Always look behind you

One thing I have had to learn when taking photos is how to use my eyes.

Human eyes are the most powerful cameras and such an important piece of equipment for photography. Try as you might, you will never capture an image the way your eye will. You will never see the composition your eye sees, or the colours your eye can identify.

But you can train yourself to use your eyes to know what will work in photography land - when you flatten the scene in front of you to fit your camera screen.

One tip that I have learned is this: to always look behind you. Don't think that just because something is in front of you it is the most interesting thing.

This is normally true for sunsets. But while out at Cliff Springs, running around while five months pregnant, in bare feet, with a storm rolling in and a 4WD track to travel back along I was taking photos of the rain and the clouds, because hey, it happens so rarely. The sun was lighting up the spinafex in front of the dark clouds producing magnificent colours with only a little amount of contrast to deal with. I was happy as larry just snapping away.

While travelling back I turned around and there I saw the eye watching me.

As the clouds were rolling in and being reflected in the waterhole they created a giant eye, staring at me, watching me taking photos of the rain. So I starred back at it, and told my camera to stare at it too.

Rain in the Pilbara

When the average rainfall for a month is listed as something ridiculous like '2mm' you know you are likely to have a lot of dry times.

During our five years in the Pilbara we have seen great Summers - always a couple of cyclones and rain events to keep the hills green and the wildflowers coming.

This year however, has not been the case.

One measly cyclone that went up north and had no impact here, and a few measley sprinkles of rain and that's it.

I've never longed for rain for so long in my life.

You just...want it....to rain.

And I'm not even a farmer or station owner. I'm a town person, just wanting to do the Karratha rain dance, splash in a few puddles and use the windscreen wipers for a change.

You get so used to it not raining though, that you just go and do anything and you never listen to the forecast.

One weekend in March, we went on a road trip to find a waterhole we had heard of but never visited called Cliff Springs on Karratha Station.

We found the waterhole and luckily it still had water in it, although you could tell that it too was suffering in the dry. Levels were low and it was kind of like swimming in a bath...

...but then lo and behold a short spurt of thunder and rain whipped up!

There is not a feeling like it. Longing for rain for so long and all of a sudden, the wind whips up and you can feel it rolling in on the breeze. Thunder claps and sends dutchmen running for cover (literally) and for no reason at all you just start laughing.

If you're me you run around like a mad pregnant woman and take photos of clouds because clouds are so rare.

And then you jump in the car to escape the lightning and the rain starts. Big old fat rain. The windscreen wipers get a gurnsey but you end up rolling down the windows to enjoy the sensation of water falling from the sky and the smell of wet spinafex.

There is nothing like wet spinafex - it's like freshly cut grass only less manicured and more earthy. It's the smell of the Pilbara.

But the thunderstorm doesn't last long. After 15 minutes it has passed on.

Driving back into town, they clearly didn't even have a whiff of rain. Still dry as anything.

Hopefully there are wildflowers this year.

Cliff Springs with rain clouds rolling in...

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.

One of those photos from one of those moments

Have you ever experienced a time when you take a photo, purely because you have a camera, there's something in front of you to take a photo, so you are like, what the heck? Only to come home, edit the photo and realise it's actually one of the best photos you have ever taken?

That's this photo for me. I took it, because I was bored. We had packed up camp, and we were waiting for something, I can't remember what, so I walked a little way off with my camera, fitted with my wide angle lens.

I had just discovered that my Samsung Galaxy takes a pretty mean panorama. I mean, it put's a lot of my distorted efforts to shame. So I was in a state of denial, determined to out-beat my smartphone and take a cracking panorama on my camera. I decided to use a technique I have seen others use but I admit, I have derided. That is putting your camera on burst mode and taking heaps of photos as you pan around. It's a pretty good option if you don't have a tripod and the sun is bright.

So off I traipsed determined. I soon realised that I had to time my pan to be faster at the start and slower towards the end, to match my camera's memory speed. One thing I have noticed about my CF card, although it's a pain I need a card reader for it and they are hideously expensive, they are actually really fast at capturing information. Or maybe I just lucked it out on a good one.

The results - yeah, I was pretty happy with them. And yes, hands down beats out the smartphone! Take that Galaxy!

Early Morning Light...

One of the reasons I love camping is because by the time morning arrives, you are normally so uncomfortable in bed, you can't wait to get up. This provides ample motivation to take photos in the early morning light.

