Photo Walks

Pulpit Hill Creek in Coachwood Glen (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 4.0s, f/8.0, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv), CPL + ND8 filters) - experimenting with the ND8 filter. I learnt what I had suspected, that stacking two filters on a 10mm lens results in vignetting, meaning that you have to crop the final image.

Moss (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1.3s, f/9.0, ISO100, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - the other thing I wanted to play with was a 100mm macro lens. Even at f/9.0, the depth of field is very shallow

Moss (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 2.0s, f/9.0, ISO100, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - another macro shot from a little further away

Tree Fern frond (Canon 650D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/50s, f/5.6, ISO400, 85mm (136mm equiv)) - this uncurling frond was above head height, so not possible to use a tripod to shoot. I had a lot of trouble getting a stable shot in focus. It might have been interesting to try and shoot this with an (off camera) flash

Tree Fern trunk (Canon 650D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/50s, f/5.0, ISO400, 44mm (70mm equiv)) - I decided to post process this one in black and white to focus on the textures of the fern trunk

Valley fence (Canon 650D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/800s, f/5.0, ISO100, 17mm (27mm equiv)) - playing around with depth of field and leading lines

Bark (Canon 650D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/200s, f/8.0, ISO100, 17mm (27mm equiv)) - another textural shot

Julio and Caro at work

Slot leading to Mermaids Cave waterfall (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 1.0s, f/9.0, ISO100, 19mm (30mm equiv), CPL filter) - I couldn't find a spot where I could eliminate the rather distracting white sky

Late afternoon from Pulpit Rock (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 1/50s-1/800s (3 shots), f/8.0, ISO100, 17mm (27mm equiv)) - a merged image from 3 shots. I posted this one more out of interest than because I particularly like it. I don't feel like the processing was particularly realistic, but wasn't able to improve. Also, the 3 shots were probably too dark, meaning the rock outcrop is quite noisy and lacks sharpness

Sunset from Pulpit Rock (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 1/6s, f/9.0, ISO100, 20mm (32mm equiv)) - pretty colours, but lacks something pulling the viewer into the scene. The foreground is perhaps a bit contrived

Sunrise from Anvil Rock (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 1.6-25s (3 shots), f/9.0, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv)) - image merged to a 32-bit TIFF from 3 shots, and then processed in Lightroom. One of my favourite images from the weekend. Would have been nice if the sky had a bit more interest.

The photographers - Nat, Greg and Dave

Frank Hurley Head, Edgeworth David Head and Mt Hay (Canon 450D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/320s, f/8.0, ISO100, 53mm (85mm equiv))

Cloud in the Valley (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 1/60s, f/9.0, ISO100, 19mm (30mm equiv))

Tree Fern (Canon 450D + EF-S 17-85mm lens, 1/200s, f/5.6, ISO100, 68mm (109mm equiv))

Katoomba Cascades (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 3.2s, f/14, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv), CPL + ND8 filters) - this is here more for comparison on the impact of sun and shadow than because I particularly like the shot. Here's a link to a very similar shot from 2 weeks earlier - 3.7s, f/22, no ND8 filter. Yet to find a good composition for Katoomba Cascades

Fern frond (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/30s, f/4.0, ISO100, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - I just liked the shapes here. Probably not the right choice of lens, or should have used a tripod. I took half a dozen shots and this was the only one close to turning out. I feel like the crop could have been better.

Katoomba Falls and Mt Solitary (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 0.6s, f/16, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv), CPL + ND8 filters) - experimenting with the best way to capture highly contrasting shots. I initially tried merging three shots, but the alignment was off and the waterfall caused problems. This was processed from a single shot. The high contrast between sun and shadow makes the photo feel overprocessed to me, but I know some people like that.

Mountain Devil (Lambertia formosa) (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/6.3, ISO400, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - one of my favourite shots, probably would have taken less shots to get if I'd had it on a tripod, and I may have been able to drop the ISO back to 100

Epacris pulchella? (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/320s, f/6.3, ISO400, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - more playing with the macro lens and depth of field

Dillwynia sp? (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/320s, f/6.3, ISO400, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - another difficult to get shot that would have been better suited to a tripod. The depth of field is so shallow that only parts of the flower are in focus.

Unknown flower (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/200s, f/2.8, ISO400, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - more playing with the macro lens and depth of field - this one at f/2.8

Unknown flower (Canon 650D + EF 100mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/2.8, ISO200, 100mm (160mm equiv)) - more playing with the macro lens and depth of field

Junction Falls on Lawson Creek (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 8.0s, f/9.0, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv), CPL + ND8 filters) - more for comparison with this photo from a previous visit

Junction Falls on Ridge Creek (Canon 650D + EF-S 10-22mm lens, 15.0s, f/9.0, ISO100, 10mm (16mm equiv), CPL + ND8 filters) - more for comparison with this photo from a previous visit, which had more water. I think the extra water makes the shot more intersting.

Caro at Federal Falls