Creek at Lorne, Victoria, Australia

Black and White conversion for a creek beneath Erskine Falls

French Church Facade

Work has been so busy. No time even to organise all the snapshots 

Grampians National Park via a photographer's perspective

I love Grampians. It is also called "Gariwerd", which means "ranges" in traditional aboriginal language. This is a place where photographers would find it challenging to photograph: the harsh lighting from the typical angry sun, dense dark foliage of native plants (not reflecting colours) and the gale that would blow your mind away (because your tripods get blown away too).

It is reported that over 60 cultural sites have been identified in Grampians. The murals are certainly worthy of visits for any photographers - the tracks leading to the murals are often good photography opportunities.

Over the past 20 years, I have frequented this place for photography opportunities. It turned out this place had turned into an escape from the reality for me. I love the Gala screaming their lungs off every morning. I love the kookaburra squeaking like a group of zombies every sunset.

This is a little summary of my photography experiences in Grampians:

* Visit in winter months - diffuse light from cloudy sky is better than harsh light in summer. Summer is high risk for bushfire as well. The frequent rain often creates mood for the photo ops and great to get mists/fog to render better pictures.
* Do check news about closed roads/paths through national park website
* Always bring a GBS phone and bring plenty of water with you. Drive a 4WF.
* Bring food and groceries from Melbourne as the pricing in Halls Gap is often at least double of the city prices
* Photograph in early mornings or late afternoon

Waterfalls

Pentax Da 50mm
Mckenzie fall - part of it - funny that I cannot find any more photos of this largest fall in Victoria. But this one was different from the generic full frontal shot seen on the web everywhere.

Pentax 16-50mm f2.8
Ferret's waterfall - disappeared after the bushfire in 2006

Pentax 10-22mm
Silverband waterfall - not a long walk, pretty much flat track. Problem is this fall dries out easily. Only to visit after a rainfall. And watch out brown snakes in the area!


Pinnacles
This is a good 5 hour track return trip. Three major phases in geographical changes as you walk through this region. This place is all about rocks.

Pentax Da21mm Limited

Pentax Da21mm limited

Pentax Da21mm limited

Voigtlander 12mm R4A


Wonderland Carpark

Balcony Lookout

On a sunny day, strong UV cast really sucks. There is no point to visit in the day hours. The photos will turn out shit really.

This lookout is bad for sunset shots at the magic hours. This is because the sun goes down on the completely opposite side of the look out. So you dont get much light at all except occasional purple sky at times.

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Canon 300mm f4L IS - wide angle lens is pretty much useless at this lookout. Best to use 50mm + focal length.

Canon 300mm f4L IS


Reeds Lookout

This lookout is more photographer friendly - at least sun is going down within the view of the look out.

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Voigtlander 90mm f3.5 macro




Lake Fyans

Olympus 150mm f2

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Leica 25mm f1.4


Tracks

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Canon 50mm f1.2L

Voigtlander 90mm f3.5 macro

Pentax Da21mm limited

Pentax 16-50mm f2.8

The colour is certainly better in a foggy and wet condition. I prefer to shoot in the rain in here.

Pentax Fa 31mm f1.8 limited

Pentax FA43mm limited

Pentax 16-50mm f2.8




Giant Koala - Dadswell Bridge Victoria

Nice for a visit if you get really bored like it is raining cats and dogs or it is just simply too hot to bear in the extreme heat. Not a long drive north to Grampians. There is also a waterfall nearby - single span but puny water flow. Lucky to see it after a rain fall (I did have a few shots at it and they turned out like a poor stream wee due to prostate enlargement)



Wild life

I could easily captures shots on most of the native Australian animals in Grampians. Not much effort required. Just wander in parks or myriads of tracks in early morning or near sunset.

Olympus 150mm f2

Near Lake Fyans after a rain fall

Olympus 150mm f2

In the reserve park near central Halls Gap

Olympus 150mm f2

At the carpark near Wonderland car park entrance

Olympus 150mm f2

Olympus 150mm f2

Olympus 150mm f2

Useful resources:

Travel and Accommodation 

Park Victoria - Grampians National Park


Grampians Map

Grampians Map


Halls Gap

Halls Gap - the nearest town

3 breakfast cafes there in the central. Always packed with people. I tend to get specials of the week for the sake of getting something new each time.

Among these, this middle eastern sausage was memorable because it looks like number 2 in the toilet. But it tastes really good though. From Black Cat Cafe

Creek with silky flow

From the recent post on over use of neutral density filters, this was another example of over use of 3 filters here. Funnily, the overuse of filters does contribute to severe vignetting. The correction of that rendered the photo a little unreal. Still, this image somewhat gave that air of inspiration and energy!!

The shot taken at Mt Baw Baw a while back. It was very dark, broodingly wet when I visited a random creek in the region. A shot out of curiosity turned out not so bad when I viewed some time later!

Taken by Pentax Da* 16-50mm f2.8 -> The zoom with dodgy reputation for hunting autofocus and bad quality control from Vietnam!

Waterfall of Honshu

Waterfall of my dream.

Fusion dish, Kobe Jones, Dockland

It was once said ...

Fusion cuisine is something when a chef is not well trained in 2 fields, combining half learnt skill from 2 styles of cuisine...

Sad existence.

However, this one did taste great. A bit of Japanese and French.

Kobe Jones, Dockland., Melbourne.

Happy New Year!

This image is taken by Pentax Da* 16-50mm f2.8 SDM.

After continuous of shifts throughout the naughty Christmas, New Year will hopefully bring more peace and happiness for me. I managed to pass my exam and made many on line friends :)

No more work throughout the new year break. It is finally a good relaxation time for me :)

P.S. Gordon Ramsay was reported to have 26 million dollouar debt from my local newspaper today!