Fly with me ... across Australia

[Mad Aussie]

Hi all http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/home/smf/Smileys/classic/wavey.gif

I once took you along for a little virtual bicycle ride, and then JJeling stepped it up with his cool virtual tour of his holiday cruise recently.

My wife and I just returned from a weeks holiday in Western Australia (WA) which we enjoyed immensely.

The map below shows our home city of Brisbane, Queensland, and the route the Boeing 737 airliner took to take us over to Perth in WA where we were picked up by Phil, a long time friend of mine (my oldest and dearest), who lives now in Bunbury.
Bunbury is about 2 hours drive south of Perth and is where we were based under the excellent guidance and amazing hospitality of Phil.

The insert shows the area we covered and some of the towns we visited for those interested.
I realize the map is a bit small but you can google map this area easy enough to see more detail if you wish of course.

Australia is a big country (almost the size of the USA without including Alaska) and WA was very different from our own area.

As I get the photos processed over the next week or so, I'll keep adding a bunch here for those that want to sit back and come along. You'll see the red deserts in the outback, some amazing birds, quaint sights and sites, a rugged and violent coastline with incredible geological interest, limestone caves, and more.

It was a holiday to remember and I'd like to you enjoy it with us. :)

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/map.jpg

Flight Stats
I took along a little cycling GPS unit and on our return flight I recorded the journey ... here are some stats from the flight home ...

Distance - 3746 km
Altitude - 2200 m
Max Speed - 1126 kph
Average Speed - 871 kph
Flight Time - 4hrs 18 mins

Day 1 has about 18 photos ...

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 1 - BRISBANE to PERTH

We'd had a lot of rain and flooding in our area in the week before we left. Takeoff was in wet and miserable weather.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/1_MG_8041-2.jpg

In a few minutes though we were high above the weather and heading west
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/2_MG_8050-2.jpg

Rural farmland
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Slowly the scene was changing from the greens and browns of farmland to the reddish Australian outback
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/20_MG_7086.jpg

The outback from the plane window
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/21_MG_8104.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

The harshnest of the desert
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Sand dunes for miles.
I have a friend who is currently cycling down there somewhere. He is doing a 7500 km cycling trek through 10 of Australia's deserts for charity. Russel will have climbed over 2000 sand dunes by the time he finishes this amazing and never before attempted journey. A link to Russel's website/blog we built him is here for those interested http://www.adventuruss.com/
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/34_MG_7092-2.jpg

The desert has many patterns
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/35_MG_7093-2.jpg

Lake Eyre is a large salt lake that very rarely has water. It has been used as Australia's answer to the Bonniville Salt Flats and also is the site of land speed records. Recently though, Lake Eyre got rain and people are flooding there to see this once or twice lifetime opportunity.
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more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

Back over red desert. We were flying over this sort of terrain for hours.
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As we got closer to the WA coast the clouds began their build up. Perth and the south west corner of the state had also had a week of heavy rain.
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This was very cool! I looked down and saw the 737's shadow showing in a halo on the cloud below. Glimpses of the land still visible between the clouds.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/55_MG_8198-2.jpg

Flaps down. "The captain would like to remind everyone that the seat belts sign is now illuminated and all passengers should have their seats in the upright position, trays fastened, all cabin baggage stowed away in the overhead lockers or under your feet. Please keep your barf-bags at the ready cause I land like a New York cabbie but care less about what you think.
Thank you for flying with Qantas, if you survive the landing please consider taking your life in our hands again!"
I joke ... they were great. :)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/56_MG_8203.jpg

That's it for Day 1 folks. We travelled by car down the coastline to Bunbury and did a short amount of local site seeing to get a feel of where we were before heading to our home for the week and enjoying a nice home cooked meal.

[AntZ]

Cool shots. I don't think I have done a flight with a decent camera....or a clean window;). Only ever been to WA once and it was for work. Looking forward to seeing WA through your lens.

[Greg_Nuspel]

We have West Jet here where joking is part of the customer service. They are a no frills airline and I can remember once when a new passenger was asking one of the employees if they needed to bring snacks on board. He looked her over and replied; "Yes we don't supply those and by the way where is you lawn chair or are you planning to stand the whole flight".

BTW I think Qantas still has the best safety record of all airlines.

