This is one location where you cannot move around alot given that you have only several square metres of rock to stand on and its pretty well straight down cliffs either side, hence getting some variation in the views can really only be done with going wider, or getting tighter, which this shot is.
5 shot panorama
D750 with 24-70 f2.8 @ 70mm f10 2s
Lee graduated filter 0.9x.
the Solitary View
I think I could visit these mountains every day and still not see all of the wonderful places this unique region has to offer.
Thats Mount Solitary by the way 🙂
the wide view – Castle Rock
Following on from the previous image, this one is a super wide panorama view, basically the view you get before descending down towards Castle Rock, you can see the path on the right there, what you can't see is the sheer drop off to the right and to the left 🙂
This view represents nearly a 180 degree field of view.
9 shot panorama (vertical frames) using gerry's special pano rig 🙂
D750 coupled with Nikkor 16-35 f4 @ 16mm
Aperture: f16 and Shutter Speed: 2s
ISO: 100
Out front: Lee Graduated Filter 0.9x and Hoya Circular Polariser
Someone told me I should start taking my photography serious 🙂 So I took that advice on board and have decided its best if I wear pants when shooting now 🙂 , now don't take that outta context, i'm talking about long pants rather than just shorts which are pretty well a staple for me year round, irrespective of location 🙂 however, no more shorts for me and in this case, I am kinda glad, its not the cold that bothers me (you don't lose much heat outta skinny sticks you know..), but more the harsh shrub which for the first few metres on the track here would be a rather nice exfoliation treatment but after that probably more like walking against 40 grit sandpaper 🙂 hence long pants are good 🙂
For the last few years I have photographed the Sydney CBD Anzac march on April 25th, however this year I needed a break from the crowds and people so I took myself off to the Blue mountains at a suitably ungodly hour to avoid traffic and people 🙂 worked nicely.
I have been eyeing off this spot on a little spur off the narrowneck ridge near Katoomba which is part of the walk to Castle rock, I have plans to take a few images of the milkway here but so far the weather has out smarted me so thats gonna probably wait another month at least . The walk here is pretty mild, however the track does get fairly tight and shrubby which is not overly pleasant when walking in pitch blackness battling of little spiders and dodging low branches (for me anyways), that said, it was mozzie and snake free for the most part which counts for alot in my books.
The sunrise was not too shabby either and there was even a bit of fog rolling around in the valleys below which when the wind came up later in the morning ebbed and flowed up and down the valley walls, pretty cool.
So here ya go, this is me taking it serious, pants and all.
BTW, NPWS, frogs and logs department, Office of heritage or whatever they are called today, you gotta fill the potholes and ruts in this road 🙂
After coming back from Norway, home of freaking awesome mountains, I did not think I would ever be able to look at the Blue Mountains the same way again, however whilst the blue mountains pale in terms of size when compared to say Dalsnibba (the hill that looks over Geiranger) there is a uniqueness to the Blue mountains which gives them a pretty big draw card. The sheer sandstone cliffs, the gums and the ancient history of the people that walked here before, all something which is not replicated anywhere else in teh world – after visiting just about anywhere in the mountains it leaves me thinking I am very lucky to live so close and be able to enjoy such neat scenery and it should not be under appreciated 🙂
This is a spot looking over the Jamison Valley from Narrowneck, I could basically walk 50 metres and view the Megalong Valley side (https://plus.google.com/+GerardBlacklock/posts/gDPVmCCg5dX) or this side.
Some pretty cool light on this evening too, really lit up the clouds which were honking across the valley..
D750 coupled with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 @ 24mm Aperture: f11 and Shutter Speed: 2s
ISO: 100
out front: Hoya CPL and Lee Graduated Filter (0.9x)
Another great naming effort by those before us 🙂 nothing like good literal name for a location, basically Narrowneck is a ridge of sandstone that divides Jamison Valley and Megalong Valley, its pretty cool can you can go all the way out along it (mostly by car too) and see really neat views onto the big valley and the sandstone cliffs on the edge of Katoomba.
This image is taken from one of the spots near a walk which you can take down into the Jamison Valley (thats for another day), whilst some of the narrowneck is quite narrow (see what i did there 🙂 ), there is still quite a bit of vegetation which means alot of scouting around to get a clear view, in this case I stood on the side of the road atop the armco guard rail, gave me that extra 3 feet I needed 🙂
The sun was just about to disappear under the clouds out on the horizon in the Megalong valley and consequently there was some nice light for several minutes which conveniently lit up the hillside.
D750 coupled with Nikkor 300mm f4 @ 300mm Aperture: f6.3 and Shutter Speed: 1/640s
ISO: 250
out front: nada, bunch of hills and some nice light