La La falls Warburton

 

This is a fall that I did not anticipate to find after years of search. Funny it was located perfectly on google map

Sony A7RIV + FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Heathcote Rocks

 

The rocks in Heathcote are quite striking in deed

Sony A7RIV 

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Lotus in Langwarrin, Melbourne, Australia

 

The summery feel with a wonderful bokeh

Sony A7RIV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

Floral Friday

Travancore landmark

 

Lovely sunset casts the reflections of the landmark sticks. My friend called this Jeff's dicks lol

Sony A7RIV + Laowa 9mm f5.6

Sea Cave at Mornington Peninsula, Australia

 

Three years later, I realise I had something good going in blogspot. Though I had started my ventures in zenfolio and instagram, blogspot platform has its own advantages. I think I cannot put all eggs in one basket as all my previous successful blogs on here either get bot attacked or domain hijacked. So this is just a space that I post whatever I want from my amateur career in photography 

This sea cave is among the thousands on back beach of Mornington Peninsula. 

Sony A7RIV 

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Bega River, Tarraganda NSW

Zhang Jia Jie Forest

10 Miles River

Christmas Lights

Templestowe

Yun Yang Temple

From G9

Church interior France

Sereal

Splitter Fall, Wimmera, Victoria

Rochester Filo Art

Broken Hill Sunset

Broken Hill Living desert

Around Sydney Harbour

Storm approaching

Autumn Leaf

Autumn leaf in Hawthorn Melbourne

Wakayama Castle

Cherry Blossoms

Shoalwater Marine Park, Western Australia

Taken by Fujifilm XT 10

Hase-dera temple Japan

Very beautiful cherry blossum in a "floral temple"

Great wall of China

Taken by Canon 50mm f1.2

Forest near a Poet's resting place

Interesting light here. This was taken during a trip to an old time poet in china

Melbourne Whitenight

White a lovely night at Melbourne

Creek at Lorne, Victoria, Australia

Black and White conversion for a creek beneath Erskine Falls

Rosalind Park Tulip, Bendigo

Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 renders quite a nice bokeh.

ZhangJiaJie National Park

These unusual rock formations are delight to see

Tian Fu Men

Really peaceful area.

Zhang Jia Jie - the location where Avatar was filmed

This is the amazing place where my legs are so cramped up after the climb

Great wall of China

This one stands out the best from that visit few years ago, Kind of nostalgic.

St Michael Castle, France

Bridgewater Victoria

The fog in the morning can be quite interesting.

Vancouver reserve

Hills and Valleys. Beautiful Country

Looking out from the castle wall

A very nice medieval castle in France. Great view from the wall.

French Church Facade

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

Stone Sculpture

At Louvre

South Eastern France - mystical town

Van Gough used to stay in this castle town for 2 years. Very original medieval look.

South France Border

The trip to France was well worth it. At the peak of the mountains, the gale was incredibly strong. I was almost blown off the edge of the cliff

Bays of Fire Sunset at Tasmania

This photo took Joel and myself 3 hours to locate a spot. 2 Hours to wait for a sunset. 20 sec exposure

Garden near Alnwick Castle

A really nice walk

Main Hall Chamber of Bonratty Castle

West Coast of Ireland

A rare weather in west Ireland. This blue view lasted a few secs...

Bonratty Castle, Ireland

This castle was built in 1400s. No modern modifications on the castle itself at all. 

Lower lake of Ring of Kerry, Ireland

This place is similar to Hamilton Island view except this is a fresh water lake in west of Ireland.

It is just simply lovely to feel the nature here.

Leaf

Creamy bokeh with beautiful leaf colour

Munga National Park

National Park Munga

Maple leaves

Love the bokeh against the backdrop of the Buddhism temple. Autumn feel.

Autumn leaves

Love Autumn leaves. The colour is just mesmerising.

Candle light

Candle light with prayers.

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