[Mad Aussie]

We have West Jet here where joking is part of the customer service. They are a no frills airline and I can remember once when a new passenger was asking one of the employees if they needed to bring snacks on board. He looked her over and replied; "Yes we don't supply those and by the way where is you lawn chair or are you planning to stand the whole flight".

BTW I think Qantas still has the best safety record of all airlines.
I think that's still correct yes. Although you don't hear about the various mechanical issues they have I guess as we do.
We usually fly Virgin Blue here due to the better pricing but this was a long flight so a bit extra was worth it I guess.

West Jet sound like a load of fun :)


Cheers also AntZ ... mostly through my wide angle as that's my new toy so I figured I might as well learn to use it.

[Barefoot]

This is gonna be fun. Some of the best wing shots I've seen.

I can understand the need, but I'm still amazed at the size of the tires on Russel's bike. Must take a lot of energy just to move them on good terrain.

[Mad Aussie]

This is gonna be fun. Some of the best wing shots I've seen.

I can understand the need, but I'm still amazed at the size of the tires on Russel's bike. Must take a lot of energy just to move them on good terrain.
Thanks BF.

Russel is amazing. Accomplished Mountaineer, winner of 24hr mountain bike events, done 'hauling' (I think it's called??) in Alaska where you drag your supplies behind you while you trek through snow, already ridden from Perth to Gold Coast (just south of Brisbane) on a mountain bike for charity. Amazingly nice guy. And single too girls ;)

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 2 - Bunbury town and Bird Sanctuary

Before we got into the traveling around we took and easy day to just kick back, do some food shopping and have a look around the town that would be our home for the holiday.

The first three shots here are taken from a lookout very late on Day 1 (on our way from the airport) and the rest are at a bird sanctuary in Bunbury.

Most of the birds are Australian although a few are not. Most of the shots are either from in Averies, or birds freely wandering around the grounds. A few, sadly, are in cages that I felt were too small for some birds.

Anyhow ... enjoy some colourful feathered friends who loved landing on us, picking and pulling at Leanne's ear rings or trying to undo our camera bags.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d1-60_MG_8207.jpg

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[Mad Aussie]

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-5_MG_8303.jpg

This is the beautiful Blue Winged Kookaburra. The cage for the 2 birds in here was too small. They could only fly about 2 metres max.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-6_MG_8329.jpg

Blue Winged Kookaburra's feathers up close
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-7_MG_8332.jpg

Duck 1 - "Ahhhh ... You go first man!" Duck -2 "What's stopping you? Your legs painted on??"
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http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-9_MG_8363.jpg

more coming ...

[Mad Aussie]

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more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-15_MG_8384.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-16_MG_8401.jpg

Punk Rock Chicken!!
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-17_MG_8403.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-18_MG_8410.jpg

Australian Ringed Neck Parrot ... called '28's' by the locals due to the sound of their call. Every time we drove around this area we saw these parrots in flocks feeding by the roadside. We even hit one at about 110 kph. One less to marvel over I'm afraid.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-19_MG_8416.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

Last lot of birds today ...

Another '28'
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-20_MG_8473.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-21_MG_8452.jpg

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http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-23_MG_8465.jpg

Tawny Frogmouth ... I think related to the Owls and often called a Frogmouthed Owl. These are quite common in our area also and I've seen them when out night riding in the forest on the mountain bike.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d2-24_MG_8482.jpg

That'll do for a bit.

Next up is Day 3 ... some photos from out of the car to show the roads etc and the little seaside town of Bussellton around sunset with the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere apparently.

[Mad Aussie]

Day 2 (Afternoon) - Busselton for Sunset

After seeing the birds in the morning we decided to spend the late afternoon by shooting down the coast to Busselton, home of the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately on arrival we discovered it was closed off due to dis-repair and renovations were due to start soon. Never mind, we just made lemonade from lemons.

