Images of Tasmania

The Blow Hole 2

2007-02-08T10:22:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year! Sorry its a little late, things have been a little hectic over the last few months.

We did manage to get away as a family up to Bicheno on the beautiful East Coast of Tassie during my holidays in early January. You can always expect a good photo or 2 from the blow hole but this visit was a little different, I've never seen it like this before. We've had a few strange weather patterns going on recently and this is caused some big waves to come crashing into the coast. Normally the waves come in and and fly out a hole in the rock, hence the blow hole. On this occassion however, the waves were breaking up and over the rocks, a sight I've never seen before.

Fortunately I had the 1GB card in my digital camera so managed to get off quite a number of shots and got some good ones.

Location: Bicheno, East Coast of Tasmania. 176km/2hrs 10mins from Hobart. 172km 2hrs, 5mins from Launceston.

Shot Details: Canon EOS 350D, Canon EF 18-55 Lens. 1/640sec, F20, ISO 800 (Some Photoshop has been done on the photo)

Spring

2006-11-09T10:57:00.000+11:00

While I'm not a huge flower or gardening fan, in celebration of spring I thought I'd better include some shots of the beatiful flowers growing at the moment.

We recently had the annual Tulip Festival at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens which always throws up some perfect specimens to photograph. Many thanks to my mother-in-law and her wonderful garden for the other shots.

Burnt Out

2006-11-09T10:38:00.000+11:00

Three weeks ago Hobarts Eastern Shore was on alert due to a large fire that was sweeping through the Meehan Range. Fortunately it managed to miss all houses (only by metres) and only took out a shed, a few stolen cars and a heap of bush.

A forest fire is quite a spectacle as long as you're not in danger, but unfortunately I forgot my camera so didnt get to capture pictures of the fire as we watched it from across the highway.

The bush loves a firey cleanout every so often, I also love taking my camera in to check out what has changed in the aftermath of the fire. Normally lush green trees get dry brown leaves and black trunks which create some really interesting effects. Don't write off a burnt out bushland as a photographic location, its worth a look.

Location: Flagstaff Gully, Lindisfarne.

Photo Details: Canon EOS 350D, 18-55mm Zoom Lens 1/60 @ f8 / Photoshop: Brightness, Contrast, Cropping. Handheld (forgot my tripod!)

Apsley Gorge

2006-09-15T14:39:00.000+10:00

If you’ve had enough of the perfect white beaches and surf of the East Coast, head inland, there amongst the trees and hills of the Douglas Apsley National Park you’ll find a fantastic little swimming hole loved by locals but unknown to a lot of outsiders.

A short drive from Bicheno and an easy 10 minute walk takes you down through the trees to a beautiful river and waterhole deep, wide, clear & rocky, perfect for families and a great place to end a hot walk through the tracks of the National Park.

Location: Douglas Apsley National Park – 188km/2hrs 20mins from Hobart, 174km/2hrs 10mins from Launceston

Shot Details: Canon EOS 500n SLR, Fuji Superia 400iso

Diamond Island

2006-07-30T01:48:00.000+10:00

A walk on the beach, while nice, doesn't always get the adrenaline pumping, unless it’s along Redbill Beach and over to Diamond Island. The Diamond Island nature reserve sits just off the northern tip of Redbill Beach at Bicheno and is unusual in that you can walk over to the island at low tide.

The island is made up of the large granite boulders that the east coast is famous for, and is home to numerous bird species; it has a few smaller trees and some good fishing spots.

If you’re after a more invigorating saunter come back as the tide is coming in, you’ll have waves from either side smacking into each other and trying to knock you off your feet as you cross back to the mainland. Good fun, just don’t let it get too deep before you attempt to head back across.

Location: Diamond Island, Bicheno (East Coast) – 177km/2hrs 10mins from Hobart, 171km/2hrs from Launceston

Shot Details: Canon EOS 500n Camera Body, Canon EF 28-80mm Zoom, Circular Polarising Filter, Fuji Superia 400iso Film

Silver Falls

2006-07-10T22:16:00.000+10:00

In amongst the trees on the slopes of Mt Wellington hide a number of great waterfalls. Some of them require you to trek through the bush for hours, others are a quick, easy stroll, fortunately Silver Falls is in the latter category.