There was not a lot of motivation on this trip to climb any hills - but this is a pretty awesome scene to wake up to in a swag surrounded by friends.

And people ask why we stay in the Pilbara?

What Is Pilbara?

While driving home today, I mentioned to my husband that no other region is revered quite like the Pilbara, to my knowledge at least. Maybe the Kimberley.

You know, a region, not a state or city but a region, that has set a name for itself. It rivals Kimberley. Other regions like the Hunter, the Barossa, Margaret River, they are tourist regions. Set up to attract tourists. The Pilbara is different. It's rugged, remote and not set up for tourists. I rather like it that way. It's a part of the country we can enjoy without the hype or the expectation.

The Pilbara is unique in Australia. No-where else will you find a region with such a name, that people don't want to go because the perception is that it's just mining! Just a hole in the ground! HA!

When I think of Pilbara, this is the scene I think of. It's not the greatest photo of the Chichester Ranges, but this isn't about the photo. It's about the Pilbara. And to be honest, there are too many highly edited photos of the Pilbara going around with all the wanna-be photographers around (yes I know, myself included). This is it. This is real. This does not do the stunning countryside justice.

ND Graduated Filters and Sunsets

In my sunset experimentation, I have been making use of my graduated neutral density filters. This is made difficult by my not having the correct size for my wide angle lens, creating the need to hold the filter against the lens while I take a photo which is not ideal.

Nevertheless, it worked well for this sunset. I traipsed off to back beach to see if I could combine the sunset with some water. The features on back beach were not as appealing as I had hoped for the water shots but I did get to experiment with my filters and play with some silhouettes which was fun.

I also got to be eaten alive by sand flies, prompting me to include insect repellent to my photography kit! You live and learn!

Canon EOS 50D, f/22, 1/25sec, ISO100, 10mm (10-22mm Wide Angle lens)

Canon EOS 50D f/22 6 seconds, ISO 100, 10mm (10-22mm Wide Angle lens)

Pilbara Gems: Hamersley Gorge

Hamersley Gorge is part of Karijini National Park (one of my favourite places on earth). Ironically, it is the closest part of the park to where we live, but we haven't been there for over three and a half years. This is a mistake. Hamersley is amazing.

It's different to the other gorges. Not only is the rock banded, but folded, creating some amazing patterns from afar, and difficult terrain to traverse in the close and personal. You can't just follow the flat rock, because all of a sudden, it gets steeper and steeper until it's vertical!

Hopefully this panorama gives you a sense of this amazing place.

Panorama - 3 shots. Canon EOS 50D, f/5, 1/1000 shutter, ISO 250, 10mm (Wide angle Canon lens)

To Edit or Not to Edit

There are a lot of people in the world of hobby photography who have never been trained to edit an image - myself included - they just do whatever feels is natural to them. This is something I long to rectify in my own photography. Reading books and articles just doesn't cut it, and quite often my photos come out unrealistic. But then - a lot of edited images are like that. Take this guy for example. He has some great shots of the Pilbara but every time I seem them pop up on my Facebook feed I appreciate the image as an image, not a photo. I know that it is the editing that has got them to that particular style. It's true, some are much more edited than others, but knowing the landscape, you can't deny that some form of post-processing has occurred. 

So, below is a little attempt of my own. I wasn't going to put it on here, but then I showed a friend of mine and they were impressed so I figured I would share it. It's a Pilbara landscape but fairly heavily edited as the sky was quite overexposed and the foreground dark. I think I just need to get better at using my splits and getting the colour right in the capture.

Gregories Gorge - Fortescue River. Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/320, ISO 100, 10mm. Wide Angle 

It's a pity the trees don't look real. It took my off-road boots, trekking up shale and dodging my father's rocks tumbling down the hill to get this photo.

Day Nine in Torres Del Paine

The last day of our trek was really just the journey to Punta Arenas. It also happened to be a glorious day. We were lucky in that we had a great bus driver who was so enamored with the day he stopped to let us out to take photos at the last view of the towers. It was spectacular - definately one of the highlights and I was most pleased with the resulting photographs. One of those dancing for joy on the inside moments that you can't plan, they just happen like a subtle hint from God that he doesn't mind giving you little treats every now and then.

Torres Del Paine. Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/1000 ISO 200 50mm. Two landscapes stitched. 

