The Smirkonian Sightseer

Please put me down

Music of the Stars

Carl Sagan's letter to Chuck Berry (circa 1986).

Oh dear...

I really look forward to voting in Greeka’s annual photo contest. Such creative photography in a land I like to visit occasionally. This year it seems I’m ineligible to vote. A rule change means I have to upload and be part of the party. Oh well, maybe next year.

Great Western Tiers

Panorama view of the Great Western Tiers near Mole Creek, Tasmania.

Viewed from Engadine, a quiet rural property with a cosy B&B and spectacular views. Located above Mole Creek in the Mersey Hill area.

The panorama features the Great Western Tiers, the mountain range seen in the distance, with snow falling on some peaks.

iPhone sweep-pano with a small amount of Lightroom processing.

East Coast Tasmania

In late August Tony and I visited Tasmania’s stunning east coast.

The feature of this road trip was Freycinet National Park.

The view of Freycinet National Park from Apslawn.

 

On the walking track down to Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park.

 

A walking party on Wineglass Bay, 

 

Hazards Lagoon, Freycinet National Park

 

Entering Hazards Beach, Freycinet National Park

 

On Hazards Beach, Freycinet National Park

 

Sunset on The Hazards, a feature of Freycinet National Park in Tasmania.

 

Boardwalk at Cape Tourville, Tasmania.

 

West Coast Tasmania

Around late July, Tony and I visited Tasmania’s rugged west coast.

An overnight stay in Strahan and a wonderful ride on the West Coast Wilderness Railway following the King River.

Lake Rosebery from Mackintosh Bridge, Murchinson Highway, Tasmania

 

Clearing rain shower at sunrise. Strahan Harbour on Tasmania's West Coast.

 

Capturing the early light spilling on tranquil Strahan Harbour.

 

What remains of the old Regatta Point wharf at Strahan

 

Train tracks at Lower Landing station. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania

 

Rainforest walk at Dubbil Barril. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania

 

King River viewed from Dubbil Barril Station. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania

 

 

Greek Light

He is not of course the first visitor to be electrified by Greek light, to be intoxicated

by the white dancing candescence of the sun on a sea with blue sky pouring into it.

