Mount Buffalo National Park | VIC | Australia

I had been up at "The Horn" at Mount Buffalo National Park the night before, hoping to shoot the aurora (Aurora Australis aka Southern Lights). Unfortunately it was not to be, although I did enjoy my time exploring Buffalo by night, and I really enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from The Gorge. Driving down the mountain a bit bleary-eyed, I gazed across to the mountains to the distance East and was immediately transfixed. Even though a hot coffee and an egg and bacon roll beckoned at a bakery somewhere down below, I just had to pull over just up from Mackeys Lookout, get out the 70-30mm, and get some shots off. It was also good to get off the road so I didn't cause an accident from gazing into the distance! Out of the dozen or so shots I took, this one spoke to me the most. It's uncropped, and has almost no processing - just a global contrast plus white balance adjustment, and very little else. Knowing I had captured some frames I really liked, I continued on my way down the mountain to that coffee and breakfast, and thankfully cured somewhat of my proclivity for dangerous mountain gazing.

Tags:   2048 Australia Gav Owen Mount Buffalo National Park Sony A7RIII Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS Victoria blue haze hazy landscape lines mesmerising morning mountains pattern patterns scenic uncropped Bright camera:make=sony exif:focal_length=300 mm geo:country=australia exif:make=sony exif:iso_speed=100 exif:model=ilce-7rm3 exif:aperture=ƒ / 6.3 exif:lens=fe 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 g oss geo:location=mount buffalo camera:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:lon=146.82196 geo:lat=-36.705044 geo:state=victoria geo:city=bright

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Wilsons Promontory | VIC | Australia

My time at Tidal River was unfortunately marred by bad weather, and it was playing tricks on me every time I tried to shoot these crested terns. The rain would abate, so I'd grab my camera and walk out onto the beach. As soon as I started shooting, the rain would sheet down again, so I'd retreat back behind the dunes, and then the rain would ease off. This happened a few times, but I was determined to shoot these guys as I didn't want to come away from Tidal River empty-handed. Eventually the rain held off long enough that I could get out to them, but then the next issue had to be overcome. They were all facing directly towards the prevailing winds coming from the ocean, so they all had their tailfeathers pointing towards me. Thankfully for what seemed like a very brief moment the wind swirled and changed direction, and they turned and faced side-on for a brief period, allowing me to get this shot. I've cropped in by about a third, so effective focal length of about 280mm I'm guessing.

Tags:   16:10 2048 Gav Owen Sony A7RIII Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS Tidal River Wilsons Prom Wilsons Promontory bird birding birds cropped islands ocean sand sea seascape telephoto water waves Victoria Australia exif:focal_length=190 mm exif:aperture=ƒ / 11 camera:make=sony exif:make=sony geo:country=australia exif:model=ilce-7rm3 exif:iso_speed=640 exif:lens=fe 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 g oss geo:location=tidal river camera:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:city=wilsons promontory geo:lat=-39.034313 geo:state=victoria geo:lon=146.314877

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Wilsons Promontory | VIC | Australia

Just before Easter I was fortunate enough to secure a tent campsite at Little Waterloo Bay in the Wilsons Promontory National Park. On the hike in, I met a great couple from Torquay, and it was only because one member of their party was a late withdrawal, that I was able to book a spot at such late notice. They are headed to Everest Base Camp in May, and since I am headed there later in the year, we had lots to talk about. As I was busy rock-hopping and taking sunset photos, they were busy taking photos of me! They had a good silhouette of me framed mid-stride as I lunged from rock to rock with camera and tripod in hand (a bit dangerous of me, but good light does not last long!) They said they would email them to me but unfortunately the photos never arrived (am still hoping that they do!)

The stream that feeds into the bay is heavily stained with Coast Tea Tree run-off which in turn stains the lower parts of the rocks in the foreground. Speaking of the foreground rocks, there is one there which to me looks like a smiling gargoyle with a fat nose - not sure if you see that too?