Ok, this photo is definately my favourite. I think. One of them at least. I know I've said that for about five different photos now, so maybe I should just leave it at the fact that I love this photo. Of course, it has been enhanced in Photoshop, but I love the colours, they really were that vibrant when we were there. It may have been enhanced but I promise you it is not by much - just a little contrast and a teeny bit of vibrance. It was just a gorgeous day.

Canon EOS 50D f/9 1/1000, ISO 200, 50mm

And what gorgeous day is not complete with flowers and a barbed wire fence? Of course! Why we didn't have weather like this while we were hiking I will never know...

Composing the Towers

Having an hour at the lakeside of the three towers of Torres Del Paine was a great chance to scamper around and try and get the best shot. I have never before been so thankful for my polarizing filter that made the sky blue and the lake so green! But good composition for landscape requires interest in the foreground. This proved quite a challenge on the slopes of a moraine looking over a lake!

To clarify - 50 years ago the green lake was not there it was in fact a glacier. You can see what remains of the glacier below the towers. The slope we were on and that you can see to the left and right is what is called a moraine - rocks and debris that were pushed up by the glacier when it existed, and now it has retreated it has left the moraine in tact, and a glacial lake that is coloured by the minerals from the glacial water.

Panorama - portrait shots stitched together. Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/320, ISO 200, 18mm

I like this photo because it inspired me to get a wide angle lens. It is a stitched panorama of three photos. I like the foreground with the rocks, leading your eye into the lake and up the towers. It is a pity the mist decided to cross at that precise moment, but otherwise I am happy with this composition.

Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/400 ISO 200 18mm. Polarizing filter.

 I must admit this is another favourite. Maybe not as well composed as the first, the colours are what grab me in this one. With a polarizing filter and enough clear sky for that blue to contrast with the towers. Magnifique! I have this on a canvas on the wall. For me colour beats composition and even this composition is not bad. It almost fits the rule of thirds, kind of has a leading line in the lake...getting there.

Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/400, ISO 200, 18mm. Polorazing filter

Finally, an alternative. I found myself taking a lot of portrait landscapes. I don't know if it is Pinterest influence or what, but I quite like a portrait landscape. This one is quite good with the rocks in the foreground, although the rock is a little too soft. I haven't quite mastered the depth of field thing yet. One thing at a time.

Good Morning Ice Castle!

After the precarious second day, we woke up the next morning feeling rather sore and sorry for ourselves. We sat on the balcony of the refugio and noticed that the peak of Grande Paine had fresh show atop. To me it looked like an ice castle and just absolutely stunning. It is awesome to see God's power in times like this - that places like Torres del Paine can be as breathtaking as they can precarious. This photo is interesting because the peak was so far away, I had to zoom right in. Still, I think it works.

Canon EOS 50D f/13, 1/500, ISO 200, 150mm

The walk that day was nice and easy with some spectacular scenery and we remembered why we were there in the first place!

Canon EOS 50D f/10, 1/400, ISO 200, 18mm

Taking off for a hike

One of the last adventures we had in South America was a 9 day trek around the circuit at Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. We crossed the boarder by bus (never doing that again...and you thought airport immigration took forever...) and headed straight for the park.

Hiking details were this: seven days of trekking, 140km, one mountain pass at 1200m altitude (through snow), mud and steep hills are common. The views were spectacular.

Day one was an intense slog of 30km to our first campsite. 30km in one day is a good effort. There were seven of us on our tour. At our lunch spot we were met with an interesting bird that looked like a cross between a turkey and a falcon. It is actually a Crested Caracara (I looked it up). This guy was really friendly, and I took some great photos of him except for one thing - he had a great lump of cheese in his beak. Who wants a photo of a native bird of Chile, stuffing his face with cheese? At least I got this shot below, that made me feel a little better. Quite a lot better actually.

Canon EOS 50D, f/8, 1/800, ISO 200, 140mm

I love this photo. I nearly cried when I saw it. I didn't see it until after the hike because I was preserving battery and not looking back over my photos except for a quick glance after shooting. Even though he is a really ugly bird, I love this photo, I love his wings, and his feet coming into land. I have one disappointment though - his left wing. I just missed the tip of his feathers! So frustrating! But otherwise I love it when I fluke it like this! (remember, birds and animals don't like posing for me!)

To give you a sense of the country side we were hiking in, see the picture below also taken on the first day. We walked up that valley, through some incredible wind. This wind made you feel like you were skydiving. Cold, windy, stunning hard slog pretty much sums up the trek!

