Thunder and lightning – Wombarra and Austinmer, NSW.

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Last week (early December, 2015) we witnessed a wonderful series of lightning storms in the northern Illawarra area of New South Wales, Australia. Surrounded, but not underneath any particular cell, the light and drama at Austinmer and Wombarra was spectacular!

Here is a panorama of one of the lightning storm cells bathing Austinmer Beach in amazing light.

Austinmer 2AM 9850-9852 Panorama © Andrew McInnes

Stormy light over the Pacific, incorporating a little of Keswick House.

Keswick House 2AM 9854-9856 HDR © Andrew McInnes

Just a little further north is the village of Wombarra, from where the following three images were captured.

Wombarra Headland 2AM 9864-9866 Panorama © Andrew McInnes

Wombarra Headland 2AM 9867-9869 Panorama © Andrew McInnes

Wombarra Headland 2AM 9887-9888 stack © Andrew McInnes

The final two images include the Wombarra rock pool.

Wombarra Rock Pool 2AM 9900_9903 stack © Andrew McInnes

Wombarra Rock Pool 2AM 9913-9914 © Andrew McInnes

’twas a wonderfully dramatic sky, with quite the lightning show that was ongoing for quite some time. I hope you enjoyed these images.

Cheers 🙂

Horrific drought in most of Queensland – this is near Longreach.

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Oh my, this 2015 drought in Queensland is horrific! This is at Ilfracombe, near Longreach QLD.

So much heartache for our rural folks, doing it very tough! I have full admiration for the stewards of Australia’s agricultural and pastoral land.

Drought 2AM-008272 © Andrew McInnes

Cheers to the bushies!

Autumn colour, toadstools, and a train station in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

This past weekend I spent a brief couple of hours photographing near Mount Wilson and Katoomba in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia.

Although it is the end of the season, remnant autumn colour abounds at Breenhold Gardens. I went looking for colour and fanciful toadstools on a brisk and breezy dusk and was fortunate to find both.

Autumn Leaves 2AM-008205 © Andrew McInnes

This quintessential toadstool, Amanita muscaria, is commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita. I looked hard but unfortunately I failed to find any gnomes or fairies 😉

Amanita muscaria – Toadstool 2AM-001323 © Andrew McInnes

A bit more colour…

Autumn Colour 2AM 8175-8177 HDR © Andrew McInnes

Autumn Leaves 2AM-008172 © Andrew McInnes

Pink Spider Lily 2AM-001341 © Andrew McInnes

More fungi – clumps of mushrooms.

Mushrooms 2AM-001314 © Andrew McInnes

On the way home after dark I stopped in Katoomba as the train station caught my eye. The first two images were on the way to the platform…

Katoomba Railway Station 2AM-008226 © Andrew McInnes

Katoomba Railway Station 2AM-008229 © Andrew McInnes

This is the view of the Katoomba train station that enticed me to stop and photograph on what was fast becoming a bloody cold evening.

I hope you enjoyed this very limited discovery of a portion of the Blue Mountains.

Cheers 🙂

“OMG – Mine Your Food Bowl?” Open-cut coal mines on the Liverpool Plains?

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

I recently conducted a 36 hour reconnaissance drive up to Breeza and Caroona on the Liverpool Plains area of NSW to examine the area where several open-cut coal mines have been proposed – at least one of which, the Shenhua Watermark mine, is foreign-owned. The Liverpool Plains a highly productive region of Australia with vast acres in production of barley, chickpeas, faba beans, sorghum, sunflowers, soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton, plus grazing of beef cattle and sheep. I concur with the protesters slogan of “Wrong mine, wrong place.”

On the drive up I hoped to photograph the extensive raping and scarring of the land through the Hunter Valley but opportunities are not prevalent from the roadside due to significant concealing of operations and the resultant ramifications. I am not against mining, per se, however I do have issues with “the commons” being over-extracted for the profits of a few whilst the landholder has little recompense for the invasion, and the people of this nation see very little direct financial benefits.

