When You Get A Little Hoarse

What a cold, cold day it was today in the Maitland area. This was our first real 'winter' day & for the first time, last summer seemed to be just a distant memory. The wind was blowing around 40kph & some gusts reaching over 50 kph. This really plummeted the mercury to just 13 deg (C) & with the wind chill, it felt like 0 deg (C).

But it was the wind, it was blowing that hard it would blow the milk out of your tea!

So at lunch time, armed with my Canon 400D camera & a couple of sandwiches I drove up to historic Morpeth for to check out some photographic opportunities.

Morpeth was established as a major river town in 1821 to service the burgeoning rural industries that were thriving on the Hunter River. It was due

to the expansion of Maitland & Morpeth on the Hunter River as major rural centres that hastened the closure of Newcastle as a convict centre in 1823. Today, as you walk down the original stone paved paths along Swan Street past the historic buildings & down to the beautiful Morpeth bridge (built in 1898, it is the oldest remaining example of an overhead braced Allan truss road bridge in service) you can catch a glimpse of what life in a 19th century river town must have been like. However, with siltation of the river & the arrival of rail, the life of the river port was doomed. So from around 1890 Morpeth's fate was sealed as commerce (& the money) moved to Maitland & Newcastle.

The only problem I had all day was the weather, but it is winter & it is that time of year when you can get a little hoarse.

Winter Wine 2009

Well our winter in Australia has now started & the changing season is best reflected in & around the Hunter Valley vineyards. It is a challenge to keep getting outside to try to capture some different aspects of winter in Australia (especially Newcastle) when the sensible thing to do is rug up & stay inside.

So when I was sent to the vineyards on the first day of winter, the first thing I did was pack my trusty Canon 400D with both lenses (the 18 - 55mm & the 75 - 300mm).

The day itself was just flat & grey, not too cold around 18 deg, not raining,

but rain wasn't too far off. The great thing about having an overcast day, was that I was always presented with even light & so I didn't have to worry too much about shadow. Also, due to the amount of rain the vineyards have had, the area still has some extraordinary colour, contrasted by the vines & deciduous trees.

One weekend I'll have to make a point of getting back out to the vineyards, when I'm not constrained by time issues & really do some serious photography in this unique part of the Hunter Valley.

Oh, the wine is also superb & if you scout around there some extraordinary good value tipples to be had .... just don't drink & drive.

A camera, a plan & a Mercedes van

Isn't it great when a plan comes together. Prior preparation & planning prevents poor performance, the 6 P principle from my old Army days (it used to be 7, but we won't go there!)

This week I put in a bit of effort to enable me to take the Canon 400D with me on my travels

around Newcastle. I checked out the sunrise times, the area & the weather, before heading out, which as luck would have it, turned out to be a picture perfect late Autumn day.

I decided to photograph the beaches of Newcastle, but due to time constraints I was restricted to Merewether, Dixon Park & Bar

beaches. Still not a bad effort, considering I was was still at work at the time & was working to a tightish time schedule. So there it was,

around 7.30am, I was able to capture the best of Newcastle's beaches in the early morning light. If I do say so myself, some of those pics are absolutely stunning, capturing the essence of Newcastle in late Autumn.

With that I would've been happy with my day's effort,however I found myself on overtime & thus with prior knowledge I was able to return home & grab my camera to make use of

the late afternoon on Lake Macquarie (see my previous post 'Working with the tools you got').

I was able to capture some of the magic, but to be honest I wasn't 100% happy with the overall result. This was because I was playing around with the UV filter on the 75 -300mm lens & some of the distance shots came out a bit blurry. But that is photography, always learning something new. However, here's a tip, if you are looking to capture some of the beauty of Lake Macquarie, Toronto & all the way down to Wangi Wangi is a must for any photographer, especially between 4pm - 5pm when the late afternoon sunsets will take take your breath away.

If you can wrangle it on overtime, well that would be even better!

Working With The Tools You Got

Although this blog is primarily for pictures taken with my good friend, my Canon 400D, there has been occasions when I've been caught out without my trusty offsider to capture the photographic opportunities that present themselves. On these occasions I've always got my Nokia 6210 Classic with its 2 megapixel in-built camera, hardly a comparison, but it is still able to capture those unexpected moments.

These moments usually happen whilst I'm out on the road at work (the Westpac Rescue helicopter at Redhead bluff for instance) & where it is usually impracticable to have my 400D sitting in the van or truck. So last Wednesday afternoon was one of those 'you shoulda had ya camera' moments.

