digital Archives - Page 24 of 34

March 20, 2012

a foggy morning

It was a foggy morning in Queenstown yesterday, so I wandered the town taking photos whilst Suzanne took the standard poodles for an early morning walk around the Queen River where it flowed beside near the Queenstown golf course. This was a space away from other dogs and they could be off the lead. So they could roam freely.

The early morning light in the town was soft, due to the fog:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Empire Hotel, Queenstown

I was looking/scoping for possible subjects for using the 5×4 Linhof in foggy conditions. What would the buildings or street views look like? How would they photograph? Would the fog transform the mundane into something interesting? Would the something interesting be meaningfully significant?

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March 19, 2012

at Zeehan

On Saturday it was overcast with passing rain squalls so we went for a drive to Zeehan in the afternoon. I wanted to to photograph the ruins of the old smelter using the 5×4 Linhof. I’d scoped this on my last visit to Queenstown a year ago.

I stuck closely to what I’d scoped last year as time was short—the squalls returned just as I was finishing the planned pictures of ‘ruins as history’. After looking at the digital images I took whilst on location this time, I can see that I need to return to the site to take more. There was more here than I’d realized.

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March 18, 2012

Gormanston landscape

The rains have come and gone in Queenstown. Today we are back to the bright sunshine with a bit of cloud cover. Yesterday was passing showers and misty conditions. The showers meant that I stayed close to the car when photographing so that I could sit them out.

In the morning I wandered around Gormanston. There are lots of ‘For Sale” signs–for blocks and houses— but there are few buyers. This is surprising, for Gormanston is just down the road from Lake Burbury. Why aren’t the fishermen buying the old houses for their fishing shacks?

Dreams die hard in this old mining village:

Gormanston, Tasmania — Tasmania, Gormanston, house, abandoned, digital, Olympus, phototrip

The brick walls were being built around the old tin wall. These were mostly completed and then everything stopped before the roof was put on. That’s what happens to old mining towns. They become ghosts towns.

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March 16, 2012

Gormanston cemetery

Gormanston is an old mining town near Queenstown in Tasmania that has pretty much died. There are only a few people living there now. There are more abandoned and derelict houses than lived in ones.

The cemetery is on a side of a hill and is unmarked. There is just a low grade gravel road off the Lyell Highwav as you head towards Lake Burbury. What is fascinating about the cemetery is the way that it has become overgrown with the native flora. You need to dig around to even find some of the graves.

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March 15, 2012

too windy to photograph

It was very muggy early this morning in Queenstown. A very gusty north west wind was blowing. The locals say that rain and thunderstorms are on the way. If so, then this brings to an end to the spell of hot weather on the south west coast of Tasmania.

The large format photoshoot this morning didn’t turn out as planned. I went to the location above the town that I’d scoped yesterday. Although I managed to set the Linhof up, the gusts of wind blew the gritty white dust into my eyes and ears as well as into the camera.

I had to bail out and wait for another day and walked along the Queen River looking for possible photographic subjects of the contaminated river. It was protected from the wind and the light was soft.

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March 14, 2012

in Queenstown, Tasmania

This is my second day in Queenstown, Tasmania. The first morning was very similar to what I’d encountered when I was here in April last year—very heavy fog in the valley until about 11am:

The early morning walk with the standard poodles was in the fog until we climbed above it on soem kind of fire break or electricity track. When the fog lifted around 11am the rest of the day was bright, still and very hot. The night was quite mild.

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March 13, 2012

in Tunbridge, Tasmania

The three or four days that we spent in Tunbridge in the Tasmanian Midlands allowed me to do a little bit of large format photography. I was able to scope out some suitable subject matter, including this salt lake:

I basically ran out of time before I could come to grips with the arid landscape—its ever changing moods, cloud formations and light. This is the third time I’ve visited the Midlands and I’m becoming familiar with this landscape and its various representations.

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March 7, 2012

Bass Strait

We have been on the road to Tasmania for the last couple of days. We left Adelaide for Melbourne on Saturday (3rd March) travelled across Bass Strait on the day ferry to Devonport, then on down to Evandale, which is just south of Launceston.

We will spend a couple of days in Evanston exploring around Launceston, then several days in Tunbridge in the Tasmanian Midlands, before travelling over to Queenstown on the west coast.

I bought a little digital point and shoot camera before I left —an Olympus XZ-1. I will use it as a scoping camera for my large format work in Queenstown, then Suzanne will use it as a travel camera when she is in Europe next month.

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February 19, 2012

beyond Kings Head

Late this afternoon the poodles and I went to explore a location we had discovered around Xmas time. It is around from Kings Head and it is as far as you can go along the seashore before the cliffs plunge into the southern ocean.

It’s a bit of a hike to get there, especially with large format equipment in the summer heat. I’d taken some pictures with the Rolleiflex SL66 around New Year and I was looking at it today to see whether it would be worthwhile to lug the 5×4 gear around.

The mood or atmosphere of the location is that of the romantic (German) sublime—it is all twisted, contorted rocks and wild crashing seas. Awesome wild nature. I need dark clouds not bright blue sky plus a low tide and a couple of hours with soft light. It was overcast tonight with a bit of rain so we will see what tomorrow morning brings.

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February 18, 2012

architectural photography

The insurance company has come good with the money to replace my stolen digital Sony DSC R1. Soon I will have another digital camera, either a Sony Nex-7 or a Fuji X-Pro1. I have chosen these two cameras because they have adaptors that allow me to use my Leica M lenses with them. It’s a stop gap until I can afford a Leica M9. Whenever that is.

It is unlikely that either of the above digital cameras will arrive in Adelaide before I leave for a phototrip to Tasmania in early March. So I will be shooting film only on that trip. But I cannot wait to start using digital again. I miss the convenience of digital and I’m not really enthused with scanning negatives.

This picture was taken on a photowalk one Sunday afternoon through the grounds of the University of South Australia’s City West campus. This is the southern or Fenn Place end of the Hawk Building.

This is one of the more interesting contemporary buildings in Adelaide. It was designed by John Wardle Architects (in association with Hassell Architects) and the southern end is an explosion of different forms that include sky bridges.

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