Happy Birthday to Me!

These are probably my favourite shots from my recent trip to Stanley. So I thought I'd share them today on my Birthday.

Going up the Nut

Stanley is situated on the far North West Coast of Tasmania. The major attraction of Stanley is The Nut.

The Nut itself is 152m (500 ft) tall, and was formed when lava cooled to form basalt rock. It is possible to either climb The Nut by a walking track, or take a chairlift to the top. The Nut was known as Moo-Nut-Re-ker by the Tasmanian Aboriginals, and by 1851, sailors had come to know it simply as The Nut.

I choose to walk the Nut basically because it didn't look that steep. I was wrong! My heels didn't touch the path as I walked up the track, that's how steep it was.

I stopped several times in the pretense of taking photos of the scenery, I was really catching my breath. :)


This is shot from about one third up the Nut.






This is roughly the halfway point.









Finally at the top!

Shaggy Stacks

With the unplanned day off yesterday I wasn't sure what to do to fill in my time. I went to the golf driving range for a quick bucket then started back home. That's when I thought I'd head towards Ben Lomond. I haven't been up there before and wanted to do some recon for the future.

Once again I found a rough dirt track leading up to the resort. My car really isn't designed for that sort of road, but that doesn't seem to stop me. I got up there and was absolutely freezing! And to make matters worse the lookout track was closed due to engineering concerns, so I didn't get any good shots for the trip.

However, on the drive out I came across more haystacks, this time they were shaggy. Of course I had to stop and take a couple shots. That is Ben Lomond in the background of the first three shots.

Low Head Lighthouse

This was the last stop after the Tamar River and West Heads. Low Head lighthouse, on the eastern side of the Tamar river. I have been here once before and since then had been thinking of going back. The previous time I was there I didn't venture down past the lighthouse but I could see some potential for some good shots.

I made my way through the gate and carefully walked down the step hill. I was walking past some large bushes when I came across two sheep grazing (the area is used for grazing by the owners). I saw them and they saw me. I brought the camera up nice and slowly trying not to spook them. I got the focus and exposure almost set when they decided, much like the sheep in the paddock, that they weren't having any of this and did a runner.

I proceeded down towards the sound of the waves breaking on the rocks. I was having fun jumping across the rocks finding different angles to shoot from. I didn't get too close to the waters edge since I was going to have my back turned to the waves. The last thing I wanted was to be drenched. I finally found a good spot to shoot from and found I had to clean the lens, it was covered with sea spray.

The walk back up the hill was a heart breaker, especially on the last few steps. But it was all worth it because these shots were my favourites from the entire day. I still want to go back there close to sunset, the light should be better then (or at least closer to what I had pictured in my mind) and should provide more dramatic shadows. But that can wait for a later date.

West Head Lookout

This was my next stop after leaving Bradys Lookout on the Tamar River. I was much calmer after taking the shots of the Tamar but I was behind schedule. I had planned a drive to different locations to coincide with the sun. Due the the fact I was already 2 hours behind I changed my plans and only managed to hit two other places. This is the second of the three spots.

I drove down the west side of the Tamar and arrived at Greens Beach. From here I took Gardners Road out to the West Head lookout. It's in a national park so permits do apply. The lookout looks over Anderson Bay towards Badgers Head.

I can tell you it was blowing!! The trees aren't leaning inland for there health. :) A couple of times I found it hard to keep my eyes open while taking photos. I had to take my hat off or it would be lodged in a sand dune by now.

At this point I had almost forgotten I'd been at work earlier in the day. It was a very nice feeling!

Flowers and Things

These are more shots I took with my 50mm F/1.8 lens. These are cropped. I couldn't get close enough with the 50mm but I still like the results.

This bee was huge!!! I ducked when it took off. It sounded like a plane taking off!

Campbell Town Bridge

Tamar River

These shot were taken at Brady's lookout on the West Tamar Highway.

These were taken in the last week of '08. I had just left work after being tied up for 2 hours longer than I had planned. I wasn't in a good mood at the time but after I took these I suddenly calmed down and started taking much better shots (they will be coming soon).

Garden Flowers

Edit: These were taken with my Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens. I hadn't had much chance to try out the shallow DOF so I gave the flowers a go. I couldn't get close enough with the 50mm so I had to crop these a bit, but they still came out alright.

Poppies Aplenty

Shaded from the Midday Sun

I saw this scene while I was driving out the back of Evandale. I had hoped to get more shots of the sheep relaxing in the shade but they didn't like my presence. I only got two shots off before they all made a bolt away from me.

I really don't know what their problem was? I was at least 50 metres away from them and had a fence between us. Oh well.... Enjoy!

Making Hay

New Years Fireworks

Poor old Launceston doesn't have the grand fireworks display of Sydney but, this is what it could look like if we did.

2008 Colblue in Review

2008 was a strange year for me with my photography. As the year started I was taking a lot of motorsports images but, all the while I was growing bored with them, as a result I soon gave them away after Easter. I wanted to spend more time taking landscapes so I planned a east coast holiday and spent a week taking photos. I managed to get some really good shots in that one week period, which is lucky because I didn’t get out to take another landscape for the rest of the year (till last week, anyway).

I spent a lot of my time working at my full time job and playing golf. Because I wasn’t getting out taking photos I started thinking I wouldn’t get back out there. I still took some shots in that time; all of them work related, product photos mainly. Then something extraordinary happened, I started getting my photos in company calendars. When that happened I got a rejuvenating shot in the arm and wanted to get out and take more landscapes. Unfortunately I still couldn’t find the time for them (it was driving me crazy).

In the last three months of the year I did some paying jobs that at least got me using my camera again. I even bought some extra goodies for it! But as I mentioned, I didn’t get out to shoot anymore landscapes till the last few days in the year, they will be shown in the coming weeks! I was so glad to finally get back out there. It was a very calming experience to just shoot for me! I didn’t get as many shots as I had hoped but it was still enjoyable.

So on to my favourite shots of the year 2008. Many of these shots were taken in that one week holiday I took earlier in the year, seven of them to be exact. I’ll try and put them into a chronological order.

This was one of the first shots I took for the year of the January full moon. I had never taken a shot of the moon with so much detail before.




These shots were taken in the months leading up to Easter.





















In April I finally got away for a week down the east coast of Tasmania. It was a good trip which saw me almost get my car stuck on a beach, I found every dirt road ever made, get sea sick, take a wrong turn, and take some of my best ever photos. It was eventful!!




































This is one of the rare shots I’ve taken in my home town of Launceston.






One last shot from my last photo shot of the year. This was an unplanned shot that I managed to capture.




Well, that was my year. I don't know what is in store for me in 2009 but, I hope it will involve taking photos and seeing more of this wonderful state, Tasmania.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody!!