Superb Fairy-Wren - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I have uploaded a couple of photographs of the Superb Fairy-Wren previously but thought I'd share a few more recent shots of the male of this species on this post. Again, the photographs were taken over a weekend spent on a friends farm in Sandy Hollow in the northern reaches of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

More photographs inside.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

As with most Wrens, the Super Fairy Wren doesn't sit still for long. They spend their time hopping from branch to branch foraging in the undergrowth. Photographing these birds takes a fair bit of patience as you need to wait for them to appear in the open. Then you have to try and focus on the bird before it disappears again.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I used AI Focus to track the birds while they moved about feeding. As soon as they stepped out into the open I hit the shutter release to take the photograph. It does sounds a lot easier than it actually was! The main issue I experienced while photographing these birds was focusing. As the camera would sometimes focus on the leaf litter or on a stray leaf. I couldn't pre-focus as the birds were unpredictable.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

All the photographs on this post were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. A tripod wasn't use as the light was strong enough to use a quick shutter release.

Cabbage White - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Sandy Hollow was full of Cabbage Whites when we visited over he Easter long weekend. Although I didn't do too much photography while we were there, I did take a few photographs of this species. Since butterflies are a bit sluggish in the morning, photographing them was a bit easier.

More photographs inside.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

The widespread populations of this common butterfly extend from Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The species has also been accidentally introduced to Australia, New Zealand and America. In the caterpillar stage, it causes a significant amount of damage to cabbages and crops of the mustard family.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

This species is one of the most "cold hardy" butterflies in the world. In America, the Cabbage White is one of the first species to appear from its chrysalis in spring. It is also occasionally seen during mid-winter spells in cities as far north ans Washington.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

These photographs were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. No tripod was used as the light was sufficient.

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

We were up at a friends farm in the upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales over the Easter weekend. On one of our walks I noticed that the wild flowers on the side of the road were back lit by the setting sun. It's not the sort of shot I take often but I thought I'd fire off a few frames and see how they turn out.

More photographs inside.

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I have started cropping images in a 2:1 ratio (first and third image as well as a few previous posts) and so far I've liked how they have turned out. This time I actually took the photograph with that particular crop in mind. Since this is not the usual type of shot that I upload on the blog, I'm pretty keen to see what you guys think. Please drop a comment below if you have a minute to spare.

 

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

All the photographs on this post were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. Since the shutter speed was quite fast, I didn't have to use a tripod.

Iconic Sydney - Australia

Harbour Bridge - Sydney, Australia

I hadn't taken any photographs for sometime so decided to get out with the camera over the weekend. I drove down to Milson's Point to photograph the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. My shot list for the night included a panoramic photograph of both icons. I also tried a new 2:1 ratio on the photograph above and thought it came out pretty well.

More photographs inside.

Harbour Bridge and Opera House - Sydney, Australia

I got there at dusk hoping to be able to include a clear blue sky in the photographs but it was cloudy and grey. However, I liked the fact that the setting sun brought out the details on the underside of the bridge. Fortunately there weren't any people around to walk into the frame and I manged to fire off a few "keepers".

Harbour Bridge and Opera House - Sydney, Australia

The panorama above was a 4 or 5 image stitch. I would have liked the left hand side of the image to be a bit brighter but short of getting there earlier, there wasn't anything I could do. Maybe another drive down to Milson's Point is in order?

 Opera House - Sydney, Australia

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. I also used a tripod for all these shots. An aperture of f14-16 and a shutter speed between 20 seconds and 30 seconds was used for all of these.

Around Sydney - Australia

The Skyline - Sydney, Australia

I hadn't been out in the city with the camera for sometime so decided to go for a bit of a walk last night. I started off near Mrs Macquarie's chair near the open air cinema but didn't have any particular route in mind. I wasn't after any specific shots last night, just a walk and an an intention to photograph whatever came up.

More photographs inside.

The Opera House & Harbour Bridge - Sydney, Australia

The next subjects were the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I'd been to this location to photograph them before (to take this photograph) but the light conditions were very different. This time I got there after sunset and the sky was a rich blue in colour.

The Opera House & Harbour Bridge - Sydney, Australia

I would have preferred to have used a longer lens for the photograph above but unfortunately, I only had the 24-105mm lens with me. I was surprised that the smaller sails of the opera house were not lit up. That resulted in the main sail being a lot brighter than the others.

Cahill Expressway - Sydney, Australia

The next stop was a bridge overlooking the Cahill Expressway. Being a Saturday night there wasn't a lot of traffic on the road but a 30 second exposure was sufficient to photograph a few light trails as cars moved to and from the city.

