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. 

People of Cusco

I've never been acquainted with Peruvians before Cusco and I must admit there was an element of culture shock to our visit. Mostly, South Americans are very friendly people. Around Cusco you get a real sense of Inca pride and although this is quite interesting at first, we started to grow weary of it. It may have something to do with feeling as though people are only after the tourist dollar. Peru is not very rich and we couldn't help but feel that tourists are seen as a bit of a cash-cow.

Never the less Cusco is a great place to visit. Highly interesting and architecturally very unique. Inca ruins mixed with Spanish influence - doesn't come along every day.

One thing is the people who are willing to be photographed - for a fee of course. I don't do a lot of portraiture. Frankly, people just don't behave like rocks do. But I did manage to take a couple that I liked.

Artisan weaver. I bought a beautiful table cloth from this lady. I love how she is sitting on such colourful materials. Canon EOS 50D, 1/125, f/6.3, ISO 100, 28mm. 

Another Artisan weaver at the National Museum. Canon EOS 50D f/4.5 1/60 ISO 100 35mm

P.S. - Panorama Spectacular - Machu Piccu

While in South America, I took many panoramas. I reiterate, many, many panoramas. Some good, some, not so good, others a little weird, but all I had to wait until I returned to my trusty laptop before I could ascertain their status. I managed to get panoramas of all the highlights. More than one of most. So, after my mammoth post on Machu Piccu, I present a post-script - panorama spectacular! (Although I warn, not all are spectacular, I just needed a word that started with S)

Ok, so this isn't Machu Piccu, but it is on the way on the  Inca trail! Also, low resolution affects quality. Ruins to the left are pre-Inca. 

I got a number of versions of this, this one being the best, other than a slight slant to the left. Pretty awesome view though.

Ruined by Ruins

Some have asked me, why South America? Simple. For our first major holiday, my husband chose an adventure (which I very quickly agreed to because it was an awesome idea) and the result was this. It was now my turn to choose and I chose the one place I have always wanted to go - Machu Piccu. I have always been intrigued by ruins and ancient cultures...and ruins on top of a mountain sounded pretty inspiring so naturally it has always been top of my list. As it is right on the other side of the world, naturally we decided to make the most of it, max out our leave allowances and explore as much of the continent as possible. More on that later; today I'm showing you some Inca ruins.

Unfortunately, as previously mentioned this was not a photographic holiday per say, and to keep my adventurous nature and my husband happy I arranged to hike the Inca Trail during our first week. This is a four day hike over 42km along parts of the original trail to Machu Piccu. The highest point on this trail is the first pass, 4200m above sea level. Now, I'm not the world's most fit person and I've got to tell you that the second day of the Inca trail, 10km climbing 1200m, is the hardest 10km I have ever done in my life! Altitude sickness plus jet-lag. Not a great combination!

Before the photos, a brief history lesson: Machu Piccu was built by the Inca in approximately 1450, sitting at a 2,430m (8000ft) above sea level. It was abandoned before it was completed due to the Spanish conquest in 1532. Machu Piccu however, was never discovered by the Spanish due to the Quechuan people hiding its whereabouts by destroying some of the paths and allowing the jungle to take over. In theory it was built as a sanctuary for the Inca Pachacuti, although in reality no-one really knows. It sits, literally, on top of a mountain among other mountains. It is an amazing accomplishment for a civilization. The Inca truly were the world's first mountaineers.

Machu Piccu from Huayna Piccu (the great big steep mountain you see in pretty much every photo of Machu Piccu - word to the wise - don't climb it in the rain!) Canon EOS 50D f/4, 1/1250, ISO-320, 32mm. 

The above photo was taken from Huayna Piccu - the steep mountain you see behind Machu Piccu in almost every photo. There are ruins up there as well, although how the Inca's built them I will be forever wondering! At least Machu Piccu can be explained by the rock quarry in the middle of town; Huayna Piccu can only be explained by people carrying rocks up an incredibly steep, incredibly narrow and an incredibly slippery trail! It started raining when we were halfway up. It's rather daunting when you are on a narrow staircase on the side of a mountaintop of ancient ruins, looking down into the valley below knowing that each drop of rain is making you more vulnerable. No handrails and no trampolines below. I never understood why some people fear heights properly until the day we climbed Huayna Piccu. The consequence of this fear translated into a lack of photos. We were pretty keen to get down when all said and done.

