Photo Trippin'.

[bikerider]

I've taken this idea from another thread, but wondered if any people here from the Sydney to Newcastle area (Australia-overseas visitors welcome though) interested in meeting up for photography. I'm open to all ideas for shoots and willing to travel 2-3 hours, if you are also at some stage. Hope there's some players out there!
Roger.

[Carzee]

Good idea. I've never been to an 'event' like that. Could be really good for improving skills etc. Always learning something 'round here.

Locations? Hmmm. Thats the hard choice.
Attendees? I think you'll have to edit the thread title to rope in as many as possible east coast members.
Airtravel. $100 airfares depend on 8+ weeks booking ahead...

[RockOne]

Sounds like a good idea.

[Carzee]

I thought about it. What about a sports shoot like the Bathurst 1000? Or just a rodeo somewhere with old world charms? Or the Melbourne Cup? Or Sydney Ferries/New Years?

Possibilites are endless.

[RockOne]

The Bathurst 1000 sounds like a cool idea !.
Incidently for wildlife then Western Plains Zoo, or closer to home Whale Watching at Port Stephens, or a visit to the Shortland Wetlands Centre. As for landscapes, i'd say the Blue Mountains area would be hard to beat.
I'll agree Carzee there are endless possibilities.

[Carzee]

You must be very local to me. Only 400 people even know about the Short Wetlands, LOL. Blue Mts and I are.... its voodoo. My Pentax MX was KIA up there.

[RockOne]

:-). Its great at the right time of year. I was there a bit late for the thousands of egrets this year. Next year though.
http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=65410

[bikerider]

Okay guys, sounds like we've got some possibilities. I like the idea of the Shortland Wetlands, haven't been there since well before it was declared such! There's also a botannical garden at Raymond Terrace I wouldn't mind checking out. Depending on who else responds, maybe we could find somewhere central to most. As I said in my original post 2-3 hours travel is cool for a day or a w/e trip, that way there's plenty of shooting time.
Roger.

[Carzee]

So do we set an attractive agenda, and nut out what we want to do (ie candid portrait, flora fauna landscape, sports, themepark), then take down names and make the usual compromises on the rundown to "the thing"... or do we start with a list of names and leave "the thing", the final destination until we can all take a vote?

Hmmm. What would be the best approach...

[bikerider]

How about we give it a week and see how many bodies we end up with and where we live and work out a location from there. Then we can see what's on offer at a chosen location/s. Sound ok?
Roger.

[FotOz]

Somebody mention the Western Plains Zoo?
Hi guys. Roger - I've found the thread, thanks.
I can recommend the Zoo and you'll need a full day. Actually, if you buy a day pass you get the next day free. I have a few friends in my camera club who work out there and we can get behind-the-scenes shots. On the other hand, RT is okay as are the ShortWets. I have a son in Newie so accommodation is no problem for me. Apart from that, maybe we draw lines on a map to join up where we all live, and meet in the middle for a day. I don't think it matters where you end up, the main thing is to meet face-to-face, discuss our cameras and photography generally, and THEN shoot a few million pixels. We can even talk bikes if you want. :)
Had a similar experience in Dubbo last weekend, where a team of Ulysses (motorbike) forum members who had chatted for a year or so on the 'net, decided to have a weekend together. They decided on Dubbo because of its central location for all of them. Mind you, they came from Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Canberra, Sydney and points in between. Had an absolute hoot of a time, and before any of them got home I had photos of their Saturday night dinner on the web for them.

[mijbril]

I hope the meeting is a success. If I was still back in Australia I'd come too & talk some shop.

[Carzee]

Took some shots in going thru Laurieton today. Tested the old Zuiko 24mm on the EOS. Sunshine, pelicans, pleasure boats at anchor, green water, green ranges as a backdrop. Sigh.

[bikerider]

Hey glad to see you here Steve.......a few more days and we'll firm up a location. I live near Gosford, I know Steve's in Dubbo and Carzee in the Hunter Valley.
Roger.

[RockOne]

Another Hunter Valley here too !

[bikerider]

I hope the meeting is a success. If I was still back in Australia I'd come too & talk some shop.

Next time you're back in Oz drop us a line, you'd be most welcome........it' s a long way to come from Europe though eh'.
Roger.

[bikerider]

Well I'm getting impatient to set a date for our get together, and there's been no new posters so how about we do it. I'm set for anytime in the next three weeks as I'm on hols'....anyone have any preferences?
Roger.