Chaos on William Street - Sydney, Australia

Heading up along William Street towards Kings Cross on a Saturday night is probably the worst place to drive in Sydney. Kings Cross, the red light district in Sydney, is a hive of activity with thousands of people hitting the clubs in the area. The ever present hoons add a level of stupidity to the whole experience.

The Archibald Fountain - Sydney, Australia

The Archibald Fountain in Hyde park was the last stop on my walk. Built in 1932 , the fountain was a gift to the city bequeathed in the will of J. F. Archibald. It is intended to commemorate the association between Australia and France in World War 1 and is the work of French sculptor Francois Sicard.

All photographs on this post were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. I also used a tripod for these photographs.  

Forster - New South Wales, Australia

Main Beach - Forster, Australia

The 26th of January is Australia Day, one of a handful of public holidays over here in Australia. Since it fell on a Thursday this year, we took Friday off and headed up to Forster for the long weekend.  We stayed at one of our friends apartments which is just a block away form Main Beach.

More photographs inside.

Forster - Tuncurry Bridge across Wallis Lake - Forster, Australia

Forster and its twin town Tuncurry, lie on a thin strip of land between Wallis lake and the Pacific Ocean. Forster and Tuncurry are home to a population of around 18,500 people, more than half of who are aged over 55 years. Forster is located in the great lakes area which is roughly 300 km north of Sydney, an easy 3 hour drive.

The Marina - Forster, Australia

The Forster marina is the first part of town that you see on the right hand side of the bridge when you drive in from Tuncurry. The breakwater is open to the public and a paved walkway provides easy access from the public car park. Dolphins can be seen around the breakwater on a regular basis.

The Pelicans - Forster, Australia

The Marina is also known for the flock of relatively large Pelicans that are often seen there. Facilities are provided for fishermen to clean their catch at the Marina and the birds gather around the cleaning tables hoping to feed on the scraps. They are quite used to people and gather by the table whenever someone is cleaning their fish.

Ocean Baths - Forster, Australia

As with most coastal towns in Australia, Forster also has Ocean Baths. The baths are located at the southern end of main Beach and are open to the public. The baths can be tricky to photograph as the rising sun will be directly in the background in most compositions. The best times to photograph the pools would be late evening or early morning before the sun rises. A Tripod is essential.

Ocean Baths - Forster, Australia

I made several early morning starts and managed to shoot the pool in varying light conditions. These two photographs are the ones I liked best of the lot. I tried using a graduated ND filter to compress the dynamic range of the photographs but it was tricky due to the compositions that I chose.

Tuncurry across Wallis Lake - Forster, Australia

All the images on this post were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. A graduated ND filter was used for some of the photographs and a tripod came in handy on many occasions.

Garden Orb Weaver Spider- Sydney, Australia

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

I took the macro lens out over the weekend hoping to photograph some spiders in the garden. I found a number of Garden Orb Weavers in the shrubs along the driveway and spent some time photographing them. The fact that they spend a lot of time under their webs made the whole task a lot harder.

More photographs inside.

 Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

Garden Orb-weavers are common, non venomous spiders found in Australia. They are usually brightly coloured and vary in terms of size, shape and colour within Australia. They are nocturnal feeders and weave their webs in the evenings. One of the spiders I saw over the weekend was actually in the process of weaving its web. It was interesting to actually see how the spider set about creating such an intricate web.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

I had been trying to figure out how spiders actually sets about creating a web across a void when I came found an article which actually described the process. Apparently the spiders use air/wind to spread the initial line across a void. The spider is said to move to a vantage point and raise its abdomen and release a steady stream of silk from it's spinnerets. The wind will then pick up the silk and carry it until it snags on a solid object. Once the initial strand is firmly snagged, the spider will move out along it to build the web.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

Interestingly the Orb-Weavers build a web every night and then remove it at dawn, unlike some other spiders who stay in the web day and night. Apparently the reason for this behaviour is predator avoidance. Although the "orb" section of the web disappears, some of the support lines will be left in place. During the day the spiders "hide" near a location where these support lines meet a solid object.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens. The lighting was again from a Canon 430EX II fired at 1/8th from high (relatively) camera left. Like with the photograph of the Weaver Ants the strobe was handheld. It's not the easiest thing to do when you are trying to lock focus using a macro lens!

Brown Falcon - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) - Sandy Hollow

We were up at a friends farm in the Hunter region of New South Wales on our annual visit over the October long weekend when I came across a pair of Brown Falcons. The area is full of raptors as there is an abundance of prey on the farms. On our previous trips I had photographed Black Shouldered Kites, Kestrels and Wedge Tailed Eagles but had not seen any falcons.

More Photographs Inside.

 Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) - Sandy Hollow

The raptors were perched on some machinery in a field by the side of the road when I passed them. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me so had to make a mad dash to the house and back. I was able to pull up and fire off a few frames before one of them decided to fly off. The first shot o this post was taken as soon as the bird took off.

Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) - Sandy Hollow

I initially thought the bird was an Eagle due to its size. It seemed substantially bigger than the Kestrel but this maybe due to proximity. I would have liked to get a few flight shots but it was nearly impossible for me to lock focus on them and the light wasn't great because it was close to midday. 

Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) - Sandy Hollow

The Brown Falcon is said to be one of the more common raptors found on mainland Australia. Apparently it is often seen on perches close to open roads which offer clear views of the surrounding area. Something to keep an eye out for in future.

These photographs were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.

Humpbacks in Sydney

A Humpback Whale dives

The migratory season for Humpback Whales is well underway and a large number of them are currently making their way north from the Antarctic Ocean toward the breeding grounds in North Queensland. One of our friends got us tickets to go Whale watching and we booked the trip for last weekend.

More photographs inside.

 Whales surface close to a boat

We were lucky not to have to go looking for Whales when we went out. As soon as we headed out of the harbour the skipper was informed that whales had been sighted just north of the heads. The trip north didn't take too long and we soon came up to a number of stationary whale watching boats. Apparently Humpbacks dive for about 5 minutes on average and we didn't have to wait long before they surfaced.

A Humpback Whale dives off the coast of Sydney

They didn't seem to be too bothered by the large number of boats which were in the vicinity. They were quite inquisitive and came close to the boats on a number occasions. At one point they were just 5 or 10 meters away. The water was quite clear and we saw them swimming under the boat on a number of occasions.

Whales surfacing

We sighted about four or five separate pods over the entire trip. Since there were so many Whales the boats were quite spread out and didn't crowd them. The Whales were not the most playful and we were not lucky enough to see them breach. They lifted their tails out of the water very often as they dived and we saw a few whales slapping their flukes.

A Humpback slaps a fluke

These photographs were captured with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. The ISO performance on the camera and the great light helped me get some sharp photographs. My only regret is not having taken a Circular Polariser on the trip.

A Humpback tail slapping

Surfers at Bronte

Carving it up at Bronte

* Photographs must be viewed at a larger size. Please click on each image.

The weather last weekend was the best we've had in Sydney for a while. I decided to take advantage of it and headed out to the Eastern Beaches to do some surf photography. Bronte and Tamarama were the locations of choice due to the fact that they are relatively small bays which are surrounded by cliffs. Fortunately the zoom on the 100-400mm lens was sufficient for me to shoot from shore.

More shots inside.

 The big white

I cranked up the ISO on the 7D to freeze the droplets of the waves as they broke over the surfers. I started off with the ISO set to 100 but the shutter speeds I was able to get were not fast enough. The fast shutter speed also allowed me to shoot without a tripod which was a handy bonus.

In the drink... almost

I think the facial expressions of the surfers added a lot to these images. I was pleasantly surprised that the zoom on the 100-400 was long enough to capture the facial expressions of the surfers. It was a bit hard to gauge exactly how far away the surfers were because I was on top of a 40 meter cliff. I'd guess they were close to 300 m away.

The green wall

The surfers in these shots are all positioned on the right of the image as they were all taken at Bronte where the break was from the right. I tried a few compositions with the subject on the left but the white water didn't really add to the overall compositions. They images were a lot more dynamic when "the wall" was more dominant. The only exception was the shot below.

The Break

The day got off to a great start when a pod of 8 humpbacks made an appearance a few hundred meters off shore. The surfers paddled out beyond where the waves broke and sat on their boards watching the pod for about 45 minutes. At times they would have been no more than 50 meters apart. They swam off towards Bondi and disappeared. We are going whale watching on Sunday and hope we get lucky again.

Brown Ringlet

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

I photographed a number of Brown Ringlets while I was up at the Barrington Tops. Since I was out early almost every morning I managed to photograph them while they warmed up in the early morning sun. Due to the fact that they were still "warming up", I was able to get really close to the butterfly. Having the 100-400mm lens on also helped.

More images after the jump.

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

The Brown Ringlet is a small butterfly and has a wingspan of around 55mm. I would have liked to get a bit closer to photograph them but was restricted by the minimum focusing distance on the 100-400mm lens. It would have been good to use the 100mm lens to photograph them but I didn't want to missout by going indoors to change the lens,

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

I'm not sure how other photographers set about photographing butterflies. Do they approach butterflies once they settle on a plant or do they set up hides and wait for the butterfly to settle? The second option could be time consuming and may lead to people "baiting" the butterflies. I've never baited animals for photography before and I am not too keen to start it now.  What do you guys think?

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

All photographs on this post were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.