Western Australia’s South West

Recently I travelled to the Margaret River / Dunsborough region of Western Australia for a 4 day family vacation / shoot. While the family slept-in every morning, I managed to wake each morning around 4.20am to head out to location scouted from a previous trip or day before scout to set up for first light of the morning. While most mornings provided pretty average light there where moments when the light was nicely filtered by passing clouds allowing for some nice images to be taken for the portfolio. 

Below is one of the first I have had the time to prepare for the blog and ultimately the galleries within Spool Photography. This image was taken around 6am after a brief shower or two when the sun came through the clouds just enough to provide a nice yellow hue over the green vines of a Margaret River Winery.

New ways to view Spool Photography Galleries

Now you can view all the images in the gallery by format, ie Horizontal Panoramic, Standard Vertical, Standard Horizontal and Vertical Panoramic via the new viewing platform on Spool Photography.

Heres a screen shot of the new viewing platform. I have linked the image below to one of the formats from there you can choose what format you would like to look through.

Recently I have been spending a fair amount of time shooting down and around the South West Of Western Australia. In the coming weeks I hope to have a number of new images up in the galleries for viewing. With some new exciting developments planned for the 1st quarter of 2009 and new location shoots being planned so stay tuned.

Cottesloe Beach Pylon

The famous local Pylon at Cottesloe Beach. Really not sure why this Pylon is so close to the beach or what purpose it serves these days as it was built in 1936 and is the last remaining feature of the shark proof fence that once lay 80 meters off the beach. I think it has more historical value than anything else and has been used in several inter surf club practical jokes over the year. In 2003 I read that is was deemed a heritage landmark.

Well this is how I see the Pylon a Cottesloe Beach. I’m glad it is still there even though it is starting to look very weathered and worn. Its nice to see some things remain in Perth from yesteryear with so many historic sites now bulldozed since the 1980’s.

Historical Cottesloe Pylon Limited Edition Print
Image for sale in limited number of 60

Information on Spool Photography Prints can be found here

Or you can email me at info ( at ) spoolphotography dot com

Cottesloe Beach Western Australia

This week I have added a few new images to the Spool Photography Galleries. The first being a limited edition image of Western Australia’s Premier Beach, Cottesloe Beach. Located just 20 minutes outside the City of Perth, Cottesloe Beach has many restaurants and cafes along its strip to enjoy an early morning breakfast while the sun rises from the east or dinner and drinks while watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean. An extremely popular beach year round, the beach has lights for those long warm evenings on the white sandy beach.

Here is an image I took around a week ago at sunrise, my favorite time of the day at Cottesloe Beach.

Cottesloe Beach Limited Edition Print
Image for sale in limited number of 60

Information on Spool Photography Prints can be found here

Or you can email me at info ( at ) spoolphotography dot com

Yosemite National Park

What would have to be one if not my most treasured laces to photograph would be Yosemite National Park. Earlier this year I found myself spending 4 days inside the Yosemite, hiking trails waterfalls, big open meadows, rivers, creeks, ponds, snow covered lakes Yosemite has it all.

Below is an mage taken one evening driving out of the park. It is one of my favorite places in the park looking up both left and right at the granite cliffs is just amazing.

This image is available in the main galleries as an Edition Of 60 listed under Yosemite Valley Drive

Christmas With A Spool Photography Print

Well another year is about to end. One where I found myself spending many hours waiting for the light, so many times at remote locations, sometimes very hot and other times bitterly cold dark places where the thought of the local wildlife freaked me out on more than one occasion.

From the Banks of the Swan River on a hot and very humid evening to climbing in complete darkness lost down a steep ravine with every sign of spending the night in the bush using only body warmth to keep you warm (special thanks go out to Jamie and Kirk - thank god I found the way back as I did not want to be the meat in that sandwich) to waking up at 4am to a foot of snow covering the car and a long drive on icy black roads at 12 mile per hr straight UP to Emerald Bay just to catch first light.

