gvallee Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 We spent an idyllic day camping right on the edge of a billabong (wetlands). Birdlife was amazing, especially at sunrise where I could shoot backlit silhouettes. There were mostly egrets and herons but also numerous kites diving, catching small fish and rising again dragging reeds. These will be for a future upload. And these were taken while camping in glorious bushland among acacia. Grey-fronted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus plumulus) Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 43 minutes ago, gvallee said: We spent an idyllic day camping right on the edge of a billabong (wetlands). Birdlife was amazing, especially at sunrise where I could shoot backlit silhouettes. There were mostly egrets and herons but also numerous kites diving, catching small fish and rising again dragging reeds. These will be for a future upload. And these were taken while camping in glorious bushland among acacia. Grey-fronted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus plumulus) Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) Genevieve, Normally I could care less about bird photos, but those are outstanding and a pleasure for me to view. Love them. Chuck 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 I'll second what Chuck said. Your bird pics are exceptional, Gen. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 1, 2023 Author Share Posted July 1, 2023 Thank you Chuck and John. The chase gave me a lot of pleasure, and swearing as well. Especially when a kite would dive right under my nose too close to photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 Wonderful, wonderful. Paulette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 5 hours ago, gvallee said: Thank you Chuck and John. The chase gave me a lot of pleasure, and swearing as well. Especially when a kite would dive right under my nose too close to photograph. You have found your niche. Along with all the other niche's you have. Allan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 1, 2023 Author Share Posted July 1, 2023 8 hours ago, Allan Bell said: You have found your niche. Along with all the other niche's you have. Allan I've been into bird photography for many many years, they don't sell that much but give me a lot of pleasure. In the past, almost all my trips were centered around bird photography. It gave another purpose and aim to the trip. I even went on my own to Argentina to see ONE bird specie. There I hired a guy to drive me around the bird habitat. He had an old diesel pickup car shaking like crazy while iddling. I wanted to use the car as a hide and rest my 500mm on the back window. I asked him to turn the engine off. He did it a couple of times but then refused because he had trouble restarting the car. I didn't come back with many pictures but at least I saw the bird. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Great shots Gen. Maybe someday I'll get some great ones like those. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 2, 2023 Author Share Posted July 2, 2023 52 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said: Great shots Gen. Maybe someday I'll get some great ones like those. Jill Thank you Jill. It requires a lot of patience and luck. I hadn't researched the place, we just happened to camp there. I like your bird pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 And here are the images miraculously saved from my flooded laptop. They were part of a 4 day Outback event in a huge cattle station: horse races, rodeo, campdraft, elegance in the field (Ladies' Day), live music, bar. Fabulous atmosphere and fun. This series is from the campdraft event held every day at dawn at 6.30am just before sunrise. As riders chase a heifer against a backdrop of fiery sky, the dust, horses' manes and tails and riders' hair are rim lighted. Such skillful riders, both jackaroos and jillaroos! You might think 'is this what she made a fuss about?' but I like them. My kind of environment and atmosphere. What we liked about this event is that it is organised every year for 3 neighbouring cattle stations entertainment, not for tourists. The real Australia. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hyde Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 7 hours ago, gvallee said: And here are the images miraculously saved from my flooded laptop. They were part of a 4 day Outback event in a huge cattle station: horse races, rodeo, campdraft, elegance in the field (Ladies' Day), live music, bar. Fabulous atmosphere and fun. This series is from the campdraft event held every day at dawn at 6.30am just before sunrise. As riders chase a heifer against a backdrop of fiery sky, the dust, horses' manes and tails and riders' hair are rim lighted. Such skillful riders, both jackaroos and jillaroos! You might think 'is this what she made a fuss about?' but I like them. My kind of environment and atmosphere. What we liked about this event is that it is organised every year for 3 neighbouring cattle stations entertainment, not for tourists. The real Australia. Fantastic images 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 1 hour ago, Steve Hyde said: Fantastic images 🙂 Thank you Steve, I'm glad you like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 Wonderful Gen, like they are dancing on fire. