Antartica....

I have been following the FB page of a man called Barry Becker and his adventures on the Antartic Station. He has a myriad of shots around that fabulous place and the latest ones are of his aurora shots. I love the aurora...and would so love to work  out how to film it in Tassie on day. I love his other photo's too - he is a great photographer.

Collecting my own photos:

Yesterday I went adventuring to Bruny Island. It was a beautiful day and I went with a friend on a tour - a Bruny 4 x 4 Forest to Coast Adventure Tour. Apart from getting some great photo's it was such a lot of fun!

They advertise that they take you to places that you just cannot get to  normally and that is so true. We had a fabulous day.

I took over 300 photo's

I got that down to about 35 and edited them a bit - only adjustments, no effects

I thought I would begin with a sunrise, as we had to catch the 7.30 ferry but which one? 

This has lovely horizontal lines and the sunrise is off centre, drawing the eye from across the line in the water.

In this there is s sense of mystery with the darkness still not quite gone, and the way the aerial bisects the sunrise intrigues me. 

This one is probably too boring

I think this depends on the story I want to tell....

The first stop was at a fresh water lagoon on the north island, east side

The sound of the breakers over the sand dunes and the taste of salt in the air.....

While it tells a story, it is a bit bland

The horizontal lines repeated across the lagoon and the sandbank beyond it; the reflections in the water; the rusty reeds; the quietness (although there is bid life there)

Is it the lagoon or the reeds at the lagoon?

I just love this close-up of the seedheads with the lagoon in the background

Next we went to the mountain top!

South island and over the top to Adventure Bay

This shows the fun side - splashing through the mud; snapped quickly out of the front passenger window

The road or the view.......

Shooting into the sun, without changing the light setting on the camera - it all happened so quickly - and trying to get the new leaves in the plantation in focus in the bottom half. The sky was so blue and clear as well but this shows the amount of spray in the air from the waves crashing on the beach

......or the pine plantation.....

Such an unusual sight - the trees were planted by WWI returned soldiers and we think this is probably a sink hole. The turquoise colour was amazing. The basic shapes of lines and a circle - the mystery of it all.

We stopped on the east side, just north of Adventure Bay for morning tea....

Bligh's Rocks - in Adventure Bay - a stunning platform of outcropped rocks. The strata layer, the colours of sea and sky and rocks. The sinuous curves of the shoreline and the swirling waters.

Swirling waters, kelp and rock pools....

The quietness of this and the reflections in the water and the clearness of the water too

...and moss.....

Then back on track....

The eye is lead into the middle distance by the road

Got to Adventure Bay and found a tourist stranded so helped out.....

Then back up onto the mountain

Where we saw some local wildlife......

The albino wallaby is native to South Bruny only. These were snapped from the car window

The third animal arrived a few moments later. note the one sitting on its tail facing us - they seemed not phased by tourists

On to Cloudy Bay

The sea was pounding and the mare's tails flying......

Looking south......

This one has such strong lines repeated broken by the reeds and the other tourists

I cropped out the tourists here but am missing some of the drama of the waves

Can you see something in the wave (middle picture) - is it kelp? Perhaps it is a shark!

I like the way the wave is curled around the rocks. I cropped some foreground but left the sky and clouds in the top half

Looking north.....

Trying to get the waves to perform

I like the rock in the front - it anchors you to the photo. The lines of rock, waves and horizon and all the different blues broken by the white foam

A different perspective

I put the camera onto a rock here and took the shot across the shoreline from about 10 cm fromthe surface

Then off north up the beach - where it was all quiet......

This gum was growing on the beach itself next to a small stream. It provided an oasis of shade and greenery from the sand and sea. The trunk bisects diagonally across the photo, dividing up the segments, with a story in each part. It looks as if there is no-one here at all when in fact there were 10 of us there.

Flotsom on the beach - macro lens shot. The green and yellow spark up the photo and the shell (placed there by me) adds interest. There are repeating lines in the kelp and seaweed, with the shell in the top middle third. The eye is being led to the top left corner away from the jumble.