All it takes is a leisurely drive around the bends from South Hobart to Fern Tree, stop at the shop, grab some hot chips then enjoy the sounds of the bush as you walk gently along the Pipeline Track. The only slightly taxing part of the walk is the hill you need to walk up to get to the base of the falls.

As the creek forms part of the Hobart City water supply, they are part natural, part man made. There’s mini dams, old concrete pipes and walls but above that lie the lovely ferns, trees and rock that were there long before the English decided they needed somewhere to hide their crooks.

Location: Fern Tree, 9.6km/15mins from Hobart city centre plus about a 25 minute leisurely walk

Shearwater

2006-07-06T09:50:00.000+10:00

You wouldn’t know it by looking at my front lawn, but I really love lush, green grass. Golf is the perfect excuse to wander aimlessly over beautifully manicured lawns with the added bonus of the (very) occasional monster drive, perfect pitch or precise putt.

This is not the place to rate Tasmania’s Golf Courses, but the Shearwater Country Club has a course that is pretty flat and has wide enough fairways for a amateur hacker like me, more importantly, as previously mentioned, it has grass that makes me wish I was 6 years old again so I could just roll around in it for a while.

This shot was taken one fine spring morning, the sun just above the horizon, trees just starting to grow back their leaves, frost on the greens. It would normally have been a bit early in the morning and a little cold for me but it was just too enticing to let go. By the way, the trees really do go that orange, even without any leaves.

Location: Shearwater, NW Tasmania 289km/3hrs 50mins from Hobart or 100km/1hr 15mins from Launceston

The Blowhole

2006-07-02T23:28:00.000+10:00

Feel like a shower East Coast style? While Bicheno has some great beaches, it’s the rocks that make up the majority of the shoreline that I love the most. As you drive into town take a right and go down to check out what happens when the sea comes crashing in on these beastly behemoths.

What is most amazing about the blowhole is that if you’re there at the right time of day, at the same time as the sea is crashing through and climbing 5 metres into the sky, you will also see 25cm tall fairy penguins making their way up and across the same rocks as if it was just a walk in the park with a little shower.

If you happen to get there on a quieter day, go and stand on the northern side of the big triangular boulder, feel the seemingly immovable rock as it shifts ever so slightly as the swell hits it from below. It’s a weird feeling but it’s a cool to squash a 20c coin down one of the cracks between the rocks.

Location: Bicheno, East Coast of Tasmania, 177km/2hrs 10mins from Hobart, 171km/2hrs 5mins from Launceston

Shot Details: Canon EOS 500n Fuji Superia 400iso

Mt Field

2006-06-01T21:27:00.000+10:00

One of Tasmania’s oldest National Parks is the Mt Field National Park. Lying just over an hours drive west of Hobart up the beautiful Derwent Valley its one of those spots that draws the tourists and for good reason. Featuring the very well known Russell Falls it also has a number of other beautiful waterfalls and streams, walks through rainforest, snow for skiing in winter, bushwalking tracks, spots to camp and a great visitor centre and interpretation centre.

This place is a dream for any photographer, you can get a great shot whether you
walk for 5 minutes or go for a 5 hour bushwalk, most of the shots featured here are within a 10 minute walk from the main car park!

Russell Falls are spectacular especially when the snow on the mountain is melting and there’s plenty of water coming down over the tiers of the falls. For those who like to get off the beaten tourist track head up to the top of the falls for a great view back down the valley, while there take the short walk up to Horseshoe Falls which also provides some great photo opportunities. The only bad thing about this trek up the hill is the fact that you’ll need to lug up your tripod as well, to get the best out of your waterfall shots.

The other waterfall in the park definitely worth a look is the Lady Barron Falls. The track to the falls meanders alongside quite streams and lush rainforest, having the falls at the end of the track is just the bonus on the end of a beautiful walk.