- Lawrence Durrell, The Greek Islands (1978)

~~~~~~~

It’s one of my favourite quotes. I’ve been to the Greek Islands a few times and read many books in my philhellenic research.  

This week the first episode of The Durrell’s premieres on Australian TV. The series follows younger brother Gerald Durrell’s account of his time growing up on the island of Corfu, as outlined in the tele-movie My Family & Other Animals.

Surfers Paradise holiday

A few weeks back Tony and I stay with our good mate Michael in his Gold Coast apartment. Six days of winter sun. Here are a some photos...

 Sky point Tower viewing deck

Dusk view of the beach taken from Michael’s balcony.

The Vintage that never was

Back in June of 2012 I took this photo from the car park at Brady's Lookout in the Tamar Valley. At the time there was a volcanic ash cloud circling the planet’s lower hemisphere, originating from Chile's Puyehue volcano. I remember flights to Tasmania were cancelled for several days.

The photo, taken at sunset, clearly shows the diffused light coming through the ash cloud.

 

 

Fast forward a year or so, I received a phone call one Saturday morning from a polite woman wanting to use my photo of Brady’s Lookout for a wine bottle label. She explained it was only a private label and would not be commercially available. Gladly I gave her permission for free use of my photo. As I’m not a professional photographer, I refused to accept any payment.

That was the last I heard of my photo supposedly being use for a wine label, until yesterday.

I’d told my sister in-law about it sometime ago, as she was doing a wine appreciation course on local wines. Yesterday she produced this empty bottle of wine with my photo on it. Well, what a surprised! There it was, and I must say I thought the photo did look rather elegant on the bottle.

I was curious as to how the Pinot Noir tasted. Well from the comments my brother gave, let’s assume it was a good thing the label stayed private!

 

Archers Knob Walk - Narawntapu NP

Narawntapu National Park is rich in both Aboriginal and European history and has an abundance of bird and mammal life. 

 

The 2 hour return walk to Archers Knob begins from a track which runs between the lagoon and Bakers Beach.Towards the eastern end of the beach the track climbs steadily through coastal trees to the top of Archers Knob (114 m). From the summit there are views sweeping over Bakers Beach to Badger Head and beyond.

 

Tasmania Zoo

Tasmania Zoo is located approximately 18km from Launceston.

Situated on 900 acres (360 ha) of old growth native bushland, it is home to the state's largest collection of native and exotic animals.

Exhibits include Tasmanian devils, wombats, quolls, emus, koalas, kangaroos, deer, reptiles and monkeys, along with a collection of 80 bird species. Conservation work carried out by the zoo includes a breeding program for Tasmanian devils. (via Wikipedia)

 

Nada Surf

My favourite band, Nada Surf release their new album this week. So excited!

Pine Lake

Pine Lake - Central Plateau Conservation Area, Tasmania

Pine Lake is easily accessible via a 400m boardwalk, located on the Highland Lakes Road (A5) about 33km south of Deloraine.

The Pine Lake walk offers a rare opportunity to get close to one of Tasmania’s rarest trees without having to go on an extended bushwalk. The pencil pine is an ancient species that evolved before flowering plants and only found in the Tasmanian highlands.

Many of the Tasmanian conifers are unique to Tasmania. The pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides), is generally restricted to sub-alpine areas above 800m. Like its relative, the King Billy pine, it can reach ages greater than 1200 years. Pencil pines are often seen around the shores of highland lakes and tarns, creating the unique ambience of these beautiful areas of Tasmania.

The Central Plateau of Tasmania is the largest area of high ground in Tasmania. It is bound to the north east by the Great Western Tiers, a large number of hydro electric schemes emanating from rivers that flow to the south - and to the west by Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.

Narawntapu National Park

Narawntapu National Park became the first Tasmanian park to revert to an Aboriginal name. Narawntapu is the Aboriginal name given to the Badger Head and West Head area within the park. 

 

Rich in both Indigenous and European heritage, Narawntapu offers a wide diversity of habitats for both plants and animals.

 

The coastal heathlands are a feature of the park.

Below are a set of images taken recently to celebrate my first use of my National Parks Pass!

Flickr best

A sure sign of “must do better” my highest rating photo on Flickr for 2015 was this sweep-pan of Entally House at Hadspen taken on my iPhone. It’s #56 of my all time popularity.

 

 

 

Best 500px

Probably not my choice but from all the images I posted this year this one scored the highest pulse and likes on 500px for 2015.

Best Instagram

Art Shack

