Category Archives: Parachilna

Attachment

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Peter MacDonald

Mt Faulkner foothills

The light was fading fast, there wasn’t a lot of time to plan this shot and it shows.

However I am attached to it.

It was taken with my little Fuji X100s, hand held, and is really sharp throughout. The colours were spot on too as the sun’s last rays lit up the hills, but it’s special for another reason.

That’s because I had to climb a few steep hills, scramble down some sharp ridges and through thick scrub to get there before the sun went down.

Going back in almost complete darkness and losing my bearings a couple of times added to my attachment.

Mt Alec in the Elder range is the mountain on the far right background. The northern side of Wilpena Pound is a little to the left and the foothills of the Heysen Range being lit by the sun is in the middle ground.

Shot at f8, shutter 1/50th sec, ISO 500

In other circumstances, with large camera, large lens and substantial tripod I would not have attempted exploring this area at such a late stage in the day.

Posted in Fuji Cameras, Heysen Range, Parachilna | 3 Comments

Cobwebs

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Peter MacDonald

Glass Gorge pano

A break from the sort of work I do often means an accumulation of cobwebs.

For some reason there is a sort of creative zone that needs to be acquired and sometimes it’s not easy to find after the camera has been in the box for a while.

This is one of the areas which I use for my photographic workshops. Its an area off the Glass Gorge road which runs from Blinman to Parachilna in the Flinders Ranges. It’s looking south-west towards the Heysen Range..and if you have followed this blog for a while you will know the area is often featured.

It’s a good place for a workshop too because there are so many ridges, valleys and mountain tops that it is not hard to find something worthwhile for a panorama.

Posted in Heysen Range, Panoramas, Parachilna | Tagged | Leave a comment

Branches

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

The fading daylight along the Parachilna Creek as it reaches the western plains.

Incredibly wide, vast quantities of water occasionally rocket down this stream.

To give you an idea there’s a coupe of pictures here that show the Parachilna Creek in full flood.

The River Red Gum in the foreground is roughly halfway between the two banks of the creek.

Posted in Flora, Parachilna, River Red Gums | 1 Comment

Babbling Brook

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Down the ParachiLna Gorge. A steady stream of water still flows down the gorge despite months now without good rains.

Posted in Flinders Ranges, Parachilna | Leave a comment

Calm Before the Storm

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

An email question received yesterday asked would there be wildflowers in the Flinders Ranges between now and the end of the of October.

Despite strong winds and a dust storm yesterday and snow reported at Mt Remarkable in the southern Flinders, Quorn and Wilpena Pound today, the answer is most likely YES!

Good rains earlier this year ensured the flowering of many species. Earlier posts cover this in a little more depth.

This picture, minus wild spring weather, was taken a few nights ago along the Glass Gorge road between Blinman and Parachilna.

Posted in Flinders Ranges, Parachilna | Leave a comment

Colour and Light

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

In the previous post I was trying to show that getting the light to fall in the right direction will improve any photograph.

You can see from the shadow of the tree on the left hand side of this image that the sunlight is coming almost directly towards the lens.

The sun is really bringing out the best in the foliage and showing the texture of the beautiful tree trunks.

As I mentioned in the previous post too, a strong foreground is pretty much an essential and in this case it is the shadow of the tree trunks falling towards the camera.

The unlit trees further into the background provide a nice contrast.

The picture was taken only a few metres from the road running through the Parachilna Gorge in the central Flinders Ranges but this a technique that works almost anywhere, even parks and gardens in a city.

The next step is getting the camera out of auto mode and into aperture priority…but that’s another story.

Posted in Parachilna, Photography Tips | Leave a comment

Winter Sun

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

It was the sun on the hill in the middle distance that caught my eye while walking in the Parachilna Gorge.

The 50 mm Canon prime lens did the rest.

f14, 1/40th sec ISO 200

Posted in Parachilna | 1 Comment

Another Prairie Sunset

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

Camera details: Fuji X-100 camera fixed lens. f5.6 @ 1/50th sec ISO 400

Posted in Parachilna, Weather | Leave a comment

All the Rivers Run

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

While most of the creeks and rivers in the FLinders Ranges and the surrounding Outback are now just gently flowing streams, a last chance to show the full force of the recent floods.

Again the Parachilna Creek in the northern Flinders Ranges.

Interestingly, while clambering down the slippery banks of the creek to get these shot I saw what turned out to be a large euro, or hills wallaby bobbing in the waters close to the bank.

The Euro must have been washed downstream in the fast flowing waters but managed to scramble to safety in calmer current.

It quickly disappeared into the nearby bushes.

Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to record any of this little life and death drama.

Posted in Flinders Ranges, Outback South Australia, Parachilna, Weather | 2 Comments

Running Rivers

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

This has been a pretty common sight in the Flinders Ranges and Outback in recent days. Outback floods, fast running creeks and rivers don’t get seen by a lot of people when they are at their most spectacular, mainly because roads are cut by the flood waters too.

This is the Parachilna Creek and about the only place I could get to it without running into trouble.

These waters will probably make it all the way to Lake Torrens to the west, but in many cases it disperses across the plains before reaching the lake.

People thinking of travelling in this part of the world should check on road condition here before setting out.

Posted in Outback South Australia, Parachilna, Weather | 1 Comment