Staircase leading to ruins along the trail. Original Inca. Canon EOS 50D f/8 1/500, ISO 320, 18mm.

So, Machu Piccu was never discovered by and therefore ransacked by the Spanish and it wasn't until a man named Hiram Bingham discovered the Inca site in 1911 that it became known to the world. (It was also discovered by some local Peruvians who were living at the site at the time). Hence, it was relatively in tact despite being incomplete and has been voted as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World (2007). Today, people are still discovering Inca sites all through the Andes along original Inca trails.

Machu Piccu plus fog. Canon EOS 50D f/5.6, 1/1250, ISO 320, 40mm. 

Unfortunately the day we were in Machu Piccu, so was a considerable amount of fog. It meant I could not get the one shot I went to South America to get guaranteed to impress: the classic lookout of Machu Piccu with the Huayna Piccu mountain in the background. I had to settle for shots such as the above. The place is still incredibly impressive. The people who lived here I believe were privy to the most inspiring view on earth. Imagine waking up to this every day?

Machu Piccu and the Mountain. Canon EOS 50D f/3.5, 1/2500, ISO 320, 18mm.

Of course, as you can see above, these days the place is swarming with people - tourists, students, guides, archaeologists and of course, camera nerds. Photographers everywhere! Makes it hard to think you can get any shots that are unique and worth a damn. In the end I had to settle for just opening my eyes, enjoying the moment, recognizing Machu Piccu for the great human accomplishment it was; ultimately built to celebrate this creation.  In the end, my favourite photos from Machu Piccu ended up being these two, of a small flower growing out the side of one of the ruins. It reminded me that despite our best efforts, nature finds a way to persevere. God brings beauty to all things in their time.

Inca Flower, on the trail. Canon EOS 50D, f/8, 1/800, ISO 320, 200mm

Nature conquers Inca steps. Canon EOS 50D, f/8, 1/800, ISO 320, 100mm. 

Hola 2014!

And a very happy new year to you! Did you miss me? 2014 is going to be a sensational year. Not just because it's a new year, or because I am starting a new job, or because I will be sharing some photos taken on the other side of the world, or even because as we speak I am awaiting two new lenses to arrive (you beauty!). No, it's going to be a fantastic year for those reasons and the fact that we arrived safe and sound from South America, learnt many lessons and have been welcomed back home. There are many more reasons as well that I can't think of right now but am sure will be coming! (like Peter Capaldi as Dr. Who...)

So, I bet you are all wondering, how was South America? Well, it was fantastic. Do I have some great photos from the continent on the other side of the world? Well, no, not really. Yes I bravely carried my Canon EOS 50D through rain, wind, mud, on 15 flights, numerous taxis and buses, cities, hiking trails, waterfalls and into jaguar territory. But the outcome of taking photos while hiking/on tours/when stressed out is not always great. Truth be told, I was too rushed to set up great photos, I only used my tripod once and the ND graduated filters I bought specifically barely got touched. Clearly I have a lot to learn about travelling and photographing.

I did however spend a number of days going through my...2000 odd photos and have a few that I would like to share with you.

Let's start with the process I used which if I were to do it again, would change. I went with my EOS 50D and 18-200mm lens, along with my Samsung Galaxy for shapshots (food, peace signs, pulling faces next to statues, that kind of thing). The phone was always in my pocket (except when it was raining) and the 50D in my backpack because most of the time it was simply too heavy to have around my neck (we weighed it - nearly 2kg!) and I didn't want to attract any thieves by having a big shiny object on display. There in lay the problem. When faced with a Kodak moment, I would whip out the Samsung. Invariably I would decide the photo would be better quality coming from the SLR but I simply did not have time (or be bothered by the effort) to take it out of the backpack. Especially when we were in groups being hurried along to the next site. So, the photos from the SLR were rather lacking in diversity. Also, it was very difficult to set settings on the run - so many of the photos didn't turn out on the first go and had to be edited. Hence, the days going through the photos.