Here's our awesome host Phil ... hard at the wheel with the Queen sitting behind ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-1_MG_8497.jpg

The next few shots are just snapshots to show you the look of the roads (yes we drive on the left side ... yes our steering wheels are on the right) and the look of the soil and flora...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-2_MG_8501.jpg


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A personal roadside memorial for someone who died in a car accident at this spot. This a common practice in Australia.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-6_MG_8512.jpg

Coming into the town of Busselton.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-7_MG_8520.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

An old jetty
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-10_MG_8555_6_7-2.jpg

Same jetty ... you can see the Busselton jetty to the right of frame. Jetty is 1.8 kms long
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-11_MG_8565_66_67_70.jpg

An extraordinary amount of weed had washed up on shore. Not so nice for the swimmers but certainly gave me something to use in the photos.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-12_MG_8591_89_90.jpg

Our view while we sat and enjoyed a coffee outside the Cafe and awaited the sunset.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-13_MG_8601_2_3_5_6.jpg

A not very stunning sunset over the Busselton Jetty
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-14_MG_8655_6_7.jpg

A photographer sits on another old jetty taking photos of several Terns sitting on the old pylons.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-15_MG_8694_5_6.jpg

The Waterslide and a Restaurant/Cafe
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d3-16_MG_8616_7_8.jpg

That's it for Day 3!

Day 3 takes us further down the coast to the very tip of the south western corner of Australia where the desolate coastal landscape after recent fires, rugged shoreline and the ocean, limestone caves, wild Ospreys and Seals, and a lighthouse tour kept us enthralled all day long!

[kat]

Swweet! HDR came out wonderful!!! Too many fantastic shots to pic them out!!!

[Mad Aussie]

Swweet! HDR came out wonderful!!! Too many fantastic shots to pic them out!!!
Thanks Kat. So many more to come :)

[Mad Aussie]

Day 3 - Cape Naturalist Region

Cape Naturalist is the very bottom corner of the State of Western Australia. It's the tip of the hook of land down there where whales, dolphins, large sharks, Antarctic winds, huge waves and high cliffs and rocks abound.

Forgive the constant HDR Merge's if you will please folks :headslap: I decided this holiday would be a great opportunity to learn so much about that technique and learn to use my 10 -20 mm wide angle lens also. I made many mistakes of course but hopefully I'm learning from the resulting images.

1st stop ... Eagle Bay. It was a bit breezy here and the very early sun was right at us.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-1_MG_8735.jpg

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The next bay around was Bunker Bay where keeping things clean was taken seriously ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-4_MG_8741.jpg

We climbed the track to a lookout on the cliffs. This is part way along that track.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-5_MG_8743.jpg

Fire had been through here recently
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-6_MG_8751_2_3.jpg

more coming shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

The view from the lookout above Bunker Bay
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-7_MG_8756_7.jpg

Looking back at the cliffs where the lookout is
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More Bunker Bay views ...
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[Mad Aussie]

The Cape Naturalist Lighthouse ... built in 1903. That's very old for anything in Australia!!
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View from the top of the lighthouse
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Desolate landscape along the trail to the Seal colony. The whole area is usually covered in coastal heather and not much else due to the constant winds.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-15_MG_8850_1_2.jpg

High above the seal colony. That last crop of rocks in the center of frame is where most of the seals were. A bit far away.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-16_MG_8856_7_8.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

The New Zealand Fur Seals of this colony play in the water and bask on the rocks. It was surprising to learn they had made their home so far from their own shores.
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A Whale bone lies in the rocks far below us. Southern Right Whales and Humpbacks are regular visitors here in season. Whales were spotted the day before but we didn't see any.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-19_MG_8867.jpg

An Osprey circled above. It was chilly here. Wind burn was the order of the day.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-20_MG_8862.jpg

More of the rocky and desolate terrain.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-21_MG_8880.jpg

more soon ...

[Mad Aussie]

A short drive towards the town of Yallingup is this spot ... Sugarloaf Rock.
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Another short drive and we arrived at Canal Rocks ...
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[Mad Aussie]

While taking the following photos I swung around and saw my best Phil up there in the rocks ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-35_MG_9190_1_2.jpg


The next two shots are two of my favourites from the whole holiday ...

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http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-37_MG_9220_1_2.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-38_MG_9184_5_6.jpg

And that wraps up Day 3. It was an awesome day out in an environment mostly alien to me with photographic opportunities I'm not usually privy to.

Day 4 was an easy day in Bunbury. A sleep in after our big day out at Cape Naturalist was welcome. In the afternoon we went down to the ocean beach in Bunbury to see what we could get around the rocks. That's next. Tomorrow night.

[AntZ]

Love the jetty shots and Bunker Bay....and the bird shots.

Aww Man! Your posting them faster than I can comment...It might be easier if I find one I dont like;) That will find me some typing.

[Mad Aussie]

Love the jetty shots and Bunker Bay....and the bird shots.
:D Thanks mate ... I'm happy with many of them. Some not as much.