Cold, sometimes windy beaches or piers, slippery wet steep long trails to visit a waterfall in Yosemite National Park or lakes with bear scat to remind you that you’re just a visitor - they live there! It has all been extremely enjoyable yet challenging at the same time and I would not change one moment of it especially when you just know you have captured “that shot”, some of which I have waited years to take.

So with many locations visited, shots taken and the site finally up and running I thought it was time for a Spool Photography kinda Christmas with 1 lucky person receiving their choice of 1 large 45 inch print presented on a flat aluminum backing ready to hang.

All you have to do is visit SpoolPhotography.com. Spend some time looking through the images in the galleries and choose your top 3 images in the galleries.  

With 1 being your first choice, 2 your second and 3 your third. 
Then email me your chosen top 3 to info ( at ) spoolphotography dot com

Spool Photography Christmas Giveaway Rules

• Only the images in the “Edition of 60? may be chosen
• Only 1 entry per person per household. No PO Box entries
• Competition is open from November 12th through to November 29th 2008
• Winner will be drawn November 30th at random and is final
• There is only 1 prize of 1 print to one lucky person
• If a 45 inch print is a little large for where you would like to hang the print, a 30 inch will be offered.
• There is only 1 print giveaway regardless of size chosen.

Good luck to everyone that enters, I look forward to reading your feedback emails.

Cape Naturaliste Landscape Sunset

Another image from my recent trip to the Cape Naturaliste region. Where I spent a few days traveling up and down the coast from Dunsborough through to Margaret River photography landscapes each morning and evening.

This is image is now in the Spool Photography Limited Edition Landscapes as Fine Art Landscape Edition of 60 and can be found under the Western Australian gallery section titled Cape Naturaliste Headlands

Bunker Bay Western Australia

Sunrise over Bunker Bay in Western Australia’s Cape Naturalist region.

Early one morning last week I found myself witnessing an amazing sunrise over one of Western Australia best beaches. With virtually no one around I spent the next hour or so working my way from one side of the beach all the way up and around the to the bay area taking photograph after photograph. This area in very close to Dunsborough has so many gorgeous beach landscapes to photograph that I am sure I will be back many many times.

Western Australian Contos Landscape

Here is the first image I have had a chance to get stitched up and processed from last weekends shoot down around the Western Australian South Coast Region of Dunsborough.

This landscape image is a 6 image stitch taken at the rocks area of Contos. Contos Beach is a popular surf beach near Margaret River, Western Australia along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.

Margaret River Shoot

Just back from a few days shooting down in around the Margaret River / Dunsborough region of Western Australia’s South West Coastline. Managed to get in quite a few locations from Bunker Bay, Indijup Point, Round Rocks, Meelup Beach and Redgate Beach.

Looking over the raw images this morning it looks like I should have some new images for the gallery in the coming week or so. Saturday morning provided the best light of the trip and I found myself at Meelup Beach where the water was so calm and blue, the light was very even for around 15 mins with some nice soft pastel blue and pink tones. I am really looking forward to having a closer look at this shoot as I think it will provide some of the best images from the trip.

Saturday night I found myself at Round Rocks and what was shaping up for a very nice shoot. My idea of shooting a certain view of the area was spoiled with a unimpressive sunset so I had to resort to my 2nd and 3rd choice view options for the evening. We shall see what those images produce, but I do know I will be back to that area for the shot I was not able to capture this time around.

One of my favorite spots in Dunsborough is Bunker Bay and I have tried a few times now to capture an image for the gallery, with this trip being yet another where I think I failed yet again. Bunker Bay has some similar qualities to a little area I like at Lake Tahoe, but its seems to be much harder to photograph. I think it is the shape of the bay and the way the suns lights up certain parts of the bay and not others either at sunrise or sunset, plus is looks a lot nicer when the tide is a little higher than it was on the sunday morning I was there.

I would of liked to have shot a little more during the day with some cloud cover but without the cloud the light was pretty harsh. In the end I am happy with what I came away with over the 3 days and I am looking forward adding some new images to the gallery over the coming weeks.