2014 Retrospective: Low-Output Year, but Such is Life

While we are not quite done with the year 2014 yet, it is close enough to publish a retrospective of the year from a photographic perspective.

Firstly, it was my most low-output year on record; but with other commitments and interests, and a waning interest in photography, I can live with that.

I only published 32 images shot this year.  2013, despite two overseas trips, was also low in output, with some 50 images online.  In the years before, I had a much higher output rate.

For a number of years, seascape photography was my main interest. This year I did not shoot a single seascape, and I am not too bothered by that.  I did it for years; everyone is doing it, and I cannot be bothered any more.  It is always there, and I can always return to it if the interest re-ignites; but for now, it is dormant.

The year 2014 started with a trip in January to Adelaide and the McLaren Vale wine region — it was a wine trip, not a photography trip; but I shot a few images at the Penfolds Magill Estate winery.

Penfolds Magill Estate Winery

Also early in the year, we headed to the Australian Reptile Park, where I shot one decent image of a Tasmanian devil.  It was more of a fun day out with some close friends, but I dragged a camera and a few big lenses along, and shot in dreadful light.

Tasmanian Devil

Around Valentine’s Day, the macro lens came out of hibernation, and I shot some very pleasing images of Xenedette’s rose.

Petals

My next photographic adventure was a weekend-long landscape photography workshop with Peter Eastway and David Oliver, where I shot some pleasing aerial images of the Hunter Valley.  The trip was organised through the Focus Photographers group, and it was a great weekend away with like-minded photographers.

Hills of the Hunter

In May, Xenedette and I headed away to Jenolan Caves for a mini-getaway, where we toured six caves, and where I opted for low-light hand-held photography using my fastest prime lenses to capture the ‘ambient artificial’ light highlighting the magnificent decorations in the caves.  I also got in a bit of architecture photography during the trip.

Shawls of the Lucas Cave

In August I headed away with the Focus Photographers group again, also to the Hunter Valley, for a weekend of landscape and natural-light portrait photography with David and Clare Oliver.

As always, there is something to learn from these masters of photography, and I gained an appreciation for natural light from south-facing windows, which produces very soft, flattering portraits, and which is consistent throughout the day, making shooting very easy, as the light is always soft and even.

Father and Daughter

Finally, I bought a new 400mm f/2.8 lens for next year’s wildlife safari in Kenya, and in the mean time, dabbled with a few images of near-full moons in September.

Waxing Gibbous Part II

All in all, 2014 was undeniably a low-output year in terms of photography, but I did gain some new images, new experiences and new contacts; and delved into some of the photographic genre I shoot, as well as a few other less-frequent subjects.

Photography is a pursuit I view as one which can have its peaks and troughs, and for me, I have been in trough territory for much of the year.  That is completely fine, as it is always there, and I learned long ago to read the signs and go with the flow, seeking images and experiences when the desire makes itself known to me, and not forcing productive output when it is just not in me.

Photographically, next year will be quite different, with the trip to Kenya being the highlight, but who knows what other photographic experiences I will gain…

And so ends a retrospective of my 2014 photographic year.

Highlights of Jenolan Caves

In May we headed to Jenolan Caves for a few days as a getaway.  That was almost two months ago, but time has sure flown since then.

We drove down to Jenolan on Thursday, and had two cave tours booked for the day.

After arriving mid-morning, we soon headed to our tour of the Lucas Cave, where spectacular calcite crystal formations awaited our viewing pleasure.

Shawls of the Lucas Cave

These incredible calcite crystal formations are called shawls.

Developing over hunderds of thousands of years, rainwater seeping through cracks in the limestone rock follows the surface of the rock shelf and grows outwards, layer upon layer, forming delicate and often wide shawl structures.

One of the other feature formations in the Lucas Cave is called “The Curtain“.

The Curtain

One can see why this amazing, ancient feature is so named, as it very much resembles the subject of its title.

No visit to the Lucas Cave is complete without seeing the Broken Column, which is one of the iconic sights at Jenolan Caves.

The Broken Column

This feature is incredibly difficult to photograph, as the chamber is very dark and the lights highlighing the column are exceedingly bright relative to the dark surrounds, thus causing parts of the feature to blow out where the light reflects most strongly against the calcite crystal.

In a perfect world, one would use a tripod and shoot seven to nine exposures to blend using HDR techniques, but alas, as tripods are not permitted inside the caves, all of my cave photography was achieved hand-held with fast lenses and higher-than-comfortable (for me) ISO settings.

After our visit to the Lucas Cave, I took the opportunity during some free time to photograph the lounge inside Caves House, where we stayed.

This is one of the views inside the warm and welcoming lounge:

Caves House Lounge

In this interior image of this magnificent Edwardian building, one side of the lounge can be seen, featuring the piano in the corner.

The lounge also includes some other tables and chairs and a warm fireplace — a perfect place for a rest with a glass or two of fine red wine after a day out exploring the caves and bush trails in the area.

This is another view of the lounge at Caves House:

A Place to Relax

In the corner is a fireplace which was kept running by the staff, providing for a nice place to relax after a day of cave exploration.

