Some oldies get Bronze

Here’s a couple of other images that I’ve had for quite some time that went ok in the recent Landscape 500 photography competition held by Christian Fletcher.

Bronze in Landscape 500- Score 77

The first image here is from a while ago down in the Stirling Ranges. Read my previous post for info on this image.

Bronze in the Landscape 500- Score 77

I also took this image a while back in Albany. For the full post check out this post.

Click here to see my other competition results.

 

Homeward Bound

Seems weird saying that seeing as though it was only a month ago I moved to Newman, in the Pilbara. But i’ve had to head home for a brief stay for a mates wedding and all the rest. So instead of sitting at home doing nothing- as everyone else is working during the week. I thought I must pay my dear old friend a visit. That friend is of course my beloved Stirling Ranges!

Ridgeline

The reason for this trip is to get back into an area i’ve not visited for far, far too long. That is the Eastern Rudge. It’s basically the toughest walk you can do in WA. You walk a mere 22km, but over the only real mountains we have. It’s basically bush bashing- no well groomed track for us, and you sleep under the stars, or if you want some comfort you make base in one of the couple of caves found along the top of the ridge. It’s an incredible way to spend a night!

The Arrows

So I thought i’d dig through some ancient images, I think these were even taken on point and shoot camera’s, so apologies for the complete lack of quality with these haha. There will hopefully be better images to come from this trip! They give you some idea about the area anyway.

Bluff Knoll

I’ll also be trying to put technology to the test, and do a video tour of my cave tomorrow night. That will be posted to my facebook fanpage, so stay tuned into that tomorrow night and check it out!!

The Ridge

The top image is looking West along the ridge line, yes you do go up and over it all. The 2nd is over looking the section known as the Arrow’s, awesome terrain there, and the location of the only Penthouse you’ll find in the Stirlings- of course that is my cave!

The 3rd is looking at Bluff Knoll, very different viewpoint from this side. And for those of you who have climbed the tourist track, that has nothing on this side. It is a daunting sight as you head to the base of it, knowing you still need to climb it haha. The last image is the length of the ride, Ellen’s Peak on the left, Pyongerup Peak, The Arrows, Isongerup Peak and then lastly Bluff Knoll on the right. Looking through these old pics sure has got me excited to get there!

Fee Fi Fo Fum

In a land far, far away, there is a place of magic and mystery. A simple climb up the magic beanstalk, and you find yourself in a land of giants. Here everyday items appear miniature, and the inhabitants are so small and fragile. It’s a place high above the clouds, where a BBG (Big Beaming Giant) roams carefree. His silhouette can often be seen at sunrise, from the car park if you look up, you will see it, the BBG standing at the summit. Gazing across the land below.

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum

Ok ok, enough of that. It’s obvious what’s going on here. The land is the magical Stirling Ranges, the everyday items are small because they’re 800m below you, the inhabitants small because they’re mainly insects and the odd mammal. The BBG however is not far fetched at all- of course that handsome fella is me! And most definitely you can see my frame at the summit at sunrise, gazing out at the world in amazement.

I have just stumbled across this image, taken when I visited the Stirlings back in October last year. I loved this image when I first took it, but then for some reason it fell out of favour with me….. until now anyway. The tree and moss really caught my eye, looking out over the cloud far below me. It really was a magical experience, and i’m most definitely beaming when I took it, and now when i’m reliving it….. even though by a bit of a played out story.

Of course don’t forget to check out my 2011 Landscape Calendar

More of my Stirling Ranges posts can be found here

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Luck doesn’t just happen-you create it

Well after Jamie’s turned around and referred to me as “Mr Stirling”, I thought i’d best pump out a post from my beloved Stirlings. This is an image quite similar to others, with the harvested crops leading towards the hills. But as usual with me it’s got a twist- that being that this isn’t Bluff Knoll. Just about every image like this contains that peak- so here I am giving Mt Trio some love too.

Head to the hills

If you’re wondering where the title came from, the story will fill you in on that. This image was lucky that I got it, but it wasn’t a case of me driving down the road, to just happen to see it there. I sure earned it. The evening before I climbed Mt Trio late in the day to try for some nice sunset photos, something that unfortunately didn’t eventuate due to an amazingly thick band of haze on the horizon. Which literally shut out all light about 15min earlier then normal!

