poodleadmin, Author at Poodle Walks

May 14, 2015

a fading autumn

Winter is fast closing in. The clear, still, sunny autumn mornings are fast becoming a memory.

We have had a week or so of strong winds, storms, on and off showers throughout the day, lots of cloud cover and the occasional sunny period. So we have increasingly avoided the southern beaches in our morning and evening walks in order to seek shelter from the incessant wind.

The poodles love the bush for it is full of fresh animal smells, but I find it extremely difficult to photograph the chaotic messiness of the bush or woodlands whilst we are walking through it. It is almost impossible to try and impose strict visual order upon this subject matter since the clear visual patterns are not really there.

Continue reading “a fading autumn”

May 9, 2015

2015 Magpie Springs photo competition

The last poodlewalk before I left for a photo trip to Wellington, New Zealand, was to Magpie Springs to take some photos for their 2015 photography competition. I had already scoped the area I was interested in and Ari and Kayla hung around and waited for me.

Once the negatives had been developed and scanned and I was looking at them on the computer screen it was clear that some of the 5×4 pictures did not work including one of the above. It was also too similar to the picture that I’d entered in the 2014 competition.
Continue reading “2015 Magpie Springs photo competition”

May 1, 2015

cruising along

Most of the early morning walks these late autumn days are with Ari and Kayla and are are in and around the Victor Harbor Beach area or along the Hayborough beach. It’s easy. There are few people around, there is very little junk food, dead birds or decaying fish, the wind is low and the sun rises onto the beaches at sunrise.

There is not much photography taking place on these walks. Only a few pictures of the ongoing version of the sand dunes around Hayborough, but this does not effect any of the holiday homes as they are on the cliffs above the beach, and there is a railway line between the beach and the base of the cliffs.
Continue reading “cruising along”

April 24, 2015

contained walks

Suzanne and I have started looking for ways in which one person can walk the three poodles together. It is a question of avoiding the beach where Kayla and Maleko go into their crazy chasing games, and looking for contained areas that are full of smells so they forget about their mad play. This often becomes destructive and is beyond the control of one person.

We have found one–a back country road near Encounter Studio which has very little traffic. Halls Creek Rd is an area where the poodles can walk freely off lead:

Halls Creek Rd is bounded by fences and, as it has a number of kangaroo crossings, the poodles spend their time checking things out. Continue reading “contained walks”

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”

April 10, 2015

Lady Bay

We have had visitors from Melbourne staying at our place in Victor Harbor over Easter. Since they are both friends and photographers one of the days during Easter was devoted to a photography excursion to the western Fleurieu Peninsula coast.

We went to see the exhibition of the Fleurieu Four Seasons Prize for Landscape Photography at the Normanville Beach Gallery and Cafe Foreshore, and then spent time exploring the coastal bays and settlements that form part of the western Fleurieu Peninsula.

The exploration included Lady Bay, Wirrina Cove, Second Valley, Rapid Bay, then finally Delamare before returning to Victor Harbor along the Range Road. It was very bright and sunny in the afternoon, and these kind of conditions are not good for photography. Continue reading “Lady Bay”

April 3, 2015

at Petrel Cove

It was a balmy autumn evening on Wednesday along the coast of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula. A cool southerly change with strong winds and rain was on the way but for the moment everything was still and mild.

At Petrel Cove people were fishing, surfing, walking their dogs, taking photos or sitting on rocks looking at the southern ocean. Continue reading “at Petrel Cove”

March 30, 2015

autumn

Prior going to Melbourne Ari, Kayla and I walked around the Victor Harbor township for our early morning poodle walks. I was interested in finding out what was happening with the early morning light in autumn. The light has been shifting quite quickly.

The photographic possibilities are not that numerous in and around the township, and I’m using the poodlewalks to find out what is there. At this stage it’s more about the light than the subject matter. Continue reading “autumn”

March 14, 2015

Chiton Rocks

Ari and I have been walking around the Hayborough section of Encounter Bay on our early morning walks this week. It has expensive townhouses, bush between the houses and the beach and a white sand beach. This area is missed by most tourists and is frequented more by the locals—generally surfers, runners and dog walkers due to its access being hidden away.

My photography has been minimal but, I have been looking for locations along the road that would be suitable for an arial photograph of the beach, sea and sky and then one looking back to the township of Victor Harbor. The best time for this photography is just after sunrise. This morning we walked along the road and the beach around Chiton Rocks.

The early mornings are clear, crisp and there is no cloud cover. The light is very bright 30 minutes after sunrise. It’s classic autumn weather in South Australia. Continue reading “Chiton Rocks”

March 11, 2015

petrol stations

Ari and I have started walking around the Victor Harbor township on some of our early morning poodle walks. We needed a change from walking the beach at the western end of Encounter Bay each morning at dawn and I wanted to start walking earlier that 6.45am. We can wander around the town in the dark because of the street lights, and then I can take photos after dawn has broken.

There are only a few people about the town at this time of the morning–mostly groups of people walking across the causeway to Granite Island and back again.

The National Broadband Network people, who were very visible laying cable in the township and around Encounter Bay, seem to have disappeared. I don’t see any crews working on the streets whilst making my way back to Encounter Studio. And there I was thinking that the western end of Encounter Bay where we live would be getting FTTP in the next 6 months. That’s a dream.

The NBN Co appears to have slowed down its broadband rollout under the new Multi-Technology Mix (MTM) and I fear that our area of Encounter Bay will be outside the fibre footprint. Continue reading “petrol stations”