Quinninup Falls - Western Australia
Western Australia's South West is well known for its picturesque beaches, old growth forests, world class wineries, spectacular caves and other tourist destinations. What is not well known is that just south of Yallingup and Dunsborough at the end of a decent 4WD track is the amazing Quinninup Falls only a few hundred meters from the beach.
We were able to access the falls by taking what i believe was Quinninup Road which runs off Caves Road, though you can also apparently get there without a 4WD by taking Moses Rock Road.
It's quite surreal that this small valley appears out of seemingly nowhere. Unfortunately i didn't have my tripod on this day so most images where taken by balancing my Camera on a rock with the aid of a towel to both protect the DSLR body from scratching and also to enable me to position the lens exactly where i wanted.
Fortunately on this day was relatively overcast which enable me to shoot waterfall which was facing into the sun. This was also helpful to reduce the tonal range and eliminate any harsh shadows that facing the sun would normally present.
As with most waterfall photographs, the best results are often achieved with the slow shutterspeeds and motion of the water to create the soft white tones of the movement and impact of the water. I used a 4stop Neutral Density filter to slow down my shutterspeed to roughly 1/3 second.
My other shot of these falls wanted to indicate the scale and surrounds by taking a panoramic shot. This image was a 10 image stitch taken vertically on 28mm Sigma lens. Post production included work on the sky and tones on the rock faces.
This is a photograph of the Margaret River Mouth in the South West of Western Australia in August. My biggest accomplishment with this photo was getting enough blood into my fingers to operate the camera. It was probably my coldest experience as a photographer. I got up at 4.30am and from our Redgate accommodation made the trip to the River Mouth by about 4.45am. Needless to say I was a little early for the Sunrise. Sitting in my car in the pitch black till the first glimmer of light began to appear at about 5.30 i made my way down the rocks to the beach. I could of really used a torch, so instead i fired off periodic flashes to see what obsticles lay in front of me.
This shot was taken looking inland up river and was about a 2 minute exposure. For any tourists and visitors from overseas and interstate i can't recommend this area of Western Australia enough. Only 3 and a bit hours drive from Perth, it is truly one of the most beautiful places in Australia. Filled with wineries, untouched beaches, old growth forests, caves, furniture & art galleries I highly recommend a visit.