Blue Mountains
Govetts Leap Lookout Blackheath Blue Mountain National Park (UNESCO World Heritage site)
One of the main reasons why I enjoy living in Sydney is its proximity to many natural wonders. The Blue Mountains National Park is definitely high up on that list. This week, I spent 2 days hiking in this region and I loved every minute of it!
Being surrounded by those majestic mountains provided a sense of serenity and clarity. It allowed me to connect to nature and listen to its calls. It can be physically demanding but mentally refreshing at the same time. As the world's population gets more urbanised, these small pockets of nature would become important oases. A place to satisfy some of our primal needs.
7 exp, blended and edited in Photoshop. Unfortunately, I made a rookie error of forgetting to lower my ISO during the shoot :( Other comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated!
Wentworth Falls Lookout Wentworth Falls Blue Mountain National Park (UNESCO World Heritage site)
A beautiful end to a rewarding day of hiking around the mountain. Surprisingly it is my first visit to this tourist hotspot. We were a little disappointed that Wentworth Falls was lacking volume.
6 exposure shot, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop CS6. Comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated!
Junction Falls South Lawson Waterfall Circuit Lawson, New South Wales
A long overdue shot from an awesome outing with great friends, into the Blue Mountains region earlier in the year. Unfortunately, lighting conditions were fairly harsh which made shooting at slower shuttle speeds very difficult. Making the best of the situation, I explored different compositions and tried to incorporate foreground elements into my images. I was intrigued by the surround sandstone walls that are completely covered by green mosses and ferns. It was a living, breathing green wall! Water trickle down the walls, bring out the vibrant colours of the plants. Using a circular polariser, to cut down the reflections, and soft graduated neutral density filter, I managed to achieve the silky effects of the water. However, this also resulted in slight motion blur of some of the leaves and vines in the foreground.
Furthermore, being so close to my foreground subject, I knew that I had to use focus stacking to achieve the required depth of view. Looking back, I should have photographed those frames featuring the foreground subject at a faster shutter speed and blend it into the waterfall background, which has a slower shutter speed. Waiting for some cloud cover might also be helpful to eliminate the slight overexposure at the top of the waterfall.
Regardless of flaws evident in the image. I hope that you will enjoy viewing the image, as much as me photographing it!
3 exp shot using focus stacking, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. B+W circular polarizer filter and LEE's Graduated Neutral Density filter (soft) Comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated!
Three Sisters in the fog, at Echo Point, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW...
The second cascade, accessible via a walking track that zig zags down the cliffs
Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains
Creek above the Glow Worm Tunnel, near Newnes NSW
Waterfall :: Terrace Falls
Terrace Falls, Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Near Newnes, New South Wales
The Glowworm Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel between Lithgow, New South Wales and Newnes, New South Wales,...
Sunrise from Olympian Rock, Blue Mountains
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
... in Katoomba, NSW
Katoomba Falls, Blue Mountains
The last of the sun's rays hit the rim of the Grose Valley. Blue Mountains NSW
Blue Mountains NSW
Hanging Rock, Blue Mountains
Hanging Rock, Blue Mountains
Terrace Falls Panorama
Terrace Falls, Blue Mountains NSW Australia 9-shot panorama
This is four shots stitched vertically. View large
Oakland Falls in Hazelbrook, Blue Mountains National Park, NSW, Australia
The Three Sisters Echo Point, Kotoomba Jamison Valley Blue Mountains World Heritage Site, New South Wales
View it large: www.flickr.com/photos/jcheaphotography/8580442204/sizes/l...
The iconic Three Sisters taken at the iconic Echo Point lookout. I was a little hesitant in posting this image as there are millions of rendition of the same scene. The sunset was pretty dull with the lack of clouds and my original plan for a panorama was scrapped by strong winds. In fact this is one of the few images that was sufficiently sharp and relatively free of camera shake. If you view it large, you can even notice the trees swaying in the wind. I was even afraid of my Lee's Graduated Neutral density filter being blown out of my hands and falling into oblivion.Thankfully, all my equipment remained unscathed!
The smoke in the background is caused by forest fire brewing in the area. Fun fact of the day: January 2013 was the hottest month every recorded in Australia, with average daily maximum temperature was a sweltering 36.92 degree Celsius. Another interesting fact: During the recent summer heat wave down under, temperatures soared so high in Central Australia that weather maps didn't even have a colour to represent it. As wildfires raged, tar melted off roads and gasoline evaporated before people were able to pump it, meteorologist added a racy shade of purple to denote predicted temperature of 50-52 degree Celsius. Then, just to be sure, they also slipped an even racier shade of magenta, to denote temperatures of 52 to 54 degree Celsius. (source: DCM March). Australia is well and truly on fire!! One of the few times when I am glad to be in Singapore :)
1 exp, Lee's 0.6 ND grad (hard), edited in Photoshop. Comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated!
SONY DSC
Adele Falls South Lawson Waterfall Circuit Lawson, New South Wales
This image was taken during my foray into the Blue Mountains regions two weekends ago. Sydney was experiencing a lot of rain and I thought the waterfalls must be flowing at full capacity. As you can see, I was fairly wrong. Furthermore, the overcast sky that was forecast, turned out to be more of a mostly sunny weather. It was a relief for my fellow hikers, but it was not ideal for photographing waterfalls. In this image, I couldn't use an extra long exposure as there are water continuously dripping off the cliff face and onto my camera. This meant that I had to wipe the lens between every exposure! Plus having learnt the hard way the 5d Mark II's weatherproofing is hopeless. I sure did not want to risk my camera getting water damaged again!
For some reasons, I often find it difficult to get a good composition when photographing in a forest. It could be due to the clutter of foliage that makes getting a clean composition difficult. Images often turn out messy and the subject is often lost in all the different shades of green. Furthermore, lighting is a lot more uneven in the forest. For this image, I was really intrigued by the ferns lining this cliff face and wanted to featured them in the foreground. While using them to lead the viewer's eyes to the trickling Adele falls. I am still having mixed emotion about the composition this image. Feel free to leave your feedback/ comments below. Enjoy!
1 exp shot, Lee 0.9 GND (Hard) filter, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Grose Valley, Blue Mountains NSW. Taken approx. 20 minutes after sunset
Been looking through the archieves today. So great ones I never posted from my australia trip back in 2013. Loved getting to see the blue mountains!
Tree ferns near Glow Worm Tunnel, NSW
Blue Mountains NSW
Waterfall :: Sylvia Falls
Sylvia Falls, Valley of the Waters, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Sylvia Falls, Valley of the Waters, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
The Other End
used railway tunnel between Lithgow, New South Wales and Newnes, New South Wales, Australia. It is notable for its resident glow-worms...
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Blue Mountains!
Most notably J. Chea, Andrey Sulitskiy and David Hamments.