Last week I joined a few other new volunteers from the Tamar Visitor Centre on a famil tour of accomodations in the lower West Tamar region. We also had time for a quick visit to the Tamar Valley Art Shack at Clarence Point to view the gallery and studio of Dan Villiers.

Tassie Specialist

Good news everyone! I’m now a certified Tassie Specialist!

The last three months have been a tough mix of emotions. My father passed away two days after my 55th birthday back in August. At the same time I initiated a new direction for myself by volunteering in Tasmania’s exciting tourism industry.

I'm volunteering my time as an Information Officer at the Great Western Tiers Visitor Centre in Deloraine and at the Tamar Visitor Centre in Exeter.

A few weeks ago I completed an online training course through Tourism Tasmania.

 

Notley Fern Gorge State Reserve

Tasmania's Notley Fern Gorge is an 11 ha reserve and remnant patch of wet sclerophyll forest. The forest is dominated by large, old eucalypts with a rainforest understory. Towards the creek, a variety of fern species grow in profusion.

Rail Points

Late afternoon light along the rail lines near Hagley, Tasmania.

It's a horse of course!

Inquisitive horse near Hagley, Tasmania.

Long Dusty Road

Late afternoon light along Black Lane at Hagley, Tasmania.

Meander River 2

Another view of Meander River from the other side of Westwood bridge, Tasmania

Meander River

Meander River at Westwood Bridge, Tasmania.

Forest road

A private road near Westwood, Tasmania.

Blackwood Creek

A few weeks back a spent a chilly late afternoon out at Blackwood Creek near the mountain face to the Great Western Tiers here in Tasmania.. The constant changing light conditions and clouds blowing by made for a few nice photographs.

Below is a farmhouse in the Blackwood Creek area. Click on the picture to see more from the Blackwood Creek photo session.

 

Mount Field photo walk

A few weeks back I enjoyed a walk through the Russell Falls area of Mount Field National Park in Tasmania. Here’s one photo… there’s plenty more on my Flickr and 500px pages.

Judging time again

This morning I received the much anticipated email from Greeka for members to judge 100 images submitted to the annual photo competition.

I love doing this each year. Here are my top 20 picks for the 2014 contest.

2014 Top 20

After rating the pants off my images using flags and stars in Lightroom, somehow these 20 images where the best I could do for 2014!

2014 Stan Siejka Cycling Classic

Although the weather didn’t play nice, I was excited to attend the 2014 Stan Siejka Cycling Classic in Launceston on December 7th. Took my D610 along with me and managed to get a few decent captures out of about 700 exposures. I guess that’s a reasonable ratio when the shutter is set in a continuous shooting mode. I had to re-exposure some images in Lightroom as I’d bumped a setting somewhere that made them 2 stops underexposed. Anyway, follow this link for some of the better shots.

Deviot, Tasmania

Westwood Sunset, Tasmania

Tasmanian Apple Blossom

Tour of Tasmania

Got some k’s on the car today. First stop, Devonport for the final stage of the Tour of Tasmania, a 30 lap criterium.

It’s my first time taking pictures of cyclists whizzing past the lens so they aren’t brilliant. Lightroom did a great job of polishing up a few shots with exposure and my ol’ favourite, the vignette.

See the full set on my Flickr 

Later I drove to Beauty Point and met up with my family at the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club opening day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the camera out of the car for this stop.

West Tamar Photo Shoot

Last week we had some beautiful, still winter days here in Tasmania. I took the opportunity to take some photos around my favourite scenic drive along the western banks of the Tamar River.

These are just a few of the images taken. View more on my Flickr or 500px pages.

 

The Shambles

With the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire tomorrow, I thought I’d dig out this photo of the York Shambles I took in 2010.

Samaria Gorge

Seven years ago this week I experienced one of the most exhilarating walks of my life, trekking through Samaria Gorge in Greece. From the White Mountains, it's a 16km trek that descends 1250m to the Libyan Sea on the southern coast of Crete.

Not only a national park but also a World Biosphere Reserve, the beauty of this gorge is its ever changing scenery, evident in the image sets I've recently reprocessed.

The most famous part of the gorge is the stretch known as the Gates where the sides of the gorge close in to a width of only four metres and soar to a height of 300 metres. Samaria Gorge is a refuge for the rare kri-kri (Cretan goat) as well as many species of flowers, birds and some amazing geology.

136 images now on Flickr
https://t.co/FQdriqP2Qu

Tamar Photo Shoot

Last Tuesday I decided to grab the cameras (iPhone, Nikon AW100 compact and Nikon D5000 DSLR) and find a location nearby that I hadn’t photographed before. Useually this mean being around the Tamar Valley. So I didn’t take long before I found myself clicking away at Gravelly Beach and a few locations in the Swan Point/ PaperBeach area.