The following two signs are in close proximity, located alongside the Kamilaroi Hwy, near Breeza.

Should they be able to mine this…

and turn it into this?

Here is a warning sign to the public (the same public who paid for the road) that as a result of mining activity in the Hunter Valley the public infrastructure is likely compromised…

Let’s Lock the Gate “to protect our common heritage – our land, water and communities – from unsafe or inappropriate mining for coal seam gas and other fossil fuels.”

To wrap this blog-post up here are several images capturing a very small portion of the scenery, productivity, and lifestyle of this magnificent agricultural region. I am very grateful to the property owners for their time and the access to their properties.

These first four images were captured as I arrived just prior to dusk at “Rossmar Park” near Caroona.

The next morning, along Coonabarabran Rd, near Caroona.

“Breeza Station” – Breeza.

“Drayton” – Breeza

Cheers 🙂

Morning fog in the Capertee Valley – NSW, Australia.

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Early morning fog envelopes a bluff on the boundary of Wollemi National Park and a rural pocket near Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley, NSW.

Cheers 🙂

Murphy’s Haystacks – Streaky Bay, South Australia.

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Near Streaky Bay, South Australia, there is a farmer’s field containing numerous pink granitic rock formations – known as inselbergs (or monadnocks for those of you in the U.S.A.) and are located between Streaky Bay and Port Kenny on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

Both of these images are light paintings.

For this first image I wanted to create a look of Aboriginal rock art being illuminated by fires in the recesses between the boulders. This is a stacked image.

Murphy's-Haystacks-2AM-6674-6675and6678-6679

For this second image I wanted to create the look/feel of a giant wave breaking over a boulder on a beach (hence the use of the blue gel on a flash) – the light-painting was a duo effort, one with an orange lights, one with a LED light.

A hinterland creekbank – Noble Falls, Western Australia.

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Varied textures along a hinterland creekbank – just east of the Darling Scarp at Noble Falls, near Perth – including granite, grasstree, and gumtree.

A few quick photo shoots in Halifax and surrounds – Nova Scotia, Canada.

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Andrew McInnes Photography

I recently undertook an express visit with my wife to visit friends who were staying in Halifax for a period. I only managed to get out and photograph on a few occasions but was enamored of the area. Magnificent vistas, abundant maritime history, so ripe with scenery and scenes; I would have thoroughly enjoyed more time exploring and photographing. Nevertheless, here is a sampling of images from the very few times I was able to go walkabout. I hope you enjoy!

This is the first image I captured – I love the posture, gait, and apparent enthusiasm of the youngster; the dog’s tail; and the fact that the father had a bright red sweater on (excellent for ‘pop’ of people out in nature).

Halifax 2AM-000802
Canon 7D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens. f4.5 for 1/800 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

A chicane of sorts …

Halifax 2AM-000834
Canon 7D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens. f5.6 for 1/2000 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Although we witnessed some glorious fall color, it was the same old situation of “you should have seen it last week!” 🙂
the next two images include a birch tree – the bark and patterning thereof fascinated me.

Halifax 2AM-000851
Canon 7D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens. f8 for 1/800 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Halifax 2AM-000860
Canon 7D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens. f8 for 1/400 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Definitely much color still available around the area, even if the leaves had fallen.

Halifax 2AM-000887
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f4.5 for 1/1600 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Early in our visit our hosts took me out for a brief but wonderful excursion to Herring Cove. Although very overcast and gloomy, the light was lovely for scenes that didn’t include much, if any, sky. After this mini-hike it was time for lunch so we stopped in at “Now We’re Cookin’!” where I had the superb gastronomic pleasure of a dozen perfectly fried and ultra-delicious “Digby Clams.”

Here are a series of images from the Herring Cove Provincial Park Reserve from that visit:

I call this image “The Admiral” – hopefully you can deduce why 🙂 I captured one of our hosts overlooking a temporarily tranquil Atlantic Ocean – it was a fleeting opportunity to get the shot, so I did not have time to adjust the camera settings, hence the very slow shutter speed for a hand held shot. Thankfully I managed to be stable enough for a sharp image.