No story to tell but I still like its simplicity

Light on the tide lines reflecting off . The mist of the waves from further down the beach lingering too. Repeating sinuous lines leading the eye to the back of the photo and the sweep of the bay.

We were hungry by then so we ended up at Jetty Beach (campsite)

A different beach facing the channel not the ocean. A calm sea and clear waters. Reflections broken by the gentle lapping waves and the blue sky seeming bluer in the reflections. Again, repetition in the waves and then the upright trunks of the trees. The burnt hill in the far distance contrasting with the blue/green beach area. The isolation it seems to impose and then the vehicles in the distance on the beach and the person walking away from the camera back towards the vehicles. Lot's of potential stories here.

Tranquil

I like this one better than the one above

This dark corner with the reflections of the trees so it is repeated above and below. A quiet shady place and then the sunny far shore in the distance. The rule of thirds can be applied here too.

Pigface growing on the beach, dropping from the bank to the sand. The erosion of the bank meant it was handing down over the edge. I used the macro lens. The greenness of each pod against the dead stuff behind it and the red/orange of the stems gave the contrasting colours effect. 

Lunch was delicious

I cropped out the driver but it is not a good shot - I should have been more diagonally down the table and zoomed in a bit more. Done in a hurry as they were about the sit and eat and I didn't want to miss out! There are lots of potential lines here - table, seats, glasses, tire tracks.....cut by the diagonal of the platesof goodies. Colours are good too - the red/pinks on a black background on a white background.

We walked it off climbing to the lighthouse

I tried for different perspectives on the lighthouse. It is such a well known icon for Bruny - not such a sense of adventure coming here. 

This gave me a chance to stop and catch my breath from the climb! It is steep and I emphasized it by holding the camera down low and between the hedging for this shot. The lighthouse stood out quite well against the sky and the white markings on the path broke the verticals. The path leads the eye to the light house. 

The view was, as usual, spectacular

Pedra Blanca is always amazing - those vertical rock towers and the smashing waves creating a misty atmosphere here. I like the sunlight just touching the top of the rocks. I used the zoom and then cropped the photo.

A visit to the Quarries gave us some redneck moments

I love this shot but alas it is not mine! It was taken by my clever friend Elaine. I love the reflections in the puddle about to be disturbed. It is a set up shot and I could have got out of the vehicle and joined her but was a bit lazy by then! Now of course, I wish I had! The mud and the layers of green and the sky opens up the photo towards the top. The splash of mud as the car is driven fast through the first puddle to throw up the water gives action and intrigue to the shot. 

This is zoomed in and then cropped again. The water outside (on the top of the photo) contrasts with the water inside the channel. The grey green of the she-oaks contrasts with the bright green pine. The man-made cuts into the sandstone provide repetition of lines across diagonally and vertically. 

I added a focal effect here - concentrating on the sandstone cliff in the middle distance and blurring the shee-oak leaves and reeds in the foreground. The spot of bright green from the mossy vegetation also helps here. The eye is led straight to the middle focal point of the photo. The sun came out at just the right time too for this shot. 

Heath......

Pop of colour

Distant views

Story telly - mystery. A bit dark. The strip of vehicle - taken while driving . 

 Back to the neck and the Hummock

The golden light of the sunset helped this shot, highlighting the posts and the grasses. The steps led the eye up and over the hill and beyond. Keeping the stairs to the side of the shot rather than in the middle made it a bit different. The adventure here was that I had not climbed the Hummock before but did this time! I had to stop several times!

Not quite at the top but one of the stops to get my breath. Golden sunlight on the right highlighting the grasses there but the left side has them falling into shadow. The difference in the way the waves behave on either side of the Neck and the perspective, leading the eye away into the distance. 

Were we saw the sun set.....

I had to wait until the sun had sunk below the hill to get the shot so I didn't get it reflected in my lens but did get the reflection on the water. The ripples in the water and the beams into the sky around the cloud particularly please me. The sunset is right in the middle line of the photo.

There - I have it down to 27 photos!

Help!!