During the late part of the afternoon, we headed outside for our second cave tour, which took us inside the Temple of Baal Cave, a cavernous and highly decorated cave, and one of my favourite.

Here is a view of the elaborate calcite crystal formations inside the Temple of Baal Cave:

Temple of Baal Cave

Later during the tour, we got to see the main attractions of the Temple of Baal Cave — Michael’s Sword and Gabriel’s Wing — both of which are positioned in close proximity within one of the larger chambers in the cave.

Gabriel’s Wing

Our first day concluded some twilight photography followed by dinner at Chisolm’s restaurant where a delicious steak and a fine shiraz were enjoyed.

The next day, we had three cave tours ahead of us.

Friday began with breakfast in Chisolm’s Restaurant, followed by a walk in the mountains, where we saw Carlotta Arch, the Devil’s Coach House, and the Blue Lake.

Our first cave tour on Friday morning was the Orient Cave, one of the popular show caves at Jenolan Caves.

This magnificent cave chamber, adorned with calcite crystal stalactites, is one of the highlights of the Orient Cave.

The stalactites are formed by slowly dripping water over thouands and millions of years.

Chamber of the Orient

Our second cave tour of the day was inside the Chifley Cave.  This was the shortest cave tour, and photographically, it did not offer as much as the other caves.

After this tour, we had lunch and a few hours before embarking upon a tour of the Diamond Cave.

One of the most interesting features is a formation I call “City Walls”.

City Walls

This city-like arrangement of stalagmites appears inside the Diamond Cave.

The Diamond Cave, which is one of the show cave tours, consists of the Imperial Cave (itself a separate show cave tour), plus an extra 30 minutes inside what is called the Diamond Cave.

In this image, the formations in the foreground resemble a mountain ridge on the outskirts of an ancient city whose walls appear deeper in the image.

After our tour of the Diamond Cave, at twilight I had planned to re-visit the location where I had photographed Caves House on the previous evening, as the timing of our late afternoon cave tour meant that I arrived at the tail end of twilight, by which time most of the royal blue colour in the sky had faded.

Our Diamond Cave tour finished 30 minutes earlier than our tour on the previous afternoon, so I scrambled back to our room to fetch my gear, and headed outside into the cold night air, where I captured this image of Caves House:

Edwardian Twilight

We had dinner reservations at Chisolm’s Restaurant again, so I headed inside and a fantastic dinner was soonafter enjoyed.

Saturday, our final day at Jenolan Caves, saw only one cave tour, followed by the long trip home.

Our last cave tour was also the longest in duration, and most physically demanding of all of the show cave tours: the River Cave.

This cave requires lots of stair climbing, which we did not mind at all.

The River Cave features a stunning formation called the Giant Shawl.

The Giant Shawl

This calcite crystal formation, called a shawl, has been named the Giant Shawl, and is one of the main features of the River Cave.

Shawls develop over hunderds of thousands of years, whereby rainwater seeping through cracks in the limestone rock follows the surface of the rock shelf and grows outwards, layer upon layer, forming delicate and often wide shawl structures.

The Giant Shawl is quite a few metres in height, and in this beautiful backlighting, the rich colours, affected by iron, can be seen.

Later during the River Cave tour, we saw the main highlight of this cave: the Pool of Reflections.

Pool of Reflections

The water inside the River Cave system is so still that it produces a mirror effect.

On our way out of the River Cave, we got to visit this scene again, and soonafter, our Jenolan Caves getway had reached its conclusion.

I hope readers enjoy this pictorial account of the several relaxing days we spent there, and Jenolan Caves is a place I would recommend visiting and photographing.

As tripods are not permitted, all photography must be conducted hand-held, with the use of railings for support.  Thus, I recommend bringing fast lenses (I shot all of my images with my 35/1.4 and 85/1.2) and using higher ISO settings to achieve sharp images, as the caves, despite the bright feature lighting, can be difficult to photograph.

The Scrolls Cave of Qumran

During our visit to the Dead Sea, we visited Qumran, the site near the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden and later discovered.

The Scrolls Cave of Qumran

Unbelievably, due to the heavy rainfall over Israel during the earlier part of our trip, there is actually a waterfall at this location, which can barely be seen cascading down the middle peak in this scene.

A photo of the Caves of Qumran just does not do any justice to the place; it really needs to be seen with one’s own eyes.

On the day we were there, some foolhardy adventurers were located at the bottom of the valley.  Their 4WD vehicles can barely be seen.  High up on the plateau to the right, a police vehicle can be seen.  The police were yelling at the people below to get out.

While this area is arid desert, it is susceptible to flash floods, and indeed, we saw flooding further south past Ein Gedi.

Given sufficient rainfall, which Israel had certainly experienced in the days before and after our visit to Qumran, flooding can happen, with water cascading down those mountains as it makes its way to the Dead Sea about a mile away.  Were there to be a flood, there would be little warning.  Adventurers have been killed at this location before.

For Israelis, seeing water at this location and the numerous other places we visited in the area, is really quite a spectacle.  The sight of floodwater is charig (abnormal in Hebrew) in Israel.