soulFLY
Senior Member
<145>
<142>
Love the choice of cropping and composition...
The lighthouse are superb and if you waited a liltle while longer for the blue hour, it would be perfect...
Went Wandering in Western Australia
- Thread starter Zichar
- Start date
Love the choice of cropping and composition...
The lighthouse are superb and if you waited a liltle while longer for the blue hour, it would be perfect...
soulFLY
Senior Member
<149>
This is nice too but the abrupt cropped of the FG footprint spoils it a lil.
I am thinking a square crop for this having starts to crop at the 2nd footprint..
Zichar
Senior Member
Hey thanks for dropping by Thomas
Haha cannot wait for blue hour, most times had to feed the family
But I never thought of cropping that last one, I'll go home and do it
Now that I've posted it, looks a bit off too, lack of contrast? Or at least in the skies
Ahh ... rework
>> Did a square crop but made the horizon right in the middle
With the second footprint, I'd lose the blue in the sky, only white low lying clouds
Ugh compromise
Haha cannot wait for blue hour, most times had to feed the family
But I never thought of cropping that last one, I'll go home and do it
Now that I've posted it, looks a bit off too, lack of contrast? Or at least in the skies
Ahh ... rework
>> Did a square crop but made the horizon right in the middle
With the second footprint, I'd lose the blue in the sky, only white low lying clouds
Ugh compromise
Last edited:
Zichar
Senior Member
And the car budged not an inch!
My heart dropped, stomach twisted, run right through a wringer
I searched for the lever to lock the wheels, and in dismal fright ran my hands through the panel where it's supposed to be
Oh that sneaky car rental counter girl!
Came bounding towards us a man followed by his wife
Owner of the Subaru parked nearby
Oh you're bogged down, here lemme help you
We got out to push, all of us, arms outstretched, willing our muscles to , the car to move
As he depressed the accelerator to no avail, the free spinning wheels a terribly sickening sound
Oh this isn't a 4WD? I could sense that he knew we were screwed
He ran off to the beach instead, getting the attention of the grizzled old 'uncle' who was fishing there
The two came trotting back, the old man grumbling and mumbling about inexperienced drivers
Didn't you read the sign, why would you drive in here with something like that
The puzzling looks we gave each other were slightly telling, what sign?
We tried and failed again
And so he ran back to get his Land Rover ute to tow us out
No cables, grabbing rope from the back of the cab, hope these will do
He looped them around his forearm, and made the chain between our vehicles
We pushed, he drove, I held the rope steady
With a sharp crack, the rope snapped
Whipping my cheek; with it, I swore my heart broke a little too
He brought out more rope and doubled up
Yet again it broke
One last time he cursed under his breath and made four passes with the rope
And as smooth as she slid in, she slid out, purring happily
i jumped for joy, my wife grinning broadly almost leapt into my arms, everyone's faces awash with relief
I was a mere helpless spectator in this: two perfect strangers putting their heads together to rescue another stranger
This episode surely went a long way to restoring my faith in humanity
I got his particulars and mailed him a gift when I got back,
Though it must be said that it felt like a cheap bauble compared to extricating us from that hole
My heart dropped, stomach twisted, run right through a wringer
I searched for the lever to lock the wheels, and in dismal fright ran my hands through the panel where it's supposed to be
Oh that sneaky car rental counter girl!
Came bounding towards us a man followed by his wife
Owner of the Subaru parked nearby
Oh you're bogged down, here lemme help you
We got out to push, all of us, arms outstretched, willing our muscles to , the car to move
As he depressed the accelerator to no avail, the free spinning wheels a terribly sickening sound
Oh this isn't a 4WD? I could sense that he knew we were screwed
He ran off to the beach instead, getting the attention of the grizzled old 'uncle' who was fishing there
The two came trotting back, the old man grumbling and mumbling about inexperienced drivers
Didn't you read the sign, why would you drive in here with something like that
The puzzling looks we gave each other were slightly telling, what sign?