[JAS_Photo]

Love the parrots! The first guy in particular, an Alexandrine(?) looks like he has you humans trained just right!

[JAS_Photo]

Holy crap! You a whack of stuff while I was admiring the first set of birds!

[Mad Aussie]

I'm quick when you aren't looking Raiven :)

No idea what that first bird is though. Possibly an overseas model.

[Greg_Nuspel]

Great stuff here makes me want to visit Australia...like I didn't before :goodvibes Love the coastal stuff, the rugged rocks are excellent. Your HDR give a somewhat surrealistic feel to the coast. Love the birds used to have a cockatiel when I was young as a pet, loved to sit up on my shoulder, he hated my ex-girl friend. Friends of mine are part of an exotic bird rescue group here, people don't understand the commitment it is to having these beautiful birds as pets. Can't wait to see more of your trip.

[Mad Aussie]

You'll be happy then Greg. Lots more rugged coastal shots coming yet :)

[Marko]

Wow what a great series there MA! Thanks for sharing this series and many wicked good shots here.
Thx for sharing!!
Marko

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Marko :)

[kat]

I am sooooooo #$%$ing jealous right now..not even funny MA. Wonderful shots!!! Just wonderful! I love it..love it. Wish I could of taken these!!

:highfive:

[Mad Aussie]

I am sooooooo #$%$ing jealous right now..not even funny MA. Wonderful shots!!! Just wonderful! I love it..love it. Wish I could of taken these!!

:highfive:
Marko ... Kat said a swear word!!! :eek: And it wasn't over the phone in a sexy voice so I'm telling!!! :evil2:

:D Thanks very much Kat ... coming from you and the photos you take of this nature ... that's high praise!

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 4 - Bunbury

This was a nice easy day after a big Day 3. Some shopping and then a trip down the surf beach while Phil went for a massage for his back. Seems we worked him pretty hard down at Cape Naturalist poor fella. :)

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http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-51_MG_9324.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-52_MG_9327.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-53_MG_9333.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-54_MG_9348.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-55_MG_9354.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-56_MG_9372.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-57_MG_9386.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-58_MG_9397.jpg

Finally we got down past the rocky section. You can see the Surf Club building down the beach where our walk ended.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-59_MG_9402.jpg


I decided I'd might take a moment to create a little tribute to photography.ca
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-60_MG_9249.jpg

Terns were flying out into the surf to grab a fish and then return
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-61_MG_9553.jpg

And that's it for Day 4.

Day 5 is another trip down the bottom of the state to see more of that awesome coastline, some autumn colours, old buildings, and one of the coolest little beaches I've ever had the pleasure to visit, Elephant Cove.

[JAS_Photo]

:) I like that last shot, M.A. from post 36. The last shot above is cool too. You guys fishing in there? It looks a little rough.

[Mad Aussie]

:) I like that last shot, M.A. from post 36.
The bird? Or did I post at the same time meaning you mean the Fisherman?

[kat]

Wow again! Here is a silly question for you. When you shoot, of course you are using autobracketing, does the shots come out together or bang one right after the other? Do you see any ghosting in water?

I don't have autobraketing..lots of these would be out of my range..lol.

I love them!!!!!

[Marko]

Hey MA - Thanks for that tribute! Course you've made us all TOTALLY jealous :p but very thoughtful :)
Can I blog this shot if I choose to?

Thx!!! - Marko


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d4-60_MG_9249.jpg

[MoinMoin]

Steve - how can I ever put here one of my pictures, when there are all these awesome photos from you?!! They all are totally great. :highfive:. My favourite is the "The Cape Naturalist Lighthouse".:1st:

[kat]

Oh oh. I'm sorry. Did I say a bad word?? lol. Sorry marko. I just couldn't help myself. It's like when I stub a toe..it just comes out!

:p

[Mad Aussie]

Wow again! Here is a silly question for you. When you shoot, of course you are using autobracketing, does the shots come out together or bang one right after the other? Do you see any ghosting in water?

I don't have autobraketing..lots of these would be out of my range..lol.

I love them!!!!!
Thanks again Kat.

Yes I use auto bracketing. I start with Aperture Priority and if I'm using my tripod (which is often) I use the 2 sec timer. This way, the camera simply snaps off all 3 shots one after the other in rapid succession. I check the three shots and sometimes then take another shot or two manually if I think I need more.