[FotOz]

Damn it Roger, you picked the busiest 3 weeks of the rest of my life. I'm away the rest of this week (about 300kms north) doing some work on my folk's house. The next weekend I'm in Sydney for a concert Friday night, a party Saturday night and another concert on the Sunday night. The next week I am tied up with photo work. You guys on the coast get together and have a good time. While you're at it organise another date sometime in March 2006 so we can all put it in our diaries and work towards it. March is a pretty good month for me. Just avoid Easter and the weekend before it (man's gotta ride sometime!)

[Carzee]

Sept is annual exercise time, august may be too soon.

[bikerider]

Sept is annual exercise time, august may be too soon.

September might be okay as I have some more time off then.......what dates do you have?
Roger.

[Carzee]

Heads up for 2 Hunter Valley photo ops.

1. Sunday Aug 28th Half Marathon www.lakehalf.com
Plenty of "courageous expressions" with lakeside water backgrounds etc

2. Huge Classic Car Day combo Broke Fair, first Sunday Sept. 8am-2pm
Plenty crowd candids plus classic auto, bike, trk, Bands, Jumping Pigs...

Free entry too.

[RockOne]

Thanks for the info Carzee. I might make it to the Broke Fair.

[bikerider]

Okay, I can make the Broke Fair Carzee, Sunday the 4th.
Roger.

[Carzee]

Good stuff. Anyone else?

Actually took a recky late this arvo to check a position and background.
Put some shots into gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/pixelparker/lakeside05

[Nikolas]

Bloody cockroaches!
:-)

[Carzee]

I've been waiting on confirmation for the Broke Fair date. I should've heard by now...

[bikerider]

I've been waiting on confirmation for the Broke Fair date. I should've heard by now...

The Broke Fair is 10 & 11 Sept' Carzee, this was confirmed via my Norton Club newsletter rec'd Friday. I'm still good to go!
Roger.

[Carzee]

The 10/11 fits with me, my afx starts at Bandiana weekend after. So that is all looking good.



Now, watch it pour down on the 11th! :cool::cool:

[Jim G]

Thanks to Carzee's sig I noticed this thread.. I'm in Newcastle and am good to go for most things on weekends until late September and all the time after that... I don't have my schedule on-hand at the moment but I'll check back in tomorrow to see when I'm free for those things you've so far mentioned.

Jim

[bikerider]

Hi Jim,
welcome aboard, hope you can make the fair!
Roger.

[Carzee]

After the Sunday at Broke... we have still to nut out the Big Event. Broke I see as a warm-up...
not to mention the Half Marathon at the Lakeside in 13 days and counting..

Whats everyones dream to shoot? Personally, I like to do a day shooting on location with a film crew filming scenes with plenty of A listers and glorious scenery or something. Unfortunately, my fantasy is similar to most of the film companies - they only wish they could get funding to make a movie...

[lmele]

HEY GUYS
Just found the post is it too late to join in or have you already had it????:) :) :)

[Carzee]

Welcome - No, plenty of time to go, almost a month to a small get together at the Broke Fair.

Do you have any ideas for a location thats central?

[Carzee]

Roll Call of those going for Broke as of today:

BikeRider
Carzee
FotOz
Imele
Jim G
RockOne

[lmele]

Ullaroo is central? No seriously thats great i'm in . Is broke around hunter valley?

[lmele]

Its ok i Know now , I should read the whole thread :o Anywhere is fine for me as long as i can press my finger on the button i'm happy:)

[Carzee]

It'll be good to see you there.

[bikerider]

So Sunday 11th Sept', all we need now is a co-ordination time and recognition code.....hmmm perhaps just look for loads of Canon gear!
Roger.

[lmele]

I'll be wearing my POTN camera strap in green ' repeat GREEN you should be able to spot me:D

[Carzee]

Hmmm, good point. We need a rough time and place to meet. Or.. get there and ring me 0412681244. The area does have signal, Broke is situated near the tower on Brokenback Range as I remember.
So we can do miles of crowd candids, shiny cars/bikes/sundries, line dancing, jugglers, P & D, etc

[FotOz]

Guys. At this stage I'm a 50/50 chance of making it. Have a number of real estate deals floating around which will need me being in town for - however - if 11th is still on I just MIGHT get a leave pass. You realise this is the anniversary of the WTC - 9/11! I'd be leaving here bright and early (say 6am) for the 4 hours drive to Broke. Don't know whether I'd stay overnight, or head back same day. I have a son and his girl in the area in a motorhome, but it only has the one queen-sized bed in it and no other sleeping accommodation. I'll let you know for sure if I can make it as the day gets nearer.