Here are some of the better images from the DSLR...

 

All images are offered for sale on 500px and RedBubble

Antarctica Rescue

Voyage to Antarctica (Casey station and Mertz region) onboard Aurora Australis from Frederique Olivier on Vimeo.

Disney Character Names Explained

How the north ended up on top of the map

Living at 41 degrees south, I've always wanted to know what the big deal is...

Why do maps always show the north as up? For those who don’t just take it for granted, the common answer is that Europeans made the maps and they wanted to be on top. But there’s really no good reason for the north to claim top-notch cartographic real estate over any other bearing, as an examination of old maps from different places and periods can confirm.

via america.aljazeera.com

Tassie Cup at the 2014 Tour Down Under

Wow. I loved watching the Tour Down Under this week. With eight Tasmanian riders in the peloton, there was plenty to see and look out for over the six stage tour in Adelaide and the surrounding hills. On nearly every stage there was a Tassie rider out the front in the break. The highlights for me were Richie Porte’s stage 5 win and seeing Will Clarke consistently in the break and winning three of the six Most Competitive Rider awards.

 

  

Here are the final placings for the Tasmanians, also known amongst the riders as the TASSIE CUP.

(First placings followed by Tasmanians)

 

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Simon Gerrans (OGE) 19h57.35

-

4 Richie Porte (SKY) +10

20 Cameron Wurf (CAN +2.49

30 Bernard Sulzberger (DPC) +6.11

40 Nathan Earle (SKY) +9.13

63 Wesley Sulzberger (DPC) +21.25

122 Will Clarke (DPC) +50.53

125 Matt Goss (OGE) +53.06

128 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) +1h04.29

 

KOM 

1 Adam Hansen (LTB) 28pts

-

3 Richie Porte (SKY) 24pts

4 Will Clarke (DPC) 20pts

11 Campbell Flakemore (DPC) 12pts

17 Cameron Wurf (CAN) 6pts

 

SPRINT

1 Simon Gerrans (OGE) 75pts

-

9 Richie Porte (SKY) 25pts

12 Will Clarke (DPC) 19pts

31 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) 5pts

19 Matt Goss (OGE) 13pts

40 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) 5pts

 

YOUNG RiDER

1 Jack Haig (UniSA) 19h59.43

-

19 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) +1h00.06

 

TEAM

1 Orica-GreenEdge 59h56.16

3 Drapac +3.38

4 Team Sky +4.25

17 Cannondale +35.30

19 Uni-SA +43.41

 

COMPETITIVE

Stage 1 Will Clarke (DPC)

Stage 2 Will Clarke (DPC)

Stage 4 Cameron Wurf (CAN)

Stage 6 Will Clarke (DPC)

 

WORLD TOUR RANKINGS (as of 26 January 2014)

1 Simon Gerrans 144

-

4 Richie Porte 66

 

For the record, Richie finish the 2013 World Tour Rankings in 10th position, the highest placed Australian.

Lastly, that a look at my Tasmanian Cyclists Pinterest page. There’s also a Cycling Tasmanians Flipboard as well.

An afternoon photo drive through Flowery Gully

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost 

Over the new year period I spent a few days at my brothers house in Beauty Point. Although the views there are outstanding and the atmosphere very relaxing, I started to get restless. Having all my camera gear handy I decided to go for a drive through Flowery Gully. Having driven past the turn off for decades, I have always wondered where the road leads to. 

In recent years Flowery Gully became known as the home of Tasmania cycling royalty - it’s where Matt Goss and brothers Wes & Bernie Sulzberger hail from. So I was intrigued to know what this special place looked like. 

I drove along the Flowery Gully Road, seeing fields of freshly cut hay, grazing cows, growing crops and lovely rolling hills with scattered light from passing clouds. I went as far as Winkleigh and turned back, stopping every few hundred metres to snap a series of photos.

The image below would be one of my favourites from the afternoons shoot. You can see more on my Flickr Photostream

It's stopped raining

Me in a nutshell

Liffey Falls

I took this image a few months back. Processed it in Lightroom today with a 32bit HDR plugin. One thing I try to avoid when using this HDR technique is over-cooking the shot. I try to keep the image as natural as possible.

My year on Twitter

Just made a movie of my #2013memories on Twitter: https://t.co/yJyXh3PvJV What's yours look like? #Vizify

— Andrew Shepherd (@SmirksTas) December 31, 2013

My first year on Instagram

I joined Instagram back in April. Here are the top 5 most popular likes for my first year. Thanks everyone.

Picking a winner

A few weeks back I posted my top twenty picks for Greeka.com’s annual photo competition where members can vote from the top 100 entries picked my Greeka staff.

The results are in and here are the top twenty most popular pictures based on votes received from Greeka members.

From the winners list, there are 7 photos that I chose (highlighted below). It’s fun to know just how good a photographic eye I have when it comes to judging. 

For a closer look, view the Greeka winners page