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Up North...
Aug. 5th, 2019 01:13 pmTo celebrate L-SP's new camera & a Bank Holiday Long Weekend, I managed to wangle myself an extra day off (today!!) & we hit the road on Saturday for a sunset & sunrise shooting session with the Canon Collective at Tin City - about halfway along Stockton Beach, north of Newcastle (Australia, not the U.K!!) I knew about Stockton Beach, albeit under more sinister circumstances... but had never heard of Tin City before. When L-SP suggested the place, I thought it was what they called the part of Stockton Beach where a couple of old ships had been wrecked & so was quite excited about it. What we found instead, was a collection of corrugated iron huts, shacks & 'houses' that had first been built & occupied in the late 1920s, thanks to the Great Depression. Some of the shacks are still occupied today, by people who don't mind having no phone, no electricity, no sewerage, no internet, no running water, but apparently also don't mind having fish for 3 meals a day & the occasional invasion of photography groups. To be fair, the Canon representative was clear about staying away from the occupied structures, keeping quiet & respecting the area as people's home. To the best of my knowledge, we all did just that
The shacks themselves, while quaint & of some interest in a rural/urban decay kind of way, didn't really grab my attention much & I turned my camera's gaze to both the surrounding sand dunes & the sunset
I should mention that access to Tin City is only either by 4WD & a permit, or by tour arrangement with a company based at Anna Bay, at the north end of the beach. Canon had arranged the latter, so about two dozen of us piled into 4WD 'buses' that set off over the dunes, bumping around so much it felt like you were on a trotting horse & you couldn't get the rhythm right enough to save your coccyx. Once we hit the beach sand for the main part of the drive, things smoothed out enough to un-numb your bum. On the way up on Saturday afternoon, we were lucky enough to see 2 whales breaching in the waters off the beach, as well as a dolphin doing that backwards tail skating they seem to enjoy. No photos... I wasn't quick enough
As sunset became night, we headed back to Anna Bay, marvelling at the rising Milky Way & its clarity, making plans to come back after dinner & try some star-shooting. Unfortunately, it didn't work out too well, as the lights from the nearby carpark blew out the long exposure shots we tried. Never mind - the galaxy's not going anywhere & there are plenty of other locations...
Up early on Sunday for another bone'n'bum rattling ride to Tin City for the sunrise & my god, was it a cold morning!! My fingers hadn't been so numb since Milford Sound in 2011. Wind chill was also a factor, though thankfully, it didn't blow the sand around, so the cameras & tripods didn't get much grit in their works - that can be expensive to fix... More clouds in the sky made for better sky shots, but also meant the dunes didn't light up the way they had at sunset. Still, I love sunrise & sunset shots, so no complaints!!
That's my camera & tripod... I'd walked away to talk to L-SP, then noticed the sunrays coming through, so took out the little point'n'shoot that lives in my pocket...
As the sun climbed past the clouds, the tin shacks & surrounding dunes finally got a burst of colour
One last rattling ride back to Anna Bay, then breakfast with some of the Collective at a nearby café, before we headed south to Sydney... via the Hunter Valley, so not due south, but we've never been known to take the direct route anywhere!!
Our next Collective excursion is to Taronga Zoo, here in Sydney. Given how many times we've been there & photographed the animals before, it will be interesting to pick up some tips & maybe try out some bigger zoom lenses. Stay tuned for lots of photos of animal nostrils & inner ears...
The shacks themselves, while quaint & of some interest in a rural/urban decay kind of way, didn't really grab my attention much & I turned my camera's gaze to both the surrounding sand dunes & the sunset
I should mention that access to Tin City is only either by 4WD & a permit, or by tour arrangement with a company based at Anna Bay, at the north end of the beach. Canon had arranged the latter, so about two dozen of us piled into 4WD 'buses' that set off over the dunes, bumping around so much it felt like you were on a trotting horse & you couldn't get the rhythm right enough to save your coccyx. Once we hit the beach sand for the main part of the drive, things smoothed out enough to un-numb your bum. On the way up on Saturday afternoon, we were lucky enough to see 2 whales breaching in the waters off the beach, as well as a dolphin doing that backwards tail skating they seem to enjoy. No photos... I wasn't quick enough
As sunset became night, we headed back to Anna Bay, marvelling at the rising Milky Way & its clarity, making plans to come back after dinner & try some star-shooting. Unfortunately, it didn't work out too well, as the lights from the nearby carpark blew out the long exposure shots we tried. Never mind - the galaxy's not going anywhere & there are plenty of other locations...
Up early on Sunday for another bone'n'bum rattling ride to Tin City for the sunrise & my god, was it a cold morning!! My fingers hadn't been so numb since Milford Sound in 2011. Wind chill was also a factor, though thankfully, it didn't blow the sand around, so the cameras & tripods didn't get much grit in their works - that can be expensive to fix... More clouds in the sky made for better sky shots, but also meant the dunes didn't light up the way they had at sunset. Still, I love sunrise & sunset shots, so no complaints!!
That's my camera & tripod... I'd walked away to talk to L-SP, then noticed the sunrays coming through, so took out the little point'n'shoot that lives in my pocket...
As the sun climbed past the clouds, the tin shacks & surrounding dunes finally got a burst of colour
One last rattling ride back to Anna Bay, then breakfast with some of the Collective at a nearby café, before we headed south to Sydney... via the Hunter Valley, so not due south, but we've never been known to take the direct route anywhere!!
Our next Collective excursion is to Taronga Zoo, here in Sydney. Given how many times we've been there & photographed the animals before, it will be interesting to pick up some tips & maybe try out some bigger zoom lenses. Stay tuned for lots of photos of animal nostrils & inner ears...
