Pilbara Panorama

Just thought I would share this panorama with you - the Pilbara.

Following a mud map to 'Chocolate Topped Mountains'

I published this first on ABC Open, again under the Pic of the Week project. If you have time, check out ABC Open, it is a collection of stories from regional Australia.

Gathering family together for a camping trip produces bonding, mateship, friendship and all kinds of good stuff among the stresses of heat, flies, spinifex and the close proximity of a tent.

In a place like Karratha, where few have spent their lives and live with family generations, your friends become your family. Connecting with people through workplaces, clubs, churches and hobbies is paramount to staying sane so far from home.

We organised a church camp to bring the congregation together - combining 'Pilbara family' and hobbies. To give people time to connect with those they wouldn't normally connect with. The thing about the Pilbara is that most people are transient - here for many reasons but connected by a commitment to the place for a time. A camping trip is one way to give people one weekend of family fun - to know they have friends and a network even when most of us come from so far away.

We are blessed in our church members, to have some community strongholds who have been here for a lot longer than most. The true locals who have seen this town grow and change, but can bring us back to the reality of the landscape that just goes through cycles. These people shared with us the camping spot on their station, provided us with directions on a 'mud map' to find the best camping spot for fun that had easy access.

We followed a dirt road, spied the 'chocolate topped mountains' as they have been described by a dear friend, turned off the road to a grassed area by a waterhole. The sun had taken more than its fair share of the water, but the mud, the water, the walking, the photos and the stillness still had attraction enough to inspire people and help them connect.

JRR Tolkein once said through his writings: "The road goes ever on and on. Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone and I must follow if I can". Follow the road, follow the mud map, you may be surprised where it takes you - friendship, connection, love, acceptance and family away from home.

Editing colours of flowers

I just wanted to do a quick post to demonstrate to you the difference between editing JPEGs and RAW photos.

I have trouble sometimes with the colours of RAW because there is just so much information that I can never quite replicate the colours taken with the JPEG that my camera puts out. So I edited both the JPEG and the RAW image of this photo to see just what the difference was and was astounded but also delighted to find that despite its trickyness, the RAW one still came out way ahead of the JPEG.

Yes, it is more mulla mulla. The edited JPEG is first, the RAW second.

I like how the JPEG captures the glow of the light, but you can correct the white balance in the RAW - notice how the first image is slightly green? Not true colour - we are in the Pilbara remember!

Pilbara Bluebells

Bluebells are normally a sign of Europe - somewhere. United kingdom, I don't really know. But they make me think of Beatrix Potter, perfect English gardens and forests with foxes and rabbits.

In the Pilbara, we have what most people call Bluebells - but they are Pilbara style. Tough, rough, hardy and glowing in the morning sun.

It's quite funny, I uploaded this photo to ABC Open Pic of the Week when I took it (the rules are you have to put up photos taken that week). It got picked up by ABC News and went onto their Facebook page across the country and there was quite a debate on what these flowers actually were. Funny thing was I did actually research (briefly) what the name of these gems were and found 'Rough Bluebell'. I think this matches perfectly so that's what I'm sticking with.

More Mulla Mulla on the Station

Seriously, you never, ever grow tired of Pilbara wildflowers.

Here are more of the same mulla mulla, just from a different angle.

Let me tell you about the place we were camping. We went on a church camp to Kialrah pool on Warrambie station. The owners go to our church and are some of the ridgy didge locals.

We had an amazing time of fellowship and fun out here - peaceful, tranquil, surrounded by Pilbara mountains, wildflowers and joy.

Fields of Mulla Mulla

Mulla mulla are everywhere in the Pilbara. They are the wildflower that connects pretty much the entire region. That's probably why it is the official flower of the Pilbara.

We organised a church camp a while back.

Photos from this camp are bittersweet for me. As I write, my camera, Betsy, is in the mail, destined for the Canon service centre and she literally stopped working overnight on this camp. I am truly devastated but secretly hoping she may be beyond repair and I can upgrade....is that wrong?

