Places

Dec

2015

Stromlo National round and the Brindabella Range

A spur of the moment trip to Canberra to go shoot at the National Round of the Downhill saw me paying a visit to the nearby Brindabella range. I have visited these mountains a few times now but still think I am only scratching the surface of what they have to offer.

I arrived late in the afternoon and spent the night at the top of Mt Ginini which was as far in as I could drive. Thankfully I had been unable to find my summer sleeping bag and had taken my warm on as the temperature dropped to 3C despite the fact that it was mid-summer. In the morning I rose to being enveloped in the clouds so there wasn’t any real sign of sunrise. I spent the best part of the morning driving around and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I stopped off at Mt. Franklin and walked to the site of Australia’s first ski lodge. I could quite happily have spent the whole weekends drifting around in the hills.

Although I missed most of the practice runs of the National series downhill i made it down for the main event. As is normal for Stromlo someone seemed to have turned the thermostat up. The action was great with a lot of Australia’s best racers screaming down the hill.

: Feral pigs roam the hills of the Brindabella Range

: Looking out from the Summit of Mt Ginini

: A friendly local of the Brindabella range.

: Paper Daisies on Mt Ginini

: Looking out from the Summit of Mt Ginini

: Looking out across the Brindabellas

: A flame Robin of the Brindabella range.

: A friendly local of the Brindabella range.

: A new hut replaces the original ski lodge on Mt Franklin

: The remails of Australia’s frist ski lift and lodge are found at Mt. Franklin

: Australian National Downhill Series Stromlo

: Australian National Downhill Series Stromlo

: Australian National Downhill Series Stromlo

: Australian National Downhill Series Stromlo

: Australian National Downhill Series Stromlo

Jul

2015

Side trip to Canberra

I had a weekend free of sorts so I took a trip to Canberra. I had donated a print to the charity Pedal 4 Pierce for their upcoming auction at Fight Night. The framers had insisted that I come down and sign the print before they finished the frame. I had also been wanting to do a shoot with Chris Jefferys, the founder of Pedal 4 Pierce, outside of a race setting as we had always done until this point so that they had a selection of images to use for promotional purposes.

So I guess a little bit of background is in order here first for those that don’t know. Pedal 4 Pierce was a charity started by Chris when he was 10 years old. Chris decided he wanted to ride bikes but did so to raise money for research into a worthy cause. He chose muscular dystrophy as his focus and Pedal 4 Pierce was born. He has been at it for the last 7 years or so. I also asked an outlet of talented dirt jumpers, Jack Baker and Tom Wrigley, to join me for a day shooting down there on some of the local trails that we knew about. The jumps are made from orange dirt that contrasts beautifully with the green of the surrounding vegetation. They had been extended quite a bit since I last shot down there so there was plenty of fresh angle to shoot from.

I also managed to squeeze in a quick shoot for Copic Australia. They brought along one of their new bikes that they had just finished building up, plenty of being on the bike. It was a full steel frame but super light. Keep an eye out for it on the Enduro trails.

The other reason for the trip was just to have a better look around Canberra and its surroundings. I was never too enamored with Canberra before but every time I go down there it grows on me a little bit more. So I drove out into the Brindabella National Park where things were nice and frosty and did a little exploring. There is a lot more exploring needed in this area. I am back down in Canberra next weekend so I shall continue with my exploration then.

Apr

2015

Snowy Mountain Landscapes

I needed to test a little piece of software so I thought I should put up a few landscape images from a recent trip to the Snowy Mountains for your enjoyment.

: Dead Horse Gap, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Mount kosciuszko, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Thredbo River, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Thredbo River, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Cooma, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Cooma Sunrise, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Mount Jagungal, Snowy Mountains, Australia

: Last light at Dead Horse Gap, Snowy Mountains, Australia

Sep

2014

Highlining Project Pulpit Pt2.

The crew have returned to Pulpit Rock near Blackheath in the Blue Mountains and given the big Highline another attempt. Under some beautiful weather, the lines were set. And the attempts at crossing began. We were up there the whole weekend which also gave me the chance to sneak in a few landscapes. Below are a few of the images I captured over the weekend. Enjoy!!

Nov

2013

Central Coast, NSW, Australia

I was up shooting the Newcastle run over the weekend, a short course of either 6 or 12km’s around the streets of Newcastle with SuperSport Images. Being such a short course it finished very early in the morning leaving me with a bit of time on my hands to explore the coast down. I have always wanted to see and photograph Catherine Hill Bay Wharf so I made it a necessary stop on the itinerary for heading back south.

The whole surrounding area had just been ravaged by bushfires and there was still a smell of burning coal in the area. Its an area well known for its coal. All the leaves had fallen from the gum trees and It was probably the closest thing that you will see to Autumn colours in an Australian eucalypt forest.

Since It had just been raining in the area too I thought I would pay a visit to Somersby Falls and see them in full swing. Guess I was a bit early as they were still just a trickle. Still nice though.

May

2012

North Curl Curl Rock Pool

A spontaneous visit to North Curl Curl rock pool a couple of nights ago resulted in some surprise catches.The few clouds that were in the sky lit up beautifully and went through the full range of sunset colours.
I have also been playing around with a few new toys lately. These photos use a variable neutral density filter to slow down the length of exposure time. I’ll write a little bit more about them all soon. Until then….Enjoy!!!