Unfortunately when I last visited the direct track to the falls was closed due to a rock fall, so the only way there was via the top of Russell Falls, but its definitely still worth the walk. I’m told that work on the new track is commencing shortly so it’ll be a lot more accessible.

For more information on Mt Field and the other National Parks in Tasmania check out the Parks and Wildlife Website.

Location: Mt Field National Park, 80 mins/ 90 km west of Hobart

Sunset Reflections

2006-05-24T20:51:00.000+10:00

Winter gets a bad rap in Tassie. I think its great, you get more clear blue sky days than you do in summer and you get the beautiful River Derwent standing still.

I was lucky enough to be out for a drive last night with my son when I came across this beautiful light on a perfectly still river. There's nothing like a great sunset to get you out of the car and onto a cold riverbank in the near dark (my son happily joined me on this unplanned safari into the bush).

Shot Details: Canon EOS350D F8 @ 4 secs 400ISO, Canon EF 15-55mm Zoom Lens (28-80mm Equivalent)

Location: Derwent River, Hobart (from the Eastern Shore)

Cloud Nine

2006-05-16T15:59:00.000+10:00

I don’t know exactly why but God has been turning on some great light shows in the last week or so, Hobart particularly has been blessed with some surreal cloud formations and fantastic colours in the sky.

While I live relatively close to the Derwent River, which always provides a great foreground for sunset shots of Hobart, I never quite seem to be in the right place at the right time. Many a time I’ve raced across the suburbs to the perfect location to catch a beautiful sunset gracing the sky, only to have it fade away as I pull my camera out of my bag. The second shot had to be taken from the roof of the Eastlands Shopping Centre as there was no way I was going to convince my family to give up their shopping time so I could go and take a photo! Sometimes you’ve just got to take the shot that is available to you.
Shot Details:
Shot 1: Canon EOS 350D F3.5 1/30sec ISO 400
Shot 2: Canon EOS 350D F7.1 1/125sec ISO 400
Canon EF 18-55 Zoom (28-80 Equivalent)

Location: Hobart

** Update ** The day after posting, The Mercury ran a story about the recent cloud action.The Bureau of Meteorology were quoted as saying "Lately from Hobart in the eastern sky we've had more mid-level and high-level clouds...so at sunrise and sunset the sun is able to poke throught underneath these levels of cloud and then we have all the colours bouncing off the clouds"

USELESS FACT ABOUT TASMANIA #4
In 2002-03, 2500 53% of visitors came for Leisure or a holiday, 23% came to visit friends of relatives while 24% came for “other” reasons! Should we be worried about what the "other" reasons were?

The River

2006-05-15T10:28:00.000+10:00

The Derwent river snakes down from the streams in the mountainous National Parks and ends up flowing right throught the middle of Hobart City.

Perfect for fishing, yachting and photography. The river provides an endless source of inspiration for the amateur and professional photographer alike.

The river goes through a number of phases: the yacht races in summer, the beautiful reflections provided in the still days of winter, the autumn leaves surrounding the upper reaches of the river and the stormy seas and winds whipping up the waves in the spring.

Location: Derwent River from Bellerive Bluff

Shot Details: Canon EOS 350D Canon EF 18-55 Zoom Lens (28-80 Equivalent)
F13 @ 1/250 (Minor Photoshop adjustments)

Landscape Photographer of the Year

2006-05-15T10:22:00.000+10:00

Congratulantions to GEOFFREY LEA who has won the AIPP prize for Landscape Photographer of the Year for 2006.

Lea is a previous Tasmanian Professional Photographer of the Year winner and has been taking great images of this beautiful state for about 20 years.

Make sure you check out his fantastic work on his website.

