Groundhogs Day
November 8, 2010
I often rise early before sunrise. I like to think its because I am a dedicated landscape photographer, but truth is this: the cat has me trained so well to let her out at that time in the morning it has become a habit. When I am at home the morning starts with a brewed cup of coffee. As the predawn light softly filters through the kitchen window I survey the sky for a whisp of cloud or any other clues as to what the day is bringing. At this time of year, Perth summer weather can be very predictable, just like in Groundhogs Day. Today was no different, the cloudless grey sky was slowly turning blue and a gentle but persistent easterly breeze was coming off the scarp, just like yesterday.
I went into the backyard and stood under the jarrah and marri trees with my cup of coffee. Above me in the trees I could hear the industrious sound of insects buzzing. Looking up, the jarrah tree was heavy with tiny yellow blossoms, which stood out in the soft predawn light. With the extent of its flowering I wondered why I had not noticed earlier? During the day when the sun is blazing in the cloudless summers skies, these soft yellow flowers become almost invisible, lost amongst the bright light and glare.
I got out the 4×5, and focused in tight on the tiny flowers and a cluster of seed pods. The magnification was life size on the film and with every breath of wind the pods and flowers jumped in and out of my ground glass viewing frame. Working at this magnification depth of focus is very shallow and I used some back tilt on the camera to help bring the foreground seed pods into the plane of focus. For just a moment the breeze stopped. In a rush I placed a single sheet of Polaroid Type 55 PN film into the camera back, set the shutter for 1/2 second at f8. Both these settings were a compromise to sharpness, but it was all I could get. To make matters worse I could hear the leaves in the tops of the trees rustle in the breeze as I pressed the cable release to make the exposure.
I like to process my Polaroid in the darkroom, preserving the negative and clearing it in sodium sulphite solution whilst in complete darkness. Most my Polaroid prints are overexposed as my aim is to obtain the negative, which I expose at the slower 32ISO rather than the recommended print speed of 50ISO.
The first rays of sunlight began hitting the blossoms, the sky turning a bright pale blue. It was going to be a fine summer’s day in Perth. What remained of my coffee had gone cold, but at least I had awakened my senses as to what was happening in my own backyard and saw something anew. Maybe it wasn’t going to be another Groundhogs day after all?
Be tenacious.
October 20, 2010
These wind swept branches are an example of how tenacious life really is, even in adverse situations. With its roots wedged between massive granite boulders, the sheer force exerted by millions of minuscule living cells is sufficient, over a long period of time, to lift and displace these rocks just enough to allow this tree to grow. And given its size it has successfully adapted and overcome environmental extremes such as no soil, prevailing winds (sometimes at gale force), salt spray, diminishing rainfall and intense sun exposure.
I can only guess how old it is, but this is one of a few larger specimens that sprawl out for several metres over the boulders at Cape Naturaliste.
Cape Clairault region
September 11, 2010
A few weeks ago I was visiting the Cape Clairault region, below Yallingup. It was one of those rare days on the coast, barely a whisper of a breeze. The clouds moved slowly across the sky and the sun shone sporadically through the small gaps. Up on the cliff tops there was the sound of crickets amongst the coastal heath and a wonderful sense of peace. Beautifully formed lines of waves broke upon the shore.
The view up and down the coast was expansive, in front of me was a tumbled down line of old wooden fence posts ending abruptly at the cliff’s edge. They once marked the extent of the property boundaries which have since retreated inland from the ocean, leaving behind this very narrow coastal strip, in parts only several hundred meters wide, as part of the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park.
At the start of my walk I had no real objective, other than to visit a small waterfall, something I have done many times in the past. A school bus parked at the walk’s commencement announced that there was going to be company on the track. I couldn’t help but reminisce about the first times I had walked this area, over 20 years ago, before there were walk tracks and wooden bridges. You could spend hours here and meet no one. This area is now part of the Cape to Cape track, although the route to the waterfall is a slight detour. Not far along I met a party of young primary school kids returning from their walk. How lucky these local kids are, to enjoy a school outing in such a location.
I had a relatively easy walk, along the cliff tops and then down into the sand dunes as I followed the passage of the small brook snaking inland. Reaching the waterfall, I had the place all to myself and I was delighted to see it was flowing, given the dry winter.
On my way back, I picked my way through the dunes towards the ocean, pausing frequently to absorb the view and perfect conditions. When I came to the mouth of the brook I made this image.
Related Articles
- Protest over Margaret River coal mine (news.theage.com.au)
- Coal mine labelled incompatible (news.theage.com.au)
Artist Lounge Talk, 7.00pm June 14th, 2010
June 5, 2010
I have been invited as guest speaker for the next “Artist Lounge Talk”, a quarterly evening event providing a forum for local art and craft minded people to listen to a professional artist (or in my case photographer) discuss their art experience and knowledge.
I will be giving an overview as to how I began my photographic career, my choice of subject matter and the founding of Stormlight Publishing. Photography has undergone rapid changes over the last decade brought about by the advancement of digital technology. Even so, I will discuss my preference for using a large format wooden field camera which I will bring along to show. Finding the balance between personal artistic expression and commercial needs is my aim in using both digital technology and maintaining the use of non digital, traditional, wet darkroom techniques. You are invited to come along for an evening of discussion and view some of my recent work.
Artist Lounge Talk, 7.00pm June 14th 2010
Liddelow Homestead
Cooper Avenue, Kenwick
for bookings and information call 9452 9903
FotoFreo 2010
April 13, 2010
Having been away during its launch I finally got down and saw a little of the FotoFreo 2010 in its last days. The biggest joy for me was at the Fremantle Arts Centre with the photographs by Qin Wen of the demolition of old Chinese buildings under a wave of new western style high rise. They were big images, about 1m x 1.5m inkjet outputs (see above pic), probably from 4×5 format given their great detail. The compositions had a theatrical air about them. You could really stop and stare into these images, seeing the new buildings on the horizon all the way forward to peoples’ faces, tangled powerlines, jumbled tiled roofs right through to intricate foreground detail. The images were almost monochrome at the edges, with wonderfully soft, muted colours, except for the woman in traditional red dress who was the thematic link in all images. The soft muted colours of this exhibition were also shared by Eugene Richards’ “The Blue Room” at the Fremantle Prison Galleries. So refreshing to see subtle nuances being displayed again in colour photography, rather than the gawdiness often associated with a heavy handed photoshop technique. Also squeezed into the prison was Brad Rimmer’s exhibition “Silence – the West Australian Wheatbelt”, one of the few local, contemporary works supported within the main exhibition program by the FotoFreo organisers.
Gourmand Book Awards, Paris.
March 4, 2010
My recently published book, Pemberton Wine Region Western Australia, represented Australia for Best Wine Photography and Best Book on New World Wines at the Gourmand Book Awards in Paris last month. The winners for Best Wine Photography in the World and Best Book on New World Wines in the World were Lombardia, Il Mosaico del Vino, Andrea Zanfi, Gio Martorana, (Carlo Cambi) and Chile, País de Vinos y de Montañas Papianile Mura (Versant Sud), respectively. Congratulations to both the publishers and authors.