Anyway, hopefully by the time this is published she will either be back in my hands and I will have taken more photos or I will have a new camera, all without a bump in photos on the blog.

So, on this camp one morning I got up to take photos of the mulla mulla. These guys, standing tall in the morning sun are glorious and epitomize what the Pilbara looks like. If only you could feel the wind, smell the spinafex, hear the rocks as well and you would know what this harsh landscape has in store for you and you too will never leave.

Collecting Shells

My mother lives in QLD, I am in WA. As you can imagine, she is not too pleased with where we have decided to settle but she puts on a brave face.

I miss having coffee with my mum on a regular basis but I still think of her and think she is a champion. She loves shells, collecting shells. She has an amazing eye - can always see the best ones. That's the best lesson she taught me in life - always look for the best in people and love them as Jesus loves them. Her heart of compassion and love rivals no ones - she is the ultimate in unconditional love and I can only hope to have a heart that is as loving of all people.

So whenever I go to the beach I look for shells - not for me but for my mum.

Traditional Beach Colours

We used to rent a lot of beach houses growing up. This was how we spent our holidays - renting houses, filling them with sand and laughter.

You soon realised that many beach houses employ the use of 'beach colours'. These traditional beach colours of turquoise, yellow sand, white, grey, blue appear in almost every beach house adorned with shells. These photos, hopefully show you why this is so.

Close Encounters

My mother in law is a real go-getter.

We went for a walk up the other end of the beach at Eco Beach one morning. The landscape was completely different, with more of your traditional beach colours.

The tide was rapidly approaching - WA has massive tides, bigger the further north you get (Derby, right at the top has 10m tides...). While walking, a channel started to form between us and the shore. We soon realised that this channel was filled with baby shovel nosed sharks! These guys blended in with the sand but would soon scoot off if you got too close. They scooted everywhere, even over our toes at times!

We were happily enjoying these precious little ones, when we spotted something that was rather larger...a shark, yes. Hopefully, from my research done later, just a gummy shark (as it has two fins) so therefore not a bitey one, but it's not the sort of thing you want to take chances with! Thank goodness for the 18-200mm zoom so I could prove our bravery.

Although I must admit that while my mother in law wanted to swim I requested that we move out of shark territory before we do so - I'm a bit practical when threatened with a chunk bitten out of my leg. My mother in law wins the bravery award for wanting to swim in shark territory.

Favourite Experiment

Yes I edit most of my photos. Lately I have been experimenting with editing with colours and hues for dramatic effect. I was inspired by Instagram - during this trip I took a number of photos that turned out surprisingly well with filters and colours changed a little so I tried to replicate that feeling when editing some of my photos in RAW.

I love this photo. Yes, it's edited for dramatic effect but I love it. I love the ripples, the fact that it has people in it shows the scale and adds elements of a story of walking on the beach, I love the colours and the contrast.

A happy experiment that paid off.

Again, you are crazy for not visiting the West if you have never been here.

His Eye is on You Everywhere

My favourite part about Broome was exploring the cliffs. My husband and his Dad went well ahead of my mother in law and I, we spent far too long looking into every nook and cranny. I only had to change my memory card once.

Do do this walk, you need to do it at low tide so you can get past all the cliffs and rocks. We happened to time low tide perfectly - in the late afternoon when there is the best sun (rivaled only by the morning sun which I don't see terribly often).

We found this window, this eye. I love these features in nature, that remind you of God who created all things and watches all things.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, and you right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to you." Psalm 139: 7-12.

Hermy

I love meeting friends with my macro lens. This hermit crab was ready for a new shell so he could not hide from me. Mwhahaha!

Poor thing, I picked him up and turned him around so often before finally getting a photo I was happy with. But he lived in a pretty amazing place, and all I wanted to take was photographs so hopefully he forgives me.

Cliffs, Mini Bungles and Beach

If you spend all your time on the East Coast and never get your butt over to the West, this is what you are missing. That is all.

