New South Wales

A peaceful country evening settles on the Hunter Valley as the Paterson River flows under the Dunmore Bridge, one of many similar styles of bridge in the area.

I was lucky enough to meet the owner of this land, a farmer, as he returned home from tending cattle in the fields. We had a quick chat and he gave me permission to jump his fence which helped me to get this composition.

This warm historical piece will bring a country feel to any area of your house.

Sometimes you just have to try and try (and try!) again. This is how I felt recently attempting to take this iconic Newcastle scene, but it really was worth it.

Taken on a blustery winter evening, The warm golden tones of the rocks at the Bogey Hole in Newcastle light up this image.

The rocks were extremely slippery, and I had to take extreme caution when getting to this spot, my backpack lowered down from above by my partner. Getting exactly the right composition was a challenge as the rocks fall away from where I wanted to take my image from. I used the full extent of my 2.5m Tripod to get this, as I sat perched on the rocks waiting for the perfect light.

This image is a panorama, stitched together from 4 full sized images to give me an amazing amount of detail and let me print this really large in beautiful Fine Art quality.

After a great weekend photographing Autumn Colours in the Blue Mountains, Amanda and I were returning home, hoping to stop at a beach on the Central Coast for sunset on the way. (That was the plan at least!) We encountered heavy traffic transiting through North Western Sydney, and ended up stopping for an early dinner.

As we got onto the freeway, the sun was already on its last legs. I was resigned to not getting to shoot this particular sunset, which looked like it would be pretty amazing, lighting up several cloud banks and starting to go pink.

We were frantically trying to think of places close by that we could stop to shoot, when it hit me that we were coming up to the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Hawkesbury River. We turned off the freeway, headed onto the Old Pacific Highway and I made a frantic dash to the waters edge with the camera to setup the gear.

It was now that I discovered (of course) that I must have left my shutter remote actuator somewhere in Mt Wilson in the Mountains... Thankfully my camera has a time set mode that I frantically programmed to try and get the last of the colours being displayed.

I only just managed to pull it all together for this beautiful shot, featuring Spectacle Island as it sits on the Hawkesbury River, with the last of that amazing sunset lighting up the cloud bank behind, in this, one of the most easily and often seen (but least thought about) landscapes in the Hunter Region of NSW.

This image was created while on a spontaneous stop at Somersby Falls on the way home after spending the weekend in Sydney for Vivid.  We had a bit of time before we had to be home and we hadn’t been to Somersby Falls in a number of years. We also knew with the recent rainfall the falls should have been flowing nicely. So, we decided to drop in.

I forgot to charge my batteries for my camera after being at Vivid the night before so I knew I didn’t have many shots left. I scouted the location back and forth looking for the composition I was imaging.

To get to this spot, I had to walk along the slippery rock edge and try not to get my shoes and socks soaked, climb up and perch myself on the edge of a boulder. I struggled to get my tripod to steady itself due to the legs needing to be at such different lengths and positions. The amount of water cascading was perfect for this long exposure and the shine on the tree trunk brings another element of life to the image. I love the varying colours, shapes and layers of the rock shelf which forms the waterfall.  

We were the only ones here at this particular time and we felt a world away from any civilisation, which was such a contrast to the previous days in Sydney.

After a full on day in my Gallery, I was pumped to stop talking about my artworks with people and get out and capture one!

This was my 4th attempt to get a nice Redhead sunset, each previous attempt foiled by nature, people or my own forgetfulness (Apparently I need a tripod to shoot).

I had really high hopes for this evening, there was a strong wind, and interesting cloud formation. I had hoped to get a nice vertical panorama with beautiful lit up clouds overhead.

As sometimes happens though, nature has its own intentions, and I just have to roll with it. This soft cloud glow was the best of the night, as the sun sank into a dense cloud bank before it really had a chance to bring much colour to the clouds.

I used the opportunity to get some muted sand and water colours, brought together by these incredible rock formations and the surf lifesaving tower. The quick moving clouds created a nice soft sky for the tower to stand against.

All that remains, a row of pylons emerging from the calm evening waters of Shoal Bay. This sunset was one that was beautiful in all directions, however the access to each different vantage spot was made extremely difficult as it was on a breakwall filled with large, slippery boulders. To change from one vantage to another was a painful, difficult experience.  

The main decision I had to make for this image during the composition process was the height that I wanted the pylons to appear, whether I wanted them above the horizon or not. I ended up choosing a composition that showed the pylons against the backdrop of the smooth waters of Shoal Bay.

This is a unique location, sheltered under Mt Tomaree, that has become a favourite picnic spot for my family and I.