So graceful but so noisy!

It's no secret that for as long as I can remember my favourite birds have been black swans. A year ago I was thrilled to be able to capture them with my camera on the Fortescue. This year I had the opportunity again.

The funny thing about swans though, is that they are so beautiful and graceful. They appear pristine and aloof on the water. And then they make a noise that makes you jump and go, really? Something so hideous from the beak of something so beautiful?

I for one am grateful for this noise though. Our last camping trip down the Fortescue, I heard these swans before I saw them. I actually went looking for them. I walked up the riverbed, seven and a half months pregnant, just to see if I could spot the swans.

Fortescue did not disappoint. It's ironic that we have named this pool Pelican Pool. There sure were a lot of swans there that morning.

I didn't get too close. Luckily I had stuck with the 18-200mm lens so had a fairly decent zoom. But as mentioned in a previous post, the mornings on the Fortescue are spectacular and I wanted to share this one photo with you.

It's a reflection of a natural circle, created by the tree and the shadows in the rock face. I waited for the swans to swim into the circle before taking a photo. It's one of my favourite reflection photos.

Still morning reflection

The best thing about camping on the Fortescue is the colours in the morning. You can't always see the sunrise, but once it's up it casts an absolutely beautiful golden light over everything for about an hour. It truly is the golden hour.

To cap it off, the water is still and the birds are many. The colours of the red contrast beautifully with the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage, so much so that even in the dryest of seasons, like this season, you still have some sense of oasis.

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.

Hancock Gorge - #2

Karijini is the kind of place where you can spend half an hour taking a photo, then take two steps down the gorge only to find another angle, another viewpoint, another perfect spot.

So of course, before heading down the spider walk in Hancock Gorge, I looked back at the little waterfall, and realised, oh my gosh that's just as stunning, if not more!

A key feature of Karijini is the flat rocks. I love how the water cascades over them. In this photo I love how the gorge is reflected on the cascade but made blurry by the movement.

It was very difficult to get the colours right in this shot, as the water is supposed to be a beautiful turquoise but I think the water was still settling from some recent rain.

If only there weren't spots on my lens!

Happy New Year Reflections

Sorry. It has been a while since my last post. There is no particular reason for this, I just got lazy, both in the writing world and the photo taking realm.

I have been flat lately. In need of some serious inspiration.

The end of 2014 saw us take a holiday back home in QLD, then down south in WA in a place called Denmark. Gorgeous place, although, half of Perth seems to think so too - they had to same bright idea.

It was at one stunning sunset in Greenspool Denmark that I finally received some inspiration - even if it was spurred on by my competitive spirit.

My husband and I had taken some curry down to the beach, with plenty of time to get into a good, rocky position for the sunset so I could take some cracker photos of moving water. Having staked out the perfect sunset spot, we huddled out of the wind behind a rock to eat our dinner. The curry was delish, and we were having a nice relaxing afternoon.

As the sun went down, lo and behold! A pair walk past us....right into my photography spot - MY SPOT!  - with a camera and starts setting up. I couldn't believe it. I grabbed my camera bag, jumped up and scrambled up my rocks to set up my tripod. YES, I was set up BEFORE THEY WERE.

I did feel a little bad - but I mean come on!

Camera nerds.

Anyway, they were interested in the sunset while I was more interested in the low light for the swirling water, so we didn't actually get in each other's way.

They left with the sun.

Suckers.

As I turned to leave also, I noticed the moon. Amazing! Best shot of the trip is below.

Maybe I should put it up, with this verse to caption it:

“A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35, NIV

as a reminder of my poor attitude towards the other people who were simply trying to capture another of God's beautiful sunsets the same as I was.

God does not bless us with what we deserve, but the blessing comes because he loves us in spite of our failures. 

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)