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 8 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said: Wonderful Gen, like they are dancing on fire. It was wonderful to see the big red globe of the sun rising behind the arena. It was very atmospheric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 I continue to love rodeos even after having become a vegetarian. So beautiful and exciting. The skill is amazing. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 11 hours ago, gvallee said: And here are the images miraculously saved from my flooded laptop. They were part of a 4 day Outback event in a huge cattle station: horse races, rodeo, campdraft, elegance in the field (Ladies' Day), live music, bar. Fabulous atmosphere and fun. This series is from the campdraft event held every day at dawn at 6.30am just before sunrise. As riders chase a heifer against a backdrop of fiery sky, the dust, horses' manes and tails and riders' hair are rim lighted. Such skillful riders, both jackaroos and jillaroos! You might think 'is this what she made a fuss about?' but I like them. My kind of environment and atmosphere. What we liked about this event is that it is organised every year for 3 neighbouring cattle stations entertainment, not for tourists. The real Australia. These are gorgeous. I understand your angst at the possibility of losing your edits, which by the way, are very well-done. Looking at them, I know you must’ve teased out shadows, judicially applied noise control here & there, & edits I can only imagine. The images are worth all the care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 8 hours ago, NYCat said: I continue to love rodeos even after having become a vegetarian. So beautiful and exciting. The skill is amazing. Paulette Yes I love the atmosphere, in particular the smell of campfires at night. i have been to many but this one was a special event over 4 days. I learnt what a campdraft was, which is what they do every day as their job as opposed to a rodeo which is for entertainment purpose. It is the art and skill of selecting one head of cattle in the middle of a herd and 'cutting it out', i.e. getting it out and do whatever they have to do with it. Horses are specially chosen to do this job only. Then in the evening there was the rodeo event on bulls, buckjumping on horses, and even a rodeo on poddies for kids. The horse races were interesting for people watching, lots of young jackaroos and jillaroos having a good time. They had a system of auction called 'to flutter on the Calcutta' around the saddling yard prior to the race where you 'buy' a horse for the race. All fascinating and fun. Then in the evening were fun events like a tug of war or 'the battle of the Barkly', Barkly being the region where the cattle station is. It was a hilarious spoof of the jackaroos' daily life. It was a timed competition where they had to start flat from their swag (sleeping bag sort of bed), roll it, run for breakfast where pranksters prepared the most disgusting stuff, have flour thrown to their face, run to dig a post in the ground, mount a mechanical horse and be shaken around, and run to the finish line. Hilarious! So much laughter! Such a good time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 7 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: These are gorgeous. I understand your angst at the possibility of losing your edits, which by the way, are very well-done. Looking at them, I know you must’ve teased out shadows, judicially applied noise control here & there, & edits I can only imagine. The images are worth all the care. You're telling me! Topaz DeNoise was a very good friend. The sun rose directled behind the riders. I had to deal with flare a lot. The reason why it took 2 days to select the keepers is that I took so many shots trying different techniques to get silhouettes. If they were galloping in front or too close to the rising sun, the sensor got blinded. I needed riders and cattle to be in the right position, horses with pleasing legs position, interesting dust patterns, avoiding shooting the pole in front of me or the blinding spot lights, or indeed the guy who insisted on watching the event standing up in front of me rather than sitting. Just a few challenges... Then there were the keywords to research and add to my hierarchy in Bridge. I would have also lost all the results of my research if my laptop hadn't come back to life. The worst would probably have been to go and select the keepers again, I couldn't face it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 2 hours ago, gvallee said: Yes I love the atmosphere, in particular the smell of campfires at night. i have been to many but this one was a special event over 4 days. I learnt what a campdraft was, which is what they do every day as their job as opposed to a rodeo which is for entertainment purpose. It is the art and skill of selecting one head of cattle in the middle of a herd and 'cutting it