THATS THE LAST TIME I DO A RAIN DANCE…

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No real rains for a decade in Australia, years of drought, parched farm land and dried up creeks, lakes and rivers. Lost crops, top soil blown away, water shortages the list goes ever on. This wide brown land of Australia has really been just that. For more than ten years now Australia has been gripped in one of its worst droughts on record until just a few months ago when it finally started to rain. Roughly around the time I started to consider a trip to Mungo and the Walls of China if my memory serves me correctly. That trip was a wash out with the road into Mungo closed – hey.. it happens. The truth is I have been yearning for it to seriously rain for years. My disappointment at being denied access to the Walls of China was minimised by my shear delight to actually see it rain. Parched earth and dying foliage are not the prettiest of subjects for landscape and nature photography. They are no less interesting than a field of flowers or flowing stream; its just that after so many years of drought there are only so many parched landscapes you can look at before becoming rather jaded with the whole affair.

Since that wash out trip earlier this year it has kept raining… and  raining… raining…A few sunny days have graced us with their presence; but on the whole its been nothing short of wet.

Now; less than 15 hours hours before I am scheduled to depart for The Walls of China it is still raining and the roads are well and truly closed – with no sign of opening in the foreseeable future. No more rain dances for me. Mungo and The Walls of China will just have to wait yet again.

The best laid plans can easily go astray – especially when blessed Mother Nature is involved. Which means it is time to implement the backup plan. I am heading up to the Grampians instead to photograph the many waterfalls which are now flowing again with all the recent rains. Many of them have been dry for years or a trickle at best. It should be quite a site to see them in full force and hopefully with a little luck the weather offers some good light. See you in a few days…

SEND JOSH TO THE NORTH POLE – IN SEARCH OF SANTA CLAUS

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Call this one a definite post from left field – But here is a chance to send me packing to the far flung top of the world where I could possibly get lost, eaten by a polar bear, kidnapped by a renegade band of Santa’s elves or even freeze to death. Yes, in my desire and passion to go to the worlds last pristine places in the most hostile of environments in pursuit of my photography I am trying to win Quark’s Blog your Way to the North Pole competition. If you have been a regular reader of my blog, enjoyed any of my photography or just stumbled on my site whilst browsing the web I would greatly appreciate and value your vote. Please take a moment from your busy day if you can and register and vote HERE. Whilst you are there be sure to check out Quarks amazing expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic. Thank you for your vote!

WALLS OF CHINA – UPCOMING PHOTOGRAPHY TRIP

Posted in Australia, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I have not had a lot of opportunity of late to get out with my camera for some landscape photography. To say I have been missing time out with my camera in the field would be an understatement. The ‘silly season’ has well and truly arrived and there has just been some sort of social function every weekend for weeks – it seems to start earlier every year. I am positive the Christmas trees go up earlier and earlier each year in the shopping centres. Gratefully I have managed to secure a couple of days in the first weekend of December and will be heading up past Mildura to Mungo and the Walls of China. This is part of Victoria I have wanted to visit and photograph for some time. My last attempt earlier this year was a wash out with the road into Mungo closed. It rained pretty much the entire weekend of the trip. Instead I visited the nearby Perry Sandhills and managed to get some images I was very satisfied with.

Fingers crossed the weather works out better this trip and although its a little to early to predict I am hopeful that being the first week of Summer the weather is good and the roads accessible. There is little in the way of infrastructure at Mungo so I will be camping and taking everything I need with me for the trip.The Walls of China are a feature of the Mungo Lake lunette. Over thousands of years, wind and water have carved spectacular formations comprised of sand and clay. Rain washes away the soft sands and muds of the lunette, creating the rilled ridges and residuals that characterise the Walls of China. The dislodged sand is then picked up by the wind and heaped into huge mobile dunes along the back of the lunette.

‘ABANDONED BLUE BERG’ WINS AWARD IN INTERNATIONAL APERTURE COMPETITION

Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized2 Comments

I am not normally a participant in photographic competitions. Photography for me a is non-competitive passion that I pursue for the sheer love of it. It is the pursuit of the image that drives me – not the desire to compete. I ride my mountain bike for the thrill of competition. That said, a good friend of mine encouraged me to enter some of my photography into the International Aperture Awards this year. So, dipping my toe in the water I did submit one of my photographs from Iceland – ‘Abandoned Blue Berg’. I am pleased to say that I received notification today that this photograph took out a Bronze award for excellence in the Landscape Open category.