Wallaby Walk in Royal National Park

I fell into another photographic slump slump over the past couple of weeks which is why there have been no posts here on the blog but have been re-invigorated again so accepted an invitation to take part in a bushwalk with a group in Royal National Park last Thursday.

The 5 kilometre walk started up at Waterfall and after organising our vehicles to provide appropriate transport at each end of the walk, we set off on the Waterfall - Couranga Track.

Setting out on the first stage of the walk
Canon 40D, Sigma 18-200mm Lens, 1/500sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Hand held

The weather was overcast however predictions of rain did not eventuate.  The cloud cover provided nice, even light and the first section of the track was relatively easy.

Further into the walk, the bush closed in on the track.
Canon 40D, Lens Sigma 18-200mm, 1/160sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Hand held

 Gradually the track narrowed and the foliage grew taller as we descended into rain forest.  The foliage was varied and I was amazed at the different types of fungi.  The diversity of colourful native flowers in bloom was also impressive, particularly given that we are still experiencing wintery conditions.

After a couple of hours which seemed to have flown by, we arrived at the old causeway to enjoy our lunch with a restful view.

Lunch and reflection during the walk
Canon 40D, Lens Sigma 18-400mm, 1/1000sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, Hand held

All in all it was a good day where I met some nice, friendly people who made me feel welcome and I look forward to spending more time in their company.  I have also identified some places I wish to return to with my tripod and more time to practice my photography.

Click to view more photos from this walk

Gymea Lilly

We are fortunate that our children all live neaby so we are able to mainatain a good relationship with them and given my interest in photography they often let me know of photo opportunities I may not otherwise see.

One of those opportunities is a Gymea Lilly coming into bloom in the Royal National Park across the road from the home of one of our girls.  As she lives on the edge of such a wonderfull natural environment I often get calls to photograph wildlife which occassionally strays into their backyard.  This time it was a Gymea Lilly immediately across the road from them and I checked it out while we were there for the birthday b-b-q but thought it would not go down well if I wandered off so I returned last night to see what I could achieve.

Gymea Lilly Faces
Canon 40D, Sigma 80-400mm Lens @ 200mm, 1/60sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Flash, Hand held.

Because it was late in the afternoon the sun was low behind the plant which caused me to use the flash to seperate the subject from the background.  This worked reasonably well but created a shadow which I had not anticipated, as you can see in the shot above.  I shall be returning to record the flowers as they open and will also be playing around with off-camera flash to eliminate that shadow.  So this subject will certainly be an interesting excercise giving me an opportunity to practice the remote slave flash control function of the 7D.


The Gymea Lilly is an extremely tall plant  so it's not often you get to look at it eye to eye but because this one is growing on the a slope falling down from the road I am able to do just that.  But even so, another element I had not anticipated when I pressed the shutter was the faces so clearly visible here.

Crested Tern

It's been a busy couple of weeks but some matters have been resolved so I should be able to focus on taking more productive photos and re-igniting my passion for photography.  Of course that also means I will be devoting more attention on this blog.

Our Wednesday Group Did our usual again yesterday with a return trip to the Royal National Park.  On our previous visit (See the Post here) we had a lovely walk at Audley and also met a professional photography crew at Wattamolla who were on a shoot for an advertisement assignment and it was interesting to chat with them as they waited for the light to change.

This time the weather forecast was a bit 'iffy' but we persisted and headed down to take a look at Garie Beach.  The weather on the day was overcast with infrequent patches of blue sky and regular heavy showers but we found that hadn't stopped a couple of fishermen from wetting their lines.

Watamolla Fishermen and Friends
Canon 7D, 24-105 Lens @84mm, 1/400 Sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, Hand held.

What appealed to me here (apart from the fishermen ignoring the freezing wind and rain) was the flock of Crested Terns keeping them company.  The few seagulls present seemed content to wait on the sand while the Terns spent time in the air watching for an opportunity.

Crested Tern Sterna bergii
Canon 40D, Sigma 80-400mm Lens @ 400mm, 1/640 sec @ f/9.0, No Flash, Hand held

The Crested Tern is a common seabird around the coast of Australia and the brown tinge to the feathers of this bird indicates it is a juvenile. 

After we had lunch further down the coast at Stanwell Park we called in to Watamolla on the way home.  It is an interesting site with many things to photograph.

Red Flowers
Canon 7D, 24-105mm Lens @ 85mm, 1/60 Sec @ f/4.0, IAO 400, Flash

I had a couple of tries at this colourful flower growing on the edge of a rock cliff before the flash froze the movement caused by the constant wind.