[PhotosGuy]

A recent newspaper article pointed out that Aussie lifeguards wear pantyhose, so if you plan any swimming, don't forget to add those to your kit! :D:D:D
Have fun, guys! ;)

[Carzee]

No, we're not planning on a swim at Broke, there's no shark net. Or surf boats for that matter. So there's no bikinis either (sigh). Still, may get lucky and see a coupla attractive ladies there.

[FotOz]

Frank. If the surf life savers didn't wear panty hose in some of our waters, they'd last no more than 2 minutes. You see, we have an innocuous little blob of marine life with some of the most poisonous tentacles in the world - a jelly fish. If just one of them wraps just one of its tentacles around just one of your legs, then you're just DEAD. The panty hose weave is fine enough to act like a chain mail glove and stop the needles of the tentacles getting to the skin. So, no panty hose, no surf life savers. No surf life savers, no patrolled beaches. No patrolled beaches, no swimming - AND THAT JUST WOULD NOT DO!

[Carzee]

So... to be clear... they're wearing jelly-fish-net stockings, not just ordinary fish-net stockings.

[PhotosGuy]

Steve, you left out the whole reason for swimming in the first place, ...no swimming, NO bikinis! Nice explaination otherwise. The article said that, too, but I didn't feel that it was relevant 'cause I just wanted to razz you guys a bit! ;)

[bikerider]

Hi Guys,
just got back today from a trip to Orange and catching up on latest developments. Got your number Carzee, will give you a buzz when I arrive......hope you can make it Steve.....see the rest of you there.......hmmm surf lifesavers and pantyhose....lets not go there!
Roger.

[mikeymike]

I always wanted too come to Australia and now that i have 20D. I have all the more reason too come down there. Gonna buy 70-200 2.8 IS and a 24-70 2.8 then i might fly over there.

You all still gonna be doing this photo thing ? maybe like april ?

[bikerider]

Hey Mikeymike, I'm certainly happy to do one again in April, keep in touch,
Roger.

[Carzee]

Here's a location shot from yesterday at Dunbogan beach south of Port. 24mm Zuiko. This is a cliff reclaimed/vegetated from an old quarry.

http://i.pbase.com/v3/58/572458/2/48098549.dunbogenlaurieton_aug2005_2_1500h.jpg

The full pic is here (take 2) (http://www.pbase.com/pixelparker/image/48098549/original)

[Carzee]

I reckon as a location it has quite a few things going for it. I shot Pelicans and marinas, etc.
http://i.pbase.com/v3/58/572458/2/48098550.dunbogenlaurieton_aug2005_1_1500w.jpg

[lmele]

hey Carzee

Is that the hunter valley in the background:rolleyes: , that looks like a nice spot to go in April for when mickeymike comes over:D :D

[Carzee]

Well, its not the Hunter. This is 2 hrs and a bit north up the Pacific Hwy (more like a goat track at the moment). Its got a bit of a shopping strip, lookouts, fishing and marina-morings scenes on the river, koala, and its close to Port with all thats up there.

The way petrol is going, well... any travel over 100km is all too far anyway. :)

[mikeymike]

beautiful photos Carzee. Not making any promises but i am really gonna try and get out there.

[Carzee]

When I think about it, that shot shows typical beach and dune and coastal lake/estuary with a bit of the ranges in the background.

For the benefit of those POTN members elsewhere, this pic could be easily confused with places such as Urunga, Sawtell, Port Stephens-Fern Bay and many others; most of the quiet stretches of New South Wales coastline from north of Sydney to south of the Tweed is very similar (ie; wherever there's minimal buildings/development = 95%).

[mijbril]

beautiful photos Carzee. Not making any promises but i am really gonna try and get out there.

Make the effort Mikey. That stretch of coast is my old stomping ground & it really is beautiful :)

If another one is up scheduled for April & I'm in the country, you can count me in :)

[mikeymike]

You can bet i am gonna put in some effort but i work for a small hospital and there is only 2 of us in my department and some times things just dont work out and then there is the money :(

[Jim G]

Alright.. It's looking as though I'm going to be able to make it without a problem at this stage for the 11th at Broke.. What time are people planning on getting there?

I hope my Sterlingtek batteries and the 50mm/BG-E2 arrive before then.. they're meant to :p

Jim

[bikerider]

Hi Jim,
we don't seem to have settled on a time as yet, we should probably do that now. What does everybody think is a good hour to meet? Seeing as it's an event, around 10am seems like a good time to me,
Roger.

