Spring 2019: the eyes

I returned from a successful photo trip to Mt Arapiles and the Wimmera Mallee to spring on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula, and to allergic reactions (allergic rhinitis) to the airborne allergenic grass pollens. This hay fever is especially intense ( itchy eyes and throat, sneezing and runny nose) when the north wind carries the pollen from the northerly grasslands across the landscape.  

My response is to avoid walking along the back country roads within the agricultural landscapes because the grass pollens are currently hurting my eyes. I try to ensure that the poodlewalks are now along the beach and I walk as close to the sea whilst hoping for a southerly wind coming off the sea.

crab fragments

Kent Reserve or Petrel Cove are good starting points because I can quickly get to the beach from the car without walking through a lot of grasses, whilst wearing sunglasses and having previously taken preventative eye drops to help ease the irritation.

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.

2 cuttlefish shells, Kings Head

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.

2 still life images

One  early morning poodlewalk  along the coastal rocks west of Petrel Cove last week  with Kayla was very enjoyable and relaxing.  The light was soft, there was little wind, and the light cloud cover meant that there was  soft early morning light  for an hour or so after sunrise. We were fortunate as  the early mornings of late have been sunny, bright  with blue sky.

These conditions  allowed me to spend a   a bit of time doing some  photography amongst the seaweed, quartz and granite:

Cuttlefish still life

We have been having this part of the coast to ourselves in the last week or so.  The only person I saw was Allan, who we see regularly. He does a  daily walk from his home in Encounter Bay along the Heritage Trail to Kings Beach Rd, then walks back. Our paths often cross.  Continue reading “2 still life images”

bush-fires in April

We now have  bush-fires  in the Inman Valley,  or more specifically,  in the hills east of Yankalilla  in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia.   As mentioned in an earlier post    there has been little to no rainful  in South Australia  this year, so  the land   is very dry; dry  to the point of being parched. Bush fires make the permanent impermanent. and evoke a pathos or heartbreaking.

We have experienced  some  sustained heat during these last few days in April, (Sunday 8th—Tuesday 10th inclusive): the  temperatures have been around 34 degrees C on the coast  along with the   hot and dry  northwesterly winds. These bush fire conditions are  unusual  for this time of  the year,  as these  are summer temperatures and conditions.

gull + granite

In these conditions  Kayla and I  need to start  walking in the morning before sunrise. We try   to take advantage of the early morning cloud cover that sits along the coast,. Cloud cover is important  as it gives me greater leeway to photograph the ephemeral and  the melancholy of the fleeting moment.   Continue reading “bush-fires in April”