Places

Feb

2012

Skateboarding in Austria

Patrik Pittl, Kickflip, Innsbruck, Austria

What do you do in Austria when there is no snow? Skateboard of course. Well, that is if you are a skateboarder I guess.
Yesterday I was speaking to a friend in Austria who I had done some skateboard shots with and he told me that he hadn’t seen the shots for a while as he had lost his copies. I realised that I had never actually posted many of them here on my website, so I thought I better rectify that.he shots of Patrik Pittl were taken in and around Innsbruck. The other shots are all taken in and around Brixlegg and the Cradle Skatepark.
I also want to say a big thanks to few people who made these shots possible:
Ben Herbert who introduced me to everyone.
Chris Cab for his amazing hospitality
and Flo Smith (www.flosmithphotographic.com) for helping me out in Innsbruck and lending me bits of equipment when I realised I had left mine back in Australia.

See more of my skateboard shots here

: Patrik Pittl, Kickflip, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Dave Margreiter, Feeble, Brixlegg, Austria

: Patrik Pittl, Kick Flip, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Patrik Pitt, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Simon Fliri, Austria

Jan

2012

Blue Mountains and Kanangra Walls

The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

A trip over the New Year’s weekend to the Greater Blue Mountains and Kanangra Walls resulted in some shots that I am very happy with. It was nice to get out of the city for a short while. I had been in a rut lately, hence the shortage of recent posts, but a trip to a new destination always tends to crack the rut. A quick tip: If you find yourself in a creative rut take yourself out of your familiar surroundings.

Although I have been a few times to the Blue Mountains it is such a vast area that I think that I could take many trips up there without getting into a rut. They always seem to vary slightly whether it is due to a variation in light, visiting a different spot or a change in the weather. This was the first time I had been as far out as Kanangra Walls and without a doubt the walls look different at other times of the day. The shots from below were taken early morning but I think that late afternoon would be the best time to shoot the actual walls themselves. This is when the light would bring out the colours and light them up. In the morning the walls are all in shade as seen in the shot below (the actual are the cliffs on the right side of the picture).

One of the reasons I wanted to go on the trip was to visit a walk called the Grand Canyon Loop. It’s a beautiful walk that takes you down and along a narrow slot canyon. Inside of the canyon is mostly protected from the sun and is cool and moist with ferns lining the walls. If you leave early enough like I did you might be lucky to get a lot of it to yourself. Later in the day though plenty of people streamed through as it is such a popular walk. The walk takes about 4 hrs including plenty of photo-stops. It is an easy track to follow but make sure you take some food and water with you. The walk out get get quite warm.

: Kalang Falls in the Kanangra-Boyd National Park which is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area.

: Looking down on eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains National Park.

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: An early morning view from Anvil Rock in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walk-able canyon in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walkable canyon in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walkable canyon in the Blue Mountains.

Nov

2011

Long Reef, Sydney, Australia.

The sun sets on another hot day as seen from Long Reef Headland on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Extending right out into the ocean, Long Reef offers great views both up and down the coastline. It’s also a great spot to go and sit and watch the whales swim by. At this time of year the humpbacks are migrating back to Antarctica after their season up north. As they return they are bringing the newborns with them who seem to love to play, jumping and splashing around.

Oct

2011

Tinebank Creek Waterfall

I plan on getting a bit more active on my blog so I have added a new category of Photoblog. To this category I shall upload a single shot and just a short description all very brief. So without any further ado.

Tinebank creek is in Willi Willi National Park just a short walk along the Waterfall Walk. It seems like quite an isolated park and I certainly had it to myself when I went. Willi Willi is listed as part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Areas.

Aug

2011

World Heritage National Parks

I got back last week from a 3 week trip to the Northern Rivers region on the north coast of New South Wales. It was a great trip, I caught up with my family and just basically relaxed. I got up on most mornings for the sunrises and as a result I think I have seen more sunrises in the last couple of weeks than I have in my entire life. I took a few days to drive up there stopping off along the way at some of N.S.W.’s world heritage listed national park the Gondwana rainforests.

When I thought about Australia and national parks a sea of trees sprung to mind such as the views you get in the Blue Mountains. When I thought about being down under the canopies I thought about the type of scrubby bush that I grew up in and around and visited on camping trips with my parents. Nice to some I guess but as they say familiarity breeds contempt. I wouldn’t say I was at the contempt stage but I just found it hard to get excited about it. The trip north really changed all that for me and opened my eyes up to a lot more of what Australia has on offer. In 3 days I visited 7 national parks on my whistle-stop tour. Not enough time to really get to know any but enough to scratch the surface and peek inside.

I tried to visit as many of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests as I could (the list is quite long) even if it was only briefly. I was reasonably lucky with the weather. I was following a storm up the coast so although I didn’t get much rain all the waterfalls running not something that always happens in these areas. If I want to be picky I wouldn’t have minded a slight drizzle for photographing in the forests as this really brings out the colours and adds a beautiful atmosphere.

I would certainly like to return to a few of them and spend a few days walking around photographing them. I am also planning to visit some more of the Shield Group which is up on the Queensland and New South Wales border as I didn’t get to see too many of these.

: Inside the Gibraltar Ranges National Park part of the World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests.

: Clouds swirl around the cliffs in Oxley WIld Rivers National Park.

: Stars shine over the extinct volcanic peak of Mount Warning in the north of New South Wales.

: The road driving into Lamington National Park takes you through some magnificent Forests. Lamington National Park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests Heritage listing.

: Smoke from bushfires around the area gathers in the valleys and tints the sunrise near Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia.

: The distinctive plumage of the Regent Bowerbird is a common sight in the Lamington National Park in Southern Queensland

: Brindle Creek in the Border Ranges National Park on the border between New South Wales and Queensland.

: the beautiful Tinebank Creek in Willi Willi National Park

: Early morning mists in the trees of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park.

: Following a Trail in the New England National Park, part of the Gondwana Rainforest group.

: Looking from Point Lookout across the New Engand National Park, part of the World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests.

: A tree fern in the Washpool National Park. Washpool National Park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage listing.

: Along the circuit in the Washpool National Park. Washpool National Park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage listing.

Wikipedia entry about the Gondwana Rainforests.

Apr

2011

North Curl Curl Pool with Kate McCracken

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.