Below is an example of what typically happened: First on our agenda was Cusco, ancient capital of the Inca Empire, demolished by the Spanish invasion of 1532 and rebuilt. Remarkable city - certain parts still contain in tact Inca ruins with Spanish buildings right over the top - temples replaced by Churches. Below is an image of the town square:

Samsung Galaxy Smartphone, f/2.6 1/501 sec, ISO 40, 4mm. Plaza de Armas

Same view on a Canon EOS 50D, f/7.1, 1/400 sec, ISO 125, 18mm, unedited. A little dark and soft.

As above only edited in Adobe RAW. Warmed the white balance, sharpened, adjusted vibrance, clarity and saturation.

Three versions of one photo, none of them brilliant. And this is just one example - some of the shots have more than three versions.

Never the less, we went to South America to enjoy South America. We were tourists, not photographers and I did manage to shoot a number of exciting subjects and have a heck of a lot of fun even  if it did mean lugging a 2kg camera across the globe! The most fulfilling enjoyment is when you use the best camera most of us will ever have - our own eyes - to witness and experience a new culture, a new side to the world, without fussing over the perfect picture.

Come with me and I will share a few of the highlights I did manage to capture and discuss the strengths and flaws. I will also be engaging in new adventures (as mentioned above, I have some new toys arriving this month. Very exciting) and new experiments. Hola 2014!

Celebrating Birthdays

There are two birthdays to celebrate this week. Firstly, Merry Christmas! Christmas is of course when we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Lord, come together with family and friends, and relax in stifling heat.

Secondly, it's very nearly one whole here, keeping this blog! The number of times I have started a blog only to have it fail to inspire me is ridiculous, so to have made it to a year is terrific. 2013 has been a great year and I thought I would do a bit of a wrap-up post. I started out with the goal of taking my photos to the next level - actually thinking about shots, planning them and getting settings right. Also a lot more experimentation occurred on the digital editing side - I started taking photos in RAW and attempted a few HDR images. How did I go? Well, there is still a fair way to go as far as I can see, but things have definately improved.

My favourite photo of the year? This:

Karijini is such a beautiful place, and I absolutely adore the colours in this photo. Taking these shots with water was the most satisfying photography expedition this year. Read about the 2013 Karijini exploits in Photographer's paradise, Mysteries of Misty Waters in Karijini and Karijini the Third: Panorama.

The most fun I had this year taking photos though, would have to be the FeNaClNG fireworks. So often I have fun taking photos only to discover when getting home that it was a complete waste of time. It's a bit of a downer when that happens. But this year, I was delighted with the results, and just enjoyed watching the fireworks explode over head, not looking through a viewfinder, just watching, enjoying and capturing.

The most popular post at the day of writing is a whole lot of luck and uncommon sense. I can understand this - Manta Rays Are Cool (as are bow ties...Dr Who fans will get the reference). And I know you were all waiting for me to fall out of my kayak into the drink with my camera out!

Of course, I am writing this post pre-South-America-holiday, so favourite photos could change. By the time you are reading this I will be back safe and sound (God Willing), celebrating Christmas with family in QLD before heading back to Karratha. This is of course if everything goes to plan.

South America photos and stories are just one of the things to look forward to on this blog for 2014 - when we get back to Karratha it will be coming into storm season, I aim to try and procure Lightroom to improve ease of RAW editing, get off my backside and do more star trails and starscapes. But just in general I hope to keep experimenting and try and get better at the planning and execution of taking great photos.

Wherever you have been celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and I look forward to adventuring with you in 2014!

Pilbara Gems: Staircase to the Moon

You may have heard of this phenomenon - Staircase to the moon. It is heavily promoted in Broome, where you can sit on the beach at low tide and watch the full moon rise. The reflection on the mudflats looks like a staircase leading to the moon. It's pretty, but it's also a heavily romanticized  occasion. The tide and moon rise need to coincide.

Those in Broome would have you believe it only happens there, but this is incorrect. It is supposed to be pretty spectacular up there, but it only happens three times a year. Here in the Pilbara, it happens five times a year.

