Category: clouds

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winter light

Winter has come to the coast of South Australia.

The balmy autumn weather has given away to rain, cold winds, and stormy conditions. We now wear rain jackets when we are walking the poodles. The change in the seasons has been quite abrupt and sudden.

The light is much softer now and it is easier to work with in the early morning:

winter light
winter light

The digital photographers are out in force around dusk in, and around, the Petrel Cove area. They look as if they come down to the coast of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula for the day. They work their DSLR’s on tripods and stay on the coastal path along the top of the cliffs. From what I can see as we walk past them, is that they are using their zoom lenses to photograph the breaking waves below them.They don’t venture down the cliffs, or get amongst, and explore, the coastal rocks.
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a touch of autumn

There was a touch of autumn in the air this morning.

It had rained overnight and the clouds were still hanging around the coast at dawn when we started the poodlewalk. I wanted the walk over early because I hoped the clouds would slowly disappear, and I would be able to make a large format photograph of the roadside vegetation landscape at 7.30 am. This had been previously scoped. The gear was in the boot of the car. I just needed the sun to shine at 7.30am.

coastal path, sunrise
coastal path, sunrise

The sun did emerge from the clouds as we were walking along the beach, so I took a snap or two, and we quickly finished the walk. I drove over to the site on the country road, but I found that, by the time we got there, more clouds had come across the land from the sea. The sun that I needed at 7.30 am to highlight the roadside vegetation wasn’t going to happen that morning. It became more and more cloudy. I gave up on the photoshoot.
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grumble, grumble

People have been having lots of fun along the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula on their summer holidays. This part of the coast has remained as Adelaide’s main summer playground. However, we can’t wait for Australia Day to come and go since that means that the summer holiday crowds will start returning to Adelaide for work and school.

Since Xmas, the region has been full off people, cars, boats and the rubbish of takeaway food dumped where it is eaten. The anti-biking crowd have broken glass all over bike paths up to Rosetta Head, the wooden barriers to prevent the cars going onto nature reserves have been smashed, and there is human shit along the base of cliffs bordering the beaches west of Rosetta Head.

This was one morning when I did the cliff-top walk rather than walking the Heysen Trail. It was very humid that morning and it looked like it would rain:

storm, Petrel Cove
storm, Petrel Cove

However, the clouds quickly disappeared and the humidity, intense sun and the stillness meant that it was unpleasantly hot on the beach. The morning walk was cut short and we returned to the house and to air-conditioning.
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winter has arrived

A few days after returning from walking the Larapinta Trail Suzanne is off to a 4 day Heysen Trail camp at Cape Jervis Station. I am looking after the three poodles, and working at Encounter Studio on my abstraction exhibition for the SALA Festival. 

We–myself and the poodles—walked along the railway line at Hayborough early this morning. It was stormy and wet. It had been raining overnight. Winter has definitely arrived in South Australia:

morning, Hayborough
morning, Hayborough

At the moment the early morning is the best part of the day, since the rest of the day is overcast, with icy winds and intermittent showers that sweep across the coast. It’s not good photography weather along the coast.
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living with constraints

Suzanne leaves Victor Harbor today for 2 weeks or so walk to the Larapinta Trail in the western Macdonnell Ranges, and then go to explore other areas east and west of Alice Springs, such as Kings Canyon. I’ve just dropped Suzanne off at the Seaford railway station so that she can catch the train to Adelaide to stay overnight with her friend Sally, before they  both catch the Qantas flight  to  Alice Springs tomorrow morning.

My task is to look after the 3 dogs at Victor Harbor. Our walks in the morning and evening will be in limited areas in order to keep Kayla and Maleko crazy chase and play games contained and controlled. So my photography is going to very limited, unless I can find a way to do it without having the dogs in tow. I cannot do large format tripod based photography with 3 dogs racing around the place.

clouds, Encounter Bay
clouds, Encounter Bay

The best that I can do is some handheld snaps on the walk. The above picture is an example. I was  driving Ari and Kayla   to the Victor Harbor beach  for a dawn walk when I saw this view as I started to drive along Franklin Parade towards  the Victor Harbor township.  I stopped the car, took a snap, jumped back in the car, and continued driving to the township. The trouble is, not every morning is like this one.
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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.

Victor Harbor beach
Victor Harbor beach

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”

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along Franklin St

The last poodle walk Ari and I did whilst I was living in the Sturt St townhouse in Adelaide’s CBD was on the Sunday morning before we left the city to live on the coast at Encounter Bay. As Ari and I were saying goodbye to the city we had lived in for a decade it was appropriate that we visited a carpark:

Franklin Hotel
Franklin Hotel

As I now live 80 kilometres from Adelaide I will no longer be able to pop out and just aimlessly walk the city. It’s about a 70 minute drive from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast to the CBD Continue reading “along Franklin St”

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at Second Valley

We took a break from our shift to Victor Harbor on Sunday afternoon. We’d had enough of packing up at Sturt St and clearing out the years of accumulated junk at Victor Harbor. So we went for a quick trip to Second Valley on the western Fleurieu Peninsula.

This was the location for the Fleurieu Four Seasons Photography Landscape competition in 2014. You can view the images online, if you register and vote for the People’s Choice Award.

We meet up with Heather Petty at Leonards Mill, and then we walked along the cliffs above the beach at Second Valley with the poodles for an hour or so. The beach was packed with people.

Second Valley
Second Valley

Suzanne, Heather and Maleko continued walking up a step hill whilst Ari and I waited for them on a stoney/rocky beach. Ari’s arthritis means that he can no longer climb hills. 
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summer rains

Whilst the Sturt St townhouse in Adelaide is on the market and the various offers are being assessed, I’m down at Victor Harbor keeping the standard poodles out of the way for the open inspections and beginning the adjustment to living on the coast.

I’m using the time away from Adelaide to start to centre some of my poodle walk snaps made  in, and around, the Fleurieu Peninsula coastline into some kind of project. A low key or modest one.

Hindmarsh estuary
Hindmarsh estuary

The weather on the coast has been overcast and showery with strong south westerly winds, and we’ve usually ended up getting wet in the morning and the evening whilst returning to the car or house from the beach from the rain. It’s wet shoes, damp clothes and wet dogs.  Continue reading “summer rains”