[lmele]

As long as i'm back to watch St.George win there semi final game and march into the Grand Final :) :) :) I,m going to leave early cause its a 2.5 hour drive so i'll hang around until then.

[jokar]

Carzee - nice photos, makes me very nostalgic. I used to live in Dunbogan in the early '70s, and my dog and I considered that strech of beach south of Pt Perpendicular to be OUR beach (mostly 'cause there was rarely anyone else there...)

[Carzee]

Welcome jokar and thx, I seem to be up there once a week lately. I'm just experimenting and warming up for when I have a real WAngle.
ps, Did a job at the Hyperdome and some deliveries south of Canberra yesterday. Pambula & Merimbula. Smash near Bredbo around 10pm on the return. And its wombat mating season again judging by the uptick in roadkilled wombats. Got some shuteye in the van near my ol' range at Majura. [ Homer sleeeeepy ]

[Carzee]

Half-marathon in the morning...

[bikerider]

Running on a Sunday morning!!!! Geez mate I thought I was going to be a legend and get out of bed early to take some shots.....hmmm I might not bother now.
Roger.

[Carzee]

Hi, am knee deep in post process (newbie as I am);

Here are shots some I put in a thread-
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=745889

[FotOz]

Hey Roger (and the rest of yer).
I've gone from a 50/50 chance of making it to Broke to a 99% chance of being there.
Where do we meet, and what time? Did someone say 10am?

[RockOne]

Broke Village Fair - Sunday 11th Sept 2005. 10 AM. McNamara Park, Broke.
50 Stalls, Emergency Services displays, puppet shows, live bands, Mine displays and open cut mine tours, didgeridoo playing, vintage cars, bikes, trucks and machinery, wine tours etc.

http://www.brokefordwich.com.au/festivals/index.htm

[bikerider]

Hey Steve glad you look like making it and looking forward to meeting everyone else too, should be a top day.
Roger.

[FotOz]

Okay - apart from the fact that we'll all be carrying a camera bag each, how do we know who we're looking for? I'd pick you from a mile away Roger. My avatar helps no-one. But I'll tell you what - at 6'4" I'm hard to miss. :) Maybe a mobile phone number for the 'convenor'?

[bikerider]

Hmm mobile signal at Broke, I wonder? My number is 0416228789, hope it works,
Roger.

[RockOne]

I think that mobile coverage extends to broke.

[Carzee]

There is one unchanging landmark sort of thing at Broke - the General Store. Its on the roadside of course, at the south end of the Fair, more or less on the intersection of the road from Cessnock to the east with the road from Wollombi to the south.

Say 10am-ish. Gives you time to scope around and wakeup, and by 10 all the "exhibits" will be ready for the public and it'll be swinging.

[lmele]

I'm similar to my avatar except I'll have cloths on and carrying a backpack:) . Should be a great day hope the weather will be also. Anybody coming from Sydney?

[FotOz]

So - can anyone (Roger) give us a figure on the number of 'sures' and the number of 'maybes' "Going For Broke"? Hey, how's that for a name? Does this mean I'm too lazy to go through the thread and work it out for myself. You better believe it. Did a wedding last night from 2pm to 10 pm, and spent 12 hours today doing post-production on 336 shots on PS, and whittling them down to 200 for burning to CD ready for printing on Monday. All finished. Yawn - stretch - rub eyes - log off - shut down - hit the hay. G'night all!

[bikerider]

Hi Steve, I count six people and the best meeting place seems to be the old general store, a very visible building close to the event, see ya' there.
Roger.

[FotOz]

Copy that. The 'pillion-in-a-million' and I are going to track down our son and his girlfriend in their motorhome somewhere over that way and have Saturday night in a cabin at whatever caravan park they are camped in. I'll do Broke solo for a couple of hours on the Sunday, then pick the boss up and head home mid-afternoon. I think I'm about 350kms or so each way. So far so good - I'm still on track!

[Carzee]

Bad news.

Just as its become clear where and when to meet etc my timing has changed and I'm a no show. Previous details of my trip to Melb and back this week mentioned a likely dismissal Saturday arvo, now its gonna be Sunday arvo.
I have to pack up and get on the bus to the Singo lines in about 2 hours from now.
I'll enjoy the week away but missing the Sunday morn at Broke puts a bit of a damper on it. Oh well.
So here's a coldie to whats gonna be a great event - hey and remember to take a coupla photos so I know what I missed out on.