Travelling North

I have put quite a few photos up from adventures down to the Gascoyne - Exmouth, Coral Bay and Ningaloo reef. Now it's time for the northern side - Kimberley.

Broome is beautiful. You are mad if you never come to this part of the country. I can understand if you aren't making a bee-line for Karratha or Port Hedland (you should make one for Karijini) but you should make one for Broome.

This was the final hurrah before my husband's parents left for home in QLD. We went o Eco Beach for a long weekend. It's funny, because we went to Barn Hill on our travels and didn't really think much of it at the time. Little did we know that just a few kilometers up the beach were stunning cliffs and beautiful caves.

I love this photo - it has the red that characterises Broome beaches, but a beautiful pristine beach untouched by footprints (soon to be touched I might add).

Colours of a Sunset

It's always nice to take a photo with the sunset behind you - particularly when the sun is still high enough to create that golden hour of time that makes all things magical. But in particular the Pilbara.  Contrast this photo with the last post - these were taken approximately 10 minutes apart and the landscape (and admittedly, the angle of my camera) has changed dramatically!

Pilbara Waterways

The Pilbara, although not desert, is arid. It's dry and dusty and harsh. I miss water and green - even in the driest times in Queensland you could still head into the rainforest, the green, and see waterfalls and tranquility. I miss our day trips to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the Bunya Mountains and just driving around the South East in general - playing in dams and rivers and waterways.

The stunning landscape of the Pilbara is that - stunning. But it's not green and there is often not much water. If it is green, it's not the soft green of grass, but the harsh green of spinafex - you know that rolling around in the rocky hills is going to be painful between the rocks and the spinafex even if it is green.

So, when water presents itself in the Pilbara, you have to take advantage - capture the moment to prove it to the naysayers who say its not true. In the previous post I described how my husband encouraged me strongly to get out and take a photo this day - I was sick and hungry and wanted to go home, but there was water in the Pilbara and it was sunset!

We pulled off the road and to be honest I was happy as soon as I was out of the car! I took about a hundred photos I think.

Pretty soon the roadside wasn't enough, I had to climb down the rocks to go to the waters' side. I was busy taking photos of dead trees and wildflowers when I heard the husband call out that there were swans on the lake! Swans, colours, sunset Pilbara would equal AWESOME photo so I ran.

I got maybe ten steps when my offroad boots sank into mud. Sticky mud. My boots are ankle high and the mud was above both of them! Neither my husband or my mother in law wanted to venture out into the mud themselves to save me, so I had to squish and squelch my way out. What's the point of offroad boots if they don't save you from mud? I may as well have been in bare feet as in other adventures!

Of course, by the time I got out the swans were far away so my photos of them were inconsequential. But I did get this panorama of dead trees.

The opportunities presented by dead trees

Dead trees have character. Have you ever thought about these things - here stands something that once was living, but now its glory has gone, it is a shadow of what it once was, and yet it holds its own beauty and character.

This photo was taken thanks, once again to my husband. He is a good egg who looks out for me and encourages me not to take the easy road out when I'm feeling lazy.

We were driving home from another Pilbara adventure with parents (his parents). The sun was fading. I had warned my husband that if we came across a field of mulla mulla lit up by the dying sun we would be stopping.

We didn't come accross that field (well, we did but it was shadowed by a Pilbara hill) but we did come across a waterway lit up with magical sunset colours - the behind the sunset colours (looking behind yourself at sunset). A magical waterway. My husband asked if I wanted to stop - I hesitated. I actually was not well that day with a massive headache and cold so of course I hesitated. I was hungry and wanted to be home.

But, a conversation ensued - a 'it's not very often we are here, you should take advantage of the opportunity' conversation. So I did. I'd love to paint you a picture of someone who is always happy, always keen and enthusiastic but the truth is sometimes I need a little push. I think we all do. I snapped a couple of Pilbara sunsets. So yes, my husband and I are a team and I am so grateful I have him to encourage me and cajole me into taking photos at times.