At the last moment I was taken of my rostered shift & asked to cover another one that basically covered the western side of Lake Macquarie. I had a bit of time before I commenced the run, so I wandered down to the lake, just to get out, stretch the legs & take in the views.

Well what I saw was stunning!

There was Wednesday afternoon yacht racing, kids playing in the park, people sitting on the jetty 'wetting a line' & the most gorgeous late afternoon reflections coming off the lake.

Yep, sometimes you just can't plan photographic opportunities & it is these times that you just have to work with the tools you got.

When April showers go on for hours

I decided to set myself a bit of a challenge this week, given that we have had some very nasty weather,  so I thought I'd grab the trusty 400D & head out to get some shots in some decidely bleak conditions.

Now to photograph Newcastle in perfect weather conditions is easy, just point & shoot basically 

& let the beauty of the environment fill the view finder. However, the weather I encountered 

was atrocious, pouring rain, howling winds that made  taking 'that' shot so much harder. 

The weather was that bad that Newcastle Port was actually closed to all shipping, bar the Stockton ferry. The pictures around Newcastle were taken a 3pm in the afternoon & shows just how dark & gloomy the conditions were. The picture of the lake at Valentine were taken this morning at 9am, still gloomy, but not as bad as yesterday.

For some extra effect, in post production, I added some 'raindrops' to the images using the 'IrfanView 4.2' photo programme. I just done it for some effect, as there is no way I would subject my 400D to such wet conditions. IrfanView is freeware & you can download it at http://www.irfanview.com/

So sometimes its worth setting yourself a challenge, you just never know what will find on your journey of discovery.

East is east & west is west, but I reckon both sides of Maitland are BEST!

Located about 30klms away from Newcastle, nestled alongside the Hunter River, is the picturesque historical town of Maitland. 

Maitland is a river town & prior to motor vehicles & trains, the quickest way to 

get produce to Sydney was using the Hunter River via Morpeth & Newcastle. So Maitland quickly grew into a large transportation hub .

Actually there are two Maitlands, East Maitland & West Maitland (ok, 4 if you include Maitland, the area situated around the Courthouse & South Maitland, near the showgrounds!). East Maitland was the preserve of the rich, mainly because the town was built higher than its riverbank cousin to the west. As a consequence while most of the commerce was gathered around the riverbank, the toffs preferred to live where their feet would stay a tad dryer than the plebs who plied their trades around the wharves.

The architecture is absolutely stunning & this is exemplified by the Post Offices. Maitland PO (situated in Maitland West) is one of the few Australia Post properties whose soul hasn't been sold to become a restaurant or solicitors office, but still enjoys its original purpose, a functioning PO. However, East Maitland was sold off years ago & was replaced by a 'modern' soulless edifice in High St., which I suppose is better than the current fashion of putting LPO's in shopping centres.

Where Flag Now Doesn't Fly

There is a building down by the railway track,

Where eyes no longer pry,

It's now a private residence,

Where the flag now doesn't fly.

There is a building down in main street,

Where the solicitors now all lie,

It's now a place of commerce,

Where the flag now doesn't fly.

There is a building in the middle of town,

Where the food comes from a

 deep fry,

It's now downmarket restaurant,

Where the flag now doesn't fly.

There are a  still a few buildings left,

& I hope that they never die,

They are the local Post Office,

Where our Australian flag 

... still continues to fly. 

Do You See What I See?

One of the most intriquing recent events in Newcastle was joining the crowd on Newcastle foreshore at dawn & watching a cruise ship enter the harbour. It had a real carnivale atmosphere as 100's of well-wishers lined Macquarie Pier, Stockton & The Foreshore on a balmy summer dawn to witness this very unique event. 

This time our guest was the Celebrity Cruise Lines $350 million ship, Millenium. This 1.950 passenger cruise ship is huge & at 91,000 tonnes, it would've had to been one of the biggest ships to enter the port of Newcastle ( your average bulk carrier is only around 40,000 tonnes!), or if not the largest of these type of cruise ships, it would be close enough to it.

The sight of this magnificent ship dwarfing Nobby's headland as it passed, was in itself, a sight to see. 

  

As an extra bonus, Fort Scratchley fired a 3 volley salute from it's No.2 Mark VII gun as a welcoming gesture to our newly arrived guests.  

Luckily, I was at Fort Scratchley, with my old friend, the Canon 400D, to capture the whole event, from the pre-dawn movement to the time that the tugs actually be berthed this beautiful cruise ship at Dyke No.1.

So if you are ever in Newcastle, whether you live here, or even just on a visit, a walk to the Foreshore just before the break of day maybe just worth your while. You just never know what you may see ... you may even get to see what I see!