An End and a Start

The road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began

Now far ahead the road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can, 

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.***

FujiFilm FinePix S9600. 6.2mm@f2.8, 1/80sec ISO200

*** J.R.R.Tolkien

Thief in the Night

I had paddled up the Shoalhaven Gorge and had some carrots stashed to munch on while I paddled. This Brush tailed Possum decided to help himself to one from the kayak,before coming down to the fire and licking the rim of my glass of Bourbon and Coke. We became good friends.

Fujifilm Finepix S9600. 15.4mm@f3.7, 1/60sec(flash)ISO400

Not Going Anywhere

Short cut that didn't work on one of my days out. Down to the axles. 4 hr wait and $150 to get pulled out. The towie bought his 4wd and a snatch strap and had me out in 5 mins once he got there.

Fuji Finepix S9600. 6.2mm @f3.6, 1/300sec ISO 80

Somersby Falls

Taken with my fisheye lens where I am able to get very close to the falls. This of course comes at a price and this photo had water spray marks visible on the lens along with some flare from the sun at the top of the photo. 

Just starting to use and understand Photoshop so I have been able to take these marks out and tweak the highlights and contrast.

Samyang 8mm lens. 8mm@f11*. 1 sec exposure ISO100

* guess only. The lens is manual focus and the f stop is set on the lens and not recorded with the EXIF data 

Orta recens quam pura nites

After Australia Day I thought a nod to new South Wales was appropriate. 

The Waratah, Telopea speciosissima, the state flower.

The post heading is the motto from the NSW Coat of Arms and translates as

Newly risen, how brightly you shine

Taken with Sony Xperia Z1mobile phone.  4.9mm@f2, 1/200sec ISO50

Australia Day

Top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Taken from the top of South Pylon.

Canon 55-250mm. 250mm@f9, 1/500 ISO100

Quiet Reflection

On a walk on the Six Foot Track. The crossing of the Cox's River at the Bowtells Swing Bridge.

FujiFilm Finepix S9600. 6.2mm@f2.8, 1/350sec ISO80

Waterfall

Waterfall on a small creek that runs into Berowra Creek. On the Hornsby to Crosslands section of the Great North Walk.

Sigma 18-250. 18mm @f3.5,10sec ISO100

Blast from the past.

Barefoot Mowermen

Scanned from an old photo from my childhood

Couldn't catch a break

A few years ago, whenever I wanted to do something on my days off it would rain and then stop when I went back to work. This went on for weeks until I got a clear day for a paddle up the Grose River from Yarramundi. After pulling the kayak through long stretches of shallow sand banks I finally got to the first rock barrier across the river only to have the Fire Brigade helicopter come down  to almost water level and order me back down the river.

Fujifilm Fine Pix S9600. 8.1mm@f4,1/220sec ISO80

History

Lennox Bridge on Mitchell Pass in Blaxland. Built by convict labour and opened in 1833.

Canon 18-55mm. 18mm@f5.6, 1/6sec ISO1600

No Friends

Coming back from a walk by public transport. A carriage for my personal use.

Mobile Phone photo HTC One S

Here be Dragons

On the road in Mungo National Park in the NSW Far West.

Sigma 150-500mm lens, 150mm@f7.1, 1/250sec, ISO100 then cropped in Picasa

Mount Banks

Panorama of Mount Banks and the Grose Valley taken from Lockleys Pylon

Sigma 18-250mm lens, 4 photo stitch,

 37mm in landscape mode

Selfie

Won't get tagged with this type of selfie.

Taken with HTC One S

Pastels

Taken at Brooklyn Dam

Sigma150-500. 439mm@f9,1/500sec ISO800

Doesn't Look Like Cheese

Sigma150-500lens 500mm@f13, 1/125 sec,ISO 400

Pre Dawn

Up early for some pre dawn photos whilst camping in Mungo National Park.

Painted the tree with light from my head torch.

Tokina 11-16mmlens. 11mm@f7.1, 49 sec, ISO 800

Bendy Building

The Heritage listed St Patricks Seminary at Manly, now a business/hospitality school after the Seminary moved to Strathfield in 1995.

Samyang 8mm@f11, 1/125 sec, ISO 100

Brachina Gorge

Scanning photos from a trip around Australia in 1990. This is Brachina Gorge in the Flinders Ranges South Australia.

Art?

Hillview at Sutton Forest had an exhibition. Some art I get, other, not so much.

Taken on Sony Xperia and put in a grid using Photo Grid App

Infrared

Using an infrared filter 850nm and shooting in black and white. Straight out of the camera with no adjustment/correction.

Canon28-90mmlens, 28mm@f8, 3min ISO100

Chores

Some of the mundane in amongst the excitement.

Samyang 8mm@f9.5, 1/2sec at ISO100 flash used

Macro

Extension tubes and tripod for a close up of Osteospermum ecklonis.  Had never used the tripod with the camera attached to the bottom of the centre column before. This allowed me to raise or lower the camera with precision for a better focus.

Canon 40mm lens with 21mm extension tube

30sec@f20 ISO 100

Coming Home

Part of my drive home every night, crossing the Hawkesbury River.

Tokina 11-16mm lens at 16mm

1/60 sec @f6.3, ISO 10,000 

at 110klm/hr

Bullrush

I do like a swamp. Bullrush or Cumbungi are always photogenic.

Samyang 8mm, f8, 1/60sec, ISO 1000

Grose River

Does a video rate for a photo a day. Why not. 

The Grose River under Faulconbridge Point.

Taken with Sony Xperia L1

Smiths Creek

Smiths Creek in Kuringai Chase National Park. From a lookout on the road to Cottage Point. Smiths Creek runs into Cowan Creek which then runs into the Hawkesbury River.

8 photos taken with the Tokina 11-16mm lens at 11mm in Landscape Mode and stitched together and then cropped in Photoshop.

Christmas Bells

Taken with my mobile phone on a short walk in Kuringai Chase National Park before Xmas.

Rainforest Art

The fig had germinated in the crown of the tree and its roots encasing the trunk in a basket weave. When the tree fell and rotted away the fig remains, with a cylinder

of roots about 10 metres long. 

Samyang 8mm lens, f3.5, 1second with flash

New Year

For something different I will add a photo a day for the month of January.

Stopped on the way home from work last night and saw the New Year in at the lookout over the Hawkesbury  at Marlowe. Light on the horizon is the glow from Sydney.Could see the flash of the Harbour fireworks as they went off. Not a full moon but a bright 3/4 moon put lots of light around.

Tokina 11-16mm lens at 11mm, f5.6,128sec at ISO 1000 

No Photoshop post processing.