WAY out West

 We recently spent a few weeks travelling through Western Queensland. This was our first trip out west, (well for "us" as I used to work out that way.

Details about where we stayed and how far we travelled are in the link beow. we use WIKICAMPS to plan our trip, the places we stay and to allow friends to follow us. (Jealous buggers 😁).

https://wctrip.co/au/411173/258501595

Given the light, textures and starkness of the landscapes, even in winter, I decided on black and white photography, Landscapes and B&W are not something that I have dabbled in much as I have shot cityscapes (preferably at night) and wildlife in the past.

Here are three of what I consider my best from that trip.

This is in Texas on the Queensland / NSW border at a free camp used by the Grey Nomads

Just outside of Windorah is a bridge over the iconic Cooper Creek. There wasn't much water in it while we were there but that only made this majestic old gum stand out even more!

We were staying just outside of Quilpie when the clouds started to gather late in the afternoon, alas, no rain but made for a beautiful shot.

Cheers

DADFAP

Kyogle Bull Ride Spectacular 2017

Action under lights, Kyogle 2017

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Northern Rivers area of NSW to Kyogle. It was their Annual Bull Ride Spectacular and we always find these great events.

Photography can get a bit tough, the lighting is against you, positioning is hard and the damn dust (as you will see in a couple of the shots) makes life interesting; in both good and bad ways.

Positioning is probably the hardest to contend with, it is difficult to get positioned so that you can see the action and not get too messed up by the bars around the arena.

The bulls can be tough too, the winning ride in the open section came late in the night. After no winning rides in the competition, a pot luck ride off was held. The riders pulled a bull's name from the hat and rode in a winner take all ride.

The winning ride, Open Bull Ride, Kyogle 2017

The winner scooped the pool, taking the entire winning purse in one wild, 8 second ride. With a bit of showboating, you can see that he is pretty happy about it.

The riders don't always win and the "clowns" or rider protection athletes in more politically correct speak, are there to make sure that the bull can't turn on the riders. These guys earn their pay, they are involved in every single bull ride, needing to anticipate the moment that the rider looks like coming off.

Out for revenge, Kyogle Bull Ride Spectacular, 2017

If it is a win by the bull and the rider is tossed or a more dignified dismount at the end of the eight second ride, their job is to put their own safety on the line to protect the rider. The training that these guys must do to stay safe and in one piece must be intense.

Small size, big heart, Kyogle Bull Ride Spectacular 2017

Riders come in all shapes and sizes with the juniors riding smaller calves and steers. The animals are a bit smaller and the riders have some growing up to do but no one can doubt their courage and enthusiasm!

Sunset Barrel Race, Kyogle Bull Ride Spectacular, 2017

Barrel racing started out the evening and the event leaves you breathless. The speed and the agility of both rider and horse is amazing. From full gallop to dead stop before the collide with the fencing after the ride, the event is definitely one to be watched.


Some colourful abstracts from the night by my wife. I am sure that she is much more creative than I am!

Kyogle is a very pretty little town and is only a couple of hours from Brisbane so is an easy day trip on the weekend.

Stop in and see some of the craft galleries there, especially interesting is Mudwood Studio, a place that specialises in the local artists.

Cheers

DADFAP

Breakfast on the Veldt

Working on shots for my next calendar, I came across this video that I took on a chilly July 2016 morning when we were at Shawu Lodge.

This pride had taken down a buffalo not long before we arrived on the scene. Thanks to Grant and the fact that everyone in the vehicle was a photographer, we must have spent about an hour on the sighting!

The week there was organised by Wildeye (going to use them again!!!) and our guide was Grant Marcus, great guy, great photographer and great host!

Grant is based out of Madikwe Lodge where they have an underground hide, yep, gotta do that one day!

Cheers

DADFAP

Weekly Reading List, 18March17

Hi,

Here's a collection of some great posts that I read lately on photography:

Bad Weather Photography

It reminded me of a project I did for Uni last year

Probably the greatest hack you will ever see.
This guy turns a Sony into a digital back for a film camera!

Weird Lens.
Lenses come in all shapes and sizes but this is bizarre!

I gets better after dark!
Some interesting stories of the night photographers

Enjoy

DADFAP

“Ghost trees 1” was uploaded to Flickr

High ISO shots of trees early evening, South Africa
embiggen by clicking http://flic.kr/p/La91gk
Ghost trees 1 was taken on July 13, 2016 at 04:01AM

“Early morning hyena lookout” was uploaded to Flickr

embiggen by clicking http://flic.kr/p/KjXEEM
Early morning hyena lookout was taken on July 21, 2016 at 04:49PM