HAPPY NEW YEAR

A bird on the beach

I have been getting back to nature in Tassie lately and have been dished out some great wildlife photo ops. The shore birds fascinate me as they nest on the ground in the dunes. They seem so fragile there!

I visited my beautiful Oystercatcher who had laid eggs again to find the eggs had hatched into 2 beautiful chicks! Of course I had to do one more blog to share the images with you.

Note the difference where I never used a pl filter in bottom image as a test. I much prefer the top image without the shine on the black feathers.

A Merry Tassie Christmas...

I have to put up this little post to say Merry Christmas to all my followers, family and friends!  We will have Christmas in Tasmania this year at The Bay of Fires.  There is no "Shopping mall" here so I found myself doing Christmas present shopping at this great little place called "The Shop in the Bush"  where they have loads of souvenirs, old & rare books and collectables.  I have to say if there were a shopping centre I may not have found this charming little place so I am very glad there isn't!

The Shop in the Bush - St Helens

After wandering around the saturday markets we also stumbled on a santa at the IGA who was very patient being bombarded with my kids numerous Christmas wishes.  Merry Christmas everyone!

From the "Kellybillies"  xx

Kids with the IGA Santa

Summer landscapes in Tasmania

Tasmania is amazing.  I am still blown away by the abundance of wildlife and constantly changing weather!  I am presented with fantastic photography opportunities wherever I look.  So far we have traveled from Devonport - Launceston - East coast and the Bay of Fires.  I like Devonport, really like Launceston but LOVE the Bay of Fires.  Apart from the abundance of free camps here there are so many unspoilt beaches and plenty of birds and other animals around.  The weather is great, the temperatures are even better, I can see why all the grey nomads migrate here every year.

Here are a few of my fave landscape images of Tassie so far…

Mersey Bluff Lighthouse, Devonport 

Shelly Beach, Scamander

Swimcart Beach, Bay of Fires

The Gardens, Bay of fires

Bush Rangers & Benalla

Benalla seemed like a great little stop over on the way from Bright to Melbourne and we weren't disappointed.  Benalla is widely regarded as the 'Home of Ned Kelly'  so we had to go and visit the museum which also happens to be the information centre.  We just wouldn't be Kelly's if we didn't!  We also visited nearby Glenrowan where you can see the 'Big Ned Kelly'.

Wanted poster at Benalla Museum - vintage action with vignette added

We were really lucky to be in town the weekend of the "Benalla Festival" with fireworks and live music on Saturday night.  The kids loved it and we had a blast there.   I got to play with some night shots (always a favorite for me) and a few different perspectives.

Bridge at Benalla lit up for festival

Fireworks!

A different focal point made this image interesting I thought

Bright Shop Owner

We stayed 5 days at Bright, a gorgeous place with heaps of character.  My fave thing was this sign for Husband Parking.  I had a joke around with the 'lucky' husbands who were parked at the time I walked past.  "Work it boys!"  I love that they actually use the chair (and yep they were still sitting there when we had finished browsing with wives inside happily shopping).  Fantastic!

A Pony called Prada...

It looks like we will be saying farewell to Sydney today as we make our way south towards Melbourne so I thought I would put up one last Sydney blog before we hit the road again.  Yesterday we had an interesting day surrounded by horses at a horse show, the kids loved it and we got to meet the cutest pony foal "Prada".  The family were getting ready for their first Pony Showing.

My Kids "Helping" to get Prada ready for showing

Pony cuddles...

Street Photography…?

I seem to have covered a few k's since the last blog & now find myself in Sydney.  Blogging while on the road can be challenging especially when at unpowered sites & free camps!

I decided to try my hand at street photography as the busy streets of Sydney seemed perfect.  I think a smaller camera would have been a better idea as I ended up mostly getting pics of people looking stunned that I may have just taken their pic.  There were a couple of gems in there but overall I think you would at least need a more discreet camera and a lot of practise/patience.

Street Photography pic

Tourist shot of the Opera House

The station

Bluewater

About 30km north of Townsville is a great free camp at Bluewater where we stayed a few nights.  On arriving we were informed by one of our fellow campers that there was a snake guarding the wheelie bin and so of course I had to go and have a look with my camera.  One thing to be careful of when photographing a snake?  Other people who decide it would be a good idea to "Nudge" the snake with their foot while your head is inches away from it.  I kid you not. We also found a pretty Blue-Winged Kookaburra and a bunch of cheeky Possums. 

Mum & Dad arrived for a visit the night after we got there and Mum was a bit nervous to hear of the Snake visiting.  The backpackers who slept overnight in the open swag just metres away obviously weren't too worried though!

Cheeky little Possums trying to get into the annex

The wheelie bins were empty…wonder why?

Close up of Snake - anyone know what type of Snake it is?

Ash taking an "ankle dip"  in the fresh water

Paronella Park - An amazing place to photograph!