We tried and failed again
And so he ran back to get his Land Rover ute to tow us out
No cables, grabbing rope from the back of the cab, hope these will do
He looped them around his forearm, and made the chain between our vehicles
We pushed, he drove, I held the rope steady
With a sharp crack, the rope snapped
Whipping my cheek; with it, I swore my heart broke a little too
He brought out more rope and doubled up
Yet again it broke
One last time he cursed under his breath and made four passes with the rope
And as smooth as she slid in, she slid out, purring happily
i jumped for joy, my wife grinning broadly almost leapt into my arms, everyone's faces awash with relief
I was a mere helpless spectator in this: two perfect strangers putting their heads together to rescue another stranger
This episode surely went a long way to restoring my faith in humanity
I got his particulars and mailed him a gift when I got back,
Though it must be said that it felt like a cheap bauble compared to extricating us from that hole
<150>
Zichar
Senior Member
There's a huge gap of photos from white bleached sand dunes to reddish iron bearing ones
Lost time, lost in the journey as we embarked from Exmouth to Mt Augustus, staying at Cobra Station
With much trepidation, all I had were my handheld map, short sentence directions on a printed email and a huge swig from the flask of courage
It was smooth going at first, just missing a turn into the unsealed roads
Repetitive shrubs lined the sides and the occasional termite mound
Jim had told me not to speed, not to blow a tire
But the earth movers seemed to have done a great job, furrows of soil lined the sides
Smooth-ish gravelly roads, tiny bits pinged the undersides, tinkling,
running hamster circles around wheels and the space between
I watched nervously as the arrow veered off into the great gray nothingness on my GPS
And kept our eyes peeled for where the roads started or stopped or forked
Where the machines lay for the night or stow away the earth can deceptively look like a new path itself
We drifted into a lonely farmstead; my brother and I got off to confirm our passage
My hand snaked into my pocket to grip my knife, the other with the email creased and flapping wildly
On high alert, the wind blowing, as the place had an empty, desolate, post-apocalyptic feel to it
Washing on the line, broken car and machinery to the side
Much to our surprise, we heard voices
But only the sounds from the radio blared from the tool shed; commentary from Aussie rules football -
Empty we peered around
We sounded the horn but no signs of life were there; abandoned perhaps?
I unlatched the front gate and walked in, calling out Hullo Hullo, stepping on to the slightly overgrown lawn
From the corner of my eye I noticed an open door, the kitchen perhaps, dark and inviting
Stuck my head in and drank in the sight
Metal racks with cartons of water, canned food, heavy duty flashlights with batteries
A board with tiny nails acting as hooks, rows of keys with plastic tabbed keychains
I yelled again but my voice sounded hollow to my ears; hesitation, indecision
What do I do? I took one quivering footstep in when from the corner of the racks a woman simply stepped out of!
Both of us leapt, myself with a touch of guilt, herself a whole lot faster getting back into composure
She shook her head once, and apologised for not hearing us call...!
Soon we were put back on the trail
>>
Happier times the next morning at Cobra Station with Spider
Lost time, lost in the journey as we embarked from Exmouth to Mt Augustus, staying at Cobra Station
With much trepidation, all I had were my handheld map, short sentence directions on a printed email and a huge swig from the flask of courage
It was smooth going at first, just missing a turn into the unsealed roads
Repetitive shrubs lined the sides and the occasional termite mound
Jim had told me not to speed, not to blow a tire
But the earth movers seemed to have done a great job, furrows of soil lined the sides
Smooth-ish gravelly roads, tiny bits pinged the undersides, tinkling,
running hamster circles around wheels and the space between
I watched nervously as the arrow veered off into the great gray nothingness on my GPS
And kept our eyes peeled for where the roads started or stopped or forked
Where the machines lay for the night or stow away the earth can deceptively look like a new path itself
We drifted into a lonely farmstead; my brother and I got off to confirm our passage
My hand snaked into my pocket to grip my knife, the other with the email creased and flapping wildly
On high alert, the wind blowing, as the place had an empty, desolate, post-apocalyptic feel to it
Washing on the line, broken car and machinery to the side
Much to our surprise, we heard voices
But only the sounds from the radio blared from the tool shed; commentary from Aussie rules football -
Empty we peered around
We sounded the horn but no signs of life were there; abandoned perhaps?