Table Top with a View

One of the things that escapes me about 4WD-ing is the fun of climbing steep, rocky hills. Especially when you are miles from anywhere and meeting someone coming the opposite direction would mean certain death.

We drove up a mountain the other day. In the Pilbara. My only regret was not seeing an iron ore train from above the car level - that would have been terrific. Still, the colours, the scene, the Pilbara, does kind of take your breath away.

Ruins of History

We stumbled upon an old station. These buildings must date back to the 1800s. Out in the middle of the Pilbara. One can only imagine the life lived on the station, in the heat, among the rocks, and wildflowers and skippies and spinafex.

Hopefully there are some tales in town of this station, but for now, what I have are photographs.

Mulla Mulla at the Station

We went 4WDing with my in-laws recently. We may have gotten slightly lost, due to some misdirection - or faulty directions. It's hard to say which ones which.

But the scenery. We reached our destination, ate a late lunch and by the time we were about to leave, the sun was entering the golden hour. Not only that but there were mulla mulla carpeting the Pilbara Savannah. Despite not wanting to get lost on the return trip in the lowering light, I was distracted by the light and made the most of it.

PS Compression did not do the second one justice!

Silhouettes at Sunset

A classic sunset technique seen everywhere are silhouettes. An outline of a black object with the colours behind to make them pop. These next photos were taken well after the sun went down, and all I had to work with were the last remaining rays from the sun making their way above the horizon I could see from my vantage point at Cape Range National Park.

Colours of a Sunset

Editing Sunsets in Raw is hard. There I said it. There are too many colours, too many tempting options too many sacrifices to be made! Do I enhance the orange and sacrifice the green? Do I add a magenta hue for dramatic effect?

Photo editing has become a way of life for people - look at photography blogs all over the place and you find over-edited photos, HDR photos that REQUIRE editing to even exist. So to those who turn their nose up at photo editing, I really don't care because it is an art-form in and of itself.

But, nothing beats taking a photo that requires little or no editing. That's how I approach sunsets because they are too difficult to edit to my satisfaction! The best creator of colours at sunset is God so I try and capture what he does at the end of each day rather than make my own creation.

I was trying a few techniques from the Understanding photography book, using the flash for the foreground while retaining the sunset colours. This required no editing.

Balance and Poise

This Understanding Photography book has given me heaps of inspiration. I must admit, I can't actually remember if I took this photo on purpose or if I discovered it while editing my photos. Let's say I took it on purpose, as a good photographer always does I'm sure.

I can't decide if it looks like a lollipop, a balloon, or a moon perfectly positioned to balance on a blade of grass.

It reminds me of the small and insignificant is often aligned with the grand and mighty. One blade of grass, aligned with a body circling the Earth in Space, pulling on our oceans to create tides, and yet here they are together. A matter of perspective. How great is our God who knows not only the blade of grass and the moon in the picture, but the sands I was lying in, the creatures in the water behind me, the stars that are not visible in this photo but are there...just to name a few things.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?" Isaiah 40:12

A new Pathway to the Moon

When I first heard of the staircase to the moon, I thought it sounded awesome - a moonlit path to the moon over the sand, how exciting! I had visions of glittering moonlight dancing off the sand with stars speckled behind, a rough, rickety staircase meandering up to the moon, telling a story of adventure and cold beauty.

Boy was I disappointed.

Not that staircase to the moon isn't beautiful - it is - just not what I was expecting. To be honest, when you have your cynical hat on, it's just a line of light...A beautiful line, but a line nonetheless.

So while at Cape Range, we would watch the sunset over the ocean and the moon would be rising behind us (no staircase to the moon there). I got so many sunset photos of the water and the colours (just wait, they are coming...) I decided to run around the sand dunes taking photos of the moon. It's one of my mottos actually. Number one is to not take photos of things that move because its too hard (which I break all the time for obvious reasons) and the other is to ALWAYS look BEHIND yourself at sunset - the colours are completely different, the light is different and you can get some amazing photos.