Yes, with moving subjects I get ghosting. Water crashing over rocks etc tends to look crap after processing in photomatix. I ignore that and get the shot how I want it anyhow. Then I take the photo into photoshop and fix the ghosting, weird colours etc from there. Sometimes the halo effect from the HDR Merge is difficult to avoid which is a shame.

If I find all of the above doesn't work well ... I revert back to my old manual way of doing it by simply layering the shots in PS and blending them with masking. Takes longer but the result is more natural.

[Mad Aussie]

Marko ... of course ... no need to ask me :)

Moin Moin ... thank you Kerstin. You might like some of the shots I got on Day 5 .... an old clock tower might appeal. Might take me a day or two to get to those yet though.

[casil403]

Stunning shots MA ... thanks for the show and the tour! :highfive:
Reminds me alot of the west coast of Oregon in the USA....another beautiful place.
Again...stunning...simply stunning! :)

[EJC]

Thanks for all these fabulous shots MA. Now don't spend all your time on the computer! Go outside and play with your friends :laugh:

cheers

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Casil.

What friends EJC?? I don't have time for friends!! :)

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 5 - Albany - Denmark

Day 5 was a big one. We covered just over 800 kms (500 miles) and still managed to see some cool stuff.

We started out early ... about an hour or so before sunrise and watched as the sun threatened but seemed to fail in a glorious sunrise.
I said to Phil that the sunrises had failed to impress.
Not 5 mins later we rounded a corner and saw this ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-1_MG_9584.jpg

I swear ... no processing on that shot. It's as is from the camera shot in RAW! So much colour. I couldn't believe it.

Then a truck passed and saw the reflection on the trailer ... so I waited for another ... and got this one ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-2_MG_9603.jpg

was pretty happy with that.


Moving on we stopped at a little town for a coffee and while our host Phil went to buy the Latte's I found this this little building ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-3_MG_9614.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-4_MG_9621.jpg

I love the Autumn colours. We very rarely see anything like this around Brisbane where I live. Deciduous (sp?) trees are just not common there.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-6_MG_9630.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-7_MG_9639.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-8_MG_9645.jpg

More shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

After several hours driving we arrived in Albany down on the south coast.

Here's a clock tower we found in the centre of town ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-5_MG_9665.jpg

After that it was up to the local lookout ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-15_MG_9677.jpg

After some food we drove to the coast itself ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-16_MG_9710.jpg

This area was just awesome. The power of the waves and colours in the water were astounding ...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-17_MG_9740.jpg

This spot is called 'The Gap'
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-18_MG_9774.jpg

You can see by the size of the lookout how far down it was to the water
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-19_MG_9807.jpg

more soon ...

[Mad Aussie]

This is called Natural Bridge and in big seas (they get anything up to around 15 metres and more here) the water crashes right through the hole and into the cove formed by the rock at the bottom of frame. I guess it's about 15 metres across the bridge.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-21_MG_9831.jpg

From there moved on until we came to a spot called Greens Pool.
Here we discovered some of the best beach and scenery I've seen in my life.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-22_MG_9862.jpg

We walked down to the beach at Greens Pool and found this beautiful little beach
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-23_MG_9889.jpg

We then walked around the big, sandstone rock cliff and this scene presented itself
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-24_MG_9907.jpg

Still buzzing from that we walked on and over a large rock. A steep staircase led down between two large boulders. I walked over the rock instead and found this ... Elephant Cove.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-25_MG_9949.jpg

Still on that rock I turned to my left. That's Phil standing down there on the beach by a lump of kemp and seaweed
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-26_MG_9952.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

I went down the stairs and had to wait for the water to recede and then run between the rocks to get onto the beach. That big boulder there to the right is what I was standing on
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-27_MG_9976.jpg

Here's the lump of weed and kelp that Phil was standing by
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-28_MG_9991.jpg

Looking out into the cove from a different angle
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-29_MG_9997.jpg

Walking a bit further around the rocks away from Elephant Cove the pounding surf kept me amused for awhile longer
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-30_MG_0020.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-35_MG_0028.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-40_MG_0049.jpg

Finally, as we were about 3/4's of our way home (we'd done about 700 kms by now) we were lucky enough to finish the day the way we started it ... with a glorious display of light and colour from the sun and clouds. We were in dense forest when the sunset started so only caught the final moments. But any moment that looks like this is something to be thankful for in my opinion.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-50_MG_0064.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-51_MG_0074.jpg

And so ends Day 5.