I unlatched the front gate and walked in, calling out Hullo Hullo, stepping on to the slightly overgrown lawn
From the corner of my eye I noticed an open door, the kitchen perhaps, dark and inviting
Stuck my head in and drank in the sight
Metal racks with cartons of water, canned food, heavy duty flashlights with batteries
A board with tiny nails acting as hooks, rows of keys with plastic tabbed keychains
I yelled again but my voice sounded hollow to my ears; hesitation, indecision
What do I do? I took one quivering footstep in when from the corner of the racks a woman simply stepped out of!
Both of us leapt, myself with a touch of guilt, herself a whole lot faster getting back into composure
She shook her head once, and apologised for not hearing us call...!
Soon we were put back on the trail
>>
Happier times the next morning at Cobra Station with Spider
Zichar
Senior Member
And so we drove, meeting only two other vehicles coming from the other direction, wherever that may be
My mum bristled at our toilet stop in the middle of nowhere
Myself, focusing on the importance of standing downwind
Hurtling forward in rain of pebbles, I craned my neck, whipping it almost backwards
Did the sign say to turn left? No one else saw anything. the driver looked at me questioningly
Yet it slowly gnawed at me, back of the mind nagging
20minutes in, my brother asked me again what's wrong
And I made my first faux pas
We turned back.
Conjuring up our guiding principle for the rest of the drive - head in X minutes, if it's not right we'd take the other fork
Stopping the car by the sign I strained my eyes to see, illogically, futilely, what lay on the other path
Crudely painted on roughly hewn wood nailed on a stick, it hung loosely, infuriatingly pointing to somewhere in between both roads
I made a mental coin toss and decided to take our initial route
And it slowly went downhill after... as the subsequent signs said nothing of Cobra Station nor the place we want to go
The sparse directions mentiond nothing of forks or turns and I made gamble after gamble
Imagining myself a modern day woodsman, scout or a tracker, Kit Carson
With moistened finger to the sky, looking intently at the dirt tracks, fresh?, to see from whence vehicle traveled recently
Without cellular coverage nor the calmness afforded by GPS
Our fears slowly congealed as the sun began to set, and the petrol gauge slowly inched its way down
In distinct deja vu, the inner compartment of the car felt akin the other times when we were stuck:
Mutterings of prayer, bobbing Adam's apples, cold sweat forming as the air-conditioning was again switched off to conserve fuel
Optimism at the beginning had us pointing to yonder solitary mountains, that's Mount Augustus over there
But now that seemed flat, bitter superstition of tempting fate;
everytime we turned away from another rocky behemoth in the horizon, my stomach clenched tighter
Then dusk crept up on us, the last rays of sunlight glinting off the rearview mirror, driving eastwards into more darkness
Of all the cloudless days we've had thus far, they ironically decided to display possibly the most beautiful sunset I've ever witnessed in my life
A pallete of angry red blushing pink and brilliant orange glowed beneath the curling carpet of clouds, piped cream on a cake
Blue from a painter's soft brush brush washed over the rest
Stopping would be the death of me I thought to myself, willing my mind to imprint the scene onto my memory banks
The sun then gave up on us, and we trundled along into the twilight; blue hour never seemed so terrifying
At the next fork we spied a water tower, sign that said a station was nearby
Yet we were not meant to make anymore turns. I pointed ahead, let's go up this way for 10mins
Pig headed stubborness made me whisper another 5 minutes, and then another 5
Until it didn't feel right no more, one eye on the meter, we turned back
And made our way to the farmstead, another that's dark and desolate
With a light plane in the hangar, an antenna tower sprung up from its compound
Something, anything, borrow his phone, call Jim Millar, Cobra Station
No surprises this time, radio in the machine/tool shed again
A veteran now with lonely cottages, I simply made my way to the main house
Cupping my hands, I peered in; the lights were on but nobody was home
Moving from room to room, I then saw a middle-aged man, balding, bespectacled
Watching the telly with his back towards me
I shouted, knuckles rapping the glass window panes on the door rat-a-tat-tat
Admittedly I felt afraid when he wasn't moved at all, my thoughts drifting towards the paranormal
Curling my fingers to form a fist, I hammered at the door and rattled, jiggled the doorknob
And he turned around! Came out over the back and told us how to get to our destination
We were in fact on the right track, if only we had kept at it for another ten minutes!
