Monday, April 5, 2010

Mission Accomplished

Deb and I took off for a few days and headed to one of our favourite places in the world, the west coast of Victoria. Admittedly I haven’t seen the whole world (or anything like a sizable chunk) but I have seen some great places. And these few hundred kilometres of coastline pack in an awful lot of spectacular scenery.

I have a slight problem. I have come back with over 700 photos.

Even given the fact that I tend to take a fair number of piccies of the same subject (wouldn’t it look better from this angle?), I still have a couple of hundred photos from just a few days that I would consider worth sharing on this blog.

My imaginary Uncle Harry would be proud.

Now I am not going to swamp you with all of them tonight. However, I did talk last time about going hunting.

Among other things I like photographing the sky. In particular I have recently conceived of a desire to photograph my first ever dawn.
I see plenty of dawns but for one reason or another I had never properly photographed a dawn. I posted about a disappointment recently.

Well on the second morning I of our holiday I was up early.
No use, complete cloud cover.
Disappointed again, I went back to bed.

Now defying the conventions of uncle Harry’s slide nights, I am going to jump forward a whole 24 hours.

The next morning I was up again before first light.

Fog.

But out to the east a hint of clear sky. I decided I would go hunting piccies of dawn.

I leapt into the car and headed east out along The Great Ocean Road.

As I drove East I slipped out from under the low bank of cloud.

And this is what I saw.


Now, next time I go on Holiday I can sleep in!

18 comments:

Jaydee Morgan said...

Well, those pics were definitely worth getting up early for!

monix said...

Spectacular pictures.

Jemi Fraser said...

Gorgeous photos! Sky photos are always among my favourites :)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

What a fun trip! I'm so jealous.

Elspeth Futcher said...

Those clouds are spectacular. Wonderful.

Cynthia Reese said...

Good work under tricky lighting conditions! Hat's off to you!

Mary said...

Beautifully dramatic, especially with the cloud formations and silhouetted ground.

Kimberly Franklin said...

Beautiful pictures! :)

Natasha said...

Those photographs are definitely worth getting up early for.

~ Rayna

Al said...

Hi Jaydee,
The sure were. Mind you the dawn this morning. If only I had a camera.

Hi Monix,
Thanks!

Hi Jemi,
Thanks. I love the sky it’s always changing, always something to look at.

Hi Karen,
It was great. It’s a beautiful area, so nice to spend more than a night or two.

Hi Elspeth,
The clouds were just perfect in the end, from nerves to wow!

Hi Cynthia,
I use a tripod so I can get the exposure right. That and I take so many piccies that some are bound to come out right :)

Hi Mary,
I was happy, it looks like so many layers pasted one over the other and the camera just exaggerated that feel.

Hi Tasha,
Thanks!

Hi Kimberly,
Pleased you liked them!

Hi Rayna,
They were! But then again, I am so used to early starts that it wasn’t really a trial.

Unknown said...

Breathtaking photos! I'm a morning person and I can see myself jumping in the car at dawn in search of perfect photo ops. It must have been magical. Thanks for sharing them! BTW, hubby and I seriously considered moving to Australia in 2000. I don't think there's a day that goes by that we don't regret deciding to go elsewhere. I hope you post more pics of your gorgeous country!

Looking forward to reading more from you!

Ann said...

Wonderful photos. Well worth the lack of sleep.

Al said...

Hi Nicole,
You should try it sometime, the perfect excuse to actually see the dawn.
Ah well, Oz's loss was Jefferson's gain.
I certainly intend to post more piccies.
I'll look forward to you dropping by then!

Hi Ann,
Thank you! I agree, and I am so used to waking before dawn I find it hard not to, even when I am on holidays!

Kristen M. said...

I am not a morning person so you have shown me something that I rarely see ... thank you! :)

Walk Talk Tours said...

Great pics, Al. I love looking at clouds and trying to work out what they resemble. Catching the light makes them look even more spectacular.

Al said...

Hi Kristen,
You are welcome. I see dawn all to frequently, but it never loses its charm.

Hi Phil,
Aren't clouds wonderful fun?
You're absolutely right the light does lift them to a whole new level.

Lisa said...

Oh my gosh Al, these are fantastic!

Al said...

Hi Lisa,
They are fantastic. It was a glorious dawn and the piccies turned out even better than I expected.