Rodney Campbell's Blog

A while back I’d mentioned to my friend Gerry that I was interested in checking out a place I’d heard of out in western Sydney where you could shoot compositions consisting of dead trees over the water of some man made lakes. So it was that I got a call up one afternoon and found myself on a spur of the moment trip to meet Gerry just before sunset out in “Gods Country” as he called it – way out west in Cecil Hills 🙂

This place is currently in the grips of major development (with lots of land being cleared for new housing estates) so I fear this location is not for much longer on this earth.

It was looking promising in the afternoon with some light whispy cloud boding well for a colourful sunset – of course the weather turned and by late afternoon it was pretty much clouded over – still it was good to check out the location and shoot some long exposures

This was one of the closest and largest trunks to the shore and with a view out west towards where the sun was supposedly setting (year right)… We got some nice cloud movement tho and I got lucky with this wonderful high glow in the sky with a five (5) minute BigStopper image

Brushed Metal

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm, 308 sec at f/8, ISO 200

This image was a conflict for me; wanting to shoot long to bring that far away tree closer in the frame but also wanting to go wide to include the amazing expanse of cracked mud at my feet – in the end this vertical pano was my compromise which I hope has worked to some degree

Last Man Standing

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 41.00 sec at f/11, ISO 100

I know we were here to shoot the stark dead trees but whilst taking some frames for a long exposure panorama I had time to look around and survey the area. I really liked this large almost lone tree on the slight rise behind me. It was getting pretty dark now towards the end of twilight, but I felt I could do something with this almost singular living tree looking over the skeletons of it’s brethren in the fields and waterways below

A very long exposure (five and a half minutes – and realistically I should have cooked it for more than ten (or bumped the ISO to 400) – well we live and learn) with just the 0.6 grad to hold down the sky a little and some light painting from the right side using my headlamp torch to side light the grass

Alone at Dusk

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm, 329 sec at f/16, ISO 200

Finally I convinced Gerry to stay for one more shot – some light painting on a nice looking tree out in the water which was reasonably close to the bank so we could fill the frame with the tree

Spirit Tree

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm, 218.00 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Sunday morning saw us head to Garie beach, further south in the Royal National Park on the southern edge of Sydney.

If the morning before looked grim today boded worse – it was actually raining when we got up at 4:45AM and still raining when we left and on our drive down to Garie. We arrived and umbrellas in hand we made our way southward past the southern end of the beach till we reached the very nice rock plates where we setup for “sunrise”

Of course with 100% cloud and some light rain sunrise never actually appeared but the rocks and waves made up for it to some degree and soon after we arrived the heavy rain basically stopped and we had a break from most of the drizzle for most of the session. Thankfully the rain didn’t start up again till we were almost back to the car

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Minutes before sunrise it was getting much lighter but with bland featureless skies I focused instead on the powerful waves and rocks. The tide was rising and high tide was in about an hour and with the sea so rough we had to be a little careful that a rogue wave didn’t take us out. Unfortunately one of our group lost their camera and lens to the sea during this session (well not actually lost – just completely submerged and therefore “dead”) 🙁

The Calm and The Anger

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm, 1 sec at f/11, ISO 100

From much earlier – shot about half an hour before sunrise – a straight long exposure with no filters (a bit over 4 minutes)

Dawns Darkness

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 246 sec at f/11, ISO 100

One of the girls had a very colourful umbrella and clothing to match so I figured it would provide a perfect contrast to the otherwise muted landscape and flat featureless skies this day – a little staging and we’ve got

Dreamin’ of Rainbows

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/2 sec at f/11, ISO 100

The structure and pattern of rocks on this shelf we were shooting on really were very interesting so I spent a little time doing some forced perspective vertical shots to accentuate this in my foreground. Realistically I should have switched to the 16-35 for a wider and closer view but with the light drizzle and the stormy conditions I just couldn’t be bothered so I stuck with the excellent 24-70 all morning. The sky was also getting bright enough now that I needed to go the filter route to control the dynamic range of the bright sky against the foreground so I loaded my usual Lee kit and went with the Lee 2 stop hard grad stacked with the Heliopan circular polariser

Loaves and Sponges

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 4 sec at f/11, ISO 100

and is that a brief touch of colour I see above the headland (believe me it was pretty much all we got the whole weekend)

Dawn Victorious

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 6 sec at f/16, ISO 100

and our rainbow umbrella toting model makes an appearance again :)- buffeting wind and a six second exposure really don’t help 🙂

Thats a Tick from Me

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 6 sec at f/16, ISO 100

It’s now half an hour after sunrise and we’re nearly done – time to pack up and head slowly back

Swish and Swash

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm, 1 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Continuing with my project with one lens, one focal length for one hour in one location, on a nice overcast day – this time I’m visiting the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park in the Sydney CBD.

Completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument in Sydney and was built as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force of World War I. It’s located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern edge of Sydney’s central business district, and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies on Anzac Day, Armistice Day and other important occasions.

The Well of Contemplation allows visitors to look down into the Hall of Silence from the floor above, there the central motif of the Memorial – a statue symbolising ‘Sacrifice’ rests in the centre of the building

Sacrifice

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/25 sec at f/4, ISO 100

At the entrance to the hall of silence the words ‘Let silent contemplation be your offering’ is inlaid in marble

ANZAC Rising

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

On the ceiling of the dome above the Hall of Memory there are 120,000 stars, each representing the men and women from New South Wales who enlisted for service in First World War. From this number, 21,000 were killed, or died later from their wounds, and 50,000 were wounded

Hall of Memory

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/250 sec at f/4, ISO 100

The Hall of Memory is illuminated by amber glazed windows, one on each side, engraved with a motif depicting a stylised Rising Sun symbol, the emblem of the Australian Army. At all times of the day, the gleaming bronze surface of the shrine is bathed in golden light – representing the hope of tomorrow

During our weekend away with a group of photography friends staying at Bundeena in the Royal National Park just south of Sydney. Time spent taking pictures, eating and drinking, great conversation and processing images.

Mystical Bundeena

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 232 sec at f/11, ISO 50

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Late in the afternoon on Saturday the rain looked to be easing off a little so we took the opportunity to head down to the nearby beach and wharf in town. It was still endlessly grey so I decided to spend my time with the heavy neutral density filters taking some very long daytime exposures.

The image below was taken from the middle of Bundeena Creek which winds it’s way through the beach and out into Bundeena Bay near the ferry wharf – converted to monochrome… well… because the colour version wasn’t really doing it for me

Bundeena Wharf

NIKON D600 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm, 246 sec at f/11, ISO 50

Later I headed around to the other side of the wharf where the rest of the group was, to find some very nice rockage and lots of interesting sea creatures and plants living on them. I found this ideal looking specimen right where I wanted it and took the long exposure shot at the top of this post just before some more heavy rain set in

Continuing with my project with one lens, one focal length for one hour in one location, on a nice overcast day – this time I’m visiting the site of the original Sydney GPO. The General Post Office is a landmark building in Sydney with it’s main facade stretching 100 metres along the western end of Martin Place. It was sold to private developers and in 1999 reopened housing shops and restaurants and forms the base of the new Westin hotel

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Number 1

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/50 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

Hmm Left or Right?

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/100 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

Lying on the floor sometimes has it’s advantages 🙂

Reflected Up

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/125 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

Who’d have thought that keeping one’s feet out of the edge of the frame would be so tricky – I need a course in contortionism

1999

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/60 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

GPO

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/80 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

I’d originally intended on all my shots having enough depth of field to cover both the nearest and furthest reaches of the images I was taking and with a 15mm fisheye I never expected this to be an issue. However as you can see here as the stairs drop away into the distance it gradually fades towards a blur. Back at my computer when I was going through the images I was initially somewhat disappointed – I liked the composition but was a little miffed I’d misjudged the DoF – yes the closest parts of the image were very close – probably less than 30cm away but I’d hoped I’d be OK. Clearly I’d misjudged but I think the fall into blur is actually growing on me – especially as it’s only happening in the central area as we move down the spiral of stairs – perhaps a sign…

Vertigo

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/15 sec at f/3.5, ISO 400

Again squishing my feet back against the wall as far as they can go…

Variations

NIKON D600 + 15.0 mm f/2.8 @ 15 mm, 1/15 sec at f/3.5, ISO 400