Canon EOS 50D f/11, 1/800, ISO 200, 32mm

Sky heights and Canyon depths

We were lucky to visit the Colca Canyon, which is over 3000 meters deep making it the deepest canyon in the world. Surrounded by cactus and condors this was a really interesting part of Peru.

We saw a condor, had one fly overhead while having lunch. We were also treated with an eagle taking off. I've not had too much success with flying birds, but at least I have learnt that a fast shutter speed is king!

Colca Canyon. The terraces on the right are pre Inca. Canon EOS 50D, f/8, 1/1600, ISO 500 18mm

Eagle taking flight at the Colca Canyon. Canon EOS 50D f/8, 1/2500, ISO 500, 130mm

Condor overhead. I had it already set from the eagle shot. Canon EOS 50D f/8, 1/2500, ISO 500, 200mm, cropped. 

Mountains, Valleys and Llamas

Nothing says South America like mountains and llamas. While hiking the Inca Trail we were treated to both. When stopped on the second day (remembering the second day was the 1200m up in 10km day) we stopped for a break at a spectacular lookout. Exhausted and sore, we slumped on a rock, convinced we would not be able to walk another step and grateful for the break (we were about halfway up the climb). Our guide then proceeded to point out a flock of llamas 100-200m away. Fatigue was instantly gone and most of us raced over to stalk the llamas with cameras.

I managed to take a photo of one member of our hiking group walking towards a llama to take a photo of the llama spitting him. Got him too - they both did! Hubby got spat at a bit as well. Me? I kept out of the way of llama spit, and I did manage to capture some images that I feel scream 'I'm in the Peruvian Andes!'

Lazy llama - this guy watched me coming and didn't move for ages. He kept giving me the look of 'do I have to? Are you really going to make me move?' Canon EOS50D, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 320, 200mm

I'm in the Peruvian Andes! Canon EOS 50D f/9, 1/1000, ISO 320, 32mm.

Hiking and camping in the Andes along the Inca Trail was pretty spectacular. There are three snow capped mountains in the area that we saw the peaks of at various times. Also the flora and the way it was constantly changing from cloud forest, to grasses, to wild-flowers to scrub was exciting.

Mount Veronica. Our view from night one's campsite (albeit rather zoomed in!) Canon EOS 50D f/5.6, 1/400, ISO 125, 200mm

Red flower at our first campsite. Canon EOS 50D f/5.6 1/400, 110mm

And of course. Who doesn't love a baby llama? This guy was wandering around the third pass on day three. With mum of course, but she was no where near as obliging to the lens. I had to lighten his face considerably in Photoshop but his ears more than make up for it.

Baby Llama. Canon EOS 50D, f/5.6, 1/2000, 135mm. 

Lesson #12: ND Graduated Filters

In preparation for our trip to South America - that we are currently on - I bought some Neural Density Graduated filters. (One day, I am going to take a photo of all my gear and label it for you. That day is not today). These babies are brilliant! The theory is that the top half is dark, but it is neutral so it doesn't interfere with the colours, so that you can darken spots likely to be over-exposed (like the sky). It's pretty fun. I took them for a test drive. All these photos were taken on my Canon EOS 50D, f/10, 1/160 shutter, 18mm, ISO 100. Full sun, 38 degree heat. Bright blue skies. These are the results:

As shot - no filters.

One filter

Two filters

Two filters, edited in Photoshop.

I had the line too far down, so it wasn't meeting the horizon, and middle of the day does not create the best conditions, but all in all, I didn't think it was too bad!

Pilbara Gems: Conzinc Bay

After buying kayaks or indeed, any kind of water vessel, this place really opens up. The lifestyle here is second to none. Most have the opinion of the bigger the boat the better, however we love cruising around in our kayaks. Where else can you hang out with six manta rays?

One of our regular trips is to a place call Conzinc Bay on the Burrup Peninsula. The colours on these trips are truly spectacular - turquoise, aqua contrasted with red, black rocks, white sand and brown (and green at times) spinafex.

Thanks to a dry bag I now have capacity to take my SLR with me on these adventures to take advantage of the more remote gems we visit by kayak! My husband fishes, I take photos, it's a good system!

Conzinc Bay - Canon EOS 50D, f/11, 1/100 shutter, ISO 160 18mm, manual, polarizing filter, adjustments in Adobe RAW. 

