Author Archives: Peter MacDonald

Of Things To Come

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

The results of my recent to Lake Eyre are exciting.

I didn’t think it was possible the lake would be much different to what I had seen in 2010.

How wrong can you be.

I am still processing the pictures but production will start next week on an exhibition which will be unveiled in August.

While Lake Eyre doesn’t have as much water in it as in the previous two years, it is making up for the lack of water with some stunning scenes.

This is Silcrete Island in the north lake….the subject of previous works which can be found in the ‘Categories’ list on the right hand side of this page under ‘Lake Eyre’ or click here

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Crossroads

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

These photos need no explanation……same part of the world…different journeys.

Posted in On the Road, Oodnadatta Track | Leave a comment

Moody Hues

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

I came across this simple but moody wall presentation in the William Creek Hotel not long ago.

It’s a horse riding theme with a pair of cowboy boots, a whip, lasso, hat and riding coat.

It’s on a background of railway sleepers, most likely from the old Ghan railway that used to run through the town.

However the bare light bulb is providing all the atmosphere and of course making all the problems for getting a good photo.

There was a bit of experimentation in getting the shot but the best result turned out like this.

A spot meter reading through the lens a little to the right of the globe gave a good exposure reading of f4.0 at 1/40th of a sec and a brightness reading of minus 1.2. The ISO was way up at 1,250. Hand held, no flash.

It was taken on my Fuji X-100 camera which has a fixed 23mm lens and gets some fantastic results.

I tried the same shot with my Canon 5D Mk 2 and a fixed 50mm lens for entirely different readings and a slightly different result, so in a case like this, there is no set formula.

Posted in Outback South Australia, Photography Tips | Tagged | Leave a comment

When Any Prop will Do

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Apart from a great pub, there’s not a lot else in William Creek on the Oodnadatta Track to photograph…but there are plenty of aircraft.

So, when there’s a sunset and two large contrails from jets on the the run from Sydney to Perth, you use any prop you can get.

The sun was well and truly below the horizon when this was taken at f14, shutter speed 1/100th sec ISO 200 with off camera flash in manual mode and a Lumiquest Softbox Three… a handy little gizmo which fits over the flash unit for softening and controlling light.

Posted in Outback South Australia, Photography Tips | Tagged | Leave a comment

BIG

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Forget Texas…everything out here is bigger…bigger cattles stations, bigger sand dunes, more flies.

This sand dune on Anna Creek Station in the far north of South Australia is massive…well over 30 metres (100 feet) high.

It’s so big that without something in the foreground it would be hard to even guess just how large it is, and this only a small portion of the dune.

Anna Creek station is the largest cattle station in the world, four times larger than the biggest in Texas and about the size of Israel. Sand dunes make up a good portion of the country.

The dune has been shaped by the wind as can be seen on the windward edge.

The sand is so fine and the sides so steep that progress is one pace forward and two back on all but the shallowest of climbs.

Despite the apparent harshness of the landscape, all the rains of recent times have put much life into the shifting sands, perfectly typified by this thriving plant with its single golden flower pointed directly at the autumn sun.

Posted in Flora, Oodnadatta Track, Outback South Australia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Stubbs

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Having battled to get the spectacular Stubbs waterhole into perspective in the previous photograph, it is now easier to concentrate on the actually water hole without the massive rock face it sits beneath.

Nevertheless the other surrounding cliffs provide a wonderful setting for this waterhole.

Over the recent drought years this was a mostly dry and austere landscape. It’s amazing what good rains will do. The rocks seem redder, the trees and other vegetation very lush and green.

This is still the Arkaroola Creek at Stubbs, where it flows around to the right in the first picture.

With sand dunes and salt and tiny little towns the focus of my attention this past week, it was a bit of an effort to come back to these photographs but easier that starting on the process of dealing with over 1500 new photos.

Posted in Arkaroola, Waterholes | Leave a comment

The Skull

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

It’s a marvellous world we live in. This photograph was taken on my last trip to Arkaroola, which only seems like yesterday but in fact was two weeks ago now.

I’m off in a totally different direction now, but thanks to a friend, Trevor Wright from WrightsAir in William Creek this picture gets to make it onto the pages of the Sentimental Bloke.

The photograph is of Stubbs Waterhole along the Arkaroola Creek…..something I’ve photographed quite often but never satisfactorily.

The problem is the waterhole is small compared to the towering rock face is sits beneath.

Then of course there’s the position of the sun which is often putting flare all over the lens or its overhead, and washing out all the colours.

It was bit of a climb but worth the the effort. The cliff face turned out to be quite dramatic in the afternoon sun…..a sort of grotesque skull, if you have an overactive imagination like me.

I am having another look at Lake Eyre over the next two days. They say it’s quite different from my previous visits.

I’ll be using WrightsAir again for several flights over the lake and to Birdsville and Innamincka. Then its on to another project for over a week, so once again picture are going to be very intermittent for a while.

Posted in Arkaroola | 3 Comments

Strictly Legal

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Try this in the city and get caught by the cops. They’d throw the book at you.

Outback where the bike is an everyday work tool, you can pull a stunt like this and even have a crowd clapping for you.

The recent William Creek Gymkhana and a competition to see who could make the longest mono, and with four police officers looking on too.

The winner went about half way round the horse racing track.

Posted in Events, Oodnadatta Track | Tagged | Leave a comment

Shearin’s Done

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Depot Springs station, northern Flinders Ranges.

There’s something quite charming about an old shearing shed.

The wood stands out. It’s been polished by the lanolin from the wool of many thousands of sheep and the constant activity that goes on in the shed when shearing’s in full swing.

The Depot Springs shed is over 90 years old and despite its age has stood the test of time.

A pair of hand made boots that have seen sheep aplenty meet the shearer at this spot, stand ready for the next morning’s work.

They are built for comfort, anything to make the hard work more bearable.

The woolshed photo was shot at f3.5, 1/200th sec, ISO 1600 with off camera flash

The boots shot at f6.3, 1/125th sec, ISO 1250, no flash

A 24-70mm Cannon L series zoom lens was used in both photographs.

Posted in Flinders Ranges, Pastoral Industry | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Quirk of Nature

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

One of the bonuses of the recent workshop at Arkaroola was coming across a really rare sight.

It’s an albino yellow-footed rock wallaby.

Numbers of these animals have been in decline for many years so an albino is a fairly rare creature.

Apart from having a striking resemblance to a stuffed toy, the albino is at least twice as big as a normal fully grown member of the species and possibly even bigger.

Typical yellow-foots are about the size seen in the photo here

The animal in the right hand corner of this photograph is probably an offspring of the albino which is a female and has a joey in the pouch.

Albino animals are usually very sensitive to sunlight and this wallaby is no different. It wasn’t until I noticed something different about her eyes that I magnified the picture and found that her eyelids and eye lashes had grown very large as protection again sunlight.

The albino seems to have adapted to her environment despite here generic handicap.

Posted in Arkaroola, Fauna | 1 Comment