The next day's hike out of here was a bit of a struggle as I was loaded down with camera gear, and also had an extra 10kgs as they told me that Half-Way Hut had no water, and so I had to carry it in. Combined with the soreness from the previous day's hike in where I took the scenic route via Oberon Bay, I was pretty beat by the time I got to camp! For experiences like this, it is so worth it though, as Little Waterloo Bay is one of my favourite spots in the whole world.

Tags:   16:10 2048 3xp Gav Owen HDR Sony A7RIII Victoria Wilsons Prom Wilsons Promontory blue evening glow hiking peaceful pink relaxing remote rocks sand sea seascape seaside serene serenity stained rocks sunset zen Australia exif:aperture=ƒ / 11 camera:make=sony geo:location=little waterloo bay exif:make=sony geo:country=australia exif:model=ilce-7rm3 exif:iso_speed=100 exif:focal_length=16 mm geo:city=wilsons promontory camera:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:lon=146.431913 geo:lat=-39.065365 geo:state=victoria exif:lens=fe pz 16-35mm f4 g

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Wilsons Promontory | VIC | Australia

I spied this particular drift from afar and could see its leading line heading up in a roughly South-East direction. That's just what I wanted. A big part of sunset shooting in these sorts of locations is not getting one's shadow in the image. I knew with where the sun was due to set (thanks PhotoPills app), that this drift should be perfect, and it was. I set off on the one kilometre trek (a bit over half a mile) across the sand, and was glad to see that not a single footprint marred the area - it was completely virgin territory. This is the reward for "going the extra mile" (literally half a mile). The direction of the setting sun caused the foreground ribbing to really pop, and the sun also cast a wonderful golden light against the Westerly side of the drift, complementing the crystal-clear azure cloudless sky. The wind had died off by this point, ensuring sharpness along the top of the dune. Needless to say, conditions were perfect.

For this "golden hour" shot, I had to wait until the sun was very low in the sky. Shortly afterwards, the peaks of other dunes quickly encroached on the scene, which did not look good. Thus, I only had a brief window of opportunity to capture the golden light without shadowing, and thankfully it all came together and I am pleased with the result.

Technically, this image is comprised of 3 exposures shot vertically with 1/3 overlap and stitched together using Lightroom's native stitching tool (Photo Merge > Panorama). I have not done much pano work of late and I was concerned about not getting it all in, so I shot this one at 24mm. I did pivot around the nodal point with a Really Right Stuff pano head and rail. It stitched perfectly, but I had LOADS of leftover image to crop - so much so that the end result is basically no different to taking a single image and then cropping 16:9. That's perfectly fine, but in future I'll probably use my new 20-70mm lens for panos; shooting at around 40mm, and maybe f/13 for depth of field without too much diffraction blurring.

My mum said she likes this one but said, "it could do with some camels" - good one mum!

Tags:   16:9 2048 3xp Australia Big Drift Gav Owen Sony A7RIII Sony FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G The Big Drift Victoria Wilsons Promontory blue drift dune golden golden hour landscape last light lines minimalism minimalist no CPL no grads pano panorama ribbed ribbed for pleasure sand sandy stitch sunset exif:aperture=ƒ / 11 camera:make=sony geo:location=big drift exif:make=sony geo:lat=-38.869273 exif:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:country=australia exif:focal_length=24 mm geo:city=wilsons promontory camera:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:lon=146.227087 exif:iso_speed=100 geo:state=victoria exif:lens=fe pz 16-35mm f4 g

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Wilsons Promontory | VIC | Australia

Life finds a way to survive, even in the harshest of environments. I really enjoyed exploring the lunar-like landscape and wide open spaces of The Big Drift, on the outskirts of Wilsons Promontory National Park.

Tags:   16:10 2048 Australia Gav Owen Sony A7RIII Sony FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G Victoria Wilsons Prom Wilsons Promontory afternoon barren blue desolate growth landscape lunar-like pale pastel plant sand sky survival yellow exif:aperture=ƒ / 13 camera:make=sony geo:location=big drift exif:make=sony geo:country=australia exif:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:state=victoria geo:city=wilsons promontory exif:focal_length=27.5 mm camera:model=ilce-7rm3 geo:lon=146.228545 exif:iso_speed=100 geo:lat=-38.869291 exif:lens=fe pz 16-35mm f4 g

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