Bathurst Railway Walk

Having dropped off the car to a mechanic in Kelso for a pink slip, I have a lazy 3 hours up my sleeve.
So, having mapped a photographic route from Kelso to Bathurst and return via the railway line and flood plains, I started on my walk.

As the line runs through Kelso towards Bathurst, it follows down a long hill then into a relatively long straight across the flood plains. Trying the capture the depth of the line, I took a photo from the left of the line as shown below.

Not being overly happy with the shots I took from this side, I decided to take one from a low point in the middle of the lines, focusing on the centre of the timber of a small bridge. I think the results are a lot better. Playing with this image in sepia and black/white also produces some good results.

This is the original image of an old fence line running along the flood levy bank near the railway line. The image itself is very ordinary. Nothing overly great about it. Having read a fair bit of the work done by Steve Parish, I took the low road and got down to a lower view point.

This is a combination of two approaches. Firstly, the lower view point produces a more natural image and draws the viewer into the picture. Secondly, I have combined three images to produce the final picture. A mini panorama in a way. The colour from the lower ground and overall results I found quite satisfying.

Just near the last photos was a swampy storm drain area filled with reeds and marsh grasses. However, the colouration of the different grasses and background I thought would make a nice pic. I played with this in sepia but the colour version  seems to have the better results.

The following two images are also taking a different approach to macro photography. Instead of using a smaller lens, I have used by 70-300mm lense from a greater distance from the subject to take these shots. The results are a clearer image as well as more distortion in the background providing better colouring.

As I head west along the line, I come to the old Macquarie River railway bridge. The bridge has since been replaced with a new concrete version, but the styling of the bridge, with the rusty "do not enter" sign I decided to take a few versions of it...

Rusty sign with colour wash

Old Railway Bridge with Decaying AGL Factory in rear

Closer Image of Old Railway Bridge

Low version of Old Railway Bridge

Secondary view of Old Railway Bridge

Colour wash of Old Railway Bridge

Under Old Railway Bridge in sepia

This is a panoramic shot of the new railway bridge with a glimpse of the old bridge protruding from the other side. As far as river and panoramic shots go, this location isn't the best. The banks are covered with blackberries, the river muddy, weeds and powerlines..but at least it gives you an idea of why its not worth driving to this spot.

Located further along the line is the old AGL factory which has been closed for years. All decent attempts to sneak into the grounds to take better photos was quickly quashed. The factory is very well locked up. Wishing to do a photo shoot on urban decay, this place would be excellent. But I might have to rely on the old Dairy Farmers Factory in the centre of town. I have played with these images in black and white for some dramatic effect, and I am still working on these.

The following shots are panoramic views of the factory, made up of four images each.

The following three shots is just a much around. I saw a photo shoot of the Great Ocean Road, and the images were just of the winding road. With this idea in mind, I tried a similar approach with the bends in the river. Second shot is definitely my preferred shot and shows the advantage of the 300mm lense for these pics.

The Anglican Church at Kelso has been a spot I wanted to visit due to being perched on a great location overlooking Bathurst, and the style of the building. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the Blog, I can't upload my panoramic shot of Bathurst from the church steps.

The idea behind this shot was to produce some gloomy and a little gothic. Thinking of dark colours, increase the shadows, with the darkness of the tree. Still working on it....

I found this old cart against the wall of the church. I played around with different concepts of the wagon but all in all found the re-colouring the cart a better result.

This I found to be an interesting confliction of statements. The headstone reads in "Loving memory of.." and yet there it sits, smashed, half buried in the ground, cracked and covered with weeds and pine needles. Its amazing where I find these sort of scenarios and wonder why this happens.

I always find, though maybe disturbing, old graves fascinating and can be a source of great opportunities.

This grave caught my attention. Not only due to having a hand protruding the head stone, but also that it was the only one not fenced by iron fencing, or garden. It was a wooden picket fence, well beyond its use, and with hand carved or turned decorations. I thought it had an eeriness about it, and with the sun slightly shining on it, tried it in black and white to increase this.

Machattie Park has some great photographic opportunities but the availability of new shots is pretty limited after a few visits. This was one of the few. In the green house, one solitary flower is present during the winter months. Two images of it are as follows.

A quick panoramic from inside the green house. Not the best, but gives you a little idea. One thing I have found is that when I take panoramic shots, the image must be take with some level, centred shooting. Where this image is taken with a slight downward turn, the ability to join the shots, or stitch them, is near impossible.

Inside the same fernery, a shot of the fairy statute. However, I had directed the image on the statute and reduced the aperture to have the surrounding foliage out of focus. A different spin on it, even though just slightly.