The bounce was back in our steps, my brother skipped back to the driver's seat, I punched the air
It was pitch black by then, kangaroos skipped around off the road, the headlights barely useful, fighting against the night
The signage to the inn was such a sweet sight; we pulled in at the front, Spider barking madly at the intruders
My recollection's hazy at this point but I wouldn't be surprised if I had wiped a tear off my cheek
Relief and rejoice
My mum bristled at our toilet stop in the middle of nowhere
Myself, focusing on the importance of standing downwind
Hurtling forward in rain of pebbles, I craned my neck, whipping it almost backwards
Did the sign say to turn left? No one else saw anything. the driver looked at me questioningly
Yet it slowly gnawed at me, back of the mind nagging
20minutes in, my brother asked me again what's wrong
And I made my first faux pas
We turned back.
Conjuring up our guiding principle for the rest of the drive - head in X minutes, if it's not right we'd take the other fork
Stopping the car by the sign I strained my eyes to see, illogically, futilely, what lay on the other path
Crudely painted on roughly hewn wood nailed on a stick, it hung loosely, infuriatingly pointing to somewhere in between both roads
I made a mental coin toss and decided to take our initial route
And it slowly went downhill after... as the subsequent signs said nothing of Cobra Station nor the place we want to go
The sparse directions mentiond nothing of forks or turns and I made gamble after gamble
Imagining myself a modern day woodsman, scout or a tracker, Kit Carson
With moistened finger to the sky, looking intently at the dirt tracks, fresh?, to see from whence vehicle traveled recently
Without cellular coverage nor the calmness afforded by GPS
Our fears slowly congealed as the sun began to set, and the petrol gauge slowly inched its way down
In distinct deja vu, the inner compartment of the car felt akin the other times when we were stuck:
Mutterings of prayer, bobbing Adam's apples, cold sweat forming as the air-conditioning was again switched off to conserve fuel
Optimism at the beginning had us pointing to yonder solitary mountains, that's Mount Augustus over there
But now that seemed flat, bitter superstition of tempting fate;
everytime we turned away from another rocky behemoth in the horizon, my stomach clenched tighter
Then dusk crept up on us, the last rays of sunlight glinting off the rearview mirror, driving eastwards into more darkness
Of all the cloudless days we've had thus far, they ironically decided to display possibly the most beautiful sunset I've ever witnessed in my life
A pallete of angry red blushing pink and brilliant orange glowed beneath the curling carpet of clouds, piped cream on a cake
Blue from a painter's soft brush brush washed over the rest
Stopping would be the death of me I thought to myself, willing my mind to imprint the scene onto my memory banks
The sun then gave up on us, and we trundled along into the twilight; blue hour never seemed so terrifying
At the next fork we spied a water tower, sign that said a station was nearby
Yet we were not meant to make anymore turns. I pointed ahead, let's go up this way for 10mins
Pig headed stubborness made me whisper another 5 minutes, and then another 5
Until it didn't feel right no more, one eye on the meter, we turned back
And made our way to the farmstead, another that's dark and desolate
With a light plane in the hangar, an antenna tower sprung up from its compound
Something, anything, borrow his phone, call Jim Millar, Cobra Station
No surprises this time, radio in the machine/tool shed again
A veteran now with lonely cottages, I simply made my way to the main house
Cupping my hands, I peered in; the lights were on but nobody was home
Moving from room to room, I then saw a middle-aged man, balding, bespectacled
Watching the telly with his back towards me
I shouted, knuckles rapping the glass window panes on the door rat-a-tat-tat
Admittedly I felt afraid when he wasn't moved at all, my thoughts drifting towards the paranormal
Curling my fingers to form a fist, I hammered at the door and rattled, jiggled the doorknob
And he turned around! Came out over the back and told us how to get to our destination
We were in fact on the right track, if only we had kept at it for another ten minutes!