My first experience trying to photograph the staircase to the moon was tarnished by grumpy grey nomads. The moon was no where in sight and I needed my torch to set up my camera. I got yelled at.

Then of course you have to contend with people taking photos...with the flash on. You feel like screaming, 'the flash won't do you any good!!' but yet there is always one.

This photo is from our last attempt at the moon. It doesn't have the same stairway effect because it was taken a little late in the piece - clouds were on the horizon when  it rose - but I do love the golden glow it created. I've also included an edited version to try and capture the moon-glow in a colder, crisper, more moon-like tone.

This night was actually really great, it was the night of the lantern walk and we sat on the beach for ages. Have you ever watched the tide come in? By this I mean, watching the waves roll in, but not out. You could see the water heading over the mud flats, coming straight for you it was incredible! Another Pilbara Gem.

Canon EOS 50D, f/5, 4sec shutter, ISO 500, 50mm. Golden glory! Edit free. 

As above except edited in Adobe RAW - cooler tint and contrast adjusted. 

Just a note: Compression has decreased the quality of these photos - they are quite sensitive if they have a high ISO.

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!

This is what lights do to photos...

Following on from my previous post, I thought I would share this photo with you. While trying to get the hill of Heason's, stars and little lights all in the same photo, someone walked past with a blue lantern. It ruined my photo but I thought I would share it here, because it is a cool effect, akin to light painting, and something to experiment with one day.

Canon EOS 50D, f/3.5, 28 seconds, ISO 1000, 18mm. I can't believe I still got a couple of stars!

Making the best of too much light in a low light situation

Sometimes all the preparedness and best intentions in the world are impacted by unexpected occurrences. I recently had one of these experiences when I went down to take photos of the moon at Hearson's cove, only to discover the annual Lantern walk for cancer was occurring. That's right, lanterns. And I was trying to take photos of the moon. It didn't turn out well let me tell you, but instead of packing up my gear and enjoying the atmosphere, (because it was actually a really top night - live music on the beach and the moon as bright as a dull sun) I decided to experiment.

I've seen a number of photos of millions of starts and I want to know how to take them without star trails. Of course, taking photos of stars with heaps of lanterns on the beach and a really bright full moon is not ideal. At all. Like I said, it was an experiment!

The results were below. First is the original Betsy version, and the next two have been edited in RAW. The hill was illuminated in the photos based on the amount of light was around and the colour looks a little odd so most of the correction in Adobe RAW was aimed at that, but I think I still need more training.

All these photos are the same photo that had a 31 second shutter, ISO 1000, f/3.6, at 18mm on Canon EOS 50D

The Orignial, Betsy version. Note the lanterns. This was an artistic choice as the lanterns represent support for those suffering from leukemia. Note also the unreal red hill. There were also a couple of people down the beach also experimenting I'd say, by making circles with their lanterns.

The second version - aimed at increasing, creating a midnight blue feel and reducing the redness of the hill. Unfortunately the people are now the incorrect colour. 

Third version and probably my favourite, except for the purple haze over the people I suppose. Manipulating colours in Photoshop RAW is hard!

From the Archives: My first panorama

So while adventuring in South America, you may have noticed I have set my blog to auto pilot. I'm too busy having fun on the other side of the world to report on photography experiments in the Pilbara.

A few months ago I went through all my photos and found some of my old photos that when I look back, were my initial inspiration. I came across this photo taken at Port Arthur in Tasmania on a school trip (this one time, at band camp...to clarify I have never to this day seen that movie nor do I want to!). I was using the first digital camera to grace our family - a Ricoh...something. I can't remember but it was blue! It was blue, and I was 16 and freezing.

This is a regular reminiscence. The first time I went over the 2006 band camp photos I was surprised to discover this photo had a partner. I was using a program called ArcSoft at the time to experiment with panoramas taken on my first Kodak - so I experimented to see if they fit.

Firework Friday

So I was lucky enough to have a second shot (pardon the pun) at tackling some fireworks. I think this celebration in Dampier was for Guy Fawkes day, but I could be wrong. Regardless it was pretty special to be sitting under the palm trees at the beach, watching fireworks. Again, I went prepared with my remote, camping chair and tripod, ready to enjoy the show.