Day 6 was another in Bunbury. No photos from Day 6 as Phil had developed a respiratory infection and I spent much of the day driving him to the doctors etc. Leanne and I spent the day looking after him for once.

Day 7 was intended to be another big one but Phil had blood test in the morning and needed more time to recover. In the afternoon we went for a drive nearby to the Bunbury region. We found went for a walk in a forest and also found some more autumn colours, and also a little place called 'Gnomesville' that you won't believe!!

[Marko]

Such beautiful imagery MA.

I especially love this one

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d5-29_MG_9997.jpg

[kat]

More fantastic shots! Whoop whoop! Makes me want to get going on a trip..ha ha!

Thanks MA. I've never used the AB before and was wondering how it worked. Been reading on the layering and masking but I'm still a bit confused on that. Maybe with some more reading and trying it out :)

Hope your friend is feeling better!

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks marko and Kat.
It sure was a beautiful place to visit. And having scenery like that makes it easier to produce nicer photos for certain.

It was a big week. And no rest for the wicked either as this weekend coming I have a 5 hour drive north ahead of me, an over night stay Saturday, in order to shoot another mountain event on Sunday. That means days processing when we get back as well. Lots of traveling lately.

Phil was feeling better within a day or so Kat.

[jjeling]

Nice Job MA. Its been extremely busy at work the past few weeks so Ive had very little time to check the forum out. What you have done here is great. These images are spectacular and Im glad you shared them with us. Keep up the great work.

[Mad Aussie]

Nice Job MA. Its been extremely busy at work the past few weeks so Ive had very little time to check the forum out. What you have done here is great. These images are spectacular and Im glad you shared them with us. Keep up the great work.
Thank you JJ
Glad work has been busy for you. That's a good thing these days.

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 7 - Ferguson Valley

As I said earlier ... there was no Day 6 photographically due to Phil being ill and on Day 7 he was still recovering somewhat.

This day would be an easy one so we were in wind down mode before heading home to Qld now.

We started with a quick walk through a local forest area. Not sure if any of these photos are of interest but here's a few anyhow ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-1_MG_0089.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-2_MG_0094.jpg

On our way to the next stop we saw this tree .... another autumn tree :)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-3_MG_0105.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-4_MG_0122.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

Our next stop was Gnomesville. I thought we were going to some property but the reality is this was just a spot of council land at an intersection miles from nowhere at all! Seems many years ago, somebody decided to leave a few gnomes here. And then someone else saw them and added some. The numbers grew. Now, there's hundreds of the things ... maybe thousands. People put them there with little messages and sometimes build little props etc as you'll see below. It's so popular that this shot on the highway (it's not even that ... it's a back road) is now featured on tourist brochures and the council has built paths and steps to make it easier to walk around and admire the gnomes.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-5_MG_0131_2_3.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-6_MG_0140_1_2.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-7_MG_0143_4_5.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-8_MG_0146_7_9.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-9_MG_0153_4.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-10_MG_0168_69_70.jpg

Check it out .... I even found some Canadian ones :)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-11_MG_0213_4_5.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

After Gnomesville we went up to a local dam which was completely uninspiring BUT, I found more autumn trees :) :) :)

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-12_MG_0266_7_8.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-13_MG_0275_6_7.jpg


That wraps up Day 7.

Day 8 sees us travel back to the city of Perth and spend an hour in a beautiful park over looking the city center before flying home again. Loved this park. Hopefully when I process some of those photos you'll see why. Here's a quick sample ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-0_MG_0488.jpg

[AntZ]

More nice shots, Cool find with the Gnomes.

[Marko]

Yup the Canadian Gnome shot is my fave but i may be a bit biased. ;)

[Mad Aussie]

DAY 8 - Last Day - Perth and Flight Home

Day 8 dawned and we hit the road fairly early and headed north for Perth.
Arriving early we headed for Kings Park which a large parkland that rests on a plateau above the city.

A view from Kings Park over the city
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-2_MG_0365-2.jpg

War memorial
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-1_MG_0345.jpg

Another view towards the city
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-3_MG_0362.jpg

A small tree top walk bridge
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-4_MG_0378.jpg

more shortly ...