"Paronella Park was built in the 1930s by José Paronella, a Spanish immigrant.[1] José Paronella built facilities, including tennis courts and a cinema and a ballroom inspired by Spanish castles, to provide entertainment for the public. Since his death, a fire, a cyclone and several floods have badly damaged the park and the buildings. The park changed owners several times until, in 1993, it was bought by the present owners." - Wikipedia

When I arrived at Paronella the place was buzzing with excitement as a Sydney film crew was half an hour away.  The nice man at the door waiting for the film crew who I presume is the owner said he has turned away American TV shows as the place has become so busy in recent times.  He informed me that magazines such as Vogue have done photo shoots in the park.  He spoke with such enthusiasm about the place that made you want to share the Paronella dream.

Camera in hand I went down the grand staircase covered in moss and deep into the park.  I explored alone and found the tunnel of love, the old ice cream parlour and the theatre.  It takes quite a bit of imagination to picture it with red velvet curtains lining the walls which have since crumbled.  The concrete stage still remains in tact, also covered in bright green moss. I am told some of the elderly folk that used to come here in its heyday are saddened by the current state of the once picture perfect Paronella, while this generation seem to embrace the mossy walls as part of the parks enchantment. 

There is something really magical about this place, it has it all - beauty, love, loss, triumph, tragedy, and overcoming against all odds.  If you are travelling between Townsville & Cairns it is well worth a look.

Waterfall by Day

Castle lights up on "Darkness Falls" tour

Waterfall by Night

This place is full of nature and although the guided walks are great for the story of the park I really loved the quiet times exploring old castles and watching the turtles.

The Dream Continues tour - a 45 minute guided walk, departing every half-hour from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., highlighting features of the park and telling the story of José Paronella’s ideas for the site.

The Darkness Falls tour - a one hour night tour of the site at 6:20 p.m., with an additional tour at 8:30 p.m. during peak season.

Self-guided Botanical Walk - a self-guided tour, with the aid of a 16-page booklet containing details of the Park's flora, with various tree species identified throughout the Park.

My photography tips for Paronella:  Bring your tripiod, PL filter and stay the night in the caravan park (included in admission) so you can go into the park early in the morning before it opens.  This way you can get great shots without tour groups in your way.  Also do the darkness falls tour as this is the only way to see the park with the lights on, & when doing the darkness falls you will need a tripod.

A fusion of culture

We have been in Townsville 3 weeks now and haven't had a chance to get bored with so much going on.

We have been to Magnetic Island (beautiful), Townsville cultural fest, the strand, riverway pools and a couple of cafes & museums. Loads of photo ops here and heaps to do in winter. Oh & did I mention it's warm?




Magnetic Island was bliss! (don't forget your pl filter)




Charli got to drive the vehicle ferry & honk the horn



The Maritime museum was full of history



The cultural fest was heaps of fun and great for kids (not to mention photos) here are some more fave pics.














It was really interesting using whatever lighting I found on the night.

If you go to a Festival try playing with motion blurring as well as motion freezing. Also play with white balance as different lights give off different hues.

I like my 18-200mm lens for festivals as you often have difficulty getting close to a subject.

Location:Townsville

Blog press iPhone app

I have just got blog press on the iPhone so hopefully this will make blogging on the road a bit easier!

I have just finished post editing some dusk shots if Agnes water & the town of 1770 which was so beautiful. Just after these were taken we hit a roo & went off the road but had a very lucky escape & after getting towed we drove away!!

I'll leave you with some of my fave images...

Stranded in Beautiful Calliope for 2 weeks!

Gold Coast to Gladstone:

The first little leg of the journey has taken us slowly up to Gladstone where we spent an extended stay of 2 weeks at Calliope due to needing a new axle etc (wheel bearings!) about 1km out of the camp ground.  We made our grand re-entrance to the camp ground dragging the camper on one wheel.  We ended up at this great spot for 2 weeks in total waiting for parts etc

Funny how things go though, we got to know all the neighbours and met some amazing people in our time here so it was worth the $500 repair bill!  I promise to blog soon about some of the people we have met on our travels but for now I have limited access to the net so will leave you with a few pics of the Calliope river.

Great free camp spot with loos and you can camp right on the river.  There is a cafe & historical village over the bridge on the high side and its only about 15km from Gladstone.

No Fixed Abode…

Well I have gone off facebook jumped on eBay lately for a very good reason:  I have decided to get off my computer and get out there.  EVERYTHING has been put on ebay, the new (very old) camper trailer has been purchased and we are about to hit the road for a year.  I think this could be the best (fingers crossed) thing we ever did.  I am not even keeping anything in storage, just getting rid of everything and going to check out what this country has to offer.  Fortunately I have still got the camera at this point so my plan is to photograph everything I see.  I want to see the real Australia in all its diversity and I'll be sharing these pics with you along my travels. If you're anything like me you would have traveled up and down the east coast, maybe toowoomba, a couple of the islands and thats about it.   

I'll leave you with a few of my latest pics from Moreton Island & Brisbane

Couple about to go snorkelling at Moreton Island

4WD Territory

Blue Lagoon

Moreton shipwreck at dusk

Sunset heading back to brisbane

Brisbane industrial area

Stormy day at Moreton

Food Glorious Food

Just wanted to share a few of my favourite images from a recent shoot - these models were devine!