Mucking about on Holiday

2006-05-05T13:43:00.000+10:00

When your touring around this beautiful state there will be moments when you just need to sit around and do nothing. Recently I’ve travelled to the beautiful North West Coast where we spent plenty of time checking out the area and doing the usual tourist things. By the time the kids had to be put to bed the ‘grown ups’ in the group just wanted to sit and do nothing, not great for a photographer with an itchy trigger finger. So I thought I’d snap off a few shots while they sat and then eventually coaxed them into getting out of their chairs for an experiment or two.

The first shot is simpy the guys staying in their chairs and writing a letter of my name with a small torch pointing towards the camera.
Shot Details: Canon EOS 350D F8 @ 50 Seconds ISO 400 (on tripod)

Shot 2 has one of my friends tracing all of the other guys with the same small torch.
Shot Details: Canon EOS 350D F8 @ 34 Seconds ISO 400 (on tripod)

USELESS FACT ABOUT TASMANIA #3
In 2004-05, Cheese and Curd made up 4% of Tasmania’s major exports

9 out of 100

2006-05-01T22:41:00.000+10:00

In the April/May 2006 Australian Traveller Magazine they have put together a list of the “100 THINGS TO DO IN AUSTRALIA BEFORE YOU DIE”. I’m happy to see that Tassie has featured in no less that 9 of the 100!, not bad for a state that only takes up a small percentage of both the land and the population.

So if you’re unsure what to do one day on your holiday/days off, why not give one of these a try:

* Take a peak at Cradle Mountain
* Do some time at Port Arthur
* Explore the wild Macquarie Harbour and the Franklin River
* Visit Australia’s Bay Of Fires
* Grab a feed on Gourmet Island King Island
* Take a refreshing sip from the wineglass at the Freycinet Peninsula
* Dance with the Devil
* Down an oyster at Constitution Dock

For the full list and further detail of the top 100 Australian Experiences, make sure you check out the fantastic Australian Traveller magazine or go to their website.

Location: Cradle Mountain & Lake Dove. 300km/4 hour drive North West of Hobart, 148km/ 2 hour drive West from Launceston

Shot Details: Photo taken with my very first camera, a Kodak Point & Shoot Camera! (With this beautiful location it doesn’t matter what camera use, you can’t stuff it up.)

USELESS FACT ABOUT TASMANIA #2

In 2002-03, 2500 visitors arrived by Naval Ships

Space

2006-04-25T01:16:00.000+10:00

Located on top of a small hill in the picturesque Coal River Valley sits a mass of steel that was given to the state by the big guys in Canberra (Australia’s capital is Canberra, not Sydney just in case you didn’t know).

Run by the University of Tasmania,The Mt Pleasant Radio Telescope is apparently used for a variety of research projects within the University and its location makes it a vital element in the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA) network, which sounds really great but please don’t ask me what that means.

It sits just off the road to one of Tasmania’s most popular tourist towns and the home to Australia’s oldest bridge, Richmond. It’s a weird contrast to the crops, grazing paddocks, vineyards and natural beauty of the Valley that surrounds it.

Some might think it an ugly, man made monstrosity, sitting up there getting in the way of the view across the hills, but I love it. I’ve driven the road to Richmond many times and on every occasion it grabs my attention.

I’ve entitled this shot ‘Space’ for two reasons, firstly there’s the obvious "this is a telescope looking into space" meaning, and there is the other that is more related to the composition of the shot, the fact that there is a lot of space in the photo left clear. With the telescope pointing up it draws your eye upwards, with the relatively clear sky giving you an idea of the huge expanse this telescope needs to survey.

Location: Richmond Road, Cambridge. 20km/20min drive North East of Hobart, 175km/2.5hour drive south from Launceston

Shot Details: Canon EOS 350D F10 1/200sec ISO 400 Canon EF 18-55mm zoom (28-80 equivalent)

[Photoshop: Contrast/Saturation/Brightness]

USELESS FACT ABOUT TASMANIA #1

4.9% of Tasmania’s Visitors come from South Australia

2006-04-24T11:52:00.000+10:00

G'day Everyone,

This is my first entry, I'm just setting this up so ...... WATCH THIS SPACE!

Take it easy....

Stu