This day, I must have looked like a crazy sand hill lady. Running, yes running, with my camera and then slamming into the sand dunes on my stomach, twisting and turning trying to get the best composition for the moon with all sorts of things.

I had been reading the Understanding Exposure book on the beach to pass away the time of peace and restfulness, in which they talk a bit about wide angle lenses and how they are built to be able to 'fill up the foreground'. They push the details to the back so you have to consciously fill up the foreground. This is what I have been trying to do. So I present to you a NEW pathway to the moon.

Sand Dune Sunset

Living an outdoor lifestyle is unparalleled. It has its tradeoffs - most of the interesting work in my field is actually found in cities, and you can escape the city if you know where to go, but nothing beats being able to live a quiet life in the region. The outdoors is on your doorstep.

In truth though, the above is merely a reflection, because it took us eight hours to get to this spot.

But that's just it - driving from Karratha to Exmouth, there is not a lot in between. A few turn offs to small towns, two roadhouses, and well, a lot of cows, spinafex, wildflowers, rivers, (a mine, yes), and just, nothing. For six hours or so! Those hours move into a blur of not much when you look back - just colour, beauty and whatever book you had to read in the car.

Travel of this nature is not for everyone - but it does offer a time of reflection and watching the landscape subtly change from the rocky Pilbara to the sandy Gascoyne is pretty impressive.

None-the-less, we arrived at Cape Range, camped behind a sand dune and were blessed with the peace only a beachside camping experience can offer - silence but for the waves and conversation.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Fabulous Finches and Robins

One of the things I have tried and tried again to photograph are finches. These guys are so cute - subtly they fly around with a quaint chitter. Now, patience is not one of my strong suits, but you have to be patient when photographing birds, I understand that now. Although, it still doesn't come naturally to me.

This day we were camping at Cape Range National Park - so not quite Pilbara, but beautiful all the same. I decided to stalk the birds in the morning. I chased these guys around and around the campground. I changed my lens twice - given its zoom capacity the 18-200mm did quite nicely for this in the end. I increased the shutter to try and freeze these guys in motion.

What's below is a start.

The last one is a little robin - isn't he cute? These guys were easier to capture than the finches, I think these guys were the babies.

Water Like Cotton Candy

While on holidays at Cape Range National Park, was reading my book 'Understanding Exposure', which was great, it had a few tips I hadn't yet come across, although much of the information I had already read elsewhere. I found it funny that he described the 'misty water' effect as making it look like cotton candy. I guess I can live with that.

What I can't live with is the fact that I nearly lost my camera this morning. I had my tripod, was looking for leading lines and had to keep the shutter open for about 30 seconds as the sun wasn't yet up. Of course, the predictable happened - wave came along and I am very lucky that it only splashed a little bit of salt water onto my lens!

What that meant of course, is that the photo shoot was over, or other wise useless. I had nothing on me to clean my lens with me on the beach (I was in my pyjamas with a tracksuit on top - I got ready in a hurry) so the rest of my photos all had salt spots on them darn it!

It has just occurred to me that many of the misadventures I share with you on this blog involve me being quite clumsy...

Sunset on the Beach

One of the most obvious things that is wonderful in the west is watching the sunset over the ocean. While camping 10m from the sea at Cape Range National Park I made the most of my wide angle lens and the gorgeous light each afternoon.

Of course, there were some afternoons when the camera was put away, and I simply enjoyed the show. But not now. This was an experiment with finding leading lines, and inspiration from reading my book on Exposure.

On second thoughts, it's a little dark. Oh well. That's why we call it experiments. 

Room with a View

Every now and then I get distracted.

Well, I confess, it happens all the time.

But I was running around the beach at Cape Range, chasing the sunlight as it set over the ocean, creating golden hues bouncing off the water and the sand when I came accross this guy building his home for the night.

He was going between two pieces of grass that were approximately 2m apart. You you could hardly see his web yet, but the golden hues did not forget to touch him and light him up nicely.

He must have had one heck of a view from up there. And eight eyes to enjoy it with to boot.

I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:11