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At American River

Suzanne, the 2 standard  poodles and I,   spent several  days at American River on Kangaroo Island with Suzanne’s sister, (Barbara Heath) and her husband (Malcolm Enright) who had flown down from Brisbane.

The days on the island  were gentle,  balmy  late autumn ones.  A storm hit the island  just  as  I was leaving on the late Sealink ferry on Wednesday evening.

erosion, Redbanks

On Saturday    I arrived on the island   on Saturday   on the 10am  ferry from Cape Jervis  so as  to  open up the cottage.     That then gave me time to go  exploring with the poodles.  I  started with places that I was familiar with from previous trips.  The last trip with friends was 4 years ago in 2014, whilst the last photo trip was in 2013.  Continue reading “At American River”

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along the Heritage-Trail

These clouds and early morning light  are   what I saw on early on  Friday  morning   when  Kayla and I were walking along the Heritage-Trail  through a familiar coastal landscape.   It was so very still that morning.

These are the  kind of conditions that  indicate that a dramatic change in the weather  is about  to happen; usually, they mean that the hot weather is coming to an end,  and  a  big  storm will be sweeping into the coast of the  Fleurieu Peninsula  from the south west.

am, Dep’s Beach

It was the morning  of  the 13th April, which is when  the cold front  with its  wild winds and  driving rain,  hit the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the late afternoon.

I was taking advantage of the lull before the storm  to walk   to a specific site  amongst the granite rocks around the point from Dep’s  Beach; a site that  I had selected for a large format photo session.   Continue reading “along the Heritage-Trail”

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holidaying in Melbourne

Well,  the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria  sure was crowded with people holidaying when we stayed  there on our roadtrip.   Karen,  my sister at Safety Beach   put us up, and as that stay coincided with  a hot spell, that meant  both limited documentary photography in Melbourne    and  walking very early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

The foreshore  along the eastern  coast of Port Phillip Bay from Dromana to Sorrento was jam packed with   caravans,  tents, boats and people.   The Nepean Highway from  Rye to Portsea was crammed  with cars,  due  to people travelling down from Melbourne to Sorrento or Portsea  for a day’s outing. The Mornington Peninsula is Melbourne’s playground.

Martha Point, Mornington Peninsula

We found  very few places where  we could walk the poodles off lead along the coast.   There was  a small  off-lead, dog friendly   beach at Tassells  Cove and a small walking track around Martha Point that went down to  Pebble Beach.  Continue reading “holidaying in Melbourne”

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to walk the Heritage Trail

And so it was on  one fine summer morning that Kayla and I set out just after sunrise  to walk along the Heritage Trail to Dep’s Beach and beyond. The sun was popping  in and out of the  morning cloud cover, the coastal wind was still light, and the Nankeen  kestrels  were keeping us company.

swirling sea

We past the spot of  the swirling seas  and we made it  to the western  end  of Dep’s Beach without encountering any kangaroos,  runners, photographers or trail bike riders.

I had a photoshoot planned of  the rocks lying west of the beach–I envisioned a picture of the  granite rocks with soft morning light playing across their surface  with  a bit of cloud above them.   Continue reading “to walk the Heritage Trail”

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Summer has arrived

Summer is here on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast in South Australia.

The  weather  has now settled into its normal summer pattern of  clear,  bright light; sunshine;   blue skies; and warm to hot temperatures.  Kayla and I  start  our walk  along the coastal rocks  early  in the morning in order to avoid the heat of the early morning sun.

We usually start  just after  sunrise:

Dep’s Beach landscape

On our  afternoon  walks Maleko and I  struggle with  the heat,   as the sun is still quite high  at 6pm,  and  there is little by way of open shade amongst the coastal rocks.   We   welcome the cool breeze that keeps the temperatures down and dread the hot, north-westerly wind.  Continue reading “Summer has arrived”

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winter mornings

With Suzanne now back in Encounter Bay and walking Kayla and Maleko in the mornings, I am able to slowly walk along the coastal path with Ari. He now struggles going up and down the steps to Depp’s Beach. He can no longer walk to Kings Head. I visit Kings Head on the afternoon walk with Kayla and Maleko and spend the time there mucking around scoping for photos.

This path is called the Heritage Trail and it links up with the Heysen Trail just before Kings Beach. These sections of both the Heritage Trail and the Heysen Trail are becoming extremely popular, especially on the weekends. It is impossible to walk along these paths with the three dogs off lead.

Heritage Trail

The winter mornings are still sunny and clear with little coastal wind. There were a few days of rain in the last week of June, the first rains this winter, but it has mostly been dry.

Continue reading “winter mornings”

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about the moment

I’m starting to slowly realize that the snapshot style photography that I do whilst I am on the poodle walks is about the moment. They are photos of fleeting moments that cannot be rephotographed:

Kayla, Halls Creek Rd

They are also about nothing much. Just everyday scenes that I am walking through, or walking past and that I wouldn’t pay much attention to, if I didn’t have a camera and we weren’t hanging about. It is through the ‘hanging about’ that I start to see the little things around me that I wouldn’t normally notice.
Continue reading “about the moment”

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daily routines + photography

Suzanne has left Cuba and is now staying in Oaxaca in Mexico for 12 days or so before she and Lariane return to Australia.

In the meantime the household chugs along with its daily routines in the balmy autumn weather, with its still, sunny days.We are usually up before sunrise walking along the back country roads:

dawn, Baum Rd, Waitpinga

With the walk over I have time to take some photos with the Linhof film cameras as the sun starts peeping through the trees and lightens up bits of the roadside vegetation. The images have been scoped on earlier walks and the time when the sun lightens up the trees duly noted. So it is just a matter of setting things up and waiting.

Continue reading “daily routines + photography”

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Baum Rd, Waitpinga

Suzanne is now in Cuba before going to Mexico and I’m at home in Encounter Bay looking after the three standard poodles. It is four weeks of walking along back country roads on the morning and evening walks as Ari cannot walk over the rocks along the coast. This is Baum Rd, Waitpinga, which I walk down most mornings when Suzanne is away:

Baum Rd, Waitpinga

It is a no through road that leads to a couple of farm properties that have become holiday houses. The road side vegetation lessens as we approach the entrance to these properties. The owners are hostile to walkers whilst the local farmers in the area are not very friendly. Rarely do they slow down along these roads and say hello or give a wave. Continue reading “Baum Rd, Waitpinga”

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field, sea, sky

I have started to walk along the back country roads looking for photographic subjects whilst  on  the afternoon poodle walks with Kayla and Maleko.  I have become tired of sitting in front of the computer screen working on the texts of The Bowden Archives book and I am looking for a break.

This is an example of my recent scoping,   from  an afternoon last week when we were walking along the road to the old Victor Harbor dump:

Waitpingafieldsea

After the dump shifted to Goolwa the ‘no through’ road now leads to the Kings Beach Retreats. There is not much traffic during the week so it is a good back road to walk along with the standard poodles.

Continue reading “field, sea, sky”