Posting #7 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Ah, I arrived at my destination – Kununurra – after 9 days of driving and bush camping. Here are some images around the greater Kununurra area from the first day or so.

Not far short of Kununurra, and the scenery, topography, and geology changes (after leaving Halls Creek).

Assorted roadside grasses…

The fishing is fantastic in the Kimberley; this is a 1.14 meter Barramundi (released immediately after photo) caught on the lower Ord River.

The ubiquitous estaurine crocodiles (“Saltwater Crocodile”) necessitate care around the water.

Iconic Kimberley vistas…
If you have watched the movie “Australia” then you may recognise this geologic feature, known as ‘House Roof Hill’ – it is the backdrop to the fictional “Faraway Downs” homestead.
This image was captured very early on another glorious Kimberley morning.

The next image is “False House Roof Hill” – neighboring bluffs along the Ord River.

The April 2014 Lunar Eclipse occurred whilst I was in this area. The following image captures part of this eclipse over a Kimberley range.

Lake Argyle is Australia’s largest artificial lake (by volume). It is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is a sight to behold. Unfortunately these “roadside” images are all I managed to capture of this vast and beautiful feature – I must return and spend time above and on the lake!

An alternate view of the Ord River Dam – construction was completed in 1971.

Grass in seed along the dam wall – beautiful April conditions.

Posting #4 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

During my recent >9,000 km road trip highway vistas like this one routinely had me in awe of the scenic beauty of this wonderful land.

Highway-2AM-002693-002695_panorama_8-bit

Oh, how I enjoy the tranquillity of a sleepy river and the Australian bush. This is the De Grey River and rail bridge just off the Great Northern Highway near Port Headland, Western Australia. I didn’t camp here but I did enjoy the respite as I stretched my legs during the long drive.

Travelling is full of surprises…

The ubiquitous road train: some transport livestock, some transport supplies, and for others, like this one, it is iron ore.

Thanks for swinging by and I hope you enjoyed these photo’s of my travels.

Posting #3 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

This post contains images from my express visit to Coral Bay and Exmouth, Western Australia.

Ah, the tropics 🙂

These next three images are from Coral Bay – a stunning and simple place.

The front of the image is shallow water over a sand substrate; this then abruptly drops off into a deepish lagoon which is protected by Ningaloo Reef (Australia’s “other” reef) in the background. © 2014 Andrew McInnes.

Unfortunately I only spent about 8 hours in Exmouth which is nowhere near sufficient. Nevertheless, here are some scenes of this fascinating area.

A light-painting of the retired (non-functioning) Vlamingh Head Lighthouse – Exmouth. The evening air was thick with moisture from the Indian Ocean as it pounded Ningaloo Reef so I thought I’d make an image to suggest how the light from the lighthouse may have appeared to mariners of yore. During the 30 second exposure I mimicked a beam of light from the lighthouse by aiming my spotlight on the structure for a few seconds, allowing the moisture in the air to appear as a beam.
This image includes the Southern Cross (and pointers), along with a portion of the Milky Way.

Vlamingh-Head-Lighthouse---Exmouth-2AM-002554

Vlamingh-Head-Lighthouse---Exmouth-2AM_no-base-image_lighten_startrails_b

Star trails caress the retired (non-functioning) Vlamingh Head Lighthouse – Exmouth, on a blustery and balmy autumn night. This is a stacked image consisting of 61 images (each image f4 for 30 seconds at ISO 800). © 2014 Andrew McInnes.

More posts from this road trip to follow this.

Karijini National Park – August 2012

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Andrew McInnes Photography

The last blog of images taken over 10 days in the Austral winter of 2012. Karijini National Park is a must see – hope you enjoy these images presenting a feel of the place.