[ Light bulb goes off overhead -Now if I had some rank... ]

[bikerider]

Sorry to hear you can't make it Carzee, we''ll be posting the results!
Roger.

[FotOz]

Damn Carzee. After all that! Well, if it makes any difference - after all my procrastination - I'LL BE THERE!

[byso]

G'day i'm from sydney - quakers hill.

I'd be happy to tag along some time.

Imele go MANLY hehe!

[bikerider]

Hi Byso,
welcome, I'm sure we'll have other occasions after this w/e........are you busy this Sunday?
Roger.

[lmele]

Oh No , not a Manly supporter :lol: . I hope you come Byso and don't worry we'll cheer you up sunday afternoon:) . Go the mighty DRAGONS lol. should be a good day.

[byso]

This sunday i'm going to watch Manly Smash the Eels. hehe

So I cant come along to that one.

Next time for sure.

[FotOz]

Guys. Sorry to do this, but I'm now a non-starter. Couple of problems have come up, the least of which is the left eye. Roger, you're aware of yesterday's incident. Have more crap in it and have to have another clean out. Actually that's not MORE crap, just residue. I'm not as bulletproof as I thought I was, so have now invested in a good quality pair of safety glasses. You all enjoy yourself and post plenty of pix. Damn it all. I was looking forward to the weekend away too.
(Go the Swannies!!)

[RockOne]

Shame you guys can't make it. I guess there will still be a few of us there to fly the POTN flag :-).
Roger, sent you a PM.

[bikerider]

Guys. Sorry to do this, but I'm now a non-starter. Couple of problems have come up, the least of which is the left eye. Roger, you're aware of yesterday's incident. Have more crap in it and have to have another clean out. Actually that's not MORE crap, just residue. I'm not as bulletproof as I thought I was, so have now invested in a good quality pair of safety glasses. You all enjoy yourself and post plenty of pix. Damn it all. I was looking forward to the weekend away too.
(Go the Swannies!!)

Sorry you can't make it mate, take care and we'll meet another time.

Steve, got your pm and back at you, see you Sunday.

[bikerider]

G'day All,
well Steve, Len, his sister and myself met at Broke and had a top day, shooting everybody and everything in sight. I will try and work up a post tonight.....in the Urban category I think, even though the event was out in the country. I think that forum would fit best. Later,
Roger.

[Carzee]

I'm baaaaack... how'd things turn out?

To think I was around 2000 to 3000m metres away... but 'working'. Had a course photo taken - but couldn't take a photo myself.

Mixed weather in the morning... but it went great from about 1100 as I remember. Friend there with his Landys has said they got soaked then it cleared and it was more people than ever. I saw 3801 Steam engine was at Maitland as well.

[FotOz]

Glad it went well for those who got there. Still trying to get the blurred vision out of my left eye. On top of that the weather turned to absolute crap here, and it looked like it to the east as well. Spent most of the day doing monocular PS work for a couple of projects I'm working on. Cheers.

[Jim G]

Guys, dammit, I was called into work (12 hours today, whee) and couldn't make it. I just got home.

Somehow it didn't occur to me to use Carzee's mobile number to send a message, duh. Too much work this past month, 4.30am starts has fried my brain.

I promise I'll be better organized for the next one ;)

[Carzee]

And the next Aussie Photo Trippin location? I'm strongly attracted to Sydney Harbour and the Circular Quay crowds for candids and head shots + ferries + cityscapes. I'd park at Lindfield or Pymble or somewhere on the northside and catch the train to Wynyard, then leg it thru the 3 or 4 blocks to the Quay. Thats how I did the Olympic visit I had as I remember. Backpack is the word, and shoot from the hip.
Must get 2 more CF cards.

More location suggestions and expressions of interest please. And what a good date?

Did I mention that Sydney loc means minimal "big petrol" expenses?

[lmele]

Was talking with Roger on the weekend and we thought that Venice Italy would be a good location for our next photo trip. I calculated that if we sold our camera's and bought some P&S camera's we could do it:lol: . Seriously though Sydney sounds good to me, actually anywhere sounds good to me. Put me down for one:) :)

[Carzee]

I got out the range map and looked it up. I was 5km (3miles) to your NE.

Close - but as they say, no cigar!

[Carzee]

Anyone seen this??

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Community/GrantsAndAwards/SydneyLifePhotographyExhibition.asp