Australia – Page 30

The Archdale Bridge …

Out on the boundary of the Central Goldfields Shire there is a spot on the map labelled Archdale. Oddly it’s easier to find on Facebook than it is on the ground. And you learn from Facebook that there is no recommended place eat, no recommended place to stay, no recommended place to drink and nothing to see. The reason is very simple. Apart from the odd farm-house there are no buildings. You wonder why they bothered to give the place a name.

I drove through the area some time ago. I was on my way to check out the Dalynong Flora and Fauna Reserve which I had heard was a good chunk of not too badly disturbed woodland habitat. I noticed an old wooden bridge and made a note to come back and photograph it one day.

It’s not an easy spot to photograph, there is a new bridge parallel to it and it is surrounded by River Red Gum woodland. From most angles you either can’t see it or you have a modern concrete structure intruding on the ambience. It’s just a sad old bridge crumbling slowly into the Avoca River. There are no sign posts leading you there. Facebook doesn’t love it.

I wanted to catch it in the evening light so I spent some time poking around. I was rewarded by a pair of Rakali chasing each other’s tails in the water.

The bridge was built in 1863 and is the oldest wooden bridge in the State of Victoria and one of only two to survive the great floods of 1870. It is heritage listed and from the statement of significance we learn that …

Archdale Bridge is technically significant for its humped timber deck, designed to permit the ready flow of flood waters. Humped bridges were not uncommon in an era of horse-drawn vehicles, but were impractical with motorized vehicles; very few survive.
Archdale bridge is one of very few timber river bridges surviving in Victoria to possess large squared-timber pier ‘caps’, combining with squared and shaped corbels. Those heavy caps, over ten metres long, are cantilevered beyond the outer piles and fixed to the pile tops by mortis-and-tenon construction. They represent very rare examples of early bridge-carpentering traditions.

I think Facebook is wrong. There’s plenty to see in Archdale. This bridge is beautiful and deserves a bit of love.

Granite …

One way to be a better landscape photographer is to stand in front of a better landscape. Even greater improvement can be achieved by being there at the right time. I live in a relatively flat area, the Great Dividing Range can be seen from the front gate but it really is quite insignificant on the distant horizon.

A bit more than an hour’s drive away there are some more dramatic outcrops. One of my favourites is in Kooyoora State Park which I wrote about recently. I gave it another try the other evening …

Night Shift …

The old plough had been sitting in one corner of the farm for so long that the wheels had sunk into the ground. The two hardest parts to getting this shot were moving the plough to this position and getting out of bed at 3am.

The bright object to the left of the Milky Way is Jupiter. Saturn is also visible but much less obvious. It’s lower in the sky just to the right of the Milky Way. The brightest object out to the right is a double star named Peacock which is 3328.13 light years away. I know this only because of Stellarium which is a wonderful bit of free software well worth checking out.

The Milky Way …

YouTube is a remarkable resource. As well as how to poach eggs in the microwave I have learnt from and been inspired by some excellent photographers. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that all the good English landscape photographers have north country accents. One of the best bits of advice in landscape photography is stand in front of a better landscape and the north of England is blessed in that regard. Once you’re hooked it’s not an insuperable effort to go further afield.

Richard Tatti is a local not a pom, he lives not far from me and he also plays to his strength. Not landscapes but nightscapes. He is well worth checking out <HERE> or find him on YouTube or Instagram.

In many places light pollution makes the stars hard to see. I live 15km from the nearest town which in any case is not very large. Just walking out my door at night is all it takes if the sky is clear. You can see the glow of Maryborough in the lower right corners of both today’s photos.

The Milky Way season is upon us. The galactic core is not visible in the middle of the Australian summer but we can now find it in the east in the early morning. As the season progresses it will move through the south becoming higher and visible for more of the night before shifting to the west and becoming an after sunset phenomenon.

So here’s my favourite tree again …

You can now check me out on instagram click <HERE>

Coming home …

Macro Madness …

Ballarat’s Begonia Festival is in full swing. I went along yesterday with my macro lens for the opportunity to photograph an enormous collection of virtually unblemished flowers.

Walking back to the car around Lake Wendouree a Black Swan presented itself for a photo. The only lens I had with me was the 100mm macro lens. You use what you’ve got so here is the first photo I’ve taken of a live free bird with a macro lens!

The Ford …

Not far from home an unsealed road takes a sinuous course through a creek bed. At the moment the creek is nothing more than a series of disconnected water holes. Some rain would be very welcome.

There’s not a lot of traffic after dark so we had to make our own …

The Fergie …

The tractor is a 1953 UK built Massey Ferguson TO30 and it’s parked just a few yards from my back door. It was a clear sky last night and there was a smallish window between the Milky Way making its appearance and moon rise. I set up the camera, worked out my lighting and went to bed with the alarm set for 2.45 am.

I think it was worth it …

The bright “star” tucked in the left side of the Milky Way is the planet Jupiter.

The Classics …

Let’s start early morning …

I didn’t even attempt a sunset – the crowd scared me off. Early morning is a better option. Not so many people are prepared to get up before dawn and some of those that do prefer the east facing lookout to watch the sun come up. I was happy with long exposure blue hour shots looking west.

Loch Ard Gorge is not so packed. There’s plenty of room and several lookouts so to some extent you can pick the spot that best utilises the sun’s position that day.

Once the sun had gone I went to an east facing lookout for another image …

The previous evening I was on the beach at Gibson Steps for sunset. I certainly wasn’t alone but the crowd was limited to those fit enough to climb back up the cliff!

Great Ocean Road west …

This February has been an extremely busy month. I really needed a couple of days to relax so it was off to the western end of the Great Ocean Road to take a few photos of the iconic scenery. I visited the eastern end back in January and blogged about it from January 20 and following days.

This time it was under canvas at Princetown a spot that looks like this during the day …

and like this (sometimes) at night …

It is very handy for getting to the Twelve Apostles and nearby attractions and I will share the photos …