A New Direction....

I decided to take a slightly new direction with my photography. Actually, perhaps more of a direction to challenge myself a little more.

Breaking the shackles of auto SLR photography, I have decided to undertake only full manual imagery.

I originally thought it was daunting, however there is a mountain of books, magazines and websites to provide an excellent guide to how this is to be done. However, even with this behind you, I think the only way to learn how to do it is to actually go out and practice.

So, with my new found knowledge, I ventured to Mount Panorama one early morning to take some sunrise photos. 

This is the first of the panoramic shots of Bathurst from Mount Panorama. I quite enjoy this photo with the rolling fog into the township. The sky is perhaps a little over exposed but the overall image of the city is quite pleasing. This was taken at f22, ISO 100 at 5 seconds.

This is found on the southern side of Mount Panorama. The shot was difficult due to the vantage point being limited due to the race track and powerlines, as well as the quickly rising sun. The sky again is a little overexposed for my liking but the fog imagery looks quite nice. This was taken at F22, ISO 100 at 3 seconds.

This is also at the southern side of Mount Panorama, but from the rear of the mount. The sun was starting to rise quickly, I felt feeling come back into my face and hands, and this is taken with 5 images stitched together. I like the warmth and feel of this image alot. Taken with F22, ISO 100, 1/25 second.

This is a different day than the early morning shots, and located in old Joseph Banks Reserve on the side of Mount Panorama. The reserve was a flora and fauna park many years ago, but since closed down, but some of the old impounds and cages are still partially there. I found this tree had fallen into one of the compounds and I liked how the moss grew through the cracking gum tree trunk. F5.6, ISO 400 1/320 second.

This is one of those "Try again late" panorama shots. The big dipper on the Mount Panorama race track is one of the most renowned bends in motor racing. However, as you may notice, the stitching of the image just hasn't come together. The issues were that by the time I took the image from the left hand side of the track to the right, the sun finally came out and the dynamics of the race track changed dramatically. Will have to try this again, when the light is alot better.

This is a gum tree I also found at the Joseph Banks reserve. I enjoyed the visual appeal of the patterns and texture in the gum tree bark. I also decided I should do a series of tree bark similar to these styles. 

This was also located in the reserve, and I thought I would just take a photo of it for odd-value. It was located high in a tree,  rolled up rusty barbed wire. But, as I manipulated the photo, cropping the image, I came up with the two below shots. The first is in a grainy black / white filter and the second has a macro apperture applied then a filter called dynamic. The second one does appear to have quite a visually grabbing result.

The following is not a great photo by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it was just interesting. Located at the old reserve is these rock formations, looking similar to lava flows and a little fragile. The supportive walls are the old compounds from the animal enclosures.

Walking through the reserve I noticed these two large male kangaroos. They were about 200 metres from me and about 6 foot tall. The photo below is nothing fantastic, however as I sat there trying to get a good photo, walking slowly towards them, I noticed that I was wearing a light grey jacket.........and dark grey tracksuit pants...........and over 6 foot tall, I might have looked a little like a male kangaroo. Not up for a fight with a kangaroo.....I called it a day..,..

Frosty Photography

I don't know what the attraction is of the frosty mornings here in Bathurst. Not sure if its the shard, hairy ice growths on nearly everything, the clear morning skies and hints of fog, or the fact I am the only silly local to get up at a ridiculous hour to try to capture it all.
With the weather reports indicating heavy frost on Saturday morning, I decided to venture out again, but heading out the back way to the Bathurst Racecourse. Its not a long way, and mostly rural outlooks, for a different experience and try to find something a little different than the flood plains in between Kelso and Bathurst.

The first shot was a stumble moment. I was specifically looking for spider webs with ice and some light. Closer shots of the web were average, however, with the wire and cocoon leaf above seem to give some nice symmetry.

The next shot looks interesting with the jagged ice covered tree branch in the farm wire, but I found that the conversion to black and white just adds that extra element of presence. The ice shards look that little more defined and overall and more pleasing shot.

I've had this idea for some time. A photo along the top of the barbed wire fence with limited depth of field and showing the ice. The conversion to grainy grey provides a more dramatic result and I'm very happy with the end product.

A different viewpoint of an old fencing post with wire and frost. I thought that the two images, one closer than the other, both provide an interesting end result. This was getting to the point of being harder to take a straight shot without movement. My fingers were frozen by this stage, and I realised I should have worn thicker socks. Sad thing is, being so cold, I took 178 photos over one and a half hours. I deleted about 50 due to camera shaking.

This is a typical favorite with the harshness of the steel star picket and hairy ice shards.

This was a little different approach to thin thistle-like twigs with ice and the morning sun slowly starting to appear. 

Another favourite with the long grass, wire and frost. This turned out quite nicely and I do like the combination of the two.

The thickness of the frost on the tree branches turned out quite nice. I do have quite a few of these images and the slight morning light appearing in the background provides a nice balance.

The curving road at this hour with the dusting of frost, rising light and the slight hint of a near full moon provides a nice result. I tried changing this a few different ways with different filters but have a liking for the below image.

One of the reasons for the early morning walk was to play with the full manual photography. Any person can select an option, point and shoot. But having read a lot about manual photography, use of f-stops, aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed, I decided to try a few different shots. The below image is one such shot. I took the shot firstly with auto landscape. The sky was lighter, the fog non existent and not the greatest. The below image is a full manual shot with ISO 100, F8 and shutter speed of about 1/30 second. The light is more like what I actually saw, and the colours more like what I would like to image to be. The downside is that to take these better images, a tripod is the best option. Saving up for one, very slowly, but definitely worth it I think....

A couple more spider web with frost images. The second one is a nicer overall image I believe.

I had to put this one in. I saw the horse in the paddock as I walked back home. The sun was directly over the back of the horse, and I kind of like using the light to create a silhouette of her. However, the brightness of the sun caused a lot of light spots across the image. The only idea I had was to cup my hand over the top. But, as the first image shows, you can see my hand in the shot. So, with a little cropping of the original image, the second shot results. The second image might not be a great one but the process is worth noting.

This was near the end of the frosty morning shot. The cold frozen grass and weeds with the rising sun on the nearby trees. A tripod would have given this image a much better colouring in the background, but the blue/grey ice definitely looks exactly what I wanted.

On the way back home, I passed this old sunshine model gate along Sofala Road. I took a few images, but thought the panorama of this spot would be a better option, once I removed all the rubbish on the ground. 

With the clear, fresh morning blue sky, and the morning sun on the large trees near the racecourse, I took this  image with the black/white change. Overall, very happy with this result.