Rodney Campbell's Blog

Well this was a totally forgettable sunrise. We were staying just a stones throw from the Three Sisters at Echo Point so we figured we’d roll outa bed barely in time for sunrise.

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 13 sec at f/11, ISO 100

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

We really shouldn’t have bothered and slept in instead :). We had gone to bed just before 2AM after all and the first shot of the day above was around 5:30AM so you can do the math :).

Blush

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 4 sec at f/8, ISO 100

I gotta say the waterfalls on Frenchs Creek in the sleepy northern suburbs area of Belrose was a very pleasant surprise.

Steps

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 26 mm, 1.3 sec at f/11, ISO 100

The water was flowing full and fast creating a nice wide flow of silky water across this nice set of stone steps.

The fact that this place exists less than 100m from the suburban houses just off to the right is simply surprising.

Sometimes you’ve gotta just get out knee deep in the water to get the right shot. I wanted the water to flow down towards and past me on both sides. So the only option was to stand right in the middle of the flow and tune the composition I wanted.

Wild Flow

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 18 mm, 20 sec at f/16, ISO 50

It’s just a pity that the water was so… how do I put this… a little yucky. I guess this is what happens when you have an excessive amount of runoff water. You’re bound to pick up some pollution on the way as well.

I watched Gerry trying to craft a composition here earlier. Tripod legs splayed wildly and arms and legs everywhere :). Later I decided to give it a try as well. I had real trouble shooting here – I’m nowhere near as tall as Gerry so found it pretty much impossible to see my composition (even on the back of the camera with liveview). Basically there’s a large dropoff below the camera here so I’m essentially floating the tripod and myself in midair :).

The Siphon

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 17 mm, 13 sec at f/16, ISO 50

Upper Frenchs

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 22 mm, 3 sec at f/16, ISO 50

Joined Gerry again for a quick trip down to Cremorne point one eerie morning. The weather prediction was for rain so I wasn’t hoping for much nor was I willing to travel too far :). This shot is my first real shot of the morning – a 4+ minute natural long exposure in the darkness at 5:35AM. The cool green light offsets nicely with the very early twilight purples.

Eerie Signals

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 246 sec at f/8, ISO 200

This spot falls within the 15 minute radius from my place so it’s not so bad getting here an hour before sunrise.

This is a five shot vertical panorama (I had to do one since I’d lugged the Novoflex pano rails here (not that a five minute walk is all that much luggage :)). Thats Gerry over there in the distance doing his thing :).

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 35 mm, 10 sec at f/11, ISO 100 x 5 Frames

Above or Below

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 25 sec at f/16, ISO 50

Lastly probably my favourite shot of the morning to end the session. A 2+ minute LittleStopper long exposure to just simplify the scene (and give it a softer eerie feel). I’ve ended up titling this shot “Cinnamon Scroll” for hopefully obvious reasons. This name given by my friend Melinda (who does such an awesome job titling my work – thanks Kitten :)).

Cinnamon Scroll

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 138 sec at f/13, ISO 100

I had to be honest… when Gerry suggested we go shoot waterfalls in Belrose I was somewhat sceptical.

Belrose Blast

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 6 sec at f/16, ISO 50

I mean we were going to Belrose – a nice little suburb on Sydney’s North Shore – how good could the waterfalls be there…

Still it was a pretty great day for shooting waterfalls, dreary overcast skies after a week of rain here in Sydney.

The water was flowing and flowing pretty damn big. These red weeds in the water were a very welcome find and added a perfect foreground complement to the heavy flow of water behind.

Red Velvet

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 20 mm, 3 sec at f/16, ISO 100

These are the upper falls on Frenchs Creek, just a short walk of perhaps less than 100m from the street where we parked the cars.

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

The Upper Reaches

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 25 mm, 3 sec at f/11, ISO 100 x 10 Frames

This is what happens when you let three lunatics loose with a Pixelstick :).

It had been two and a half years since Gerry, Suren and I had been on our last “roadtrip”. Back then we spent a couple days up near Stockton Dunes for some fun filled photography sessions.

Pixelstick Mess

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 299 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200

For this trip we decided on a quick trip out to the Blue Mountains.

First up an evening light painting session – the stage was Pulpit Rock Lookout. Unfortunately the clear skies we wanted for a milky way and star trails session with some foreground light painting was a total bust. We had the massive fog bank come in which completely obscured the sky (and the ground).

So we mucked around with Gerry’s new Pixelstick and when we’d have enough of the waste of time frivolities (at 1AM!) we bailed back to our salubrious accommodation…