Photo Safari to Green Point Reserve

You may well ask..... where is Green Point Reserve?   Well.... I gotta tell ya that it is a lovely place on the shores of Lake Macquarie and just a little north of Belmont. 

Originally looking for another lakeside 'off-leash' area for our dog Barney to run rampant in, we found a well kept park and nature reserve that has walking & bicycle tracks, a wharf to fish off, a well maintained bbq area with toilets and, some lookouts up the hill that give a great command of Lake Macquarie looking south to Marks Point and north up to Bolton Point.  West across the lake is Coal Point and Carey Bay.   Unfortunately, we did not find an off leash area.   Instead we found 'no dogs what-so-ever-even-on-a-lead' signs everywhere!  Wellll....I guess it is a nature reserve!

What I did find was an awesome place for a Photo Safari.   Luckily I had had the presence of mind to take my camera bag!

The afternoon was very very hazy and zoomed shots over the lake were 'misty' with the colour slightly washed out thanks to the haze.   Those shots were good for conversion to B&W though!  For one of them I used a pre-set effect in Photoshop; something I don't do that often.   Happy to say I think it turned out very well!

The one thing that the haze did for the afternoon safari was that it made for wonderful colour as the Sun set lower in the sky.   It created a golden atmosphere above the hills as the Sun shone through and this in turn reflected wonderfully off the water. 

I also took a couple of good long exposure shots whilst there.   One of them was a 20 second exposure and as the camera shutter was open a sailboat motored past towing another sailboat.   Because of the longer exposure, the boats did not appear in the photo but there is a wake on the lakes' surface that gives it away!

In the summer when the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club starts up its' Twilight Sailing again, it will be an excellent vantage point for the fleet as they sail around that part of the lake!

I hope this finds you all well as is our case.

regards

Jordy

The photos in this blog entry are for sale. Please contact me if interested!

Marmong Point Photo Safari

The last time I went to Marmong Point I was very disappointed in mother nature; she rained on my parade! 

Yesterday, however,  was a perfect day. Lovely blue skies, some white fluffy things floating around up high.....so I decided to give Marmong Point one last chance!

I had it in mind to shoot with my ND8 filter. That way I could get a smooth lake surface, maybe some movement in the cloud and, to get that wonderful golden hue that the ND8 can do for a sunset!

As well as my Canon 600D, I also took along my Pentax A3 35mm SLR. I am running a black & white film in it at present (Fuji NEOPAN 100 ACROS). Although I don't have an ND filter for that, I was able to capture some long exposure pics (and I hope to hell they turn out!) Once I have them developed I will post them here so watch my blog!

One other thing that was on the list for yesterday afternoon was some HDR. I have not shot HDR for some time now, I guess that there are so many things to learn that I master one and move onto the next. Anyway I managed to get some of them as well!. 

I use Picturenaut for my HDR. It has an easy interface and is free!  I did try a new programme last night; Luminance HDR. It too is freeware and came highly rated on a few websites that I googled but I was so frustrated by it last night, I could not load any more than 2 files to make the HDR. Anyway, I will keep playing with it, I am not one to give up easily!

Well, here they are. I hope you enjoy them; if you do please comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

Hope you are all well!

Jordy

Something Completely Different....

As you all would know (because you are ardent followers of my blog!) I have recently purchased a new lens. Canon 50mm f1.8 - portrait lens. 

Thing is, I needed a model to test it out on. Luckily I have a good looking daughter who was more than willing to assist!

One other thing I wanted to play with is my Speedlite 430 EX flash. I have not really done much flash photography; there has never appeared to be a need for me to do so. But, now I am becoming more interested in portraiture it is something I have to conquer.

I am fairly ok with on board flash use. This Speedlite however, has the capacity to be used off camera to give some great lighting options. I can also mount it on a tripod from its' separate mount and also use it in conjunction with an umbrella and a number of other flash accessories.

We went to the Bogey Hole at Newcastle, NSW, Australia for these shots. These ones have turned out very well I am so pleased to say BUT, there were also some crappy overexposed shots. One thing about fill flash; sometimes it may be better to use a reflector! In saying this, I have better go out and get one!  Ha ha haaa..

I hope you enjoy these photos. Kim & I have certainly been blessed to have such a beautiful girl as Rhiannan.

Hope you have all been well as we have.

Lurv

 Jordy