 This is only one section of the bay - it actually extends well around the rocks. Here, once again, I am clambering over hot red rocks in bare feet. I really need to remember to take appropriate footwear.

Dolphins - Canon EOS 50D, f/5.6, 1/640 shutter, ISO 250, 200mm, cropped, Vignette and colour adjustments in RAW.

Dolphins awaken in me my inner child. It makes me think of Shirley Barber's book about mermaids. Yes, I had a very innocent childhood, but these creatures are so majestic and just scream fun! I must admit though, I was a little frustrated by the shine on the tail in this photo. Everyone hopes to capture that perfect dolphin moment, jumping from the surf over a perfect sunset...yeah, I'm not into a cheesy shot like that...besides, these guys just would not jump any higher and I was in no position to chase them to do so!!

Also, now that I am posting this, I'm not sure I'm a fan of the vignette.

Betsy, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 250, 18mm. Two landscapes stitched using Adobe RAW presets, lightened, sharpened, colour adjustment in RAW

One of the many panoramas taken that day. I did some experiments with the polarizer...before I start on that I think it probably warrants a post for itself. Standby!

Flooding tall trees

The Pilbara may be a dry and arid place but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. The old saying of 'When it rains it pours' is really applicable to this place and it is not uncommon for roads to be cut due to rain and swelling rivers. Rain itself is just uncommon.

Of course, say that to a local and they generally scoff, but I think they forget places down south or over east where it is very irregular to have a month go by with absolutely no rain at all. That's just common, dreary everyday life here. There isn't even a regular, stable wet season like there is up north. There are odd patches of rain (usually a storm) and cyclones, both brought in by a low pressure system from the ocean (that believe it or not can cause nasty headaches as well).

We remember these flooding rains when camping in a riverbed. Dry most of the year, with tiny streams running through it, it is easy to forget you are actually in the bed of a mighty flood prone river. The only clue is really the bridge when you turn off, and trees like these that line the bank.

In the absence of rushing water - Canon EOS 50D f/14, 1/125, ISO 500, 28mm, manual mode polarizing filter

Mid-Spring Long Weekend

You can't speak to anyone in the Pilbara without these three questions: 1)How long have you been here? 2) Where are you from? 3) Do you enjoy it?

Don't get me wrong, it's a great conversation starter.

People are split into three camps (generally speaking) - those who hate it but are here for the money, those that love it and are here for the money, and those that genuinely love it.

The people that hate it here are depressing and those that just love it generally scorn those who are in between. You do get really tired of people thinking you live and work in the Pilbara just because of the money, but let's fact it without the opportunities on offer here, what do you have? It's remote, it's hot, there's cyclones and virtually no shade! It's not everyone's cup of tea.

Fortunately though, I love it. It's unique, it's beautiful it's own way, the colours are amazing and as long as the cyclones behave themselves by not destroying my house I enjoy the rain.

It's the first week of October and we are heading back to QLD for a visit. Migration home is inevitable each year. We live about as far away from 'home' as you can get on mainland Australia. 'Home' is south-east QLD, a little pocket of paradise.

Further into a general Pilbara 'How do you do?' conversation, you get to the part where you talk about what you most miss about 'home' - wherever that may be. For me, I miss the green. I've had locals laugh at me, look down and me and scorn when I say that, followed by a quick retort of 'It's green (when it rains) here!' Um, yes it is but you can't sit and relax on spinafex, even if it is green! Nor does it provide shade. I think they just seem to have forgotten the pockets of paradise this country has - such as SE QLD, the Daintree, Victoria, the Tasmanian forests...They are kind of spectacular and I miss them - the dense trees, the shade, the rainforest, the damp smell.

So in honour of our long weekend back to QLD to visit family, I am posting some photos from the archives in the hopes that in my love for the Pilbara I am not blinded to the fact that there are some other beautiful parts of this country!

PS: When I say from the archives, I mean it! These babies are some of my first panoramas, taken pre-SLR.

View from one of our 4WD trips. I can't even remember if this was taken with my Olympus or my first camera, a little Kodak. I just like the green grass - that is stuff you can roll around in!

The Daintree. Where the rainforest meets the ocean. It. Is. Amazing. (panorama not so good - taken on my $100 Kodak camera when we were first married. I said archives!)

This post would not be complete without a view of the Glass House Mountains. Only a few hours drive from where we lived, this is on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland...otherwise known as paradise! (Panorama generated in-camera on my Olympus u-900)