Rosetta Head in spring

Spring weather has arrived and the last few mornings have been sunny with minimal coastal wind. With Suzanne away in the Flinders Ranges finishing the last section of walking the Heysen Trail, my morning walks with Kayla and Maleko have been over and around Rosetta Head.

It has seen while since I have done this walk. Ari was no longer able to walk up, over, and down Rosetta Head. His last time was with Judith Crispin when she was staying with us in early 2017 to launch her Lumen Seed book at Atkins Photo Lab in Adelaide. The best that he could do after that was to slowly walk along the path on the western side of Rosetta Head.

Suzanne normally does this walk in the morning, and the poodles jumping up on the rocks at the top of Rosetta Head and surveying the lie of the land beneath is one of the rituals of their walks.

on Rosetta Head

The spring weather has meant that I no longer need to wear a coat when walking in the morning and I have been able to have my breakfast on the balcony in the sun. I have no doubt that the rains and gale force winds will return.
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between the rains

Recently we had a couple of fine days between the winter rains and the stormy conditions. I’d recovered enough from the flu to be able to take advantage of the fine weather to go exploring with Kayla and Maleko along the coastal rocks between Petrel Cove and Kings Head on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula. This was on the late afternoon walk and I was well enough to take my digital camera to take some snaps and even to do a few scoping studies.

One such snap:

Kayla + Maleko

This abstract is an example of what I was scoping for my film cameras when I had more strength.
Continue reading “between the rains”

limited walks

The nature of our poodlewalks has changed with the arrival of Maleko, a 8 week old blue standard poodle pup, last Friday. We cannot walk far, and we more or less hang around on the beach at Encounter Bay, in the morning.

Or rather, Suzanne walks Ari in the morning whilst I hang out on the beach with Maleko, so that he becomes at ease with, and confident in, this coastal environment.

quartz
quartz

The photography is circumscribed until Maleko can walk a greater distance. Or we carry him some of the way, which is what we did yesterday afternoon when we all went to hang out at Petrel Cove:

at Redbank, American River

We returned to Redbanks, the cliffs on the Kangaroo Island side of Backstairs Passage, tonight for a 5×4 shoot along the cliffs. Though it was a 5×4 shoot we turned it into a bit of a picnic–wine and nibbles—whilst I waited for the light to soften.

Suzanne, Redbank, American River
Suzanne, Redbank, American River

It was very pleasant watching the dolphins cruise by, waiting for the light and soaking up the moment, knowing that the heat will return tomorrow.

rocks + twig

The temperatures have cooled and it is possible to start a poodlewalk around 5.30-6pm, walk to a location and take some photos. Ari and I walked to Kings Head yesterday afternoon, and I took a few snaps— plus some studies for large format photography.

rocks + twig
rocks + twig

It’s a favourite section of the coastline of the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula, and I have made a number of photographs there. There is something about the location that keeps drawing me back, but I am not sure what that something is.

at Victor Harbor

I’ve come down to Encounter Studio at Victor Harbor this weekend to scan the 5×4 negatives from the Tasmanian shoot. Suzanne is staying in Adelaide this weekend.

Rain squalls were sweeping across Adelaide as we left, but the weather at Victor Harbor was sunny and a cool wind was blowing. Ari and I went on a poodlewalk along the cliff tops and the rocky foreshore. The tide was very high, there was more erosion of the dunes on the beach and the seals were hunting along the coast. There was the odd jogger but no southern right whales to be seen. The afternoon walk was very enjoyable after several weeks in the city suffering from the flu and hanging out in car parks.

looking towards King Beach

I got drenched from a rogue wave whilst I was taking photos of the rocks on the shore. I was so busy trying to figure out why the bloody Sony NEX-7 switches to video so easily that I didn’t see it coming.

a walk but no photography

Ari and I went on a photowalk early this morning along the Heysen Trail past Kings Head to an outcrop of rock just west of the Kings Beach Retreat. I’d photographed there around there earlier this year. With Agtet gone Ari is depressed and lacking in energy and motivation.

But he did pick up yesterday afternoon when we visited Kings Beach. Hence the decision to do a longer walk this morning; one that would take us closer to the eastern boundary of the Newland Head Conservation Park.

rock detail, Kings Head.

As it was overcast, I carried the medium format camera gear and tripod. My new digital camera–a Sony Nex-7— has yet to arrive in Adelaide. The conditions were hopeless for photography: strong south westerly winds, pounding seas, floating waves of sea spray drifting across the ricks and sea foam swirling through the air. The seals didn’t seem to mind the turbulent conditions though.