“The Admiral” – Herring Cove 2AM-000977
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/13 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Early into the gorgeous walk I found this scene and liked the various elements so much – hence this image to capture it 🙂

Herring Cove 2AM-000976
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/13 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Loved these rosehip berries!

Herring Cove 2AM-000982
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f4 for 1/100 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Herring Cove 2AM-001009
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/15 second at ISO 1000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Same general scene, different interpretation. My photographic mentor drummed into me to shoot and shoot and shoot a scene from numerous angles/interpretations, with a strict caveat that each composition/interpretation must be appealing to me, not just shooting a bunch and ‘hoping’ one of them will be ‘good’.

Herring Cove 2AM-001011
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/15 second at ISO 1000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

A portion of the walking trail.

Herring Cove 2AM-001027
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/20 second at ISO 1000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

More of the meandering walking trail and a very typical scene of this splendid coast.

Herring Cove 2AM-001025
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/30 second at ISO 1000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

’twas a very blustery gloomy day and the smart one here (that would be me 🙂 ) decides to take a multi-hour exploratory walk around the Halifax waterfront to take in some of the history of this place. When I say it was blustery, it was really blowing! There is a bit of a tale from my home country that goes something like this: “Tie a brick onto a long piece of line and hang it so that it is free to swing. If the brick/string is vertical, there isn’t enough wind to go sailing; If the brick/string are horizontal, then perhaps there is a little too much wind for a sail; Anywhere in between = just right for a sail.” Well, the brick would have been darn near horizontal whilst I wandered around that particular day 😉
This block and blue line appealed to me as they hung and swung, suspended above the dark cold water. Hope you enjoy it too.

“Block and Blue” – Halifax 2AM-000914
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f8 for 1/160 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

I find the marine flora and fauna of cold water habitats fascinating, and Nova Scotia in early winter did not disappoint me.This image, and the mussel image following it, were taken on a bucking and rolling floating dock that was doing its non-level best to ensure that either I fell in the cold cold water, or dropped the camera into said water, or fail to get a sharp image of the subjects that were interesting me. I am very thankful that the 5D Mark III handles high ISO noise so bloody well!

Halifax 2AM-000931
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f8 for 1/40 second at ISO 3200.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Halifax 2AM-000937
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f8 for 1/30 second at ISO 5000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Some scenes need capturing, despite the quality (or lack thereof) of available light; I thought this public art installation the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk to be such a scene. This public art installation is a collaboration between Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg. One of the lampposts (at rear in this image) is peeing in the ocean. The other two are on their way home after drinking too much – the closest has stumbled and fallen, the other is bending over to check if all is okay with the fallen one.

“Drunken Street Lights” – Halifax 2AM-000946
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f8 for 1/30 second at ISO 5000.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Boardwalk boards (and nails)

Halifax 2AM-000958
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f4 for 1/100 second at ISO 500.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Whilst she isn’t particularly old, this yacht is reminiscent of a time apparently long gone, when vessels actually had lovely lines! Plus, what’s not to like about bowsprits, jib-booms, bowlines, and vertically seamed sails with stitched lines along the leech?

Halifax 2AM-000968
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f16 for 1/125 second at ISO 500.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

A new day, and, well, there were some trees still shedding their colorful leaves, and a stunningly sky, so why not?

Halifax 2AM-001342
Canon 7D with Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f8 for 1/3200 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Halifax 2AM-001400
Canon 7D with Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f8 for 1/2500 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Dusk was rapidly descending on a bloody chilly day when I happened upon this lovely little yawl at rest on its mooring in a secluded and tranquil inlet.

Halifax 2AM-001083
Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. f22 for 1/10 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes “hard to figure out at first” is intriguing – to me at least 🙂

A revisit to Herring Cove because the light was “cleaner.”

A little ‘overflow’ creek from Powers Pond to the Atlantic Ocean (via Herring Cove).

