I have blogged before that the road up to Mount Buffalo in the Victorian high Country is one of my favourite drives in the country. I enjoyed it all over again last week whilst on holidays with the family  at Bright, Mount Buffalo, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek. It has been a bumper start to the snow season this year and there was a good covering on the summit slopes as well as some lower areas with the help of snow making equipment. Temperatures were cool during the day on Saturday hovering around -2 on the top of Hotham; but the sun was out and it was glorious to be out ‘in it’. Sunday was much warmer around 8 degrees (although it felt a lot hotter chasing the kids in the snow!) I did not get a lot of opportunity for serious landscape photography as I spent most of my time on the toboggans with the kids. I did however, manage to sneak away early one morning in the dark and fog to capture a nice sunrise across the fog filled valley from the Mount Buffalo road.

This third photograph from the Perry Sandhills in New South Wales almost didn’t make the cut. I was doing one last final review of my photographs from this trip when this shot jumped out at me as having a really nice ebb and flow to the dunes. As in the other two images (Part One & Part Two)the rainstorms have added a really lovely texture to these dunes that accentuates the wind blown folds in the sand. For me this photograph is all about the texture, ridge and shape of the front dune. I have had a few emails asking me how I went about processing these photographs (in particular Part Two), so I have put together a short video on the processing; which I will post in the next few days.

This second photograph from the Ruins outside of Charlton looking from the back of the house toward the front door was also shot with the Canon 17mm TSE lens. What attracted me to this composition was the rotting floorboards leading into the frame with the doorway on the right and at the front of the building. The tree outside the far door is not what I would have liked as I feel it is somewhat of an anticlimax for the eye, but that is what was there and cloning it out would have significantly altered the image; leaving just an empty space. The inclusion of the brick ruined door frame on the left and right help frame the shot and the there is a texture and colour to the walls that I find very appealing.

On the drive back to Melbourne from Perry Sandhills (Part One & Part Two) in New South Wales I stumbled across an old abandoned house not far out of the small town of Charlton on the Calder Highway. It was one of those serendipitous moments when I just happened to glance out the side window of the car at just the right moment to spy the building in a distant paddock, partially obscured by some large trees. Australia’s countryside is liberally sprinkled with old sheds, barns and buildings – but they are usually overly dilapidated and of corrugated iron construction; which generally does not photograph at all well (at least I dont find them photogenic). This building was a good find however as its construction was old brick and its state of disrepair ideal for photography.

Old buildings such as this are getting harder and harder to find, so I have book marked this one to go back when storms are forecast for some external shots in contextual surroundings. In this photograph, taken from one of the front rooms looking out to the front door I have used the two doorways to stack depth and to try and guide the eye through the shot. I also like the warm light spilling in from the front door. I used the 17mm TSE lens for this photograph; which allowed me to correct for wide angle distortion.