I had some success. Next time I am going to try and extend myself - there are two things I want to try: 1) having something in the foreground. Now I feel I have mastered capturing the explosion, I want to try and add scenery. 2) I want to try and achieve other patterns than just explosions from the center - maybe dots or sparkles. Next time, anyway.

Below are...quite a few. I figured everyone would just be happy it's Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! May you all feel like letting off fireworks this evening!

I  like the sparkles in this one.

In this one I like the little, sparkler-type ones at the bottom

The green colour, and the red on the end of the lower explosion make this one interesting

Love the stars and sparkles! They look like sparklers standing on the beach!

Happy!

This almost looks like a love heart

Post process - Just as important as taking the photos

You may ask, if you take a good photo, what use is it if it is not printed correctly? In days gone past my understanding is that if you were serious enough to develop your own negatives in a dark room, the printing process was just as much as important as taking the photo.

Sadly, I have never been in a darkroom, nor developed a 35mm negative. The closest I have come is dabbling in editing RAW files which are essential digital negatives. So where does the printing come in? Well, in the digital age, this is surprisingly difficult.

Firstly, there are the kiosks in shops like Kmart, Harvey Norman and so on where you plug in your media, go through the touch screen process and Bob's your uncle, there you are with some prints. Now, there is nothing wrong with this process, except in my experience it can be a bit hit and miss. The colours need to be well calibrated on the touch screen for a start but the main thing I've found you need to be careful with are the sizes - numerous times a good photo is ruined by poor cropping - I've had a problem with printers like this cutting off heads.

Secondly, you can print at home. This involves self-calibration of your printer and computer and expensive ink but it does give you a great deal of control over the product.

Printing is important. A few tips include: making sure the file is saved at 300dpi, the screen and printer are calibrated correctly and you have high quality photo paper.

This is a photo I took on my smartphone of some of the firework photos I took in August. I like it. Three landscape oriented ones I printed at home before my printer got sick and the other two I printed at Kmart. It's not a great quality photo because I needed the flash to bring out the colours.

PS still in South America having a great time - I hope!

Landscape at 140mm

Growing up in South East Queensland I never realised how precious that paradise was. I never realised what a rare commodity the rainforest was, nor how much mountains (even small ones) can affect the weather, or valued being able to walk  barefoot on green grass.

On recent visit to Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane, we spent some time on the beach of the passage between the island and the mainland. It was a beautiful day, clear as a bell. You could see the Glass House Mountains in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland across the passage in a blue haze. So very blue.

Of course, they were quite a way a ways, therefore the trusty 18-200mm was zoomed in to a 140mm focal length. Not your typical landscape focal length, but I was pretty pleased with the results. I have cropped this image to be a panoramic size, and tweaked the colours slightly in Photoshop and added a post-crop vignette.

Glass House Mountains. Canon EOS 50D f/5.6 1/2000 shutter, ISO 160, +2 step exposure bias, 140mm. 

Of course, it has dawned on me that as I write this, I am sitting in my lounge at 9:20pm watching British comedy. I can multi-task. (I said the same thing about my homework in high school). But as you are reading this I will be in some real mountains. Big mountains. Called the Andes - hiking up to Maccu Pichu in Peru to be exact. Hopefully safe. Hopefully this is a self-fulling prophesy - we are having an amazing time and sometime in 2014 you will be seeing some South America pictures on this blog! God willing my camera and memory cards are not stolen. And I am not killed in a terrifying plane crash. OK, it's 9:30 and the paranoia is creeping in so I had better sign off. Hope you like the Glass House Mountains and I look forward to sharing the Andes with you in good time.

Ozzie Snappy Gums

One of the most interesting features of the arid landscape in much of Australia are the white gums, or snappy gums. Not sure to this day why they are called snappy gums, but they create an amazing contrast in the landscape. I remember taking a photo of the Devil's Marbles in the Northern Territory and thinking that they looked like a permanent form of lightning striking the landscape.

That photo was not blog worthy, in case you were wondering.