Anyway I climbed the peak, and while I was up there I noticed this field far below me, and thought what a good place for a shoot the following morning. So I tried to make note of the side roads that led to it, and then the following morning tried to navigate there in the dark. I got there in the end surprisingly easily The hardest part was actually standing in the field while mozzie’s nipped away at me in crazy fashion! haha. I waited for the light, which once lifted above the ground lit up the stubble beautifully. So when it’s all said and done, if I didn’t trek up the peak late the day before, this shot would never have come about.

Mt Trio Pano

This is the sunset from on top of the peak anyway. Not the best as you can see due to the thick haze. A bit unfortunate, but then as you can see here, it also created a pretty unusual effect the other direction, with the haze causing some intense colours, and then Mt Trio casting a shadow into the sky itself.

Bluff Knoll from Mt Trio

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More from an unforgetable morning on Bluff Knoll

Well here’s a couple more images showing the extent of the clouds that had formed on the South side of the peaks. It’s incredible that under this- the people were experiencing a drizzly, wet, miserable day. Meanwhile I was beaming from ear to ear! Despite knowing at the time I was still struggling to capture the scene in all it’s glory due to the enormous contrasts- I was still having a ball!

A rock and a soft place

I quite like this shot, looking nearly directly South, from just around the saddle between Coyanerup and Bluff Knoll. It was my first proper look at what was in that direction and it’s amazing the energy boost you get when you know you have something like this to work with! I was a fair bit later then i’d intended- with my trip to the carpark half an hour before I finally set off, then upon commencement- I realised i’d left my headlamp back at camp. So proceeded to go back to get it. Silly for not thinking that by the time I get to where i’d need it along the track, the light would be bright enough for me anyway. Sometimes the brain just does not work at it’s prime at half 4 in the morning lol.

Heading up, at what is a much slower and painful pace then i’m used to. I was really worrying that I was going to miss the clouds for a fair bit of the climb! And having to take a good dozen breaks- instead of the usual 3 didn’t help the cause! But after being injured and not playing sport/running for a good 6 weeks i’d lost a fair bit of my fitness. So resigned to the fact I was only going to be able to plug along….. Luckily the clouds hung around for a long time.

Up-draughts

The second image here is also looking South. The up-draughts were picking up the cloud in the foreground which I found pretty cool to see.

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Never Disappoints

Come to the Stirlings.. they say, walk with your head in the clouds… they say, ppffttt… I say. Why walk with your heads in the clouds- when you can walk with your feet on the clouds

As i’ve covered in a few of my posts in the past- the Stirlings are a great mountain range rising high from the surrounding plains. As a result when the conditions are right- clouds will form before your very eyes. Giving you the head in the clouds experience- a very magical experience at that don’t get me wrong. But when conditions are spot on- well you get this. To this stage i’ve climbed Bluff Knoll a good 80+ times, not once have I come off that peak not satisfied!! This occasion was not to be the first that’s for sure.

Flying High

After 2 weeks on the road with quite ordinary weather for the majority- I was stopping of at my baby’s- the Stirling Ranges on my way back to Perth. I knew I could rely on them to finish off the trip with a high, I knew they’d clear my mind and make me forget my stupidity of plunging the camera into the pristine Esperance waters, I knew they’d dry me off after 2 weeks in which nearly every day was wet, and I knew they’d get me excited for my next trip away. As I said they never let me down.

Heading up first thing in the morning is my usual thing here. I probably should appologize to the many people i’ve camped to- and woken up at the very early hours of the morning many times. But this is the reason I do it! The Stirlings are at their best in the morning I feel, and guess what- I had this to myself, for 5 hours!! Well I shared it with a Wedge Tail Eagle actually- but who’s complaining there

Now if you happen to be up in the early mornings- and there is a thick fog around… get your butt up the hill ok! Basically if there is cloud at ground level- you’ll be above it on the hill. Get up there quick before it burns away. I was lucky on this occasion the cloud on the South side stayed untill about 10am. The North side burned off by about 8am. I’ve been lucky to experience cloud like this 3 times (out of 80!!), first time I had no idea how to capture this type of scene, very difficult shooting conditions due to the harsh contrasts between sky/cloud/land, the second time, I managed to climb the hill with 2 flat battery’s… blew it! This time I was determined to get it!