To me these next two images typify coastal fishing hamlets.

To my eye, when strolling around town, this image was very appealing. Initial concerns about it being “too busy” rapidly dissipated – likely due to the location of the colored elements, the reflections, and the leading line of the dock. Perhaps I am mistaken?

Speaking of reflections… here are two more from the walking trail at Herring Cove Provincial Park Reserve.

A stunning blue sky, granite, and grass.

My final image from Herring Cove showing one side of the entrance to Herring Cove; the great blue yonder is the fabled ornery Atlantic.

On the coldest day of the winter thus far (it having snowed the first snow of the season the previous night), we ventured on a quick trip down to Peggy’s Cove – a gorgeous sunset, some ice in the rocky depressions of the granite headland, and it was blowing stink, and we were right on the edge of the Atlantic. Not blowing quite strong enough for there to be whitecaps in the toilet, but darn near!
The following images were all captured within roughly one hour, and again, I present 4 images with the lighthouse in it, each sufficiently appealing to me.

There were some strange light behavior happenings last evening during dusk at Peggy’s Cove – one with my lens glare (this image), the other some neat atmospherics (the next image).

The three of us who were there together all were mesmerized by the vertical shaft of light – normally I expect to see crepuscular rays, but this instance had only the vertical element. As it was developing I was scampering around trying to find any element for foreground interest. “Beam me up” or perhaps a “batman-like beam.” 😉

And to wrap up this visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia – Canada, here is a light-painting of the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove – the primary purpose of the quick evening trip to Peggy’s Cove. I hope you enjoy this light-painting image – is was certainly the most difficult to make: my wife and our host said I looked a bit like a mountain goat running around over the rocks and boulders in the dark whilst painting the scene with my trusty Q-beam II Million power flashlight.

A few hours in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Andrew McInnes Photography

On the first day that the National Parks were reopened to the citizens who own them, I drove to the Smoky Mountains to have a few hours in Cades Cove – a truly remarkable location, and a visit I highly recommend.

All images are Copyright © Andrew McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.
If you wish to purchase prints please visit my website http://andrew-mcinnes.artistwebsites.com/ or send an Email to me.

I feel so very fortunate to see a family of American Black Bears up close and personal – sort of.

Peek-a-boo 🙂

Mama bear ascends. Such amazing claws/claw strength!

Unlike the assorted yahoo’s who observed the scene with me, I did not approach and stand under the tree!

The fog was very thick when I first arrived. This scene/habitat is very similar to that where I observed the bears.

Morning light flashes the prairie through the fog.

This is not a monochrome/black-and-white treatment. Rather, the fog and rain and mist altered the light to what you see here.

The lovely winding road that leads to Cades Cove follows a stream for a good portion, and this lone tunnel is always intriguing to me. I stopped to take this image on my way out – the fall leaves are beginning to turn on a show right now!

These images are a mere sampling of the wondrous place that is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For more of my images of the park, swing over to some of my earlier/archived posts:

https://2amphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/a-bloody-cold-shoot-in-the-mountains/
https://2amphotography.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/serenity-in-the-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/

Cheers,

Andrew

Malaysia (3 of 3) – Scenes from a ship on the South China Sea.

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Andrew McInnes Photography

This is the third, and final, post covering my recent trip to Malaysia. As it was not a photography or vacation trip, I took one camera with one lens – no tripod, flash, etc. Consequently, all of these images are handheld or rested on objects, and all are taken essentially as ‘snapshots’ throughout the day/night and with whatever light was available, not targeted light. All images were captured with Canon 7D and Canon 24-105mm f/4L lens. Taking images with a slow shutter speed on a moving ship is certainly challenging 🙂

South China Sea 2AM-116929
Clouds and some of the unidentified islands (to me at least) of the South China Sea, photographed through the plane’s window somewhere between Kuala Lumpur (on the Malaysian peninsular) and Labuan Island (just off Malaysian Borneo).