There are a lot of them up here though, and they present a rather artistic challenge: how do you take a photo of a twisted tree? Composition is probably one of my weaker points as a photographer (which is kind of an issue) and particularly with trees. I always think they just look so cool, and then I get home to go through my photos and feel let down. Here is just one example.

Betsy, f/7.1, 1/640, 18mm, ISO 500. 

The other cool thing about them is they are home to cute creatures like this little guy.

Betsy, f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 500, 200mm, cropped, Edited in Adobe RAW

The Pilbara: Tough on Cars

We recently made a purchase of a new car. Some people may perceive this as hasty, materialistic, take your pick. But the truth is, the Pilbara is tough on cars.

Rule one: don't leave your car unattended in the bush. Otherwise this happens.

Pilbara: Tough on cars - Canon EOS 50D f/10, 1.250 shutter, ISO 100, 18mm. Reduction of saturation in Photoshop, also contrast and brightness adjustment.

Lucky for me, old beaten up cars in the bush make great subjects - they don't move! Plus, they have distinctive character. The bush will rule over mankind trying to tame it!

Lesson #11: Polarizing lens filter

It's been quite a while since I've done a post about something technical. Last week I told you about that Pilbara Gem Conzinc Bay and began to tell you about my adventures with the Polarizing filter I have. It really does warrant a post to it's own because let's face it, that sucker is difficult!

I have a circular polarizing filter. Now, I am not savvy with angles with the sun or any of that technical stuff, I point and shoot what looks good. Lesson 11 is that you really should pay more attention to the technical stuff because polarizers, while brilliant, can really mess with your colours if you don't use them right. They are magnificent on the water and taking the glare out, but in the sky - especially when taking a panorama (this I don't actually recommend)  - it can be temperamental, it can make other colours dark and even unreal at times.

While on my photographic adventure in Conzinc Bay I was pretty snap happy taking panoramas. The trouble was I was on the rocks,  with a beautiful scene on each side and the sun heading pretty much well overhead. I had to keep rotating the filter so that the colours were OK. Trouble was a lot of time when the glare was completely gone from the water, the surrounds were darker, meaning I had to do a fair bit of lightening in post production. And stitching a panorama with a polarizer?  Forget it. You can do it, but it ruins the sky. I guess it would be OK if you had no sky.

I took these examples especially for this blog.

NO FILTER: Five portraits stitched. EOS 50D, f/13, 1/250, ISO 160 shutter, 18mm. Slight enhancements in photoshop

WITH FILTER: Five portraits stitched. EOS 50D, f/11, 1/160 shutter, ISO 250, 18mm.

You'll notice I adjusted the settings - I was still trying to take a good photo both times (while crouching in bare feet crawling with ants on hot rocks). Notice how you can see better colours in the water in the polarized shot, but the rocks look nicer in the non polarized shot. You can also see how half the sky is darker in the polarized shot. Just different techniques I guess. I must admit though, I love how the polarizer works on the water.

Still learning!

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!

Mythical places

A lot of photos these days look as though they belong in a mythical wonderland. You look at them knowing that that's really not how they look in reality - such as photos of star trails, HDR images of sunsets with glorious amounts of colour in the foreground and background and you think, no way. But in a way it's great to have these digital images of mythical places that resemble reality. Yes, I called them digital images rather than photos - while there is heaps you can do with HDR and I'm sure they are photos, a lot of them just have an unreal quality about them. I hope I don't reach that stage where touching up is a touch overdone.

Anyway, there are certain things that take me back to my childhood games of mythical places and one of these are huge tree trunks in green forests, with big roots and screaming calmness and fun all at the same time. I thought you could not get any such places in the Pilbara. Turns out when looking the right way, you can!

I fell in love with these roots over the rocks at our campsite! Canon EOS 50D, f/7.1, 1/250 shutter, ISO 500, 20mm.

This tree is my favourite. Behind my position here is dry riverbed, spinafex hills and red rocks. But here is one slice of oasis, complete with tree tunk and an attractive root system! Enough to inspire some kind of magic. A pity this scene doesn't surround you - you have to be looking one particular way! EOS 50D, f/7.1, 1/250 shutter, ISO 500, 18mm