abstract Archives - Poodle Walks

October 23, 2021October 23, 2021

seal carcass

It is mid-spring. Daylight saving has started and the new concrete causeway to Granite Island is nearing completion. The Sculpture by the Sea park on the island has been dismantled by the Victor Harbor Council on the grounds that it was unpopular in the local community. The rains have stopped, the days are becoming warmer, there is less cloud around in the late afternoon, the light now is stronger and more contrasty. There have been no really hot days so far.

My days are more of the same: sitting in front of the iMac in the studio working on the text for The Bowden Archives and Industrial Modernity book . The Snapshot gallery and text are now looking okay, and so I have moved to concentrate working on this text for the Bowden gallery.

Whilst I have been wandering around the coast and the bush I have been watching this seal carcass slowly decay:

The poodles are fascinated by it–especially Maleko. They go charging ahead of me on the rocks as we head in the direction of the carcass from Kings Beach lookout. Thankfully, they do not try and eat the carcass. They just dance around it.

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September 2, 2019September 16, 2019

revisiting Kings Head

Suzanne is currently walking on Lord Howe Island and I’m minding the poodles until I leave to join the Friends of Photography Group (FOPG) at Mt Arapiles in the Wimmera plains. I leave on Friday 6th September, Suzanne returns to Adelaide on Sunday, 8th September, and I return to Encounter Bay several days latter.

FOPG have a weekend photo session at the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park, which is south of Nhill and the Little Desert National Park. Camping at this site will be the first time that I have linked up to this Melbourne-based large format photography group in the field. After this photo camp I will move on to stay at Lake Marma at Murtoa to photograph in the Wimmera Mallee.

Looking after the two poodles on my own means that the areas where they can walk off lead are restricted, as I need to avoid the kangaroos in the morning and other walkers in the afternoon. So it is back to the old standbys, such as meandering amongst the coastal granite rocks around the foot of Kings Head.

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April 22, 2015

at Magpie Springs

Maleko and I wandered around Magpie Springs last week. It was a break from photographing whilst walking on the beach or sitting next to the computer scanning film for days on end.

The winery and gallery is in the hills just behind Willunga I was scoping for subject matter for their 2015 photo compeition. Submissions have to be in by the 7th May and I’m running out of time, especially when I’d planned to use the 5×4 Linhof and sheet film.

It is difficult running an art gallery in this part of the Adelaide Hills region—people consider it to be too far from the Adelaide CBD to drop in, and the passing traffic to the winery is limited. So Magpie Springs have trouble selling their wine, coffee and exhibited art works through door sales. Continue reading “at Magpie Springs”

October 26, 2014

a photo trip to Sedan

Ari and I went on a photo trip yesterday with Ben Loveday, Adam Jan Dutkiewicz, Aldo Trissi and Michal Dutkiewicz. We went to Lobethal/Birdwood/Mount Pleasant/Keyneton/Sedan and then retraced our path on the return trip. We drove through the Basket Range and along the Torrens Valley.

I haven’t done one of these kind of photo trips for ages–I used to do this kind of photo trip when I had a Kombi that carried a 5×7 Cambo in a trunk and I was photographing in black and white. I was surprised to see that the South Australian state government changers to many German place names during WW1 still remained in place.

Sedan, a country town at the foot of the Mt Lofty Ranges and on the plains that lead to the the River Murray. It was an eyeopener. It was hot, dry and dusty, derelict, full of abandoned houses, and an extensive use of limestone in the built environment.

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December 14, 2012

rock abstract

My 8×10 black and white negatives arrived today from Sydney, just before I was to leave Adelaide for Victor Harbor for the weekend. Several negatives have light leaks (damaged dark slides) or are fogged (dunno why) but most look okay. I’ll scan them tomorrow.

It was very still and muggy along the coast around Kings Head which is where we went for our evening walk. The rain had passed, the sticky flies were everywhere, and there was no cooling wind amongst the rocks. But the tide was low, lower than I’d ever seen it. So I was able to get amongst rocks that would normally be surrounded by surging water:

Ari and I were quite distressed by the heat so we returned to Kings Beach where we were able to cool off by paddling in the sea. Low tide means that I can take the 5×4 Linhof and the heavy duty tripod to this spot over the weekend.

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December 4, 2011

in the moment

We spent this weekend down at Victor Harbor, and the fine, early summer weather meant some long walks with the poodles along the beach that were coupled to me exploring the possibilities at the foot of the granite cliffs for rock abstractions.

poodlesKBclifftop — cliff top walk, Victor Harbor

I was exploring these possibilities in order to use the 5×4 Linhof. I’m becoming increasingly comfortable with this style of photography and I want to devote more of my time and energy to it.

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April 21, 2011

South Bruny National Park

The last two days of the Tasmanian trip were taken up with Suzanne’s desire to do some walks in the South Bruny National Park. This is just off the coast of southern Tasmania and is separated from the Tasmanian mainland by the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.

Suzanne had agreed to go to the Gordon Dam in the SouthWest National Park if I went to Bruny Island. I knew very little about the island, other than it was once a centre for extensive whale hunting in the19th century, so I was happy to tag along.

We stayed in cabins in the Adventure Bay Caravan park. The Fluted Cape walk was on the agenda in the morning, and the Labillardiere Peninsula Circuit in the afternoon. We managed the former not the latter.

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