Dales Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-29633
Canon 30D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. f8 for 1/25 second, handheld at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Dales Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111666
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f14 for 1/10 second, handheld at ISO 800.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Dales Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-29633
Canon 30D with Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. f22 for 3.2 seconds at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Joffre Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111476
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1.6 seconds at ISO 400.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Joffre Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111490
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f8 for 1.6 seconds at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Oxer Lookout – Karijini NP 2AM-111556
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/40 second at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-29606
Canon 30D with Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f7.1 for 1/25 second, handheld, at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-29607
Canon 30D with Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f7.1 for 1/250 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111495
A motion blur image with abstract intentions.
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f8 for 1/5 second at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111498
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/640 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111506
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/500 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111569
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/100 second at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111571
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/30 second at ISO 400.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111602
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/20 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111614
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/25 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111615
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/50 second at ISO 800.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111627
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f11 for 1/30 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111635
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f11 for 1/250 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111646
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f11 for 1/125 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111651
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f11 for 1/125 second at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111671
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f14 for 1.3 seconds at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111684
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f20 for 2 seconds at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111693
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 1/2 second at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111701
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 13 seconds at ISO 100.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Weano Gorge – Karijini NP 2AM-111702
Canon 7D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. f5.6 for 20 seconds at ISO 200.
© Andrew and Allison McInnes/2AM Photography. All rights reserved.

Emu Creek Station, Western Australia.

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Andrew McInnes Photography

The missus and I had a very loose itinerary for our 10 day road trip together around parts of Western Australia; on the definite list were the stromatolites, the Pinnacles, and hot-air ballooning (see previous blog posts). We made no reservations, kept the fuel tank above 1/2 full, sort of looked at maps (some were very poor, some excellent), and just drove and enjoyed the scenery and each other immensely. On one leg of the journey the day was fast-moving toward night and we needed to find somewhere to sleep for the evening. We did not take tents or blankets so some shelter was necessary due to it being deep winter when we were there. Allison was analysing the road atlas when she said, “We have two accommodation options available. The first is a caravan park (a good option if their furnished vans aren’t already rented), the second is a “station”.” In Australia a station, when used in rural terms, is a large property (ranch in the USA). This particular station, Emu Creek Station http://www.emucreekstation.com/ is relatively small for the region – approximately 330,000 acres. I was instantly keen on the homestead stay at the station and the missus was enchanted by the idea.

We arrived unannounced just prior to dusk, were welcomed very kindly, conducted a brief business discussion and then excused ourselves to run down to the river to shoot some photo’s in the stunning light. What a bloody beautiful place this is. We shot a few images then returned to the homestead and enjoyed freshly made sausages, home-grown steaks, fresh made bread, delicious sides, and lovely company – dining with the owners and staff. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emu-Creek-Outback-Station-Stays/10150102321265483

Later that night I took a few night shots before retiring for the evening. Early the next morning was exquisite and the missus and I went for a walk and captured a few more images before returning for a lovely brekky and then heading out as we had to be back in Perth to drop off the rental car, pick up a scientific instrument for the missus’ upcoming research expedition on the Indian Ocean, and then, regretfully, get me back on the plane to Texas for work.

Should you find yourself in the Pilbarra region I thoroughly recommend you stay at Emu Creek Station and enjoy the hospitality of Kylie and John Boyle and the staff.

We sure hope to return, only this time staying for a week or more to capture more of this beautiful place. I would thoroughly enjoy capturing the transition into “the wet” starting October’ish each year – this is monsoonal country. Hope you enjoy these photo’s, all of which are from around the homestead.

The homestead bathed in soft pastel light.

The next series of images are sequenced to illustrate the vitalness of water and the transition from pasture to riparian areas; each image will take you closer and closer to the permanent water-hole in the river until, finally, you can immerse yourself in the freshness of life’s liquid – vicariously at least.

I just love the flora of Australia and I thought these White River Gums to be fascinating.

Typically I would not post such similar images as these two (above and below). However, experiencing the evening and the vista, I had distinctly different, yet very similar “feelings” when viewing this/these scenes. As such I am posting both as stand-alone images. Do you have a preference?

An alternative to homestead stays, there are numerous camping opportunities along the river; here is a sample camp-site (and the billy is on the boil).