[Mad Aussie]

One of many small creeks in the gardens
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-5_MG_0455.jpg

The Fountain (oops a bit of over processing in there but never mind ... I'll fix that before I use it again)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-6_MG_0476.jpg

You saw this one yesterday as a sample
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-0_MG_0488.jpg

I was intrigued by the shadows. Would have liked more time to photograph them
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-7_MG_0480-2.jpg

A twisted tree in shadow
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-8_MG_0497.jpg

Then it off to the airport. We boarded the plane and were informed, after a delay, that a passenger had arrived on another flight, collected his baggage and checked it onto our flight. The baggage was all loaded but there was no sign of the passenger. Minutes went by while they tried to locate this guy. No luck, the baggage had to come off for obvious security reasons. Took a long time to find his bags. It was 50 minutes later before we finally took off.

The flight home was a bit boring due to lots of cloud. Here's a few shots but most of the journey was with a totally white view.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-12_MG_0526.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-15_MG_0533.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-20_MG_0556.jpg

And that ended our holiday. We wished we had more time and could have stayed longer. It's a holiday we'll remember.

I've spent every free moment after work this week processing these hoping they would be of interest to someone out there.
So a big thanks to all who have taken the time to look at my photos and made the effort to let me know you enjoyed at least some of them.

We all need to know we doing ok sometimes and I appreciate the comments very much indeed.

[JAS_Photo]

So many great shots, Aussie! Loved the gnomes! A couple of favs:

from day 7:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d7-4_MG_0122.jpg

and day 8:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20Western%20Australia/d8-3_MG_0362.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks raiven :)

[kat]

Wow..I'd say one successful trip!

[Mad Aussie]

For those who followed this thread ... I found this shot today of an 11 meter wave being ridden by a surfer who lives up the coast from me.

This photo was taken in the same area that I took the photos on page 3 of the Canal Rocks shots.

Shame we didn't see any surf like that while we were there.

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,7025062,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26162259-2,00.html

[Bambi]

:eek:

I am speechless.

and that is no mean feat.

[Mad Aussie]

It's a LOT of water to play with isn't it?

Apparently this area is one of the worlds best kept surfing secrets. The lighthouse keeper was telling me all about it when we were there. Waves like that rival Waimea Bay.

[Bambi]

It's a LOT of water to play with isn't it?

Apparently this area is one of the worlds best kept surfing secrets. The lighthouse keeper was telling me all about it when we were there. Waves like that rival Waimea Bay.


absolutely, but I actually meant your whole collection of photos. Holy crap, what a collection.

[MoinMoin]

MA - that's a really scary wave! I prefer the sand area at the beach at our less dangerous Baltic Sea ;-).

[JAS_Photo]

Very cool shot!

[Mad Aussie]

absolutely, but I actually meant your whole collection of photos. Holy crap, what a collection.
Oh ... speechless over me holiday shots :goodvibes Well tick one up for the 'Madster' ... he managed to stop Bambi talking ;)

I watched a TV show yesterday on surfing big waves in South Australia. They took 8 top surfing juniors and put them in 6m surf! These guys were about 16 - 18yrs old I think.
Amazing stuff! You can't paddle into these waves ... they are too fast ... and start to break about 2km out so the boys had to be towed in by Jetski while standing on their boards.

[Bambi]

Oh ... speechless over me holiday shots :goodvibes Well tick one up for the 'Madster' ... he managed to stop Bambi talking ;)

I watched a TV show yesterday on surfing big waves in South Australia. They took 8 top surfing juniors and put them in 6m surf! These guys were about 16 - 18yrs old I think.
Amazing stuff! You can't paddle into these waves ... they are too fast ... and start to break about 2km out so the boys had to be towed in by Jetski while standing on their boards.

last time that happened was well....according the hubby it never has :D
but I think that there was this one time in the 90's.....

I can't imagine looking at those waves and thinking 'ooh that'll be fun'.

and your vacation trips are awesome. I have to get to Austrailia some time

[Mad Aussie]

last time that happened was well....according the hubby it never has :D
Yeh your hubby reckons you can talk 6 feet under wet cement with a mouthful of marbles!! ;)

[Bambi]

Yeh your hubby reckons you can talk 6 feet under wet cement with a mouthful of marbles!! ;)

:laugh:

yup :cool:

[Mad Aussie]

cheers DJ