ICM: Eucalyptus grove

ICM: Eucalyptus grove, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Intentional camera movement in a Eucalyptus Grove in Australia.

Another sunrise in Australia

Australian sunrise, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

They do happen every day.....

This one is again from March 25, 2012. I liked the colors and the gull walking through the frame.

Gull on the beach at dawn

Gull on the beach at dawn, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Another photo from sunrise on March 25, 2012 - Gold Coast of Australia, looking towards Surfers Paradise. I used a combination of Silver Efex Pro 2 and Color Efex 4 to achieve the look of this image.

Queensland sunrise in monochrome

Queensland sunrise in monochrome, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

I've been slowly working my way through the photos I took during Turnfest 2012. I'm on the last day (Sunday), at last. Each morning of Turnfest I walked the beach at sunrise with J. Paul Fennell, sometimes joined by Bonnie Klein and other turners.

I enjoy seascapes and sunrise as a combo because of the nuances that are constantly changing. However, I'm a bit weary of the same subject over and over again. Thus, I'm processing some of the Sunday sunrise photos in monochrome. It adds a bit of drama to the scene, I think.

In this photo, I wanted the foot prints to be leading lines to Surfers Paradise. The cloud structure lends a bit of drama and the surf and dunes add to the perspective to draw the eye to the city.

Begging in the kitchen

Begging in the kitchen, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

I've been doing a project 52 this year (one picture a week on a designated theme). This is going on over at Google+ with a bunch of photographers from around the world. This week's theme was "The Kitchen." A lot of the photos posted have been of kitchen appliances, counter tops, floral arrangements and the like. None of those ideas appealed to me.

When I think of my kitchen I envision my three dachshunds underfoot, hoping that some morsel will drop from the counter like manna from heaven. Who can resist those sweet dachshund eyes or those soft, whimpering whines?

Composition and leading lines....

Surfers Paradise, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Composition in painting or photography involves several elements that add dynamics to an image. In this photo I've used the "rule of thirds" as well as "leading lines" to the focal point. To set up this shot I needed to be low to the water and to place Surfers Paradise at the edge of the surf line. The edge of the surf in the foreground is at the 1/3 mark of the frame as is the horizon. The line of dunes and shrubs also lead to the city.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

While staying at Robyn's Nest in Merimbula, Steve and I were treated to a wide variety of birds, including a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets. They are so well named, given their colorful plumage. They are always busy in the trees, munching on flowers and seeds.

Eucalyptus Grove

Eucalyptus Grove, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Australia's forests are dominated by species of Eucalyptus. I wanted to do some ICM (intentional camera movement) work in some of the groves of trees. It turned out to be more challenging than I had anticipated because of the bright light that streamed down from the canopy. I resorted to using a neutral density filter.

Details: 0.6 sec exposure, hand-held.

Australian sunrise

Australian sunrise, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Gold Coast of Australia - the second morning of Turnfest.

Gold Coast, Australia

Gold Coast, Australia, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

One of the delightful aspects of doing seascapes is that the view is constantly changing. The play of light off the sand and surf, the variation in the color of the water, and the moving cloudscape all combine to make photography an interesting experience. I took a lot of photos of the Queensland and New South Wales coast during my trip to Australia - mostly from early morning, such as shown here.

Fairy Wren

Fairy Wren, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Birding in Australia is really a cool experience. Even the common birds can be totally enchanting, such as this diminutive fairy wren. This was hanging about the grounds at Turnfest 2012.

Morning Stroll on the beach

Morning Stroll on the beach, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Surfer's Paradise in Queensland, Australia makes an impressive skyline in the distance. Rising out of the morning mist, it looks so surreal in the early morning light.

Coconut on the beach

Coconut on the beach, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Whew! I think I'm done spending time at airports for the next little while. I feel like this coconut - adrift on the seas, hoping to land in a suitable place.

Walking the Gold Coast beach of Australia in the early hours of the morning was so relaxing - at least on the Thursday and Friday of Turnfest 2012. There were a lot of people on this beach Saturday and Sunday, which is to be expected, I suppose. However, the beach was private during the week, and that made it all the more delightful - a reward for arising before dawn...

Australian sunrise

Australian sunrise, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

As I'm sure you'll discover over the coming weeks, I really enjoyed walking the beach of Queensland at sunrise while I was at Turnfest 2012. Seascapes are wonderful subjects for sunrise and sunset because the light, wave, and cloud combinations are constantly changing. Thus, it's possible to shoot dozens of photos and each one is very different, even though they are all of the same subject.

In wood turning, I always lecture about doing a series to refine a form or a style. The same thing goes for photography - shooting the same subject over and over again until the eye begins to "see" the frame of reality, or, at least, an interpretation of reality.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

I wasn't expecting to see this beautiful patch of North American sunflowers in Queensland, Australia, but there it was - in the heart of the SeaWorld resort on the Gold Coast.

This patch of flowers has inspired me to want to plant a patch of my own this summer. Maybe the dogs will leave them alone and the goldfinches can have a blast in the fall? One can hope....

The Milky Way

The Milky Way, a photo by Stephen A. Wolfe on Flickr.

This is a photo Steve took from Thredbo, in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. He got up in the middle of the night to do some time-lapse photography of the brilliant southern sky.

Me? I slept through it all......

Coconut on the beach

Coconut on the beach, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

First dawn in Queensland, Australia. Paul Fennell and I walked the beach across from Sea World at sunrise each morning of Turnfest 2012. This was from Thursday, March 22. The overcast sky lent some drama to the scene of this lone coconut washed up on the beach. It had apparently been adrift for some time, given the colony of barnacles on the husk...

Australian landscape at sunset

Australian landscape at sunset, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

Gnarly trees about 20 km south of Cooma. Steve and I were on our way to the Snowy Mountains. After stopping in Cooma for some Turkish pizza, we were traveling along the road when I spotted this clump of trees. The combination of late afternoon light peeking from under the overcast sky onto the reddish trunk was stunning. I hope I captured that here.

Mangrove

Mangrove, a photo by andiwolfe (Jet-lagged) on Flickr.

In camera HDR; mangrove in Merimbula Lake.

One of the features of my new Canon 5D Mark III (drive-by gloat, I know) is the in-camera HDR. This was from three exposures (hand-held) -1, 0, +1 of a mangrove tree in the estuary of Merimbula Lake. The front of the tree was in the shade while the background was of early morning sunlight. The HDR effect worked wonderfully here.