The bounce was back in our steps, my brother skipped back to the driver's seat, I punched the air
It was pitch black by then, kangaroos skipped around off the road, the headlights barely useful, fighting against the night
The signage to the inn was such a sweet sight; we pulled in at the front, Spider barking madly at the intruders
My recollection's hazy at this point but I wouldn't be surprised if I had wiped a tear off my cheek
Relief and rejoice
giantcanopy
Senior Member
I nodded to the large mounds of sand looming in the distance
The chorus of skeptic glances were muted in my eyes
A trail of dust lay in our wake as we sped, straight as arrow to our intended target
Only for the car to suddenly stop; I peered out half-expecting the air outside to have turned into a cube of gelatin
Opening the car door, sand threatened to flow in, lapping hungrily at the frame
The wheels free spinning wildly, spitting grains that fall smoothly back
The engine, groaning in pain, a high pitch whirr in protest
I thumbed my nose at my brother and told him to move aside
And I slid in smoothly into the driver's seat, I pulled back down to a lower gear
Hit the pedal to the metal, and floored the accelerator
<149>
This is quite lovely shot! Enjoyed ur little writings and ramblings on ur journey as well.
Stretches of sands with their wavy patterns can do pretty well on B&W too i imagine.
Ryan
Zichar
Senior Member
Haha thanks, it's was a lot scarier then though pride kept a stoic face
Would like to believe there's always a solution to the problem if one remains calm
Thanks for dropping by Ryan. It looks better after Thomas' suggestion
Have yet to try any conversion into BnW, must concentrate on processing all the shots first! lol
Zichar
Senior Member
After many a day spent cooking and eating and keeping to ourselves
It was an odd feeling to sit down to a communal meal of sorts with the other boarders
Though cagey at first, we soon found ourselves in good company
Jim was an excellent host, and the other guests were very hospitable
Sat with an elderly couple, Clem and Christine, both of whom were knowledgeable and excellent conversationalists
In direct contrast with each other, Christine was prim and proper,
tut-tutting and performing below table kicks and hidden elbow digs,
whenever Clem, a regular bloke's bloke, responded, with a twinkle in his eye, at our seemingly crass and uncouth remarks
We teased her with tales of our regular meals back here - kuay chap, pig organ soup and bird's nest (oh saliva the horror!)
And him, to which was to be our running joke for the time spent - he brought up the topic of Borat the movie
possibly the antithesis to her manners and upbringing; with lingering distaste remarked that was such a horrible show!
>>
Ate the dust from Clem's car in front until we decided to stop
A pano view of Mount Augustus as we drove towards it in the morning
It was an odd feeling to sit down to a communal meal of sorts with the other boarders
Though cagey at first, we soon found ourselves in good company
Jim was an excellent host, and the other guests were very hospitable
Sat with an elderly couple, Clem and Christine, both of whom were knowledgeable and excellent conversationalists
In direct contrast with each other, Christine was prim and proper,
tut-tutting and performing below table kicks and hidden elbow digs,
whenever Clem, a regular bloke's bloke, responded, with a twinkle in his eye, at our seemingly crass and uncouth remarks
We teased her with tales of our regular meals back here - kuay chap, pig organ soup and bird's nest (oh saliva the horror!)
And him, to which was to be our running joke for the time spent - he brought up the topic of Borat the movie
possibly the antithesis to her manners and upbringing; with lingering distaste remarked that was such a horrible show!
>>
Ate the dust from Clem's car in front until we decided to stop
A pano view of Mount Augustus as we drove towards it in the morning
<153>
Zichar
Senior Member
As the largest monocline, it certainly lives up to its tacky name of being the largest rock in the world
Certainly feels like twice the size of Uluru
With multiple stops around it, we veered off to avoid the dust devils and landed at our first stop
Under scorching sun, buzzing flies and the sweltering heat, we blazed a trail to Flintstone Rock
With circular markers to mark the trail, we walked, connecting the dots
Right at the start of the trail, a man gave a hearty yell and wave, and we waved back
His companion, a bobbing head of shocking strawberry pink smiled as well
We learned from Clem later that night, who began asking if we met this Polish man on our trails
To which much puzzlement occured as we probed for a more detailed description,
until after 10 minutes of head scratching, he spoke of the girl, with the red head! Immediate cries of 'OHHHhhhhhhh'
Amazingly, for someplace so decidedly remote, this man's been coming here for the past 7 years and has made it to the top every single time!
