Self Indulged Online Travel Magazine
  • Archives
  • February5th

    Well…it has been A LONG time between posts and for those of you following the mag and FB page you’ll know we’re just about settled back at home. I’ve been waiting for something big to spark the blog again and here it is. I am thrilled to announce that I have been shortlisted in the Landscape category of the 2013 Sony World Photo Awards along with 6 other Aussies in the competition.  The series ‘El Chalten Enchantment’ was taken in Argentine Patagonia earlier this year. We camped on the trail and awoke to a blanket of snow on the trail up to the wonderful but illusive Mt Fitzroy and passed these striking trees on the way. This series and will make up just some of the images that will form part of an exhibition I will be holding at the end of this year. Big changes are afoot, including a new website, new travel photography workshop and plenty of new images!

    Good luck to all of the finalists.

  • November27th

    EUROPE-3005-Edit

    We haven’t had much sleep over the past two nights….we’ve been hunting. Chasing the light. And we found it.

    On Friday night we drove for 2 hours out of Tromso chasing a glimmer of the illusive aurora borealis.  We did get a glimmer but only a small one, at midnight we gave up and drove through the sleet and rain for another 2 hours back to Tromso. Last night was wonderfully clear. We drove 20km out of town and were treated to a striking sky show from about 11pm to 1am. Granted, it’s the not the greatest aurora photo of all time but it’s hopefully the first of many while we’re in the arctic circle.  It’s also the shot that means I can put a BIG TICK next to #2 on my bucket list – “See & shoot the aurora borealis”

    Tick!

  • July21st

    Glenelg

    A few months ago I was in Glenelg in South Australia on a very stormy evening…I got SATURATED but waited around just in time to catch that light that seems to appear out of nowhere. The sky was almost purple with the dark storm clouds breaking just long enough for some sun to peek through before it finally set. And then…I got saturated AGAIN! I think I need to buy a shamwow for my kit bag :-)

  • June3rd

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGXWO1-PHq0]

    Merv, this post is for you! In a very lazy move I have rehashed this old slideshow which is kind of fitting as another world trip has been at the fore front of my mind for a while.

    The trip I have in mind is a while away as yet but will be an EPIC photographic expedition if we can pull it off.  Mt Killi and Patagonia are calling….as is the rest of the world. There’s lots of ‘research’ going on behind the scenes to try and fund this project and as such the website is being rehashed to incorporate more ‘travel’ ideas as well as photography. 

    Gotta start putting the thoughts out there to make it happen but you never know what’s around the corner in this life.  I’m also learning the joys of timelapse so hope to post some results in the near future.

    Can I use the excuse “I’ve been thinking” as a reason for not updating my blog? Of course I can….it’s my blog! ;-)

    By the way Merv….love your B&W shot of the boulders!

  • April14th

    IMG_7726-Edit copy

    Well who would have thought that Canberra would be fun?  I was there for the magazine doing a feature on the balloon festival which runs for 9 days. On the first day of the festival we could see that the weather wasn’t looking too great so we ducked off to Jindabyne for a few days and came back to Canberra later in the week.  This shot was taken on the Saturday morning when all of the balloons managed to get up (ahem..you’d think with so much ‘hot air’ in Canberra it wouldn’t be a problem!) We were following them on the road when the sunlight started to shine through the dark clouds, giving off that magical light that sometimes happens on a wet day. Dave pulled the campervan over onto the verge and I legged it over to the lake (Lake Burley Griffin for those playing along at home) and captured the balloons as they flew (VERY low) overhead. A couple of them actually touched the water and kind of hung in suspended animation. I was especially pleased to have captured the golliwog – he’s my favourite :-)

    Big thanks to the team at Balloons Aloft for their patience and professionalism and also for the brekky on the day we stood around a field for 2 hours waiting for the weather to come good.

  • December20th

    Hillarys_

    I popped down to Hillarys Boat Harbour last night for a paddle and a look around.  I was hoping for some stormy skies and got some lovely colour. It was great to see so many people out and about enjoying the warm summer evening with kids paddling and jumping off the jetty and families having picnics on lawns. I do love this time of year here in Perth although I do wonder if I’ll ever get used to hot weather at Christmas.

    Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous twenty-ten!

  • December6th

    Bachelor and three graces

    Over the last few days I’ve been shuffling all of my digital files around in a ‘photographic’ spring clean.  I found this shot which, when I took it back in 2005 was one of my absolute favourites. Taken at Mariposa Grove in Yosemite NP this particular grouping of giant sequoias is know as the Bachelor and Three Graces (The ‘Bachelor’ is the big guy in the foreground, his ‘Graces’ are the 3 behind).  I hunted it out after being reminded just how ancient and majestic trees can be by the Oct issue of National Geographic magazine.  I was blown away by a pull out centrefold showing a giant redwood. People had been positioned on branches all the way up to show the gigantic scale of the tree. The final image was an 84 image stitch and is just stunning.  This short video below shows how the NG photographer and his team achieved the fabulous shot – although with that much equipment at your disposal you’d have to walk away with something!  Next time you’re in the newsagents (there’s a delay in delivery to Oz so this issue is still on the shelves) have a look at the actual pull out….I’m sure you’ll be as humbled as I was when I saw it. These trees will still be on the planet long after we’re gone.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LHjV48e9s&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

  • December1st

    This is one of my favourite captures from Yorke Peninsula.  Wallaroo is a great spot with a great name. As I was wandering around looking for a good location to take some pics at sunset, these three posts and the colourful rocks caught my eye.  This was a 30 second exposure just after the sun had disappeared.  I was really enjoying taking the photos, capturing that dreamy misty water when a local bloke came down to where I was shooting and told me a little bit about the place.  I was stoked to discover that I was actually shooting the last remains of the original Wallaroo jetty which was built in 1861.  148 years later this is all that remains.



    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...