding Photography Karon Beach Sunset Models
Tagged: Asia, Baan Laimai, Beach, Karon, Karon Beach, Patong, Patong Beach, Photography, Phuket, Phuket Province, Sunset, Thailand, Travel, Wedding

Day 350 – Spend A Day On Phi Phi

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Loh Dalam Bay

 

Do yourself a favor and find a nice quiet spot on the beach of Loh Dalam Bay. From here you can truly admire Phi Phi Island, and marvel at those beautiful rich blues and greens that work so well together. Look past all the tourists and block out everything else in life, you don’t have to look far to find beauty here.

 

Loh Dalam Bay Zeavola 4 Long Tail Boat

 

Take a stroll along the white sand, and you will no doubt see a long-tail boat or 7. Pause and take at least a second to soak in the view… Suddenly all those idyllic postcards come to life right in front of you.

 

Loh Dalam Bay Long Tail Boats

 

Barter a deal and jump aboard a long-tail or ‘taxi boat’, for your own private tour of wherever you wish to go. Bamboo Island is a favorite close by destination of mine for its crystal clear water. Swimming and soaking up the sun after finding a slice of paradise on a private little beach is just a bonus.

 

Bamboo IslandBamboo Island Beach

 

Looking at the time, I know there is one more stop I want to make. A short trek back to the boat, and I have to wake up the captain… sleeping under a tree, with a foam esky lid as a pillow – ahhh the simple life!

 

Phi Phi Island CliffsPhi Phi Cliffs

 

Cruising to the next stop, I am again awestruck with the huge cliffs that jut out of the ocean everywhere you look… then you arrive at Maya Bay – ‘The Beach’

 
Entering Maya Bay

 

Having visited here a few times on my last trip to Phi Phi, I left my visit this time to later on in the day in the hope of avoiding the plague of people ferried by speedboats from around Thailand. It sort of worked out, and there were definitely fewer people than most times I have seen. Time to kick back and enjoy a beer or two.

 
Maya Bay BeachMaya Bay

 

Drift away, and imagine how perfect it would be if no one else was around. If only those 50 people were not in my photo, and the dozen speedboats were not here…

 
Maya Bay Long Tail BoatThe Beach at Maya Bay

 

I must admit… there is something special about having one of the worlds most famous beaches pretty much to yourself.

 

Maya Bay Deserted


Tagged: Asia, Bamboo Island, Beach, Don, Island, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Ley, Maya Bay, Phi Phi, Phi Phi Island, Phuket, Provinces, Thailand, The Beach

Day 351 – Can’t Help But Feel Lucky

Day 352 – A Wave Caught My Eye

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A Wave Caught My Eye

This image caught my eye when flicking through my photos from this morning. I like the line the little wave formed, and it’s always nice to have something that adds a little interest in the foreground.


Tagged: 10-22mm, Beach, Photography, Sunrise, Tuckers Rock, Wave

Day 353 – Washed Away

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Washed Away

I came very close to getting washed away a few times again this morning. In the end I didn’t even get the image I had imagined in my head, but I did like this one even though the sun has some blown highlights.

Processing of this photo was done a little different to my usual quick conversion. It’s a pseudo HDR image – that is a HDR photo created from a single raw image file, not multiple bracketed shots -  I converted the raw file into 4 16 bit tiff files with DPP using multiple exposure values (-2 -1 0 and +1), the four files were then processed in Photomatix, and final editing was done in Photoshop. Seems like a lot of work for one photo to me. :D


Tagged: 10-22mm, Adobe Photoshop, HDR, High dynamic range imaging, Photography, Photomatix, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, Pseudo, Raw image format
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