Well, all except this year. The girl twisted her ankle and they had to come on down instead
Certainly feels like twice the size of Uluru
With multiple stops around it, we veered off to avoid the dust devils and landed at our first stop
Under scorching sun, buzzing flies and the sweltering heat, we blazed a trail to Flintstone Rock
With circular markers to mark the trail, we walked, connecting the dots
Right at the start of the trail, a man gave a hearty yell and wave, and we waved back
His companion, a bobbing head of shocking strawberry pink smiled as well
We learned from Clem later that night, who began asking if we met this Polish man on our trails
To which much puzzlement occured as we probed for a more detailed description,
until after 10 minutes of head scratching, he spoke of the girl, with the red head! Immediate cries of 'OHHHhhhhhhh'
Amazingly, for someplace so decidedly remote, this man's been coming here for the past 7 years and has made it to the top every single time!
Well, all except this year. The girl twisted her ankle and they had to come on down instead
<154>
Last edited:
Zichar
Senior Member
Sometimes I underestimate my parents and their age
I had hemmed and hawed about bringing them to the more rugged of places
But watching my dad bound from rock to rock, and my mum helping my wife find her steps
Invigorating
We tracked back to take the other fork, the hiked up Gully Trail to the summit
Not that long I remarked, glancing at the brochure in hand ; We could turn back at any time
Sometimes I overestimate myself
I had hemmed and hawed about bringing them to the more rugged of places
But watching my dad bound from rock to rock, and my mum helping my wife find her steps
Invigorating
We tracked back to take the other fork, the hiked up Gully Trail to the summit
Not that long I remarked, glancing at the brochure in hand ; We could turn back at any time
Sometimes I overestimate myself
<157>
Zichar
Senior Member
A depression in the rock led to the deposit of rain and leaves, branches and other rich organic matter
Steeped black tea, undisturbed for ages
Drinking from this puddle would have made Bear Grylls proud
Ah the benefits of a UWA, coupled with the regular shakes, don't drop the camera
Steeped black tea, undisturbed for ages
Drinking from this puddle would have made Bear Grylls proud
Ah the benefits of a UWA, coupled with the regular shakes, don't drop the camera
<158>
Zichar
Senior Member
At others, massive boulders the size of mammoths
To which we slid and sidled down
All the time being hemmed in by massive walls to the right and left
Clarity hit us not long after: we no longer had the option to turn back
I thought long and hard of the extra bottle of water we left back in the car
Stopping myself from licking my lips
As flies descended on the moist corners of my mouth thinking the same
If only I could harness the black stormcloud atop my wife's head
Her aching feet, calves, knees and arms preventing her from taking a swing at me
Silently I brought up the rear
To which we slid and sidled down
All the time being hemmed in by massive walls to the right and left
Clarity hit us not long after: we no longer had the option to turn back
I thought long and hard of the extra bottle of water we left back in the car
Stopping myself from licking my lips
As flies descended on the moist corners of my mouth thinking the same
If only I could harness the black stormcloud atop my wife's head
Her aching feet, calves, knees and arms preventing her from taking a swing at me
Silently I brought up the rear
<160>
Zichar
Senior Member
The markers grew few and far between
And the worry grew serious, heavy
My dad placed on reconnaissance duty, disappeared far ahead hoping to spot
A holler or a wave and point, marking the route for the rest of us
We trudged on, the sun hovering above, a good hour past what was already a bad idea to do so
The limp brochure in hand, I hoped the illustration would be accurate, and that the Gully and Summit trails would meet
Until I spotted a break in the right wall, crumbled and loose scree littering the ground
And climbed, no, scurried like a cockroach, to get a vantage point to where we were
Allowing myself a brief smile of victory, I waved enthusiastically to the rest
The blue dot marker of the descending trail glinting like a precious gemstone
And the worry grew serious, heavy
My dad placed on reconnaissance duty, disappeared far ahead hoping to spot
A holler or a wave and point, marking the route for the rest of us
We trudged on, the sun hovering above, a good hour past what was already a bad idea to do so
The limp brochure in hand, I hoped the illustration would be accurate, and that the Gully and Summit trails would meet
Until I spotted a break in the right wall, crumbled and loose scree littering the ground
And climbed, no, scurried like a cockroach, to get a vantage point to where we were
Allowing myself a brief smile of victory, I waved enthusiastically to the rest
The blue dot marker of the descending trail glinting like a precious gemstone
<161>
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