A shot from one of the waterfalls in Mt Wilson. The rock face is almost black as coal with a blue green tinge. Tripod definitely required for this one. Specs: f13/-67ev/8 secs/ISO100/focal length 44mm
Showing two streams. Specs: f13/-67ev/10 secs/ISO100/focal length 32mm
Rainforest Mt Wilson. Specs: f13/-1.67ev/.5 secs/ISO100/focal length 70mm
A beautiful transition of the seasons in Mt Wilson. About 40 mins drive from Katoomba autumn was in full swing. With a light drizzle, the weather was otherwise great for photography of detailed nature rich in colour and textures. Some 'scenes' due to tonal arrangements work better in colour and have an impact that does not work as effectively when converted to b&w. Objects seem to merge into one another. Generally this is the case with complex arrangements. See the two photos below to compare.
A more direct, side by side example below. This time, although more detailed than the b&w example above, the two elements of the foreground have very different tonal values and separation is apparent. Leaves appear to be floating below the tree.
Specs: f4.5/1/125sec/ISO640
A return to Mt Piddington a couple of days later produced a series of images from rock layers. The variations and colours were stunning (I was equally impressed with the black and white versions). Some were taken with shallow depth of field and one in particular creates an illusion (near/far) which can be frustrating and defeats most viewers when trying to see the image "correctly" - me included. A sobering lesson in how ineffectual the conscious mind can be. Even when you know something is not right, simply telling yourself is of no help at all. Particularly frustrating when you have seen the "correct" perspective already. Anyway, here is the image... see if you can view it as it was. Hint - the blurred section on the right hand side is the most distant part of the image. Specs: f3.5/1/30sec/ISO100/-.6ev
I won't be posting the whole series here but the next is a b&w sample from the same area. Specs: f13/.6sec/ISO100/-.3ev
Mt Piddington turnoff is to the left just before Mt Victoria heading west. I'd driven around the circuit drive that surrounds the peak but never took any of the walks from there. Last weekend I went with a friend and did the Cox's Cave circuit walk. It took us the best part of the day starting out around 10am. Its an interesting and varied walk. Steep in parts but plenty of leafy vegetation underfoot. As it turned out, weather was sunny and temp in low 20s. Ideal for bushwalking really. When you are walking through rainforested area a sunny day is not a bad thing with filtered light finding its way to the valley floor. Having said that, I'm looking forward to a return in more misty conditions.
Specs: f13/.8sec/ISO100/-1ev
Most of the time was spent on the first half of the walk only realising later how much time was spent in each place exploring the overhangs, fern groves and grottos.
Specs: f13/1/6secs/ISO100/-1ev
Fern branch. Specs: f5.6/1/6secs/ISO320/-.67ev
Rock overhang (above).
This shot is a conversion of a colour file using only the red channel. It shows a good range of tones - a suitable softness for a sunset image. Colours were quite dramatic, ranging from pale green to strong pink and orange some of them just out of shot. Remarkable.
F13 1/13sec 100ISO -.67ev
I could post a shot of the mist and rain that has made the mountains home again. But then there is not much to see right now. No transition here to speak about - we're right into winter. Let's not muck about with autumn. Well its not that cold just yet. I thought I would post a shot from the world of film...
I have been missing some of the subtle colour palette that comes with film like Kodak Portra. Here is a shot taken during the last of the sunny weather we are likely to see for some time. In fiddling about with the Mamiya C330, I missed the delicate rays that slipped behind the clouds last weekend. Its been gone ever since.
This is one of the three sisters in Katoomba (hiding the other two). Just a little light left to illuminate the scene. I'll have to get back in the habit of taking notes about the film stock and shutter speeds etc now that I'll be posting some film`based images again.