I am very happy to announce that this week I won 2 Bronze awards in the Epson Panoramic Awards contest. One award was for Sunset on Long Reef Beach in the landscape category and the other of Northern Beaches in the urban category.
The contest is a worldwide contest with entries from over 60 countries. There is some beautiful entries and it is well worth a look through one of the galleries.
Kate McCracken, North Curl Curl Rock Pool, Sydney, Australia
Last week I had the pleasure of shooting with the lovely Kate McCracken, a model here in Australia. The goal of the shoot was to make some shots where instead of her being the model being the main focus of the photo she would be an equal part of it along with the landscape. We weren’t sure until the last minute if the shoot would go ahead due to the weather, the heavens were threatening to rain down upon us the whole time. We took the risk and went to one of my favourite beach pool, North Curl Curl rock pool hoping to get at least a glimpse of a colourful sunset.
The weather held off and it didn’t start to rain until we were packing up to leave. The storm clouds provided a fantastical brooding atmosphere to the shots. The weather also brought with it some wind which twice manages to take my flash out. Not that bad except both times the flash ended up in the pool. I am happy to say that both it and my trigger survived though. Kate also ended up in the pool at one stage while trying to cross to the rock in the middle. She took it in good humour and we turned it to our advantage with some shots in the pool as well.
Many thanks go to Kate for her time and good humour, I’m sure not every model would have taken falling in the pool like that so well.
Miranda and GY around St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria
Just had 10 lovely days in St. Anton am Arlberg. Beautiful weather for the most part which was great except it had been so nice for so long the the snow was rubbish. There wasn’t really much of an option for shooting action sports there. I didn’t even end up buying a pass or going up any lifts.
I did manage to meet up with a lovely couple Miranda and Gy who were hoping to have a portrait session there. They wanted a selection of photographs to show at their wedding later in the year and had an interesting idea of Doing a shoot in a simple wedding dress and suit but with the snowboard boots on as well. Sounded like fun shoot. Below are a selection of the shots.
All were done with one Speedlight and my new Bowens reflective umbrella set up off camera on a Manfrotto travel stand and using Elinchrome Skyport triggers. The umbrella gives off a much nicer light for these shots than the harsh light of a bare speedlight.
Over the weekend I had the chance to partake in a confetti war called El Coso Blanco in Salou just to the south of Tarragona in Spain. It is a festival of light, sound and above all else confetti. It takes the form of a street party with a parade of floats and dancers that go around and around the streets in Salou while everyone throws confetti at each other. Those in the parade throw confetti at those in the crowd, those in the crowd throw confetti back at those in the parade and those in the crowd throw it at the others in the crowd. Just in case the crowd didn’t bring there own confetti there are large towers that continuously pump out a steady stream of confetti into the air.
30,000 people join the party, dancing to 175,000 watts of music (not sure how they get this measurement) and throwing the confetti, 2,500 participants in fancy dress join in the parade, 25 floats with such random displays as Spongebob, vampires and bananas and 20 confetti canons pumping out over a staggering 25 tonnes of confetti into the air all go to making it a hugely enjoyable experience. The street ends up with confetti easily above your ankles in depth. Confetti gets everywhere, down the shirt, in your pockets, in the ears and in the mouth. It pays not to gawp too much as it is a sure way to end up with a mouthful. All in all a great laugh but I would certainly not like to be the man who sweeps the street the next morning. The party takes place on the first Saturday in February starting from around 7.00 in the evening. I definitely recommend marking it in your calendar from next year if you are planning to be somewhere in the area.
I’ve been on the road again over the last few days. I flew from Barcelona up to Austria for a visit with some old friends in and family in St. Anton Am Arlberg. I also paid a quick visit to Salzburg and its surrounds. Last time I visited Salzburg I got rather sick and ended up missing out on much of its charm. This time I managed to get out for a stroll around the old part of town, a beautiful area of town, full of the fabulous baroque architecture that Salzburg is famous for.