out', i.e. getting it out and do whatever they have to do with it. Horses are specially chosen to do this job only. Then in the evening there was the rodeo event on bulls, buckjumping on horses, and even a rodeo on poddies for kids. The horse races were interesting for people watching, lots of young jackaroos and jillaroos having a good time. They had a system of auction called 'to flutter on the Calcutta' around the saddling yard prior to the race where you 'buy' a horse for the race. All fascinating and fun. Then in the evening were fun events like a tug of war or 'the battle of the Barkly', Barkly being the region where the cattle station is. It was a hilarious spoof of the jackaroos' daily life. It was a timed competition where they had to start flat from their swag (sleeping bag sort of bed), roll it, run for breakfast where pranksters prepared the most disgusting stuff, have flour thrown to their face, run to dig a post in the ground, mount a mechanical horse and be shaken around, and run to the finish line. Hilarious! So much laughter! Such a good time! It’s wonderful to experience new things like that & still feel the wonder of a child. I still have a little girl inside of me, that can still react to things with joy. I never want to become jaded & I can tell you are also like that. If I can’t find joy every day, however a small thing it comes from, I’d just as soon be dead. Sometimes it’s from something simple, like biting into my first home grown ripe tomato of the season & experiencing its rich juicy flavor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 A fun day at the Bush Races In the past, I seemed to be lucky with randomly betting on a horse. For the last Melbourne Cup, I bet on my lucky number 3. It just happened that I seemed to have an affinity with the jockey. She was the only female jockey of the race, and as the cherry on the cake, she was French. She arrived last... Not to be beaten, at the Brunette Downs ABC Bush Races, I bet again on number 3. A place bet, or so I thought. My horse arrived third. Yeah! Excitedly, I went to get my winnings only to hear that, being on the tote (short for totalisator), only the first horse counted... I am beginning to rethink my luck with horses. I owe them several fractures but I never held a grudge against them. It seems that they have against me! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 34 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said: It’s wonderful to experience new things like that & still feel the wonder of a child. I still have a little girl inside of me, that can still react to things with joy. I never want to become jaded & I can tell you are also like that. If I can’t find joy every day, however a small thing it comes from, I’d just as soon be dead. Sometimes it’s from something simple, like biting into my first home grown ripe tomato of the season & experiencing its rich juicy flavor. We are very keen to not just drift around without a purpose. Too many people we met that have been on the road for years only to move from one campsite to the next. We do a lot of research about all sorts of events and see if geographically we can join the dots. They are as varied as speed racing on a salt lake, rodeos, bird migrations, opening of 4WD areas in the dry season, exhibitions, Aboriginal festivals and dancing, anything of interest really. We add salt and pepper by also doing farm or housing sitting taking care of animals. Our life is centered around nature and wildlife. Not so much around people.. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 I ran into a friend today I hadn't seen for a while. I was her cat-sitter. She doesn't have a cat now but she does have a horse. Mind you, she lives here in Greenwich Village and sells high-end apartments. She got into dressage when she had a summer house in New Jersey and wound up buying a horse. It lives in a stable in New Jersey and she goes our and rides every weekend. Today we were showing each other photos of our "pets"...me my new cat and she her horse Tobey. We have a dinner date next week. I saw an exhibition of cutting horses once years ago. They are really amazing, as are the cowboys who train and ride them. Paulette 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 The stallion we had that tried to kill me was neutered & turned into a cutting horse on a real ranch by the man who bought him from us. The horse sometimes gets so adept that it recognizes the moves of the cow/calf & knows what to do to cut it off without being reined. They are amazing, then can turn around & give a crow-hop jump after spying a suspicious dirt clod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 This thread should be called "Lets talk about Gen's pics".😃 Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 11 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: This thread should be called "Lets talk about Gen's pics".😃 Allan So sorry, you're right, I will shut up... I might post again tomorrow though... I have a question in fact. No one else has posted any favourite upload... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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