I still don’t think i’ve quite got what i’m after, but I am even better prepared for next time I experience it- maybe another 30 odd climbs I will. But at least this time I think i’ve come away with a few shots at least. This is the first of them, and i’ll go through the rest soon to pick out what one’s are postable. This is looking East, over the spectacular Eastern Ridge. Which has to be one of the best walks you can do by the way- looks like i’ve missed doing it again this year but it is somewhere I want to get out along very soon. There were occasions out along there were even I was thinking this is just stupid haha. It is quite exhausting carrying 25 odd kilo’s worth of gear up and over the peaks- but so rewarding at the same time

Gota go- but will put some more up soon.

More of my Stirling Ranges posts can be found here

If you’re interested in purchasing a Stirling Ranges image, please visit my site

Mountains of Time

Here’s the final of my shots I got on my recent trip to the Stirling Ranges, and my favorite of the 3. While I love my Cotton Candy Hills image, that was just luck with the conditions creating an affect I wasn’t expecting. This photo is more like the shot I set out to achieve that weekend. The conditions still didn’t come together to give me exactly what I was after- So I will definitely return to hopefully get those conditions. Still, I feel this ill do nicely until then

Mountains of Time

Unfortunately the sunset wasn’t very spectacular again, as the trip seemed to be destined for. And with only a few clouds, basically what you can see here, thick haze in the air didn’t help. So after an hours drive, and nearly as long walking to get here- I thought at first the trip was a waste. I’d seen this awesome patch of ground, and decided to set up on the off chance something nice happened. And luckily I did because for a minute of so some nice light came across. The red pigface plant mixed with the dry cracks in the mud made for an interesting foreground. So I was glad I found some. Despite being so dry lately there wasn’t nearly as many cracked area’s as I had thought there’d be.

Anyway I hope you enjoy it too

More of my Stirling Ranges posts can be found here

If you’re interested in purchasing a Stirling ranges image, please visit my site

Salt Lake Views

Well I have a heap of images ready to post, and had every intention of posting about 3 since my last post…. But damn, things take too much time! Hopefully things will slow down a bit and I can get some of these new images up. The more I post, the more I have to go out and shoot. Gets me off my butt a bit more anyway.

Salt Lake Views

Here’s another shot from the morning down at the Stirling Ranges. The haze basically wrote off most of the trip, but also created my previous shot. 15 or so minutes after I took that image, the sun had risen above the horizon and was casting some wonderful side lighting on these dead trees. After ending up shin deep in the mud (I wish I could say only once….) I got out to this spot and set up. I couldn’t set up with any conventional composition involving the tree’s and the mountains. So I thought I’d go for something outside of the box. Basically a 50/50 set up. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but when I viewed it back at camp I was quite pleased.

The light off the timber really catches my eyes. And basically I had clouds I had for the whole trip whisped across the sky, thank god for them! The peak you can see is Toolbrunup Peak. Which has to be one of the best climbs in the park. Definitely one of my favourite mountains,  apart from the Eastern Peaks.  But being so much more easily accessible it’s got to be one of the best.

More of my Stirling Ranges Posts can be found here

If you’re interested in purchasing one of my Stirling Range images, please visit my site

My second home

Well anyone who knows me, or spends any decent time with me- knows how I feel about the Stirling Ranges…. I love them!!!

Every chance I get I go there, even if that means a total of 15 hours (of which most was driving) to see snow there last year. Something i’ve experienced a few times there but could never get sick of. I worked down there for a year, which for me is heaven! I used to climb a mountain before work! Oh how many times i’m sitting at work these days dreaming of where i’d rather be. A few of them a week is good for the soul.

So with the global finance crisis taking hold. My company did as so many are doing and forced us to take excess leave. So I thought what better way to use them then going down to my beloved Stirling’s for a few days. So off I set, with a new image in mind. I’ve seen many images of the Stirlings, and really wanted to get out a new vantage point. Something that sums up my love for the place, and shows a different side to the tourist side which is what is mostly shown. A image which has been in my mind for quite some time, but i’ve never quite got it. Then as i’m driving down- I start realizing it might all be falling apart….

