Search for an epic sunset continues… With the madness storms in Melbourne over the last couple of days, I thought I may get lucky with an awesome sunset or two. I decided to head to Brighton Sunday night as the storms rolled in after a hot 36 degree day. The place was packed! Found a spot and hoped for some awesome colours as the sun lowered. Unfortunately there was just too much cloud cover over the horizon for any good light to get in underneath. Still captured a couple of ok shots, but not exactly what i was hoping for. The sunset of January 8th 2015 is still in pole position!

Finally catching up on some blog entries! Decided to head down to Port Melbourne and capture sunset on this night. It was a little windy, but it looked like it may be an ok sunset with some scattered cloud hanging around. I missed the most epic sunset only a week before, well I saw it, I just didn’t capture it! So I’m now on a mission not to miss the next one. Its just tricky trying to judge when that will be. Anyway… it wasn’t the best sunset but here are the shots that I captured down at the Lagoon Pier.

The 12 Apostles (or 6 now) are something that I have had on my ‘shoot list’ for a while now. I just hadn’t had the time or motivation to get down there! Well, this week I was playing tourist guide (a not very good one I might add) for a friend of mine and the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles are on most visitors’ lists when they come to Victoria. So, a road trip was called for. Funny how things work out sometimes! With some stop overs at Torquay, Bells Beach, Anglesea and Lorne, we eventually arrived down at the Apostles late afternoon and planned to hang around for sunset. Well the tourist guide came through… (well so I say anyway) as we experienced some amazing views as the sun fell and the golden light hit the cliff formations of the coast line. As the light continued to fade, there was an awesome orangey, purple glow on the horizon that the 5D picked up brilliantly. It was a pretty magical sight and something I won’t forget too quickly! We managed to capture some great shots too. Even more of a bonus was just as we were leaving, the penguins arrived. I attempted to capture a snap of them, but the light had well and truly gone by then. The dark blur in the last photo below are the penguins (you’ll have to trust me!).

Canon 5D MkIII – 24-70mm

So had a quick stop in Sydney on the way back from Vanuatu over the Christmas break and managed to capture a couple of shots at sunrise of some of the most iconic things in the whole country. I was a little late at getting up, but did get up just in time to get the sun rising over the harbour and behind the Opera House. Was a good morning!

I headed up to Port Douglas and Palm Cove for the last part of the trip. Having never been there before, I was keen to explore and experience the place.The main goal while I was up there was to visit the Mossman Gorge after seeing some pretty great photos on the net from there. The second morning I was up before sunrise (again) and jumped in the car and headed up to the entrance where there is now a tourist centre and shuttle buses to take you on the short trip to the river which started at 7.30. Well it was about 6am so decided to set off on foot to the gorge. Took me around 30 minutes to walk up there and once I was there I pretty much had the place to myself which was pretty cool. Earlier that night, QLD had its first heavy rain for the season, so the river was flowing but was a little dirty brown with all the extra dirt and sediment flowing down it from up river. It was still great to see and managed to get some cool shots of the lush vegetation with some early rays of sunlight beaming through. Probably one of my favourite shots of the whole trip.

Palm Cove was the last part of the tour and again I was up at around 4.30am both morning to capture the sunrise. The first morning I went down towards the pier to see what I could capture. It wasn’t the best sunrise, but I did manage to get some nice shots of the sun rising over the pier and calm waters. The second morning I went to palm alley which was towards the right hand side of the main beach. I came across this the day before as I was wondering around. Up early again, and at 4.30am I was shuffling sun chairs out the way which were inconveniently left under the palms and in my shot! Of course it was worth the effort though as the silhouettes of the palms in front of the colour of sunrise proved so spectacular. The conditions were almost perfect this morning, with scattered clouds and some amazing light, the result was pretty cool. Another favourite from the trip!

