Richard McGibbon Photography

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.

Dec

2011

Downhill Mountain Biking at Oxford Falls

Yesterday I met up with local rider Nick Turnbull at the Oxford Falls downhill track here on Sydney’s Northern Beaches area for a bit of mountain biking. Its a short track but with a few nice jumps and obstacles. We also met up with another local rider Tom Sanders. Despite being a Friday afternoon we had the track to ourselves so we had plenty of time to set up shots. Here’s a selection from the afternoon’s shoot.

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

Google Photowalk around Sydney

Yesterday I went on my first ever photowalk. A photowalk is basically a bunch of photographers (in this case about 130) who stroll around the city and take photos. It should perhaps be called a photostroll as that to me sounds a lot more casual and my photowalk was certainly a casual affair. For me spending time with other like-minded people and just making new friends. That’s not to say that I didn’t take any photos I just didn’t take that many.

The walk started off at Hyde Park in Sydney and meandered it’s way through the streets to Observatory Hill near the Harbour Bridge. So we didn’t come across like a protest march and get ourselves thrown in jail the group was split into smaller ones. The groups kept meeting up with each other and converging at key points through the city. I am sure that as we split again I found myself following a different group each time, not that this was an issue as the whole thing was very casual.

The photowalk was organised by three photographers from Google+, Giuseppe Basile, Michael Sutton and Gretchen Chappelle. Lockey McGrath from Google got wind of the event as it was being organised and Google themselves kindly threw their weight behind it giving all participants a t-shirt, new camera strap and to top it all off put on drinks and a BBQ at the end of the day for anyone. I was very impressed by this from Google. They seem to be determined to take Google+ further than just another social media site and turn it into something more like a small online community. It has certainly become an amazing place to talk to fellow photographers, follow their work and get inspired by all the wonderful images on there. So in closing I just want to say a big thanks to all the organisers and to Google for making it such a fun day out.

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.