Winter time seems like a great time to visit Salzburg. It was under a blanket of snow and there were none of the crowds that the warmer weather in Summer supposedly brings. Just be sure and dress warmly if you choose to visit during the winter months. I also paid a quick visit to a beautiful little town called Fuschl am See. It’s a tiny little place lying at the edge of a lake called the Fuschlsee. Unfortunately during my few hours visiting there was a heavy cloud cover and although this did add to a certain atmosphere the tops of the surrounding hills or mountains (not quite sure what the landscape around was like) were not really visible. I certainly enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the area, it would be a fantastic place to unwind and relax.
My time in St. Anton was mainly spent catching up with friends that I haven’t seen for the last few years. Its always nice to sit down with old friends and talk like it was just yesterday when you were last chatting.
The trip was finished off by spending a few hours looking around the buildings of Munich’s airport. Lots of modern architecture to see in and around Munich airport. Munich was also under a blanket of snow. I really want to spend some time visiting a big city and going shooting during a snowfall. It changes the whole feel of the city.
Sunrise from the banks of the Rio Baker near the Northern Icecap, Patagonia, Chile
Imagine driving down a single-track unsealed road, the only road through around for miles. No cars, no traffic. In the snow-capped mountains above large glaciers spill from a hidden icecap, one of the largest expanses of ice on the planet. Temperate rainforests cover the mountains’ lower slopes punctuated only by waterfalls spilling off the cliffs above and crashing their way into the valleys below. In the valleys fast flowing rivers surge, their waters a delicate azure from the remains of glacial debris, make there way out into fjords spectacular enough to rival those of Norway or New Zealand.
A storm builds over the Northern Icecap, Patagonia, Chile
A few years ago I had the pleasure of being able to travel with a group of friends through southern Chile, just such an area. This is the side of Patagonia that few travellers get to see as it is so isolated and the infrastructure for travelling here really doesn‘t exist. I have always I ranked it as one my favourite destinations.
In the last few years the area has become the centre of a heated debate regarding the construction of five dams on two of the regions major rivers, the Rio Baker and the Rio Pascua. The plans also include a clear-cut strip running for 2200kms to the north as a corridor for the power lines. This clear-cut strip will be the longest on the planet and run through some of Chiles most scenic landscapes.
On the side supporting the construction is HidroAysen, a conglomerate who now own the water rights which were privatised back during the rule of Pinochet’s fascist government. In its bid to sell the dams to the public HidroAysen have started a new advertising campaign which some claim is a “terror campaign”. In the campaign HidroAysen claim that without the dams Chiles power grid will soon be unable to handle the demands being placed upon it and, as a result, the country “will be left in the dark”.
Just outside of Cochrane, RegionXI, Chile
Opponents say Chile has plenty of energy projects coming on line to satisfy future demand. They also argue that the project will irreversably damage one of the world’s few remaining wild places. Recent polls hve shown that the majority of Chile’s population is opposed to the construction. A study into HydroAysen’s environmental impact report has found more than 3000 deficiencies with the report. These include a failure to map exactly what area the reservoirs will cover, insufficient data on the impact of the local flora and fauna including the critically endangered Huemul estimated at only 3000 remaining and ignoring data regarding the seismic risks to the dams despite the existence of numerous fault lines and other unstable geology in the region.
While it is true that Chile may be facing an upcoming energy crisis other less destructive options are available to it. Chile is a country situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire and as such is high in volcanic activity. The possibility for geothermal energy is huge throughout Chile. It is one of the cleanest sources of energy, easily harnessed and abundant. The upper six miles of the Earth’s crust contains 50,000 times as much energy as found in all the world’s oil and gas reserves combined. Factories for geothermal energy can be built on a small localised scale thus minimising the size of the area affected to make power and doing away with such large scale clear-cuts. Around 24 countries are now converting geothermal energy into electricity. El Salvador, another country on the Ring of Fire, leads the way making 26 percent of its electricity from geothermal power.
One of the beautiful landscapes that await travellers who get off the beaten track in Chile’s Patagonia
It would be a great shame and a great loss to the world if this region of pristine wilderness was to be damaged for the unnecessary construction of the five dams. The worlds wilderness areas are shrinking and becoming more like isolated pockets. At what point will the governments stop and think through all the alternatives and decide on what is best for the planet and not for the pockets. Hopefully not before all is lost.
More shots of Chile can be found here
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