Canon 5D MkIII – 24-70mm

Ellinjaa Falls

Part 3 of the Tropical North Queensland tour took me down to the Atherton Tablelands; the home of some pretty amazing waterfalls. The trip along the Gillies Hwy proved a test for my head which was spinning after the winding road trip through the mountains. Arrived by late arvo and dropped the bags off at the motel, then set off for the waterfall circuit track in the fading light. First stop on the circuit track was the Ellinjaa Falls. This was my favourite spot of the lot! Even with very little water from the lack of rain, the falls are still majestically stunning. Set the tripod up and slowed the shutter on the 5D to capture the silky flow of water. The results were amazing, with the silky white of the water against the dark rocks and spectacular greens of the moss growing on them. The tree stump in the foreground added to the story of the shots. Would love to see this spot when the water is truly flowing! Next stop for the day was the Milla Milla Falls which is probably the most photographed waterfall up there. This too was lite on the water and one of the locals who was having a swim said that it was rare to see it like this. None the less, it was still a pretty nice place to be. With the light almost gone, I retreated back to the motel. The next morning i was up at 4.30am and departed for the trip down to the Nandroya falls which required about a 50 minute trek on foot to the falls. The drive down there was quite amazing, I wish now i had stopped quickly to capture the sunrise coming over the hills as i was driving along the Palmerston Hwy. But I wanted to get to Nandroya before the sun overtook the falls. With “Hand in my pocket” by Alanis Morissette playing on the radio, I remember having an unbelievable sense of freedom and sense of life I guess as I was driving down there, as corny as that sounds, but a moment I will never forget. Its funny how songs can impact things so much. Anyway, made it to the car park and set off on the 2.5km trek to the falls. It was a race against the sun to get to the falls. On high snake alert, I was watching every step I took! Not a snake fan really and I knew they were watching. Ehhh. So made it down there unscathed and with the lower falls still just in shadow. Happy Days! This waterfall too would have been awesome when the water was really flowing, but it was lite as well. Still great to see though! On the way back along the trek, I stopped to capture the roots of the Buttress Fig which was so eye catching. It looks especially dramatic in black and white and love how the image turned out.

Canon 5D MkIII – 24-70mm

The paradise swing

Welcome to paradise! This place is one of the most amazing places I have ever been too. A 45min ferry ride from Cairns, Fitzroy Island was once used as a quarantine station for Chinese immigrants during the gold rush. It was also used as an outpost during WWII with its wide ranging views out over the reef.

Now, it houses a resort and turtle sanctuary. I knew as soon as the ferry pulled up to the dock that this was one pretty nice spot. The main reason I found this place was from a photo by one of my favourite photographers, Peter LIK (who has just sold one of the highest selling photos of all time worth 6.5 million). Anyway, it was amazing to get to see that photo I saw of his in real life.

A short walk down to the south of the island takes you to a beach called Nuddey Beach. There is a small lookout on some rocks on the walk towards the beach which gives a leafed framed picture of the most amazing view of sand, rocks and turquoise water. The colours are amazing… I wish i was back there! This spot will be forever etched into my memory, for many reasons.

Canon 5D MkIII – 24-70mm

Somehow I ended up with a bit too much holiday leave from my usual day job; not a bad position to be in. Got told to bugger off for a bit so decided to venture north on a bit of photography trip. One of my favorite photographers Peter LIK had a million amazing shots from up there. In particular was a shot from a place called Fitzroy Island, it was paradise – I had to go there. With this the basis of the trip, I then planned a somewhat holiday around some spots to shoot. After some research my plan was to start off in Cairns, then head to Fitzroy Island, the Atherton Tablelands, Port Douglas and then Palm Cove over a 13 day trip.

First stop was Cairns. I didn’t have too much planned here at all. I thought I’d use it to chill mostly and wonder around and explore. The most iconic place in cairns would have to be the esplanade lagoon with its fish sculptures. So, decided to get up at sunrise (5am) while most people were still in bed. I took this shot on the morning of December 3rd. It was me and the pool cleaner. Set the tripod up in the pool with me knee deep. The colours were quite pastel this morning – I think they work well in this shot. Gives a nice calming feel.

Canon 5D MkIII – 24-70mm