As they so often do, the farmers of the area are burning the remnants of their crops from last year, and clearing tree’s and rubbish- also burning. Now with the weather forecast (dry and no wind and no clouds) fresh in my mind I knew what this could mean… haze- and lots of it!

Oh well, i’m here so lets make the most of it! So up I got early to climb Bluff Knoll for sunrise. I misjudged the rise just a lil. Not that it was to matter anyway as when I rocked up at the carpark I bumped into none other then Kirk, Neil and Jamie. Who were down there on their trip. So I hung out with them a bit and watched a pretty ordinary sunrise (one of many to come). It was good to finally meet them. And I would have loved to have got out for a shoot with them- but that never eventuated.

Anyway the next morning I headed round to where I hoped I may be able to snag the shot I was after. They’re probably going to hate me for not informing them of this location. But not really knowing it yet- I couldn’t direct you somewhere I had no idea about. And also I couldn’t give away the prime location I’ve been waiting for, for the last 3 years! Sorry guys, you’ll get it next time

Cotton Candy Hills

Well that’s enough blab from me. Here’s the first shot. As you can see there was an incredible amount of haze. It’s really given the image a very different feel. I like it, i’m still thinking of converting it to B/W as well to give that a go- I just need some more work at the conversions. But the early light coming through the haze has given it some very unusual colouring. I saw the branch in the lake and thought that would make the perfect addition to the reflection part of the image. It would have been great with a nice clean blue sky with the same clouds white. But with the conditions I was given I came away quite happy with this image.

I hope you enjoy it too.

More of my Stirling Ranges Posts can be viewed here

Meeting Mr S

Well now for something on a lighter note. After Neal and Jamie have openly discussed their fears for anything slithery, I thought back to a few occasions where i’ve been in pretty close proximity to the lil fella’s myself.  And I guess someone has to try and reclaim the Aussie image… lol.

Nah, it’s more to show that these creatures aren’t all bite, and really unless you stand on them or threaten them you don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve even been held up on a thin mountain path for 30min, due to a Tiger snake that decided it made a good place to sleep. No waving, stomping, clapping, throwing stones (not at it, but next to it) was moving it!! And there was no room to go around it. So i waited.

The first image here is a Tiger Snake on Toolbrunup Peak in the Stirling Ranges. These things love being high up on the peaks, and take on a very different look to any i’ve seen on the flats. They are a lot thinner and really have the lovely yellow bands they’re known for. These snakes are said to be extremely aggressive. But i’ve never personally come across any that are.

I took this with my camera 1.5m away, and I was leaning back as I was actually too close to get him focused. He didn’t seem to mind me at all, even firing away with a flash for a couple of minutes. He wasn’t cornered and I didn’t make any quick movements so I guess he didn’t feel threatened at all. I do admit that if this was something like a Taipan or a Brown snake I would not be anywhere near this close. As they will actually chase you!!

The next one here is a Dugite. It was about 1.5m long and was actually the main turning point for me with snakes. I was definitely more on the cautious side, i’d creep up to 4-5 meters of  them but that was it. This snake was behind the grass, preventing a decent shot. So I crept closer and tried to change the angle. I got to about 2.5m away and it completely flipped out. Banging it’s head into the rock you can see in the upper left of this image. I was wondering what it was doing, but then all of a sudden it disappeared into a hole in the ground. It really made me realise that they are even more afraid of us. Since then i’ve had more faith and quite enjoy watching these creatures in the wild.

Now obviously i’m not saying run around picking them up or anything, as we do have a huge number of the most venomous snakes in the world residing in Oz. Depending what info you get (each site seems to be different…) the Tiger is number 7 and the Dugite number 14. And I think it’s about 13 of the top 20. So precaution is always best!! I do usually wear long pants, theory i’ve heard is that the material helps with our snakes in the South West-not that i want to try that one

But they’re stunning to watch all the same. Hope my stories ease your nerves a bit anyway. As i’ve said to Jamie, I freaked when I saw a lil reef shark while snorkeling. Legs and arms took over before the brain caught up and said what the hell are you doing!! And he loves diving with sharks. So maybe one day we’ll get used to the other! haha.

More of my Stirling Range Posts can be found here