I’m please to now offer an Advanced photography and Photoshop workshop with the first being held in the Blue Mountains in 2012. Please register your interest to receive email updates.

For more information and to register please click here: Photography Workshop

BLUE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

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Blue Mountains National Park, only a two hour drive from Sydney, even less if you set off at 3.30am like Tim Wrate, a fellow landscape photographer and I did last month. The early start got us in prime position (Echo Point) for the sunrise over the ‘Three Sisters’ a famous well photographed landmark in the area. After an hour of icy winds the sun had come up and the golden hour was over. The strong cross wind introduced a lot of camera shake ruining some of the panoramic shots, such is life with photography. This one I really like, a simple composition with the morning sun caressing the peak of hill crowned by castle ruins.

After sunrise and the golden hour it was time to head into the woods. A short drive North of Katoomba brings you to the Grand Canyon, a leafy walking track that takes you down into the canyon. After a long steep walk you reach an interesting set of rock steps, a favourite with photographers, making the hard slog a worth while journey. Two massive trees frame the stairs on either side leading the eye into the frame. What a perfect place for a large panorama photograph.

After a hard climb back out of the canyon we drove onto Wentworth Falls and the impressive Valley of the Waters. The walk takes you down past a series of cascading waterfalls and should not be missed on any visit to Sydney. A hard climb back but definitely worth it. This was my third trip here and I’m sure to go back.

I’ve been busy photographing landscapes for a future article on point and shoot cameras a fellow camera enthusiast Dave Turner is writing for Digital Photography + Design magazine. Dave wanted to see what results I could get out of a point and shoot so gave me a Ricoh GRD III to play with. Given time I think I could improve on these but for a first go I’m quite pleased with the results. Lets hope they get published.

Left: Valley of Waters, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Right: Empress Falls, Valley of Waters, Blue Mountains, Australia

Both: Turimetta Beach, Sydney’s Northern Beaches, NSW, Australia

Luna Park Sydney Australia

Welcome to LeeDuguid.com.au the newsletter!

Exhibition

I’m happy to announce my first solo exhibition taking place in my home town of Manly, Sydney. The exhibition opening on Tuesday 25th August 2009 showcases some of my favourite landscape photography taken in both Australia and New Zealand. The exhibition opening night held on Thursday 27th August 2009 will coincide with the official launch of my website. Please join me for a celebratory drink, details can be found here.

Other News

Over the past 6 months I’ve been busy adding content to my website as well as expanding my portfolio with new photographs from New Zealand, Blue Mountains, and in and around Sydney. I’ve also just returned from a trip to Victoria and will be posting some new panoramic, urban, rural and seascape images in the coming weeks.

In the near future I’m planning to provide group and individual landscape photography courses starting in Manly expanding to other locations with demand. If you are interested in attending a course or know anyone that would be then please email me and I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted.
I would love to hear any feedback you may have regarding the website so please let me know your thoughts.

If you would like to keep updated on my latest news why not become a fan on Facebook.

New Images

I’ve added a new images section to my blog for those interested in keeping up to date with my latest images. Please browse to the following posts to see new images from each area.

New Zealand – including Moeraki Boulders, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Mount Cook, and Nugget Point Lighthouse.

Sydney and surrounding area – including Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Manly, Turimetta Beach, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and Bondi.

Blue Mountains – including Valley of Waters near Wentworth Falls.

With my new polarizing filter in hand and after lots of rain fall over Sydney I visited the Valley of Waters near Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. It’s a steep climb down especially with kg’s of camera equipment but it’s definitely worth it, even if I did lose the filter.

This article is for anyone looking to use the Cokin circular polarising filter (Z164) with a Lee filter holder. After lots of consideration I purchased this filter last week to use with my Lee filter holder. The Lee filter holder will hold filters of 100mm in diameter, the exact diameter of the CPL. The perfect match you would think but this is not the case. Yes it does fit but what the Lee filter does not have are little pegs to hold the filter in place and to stop it from sliding out, something the cokin holder does have. I probably should have modified the filter holder before going out for a test run at the weekend. I thought it would be ok as the fit is relatively tight but alas I was wrong and the filter dropped out of the holder and down a waterfall. Fortunately my insurance covered the loss so it didn’t sting quite as much as having to buying another one. I think I will be selling my Lee filter holder and going with the Cokin one as I would advise anyone else to do.

Here are some shots I got before dropping the filter down the waterfall, early results look promising!

This is where I dropped my filter, if anyone finds it let me know! This photo didn’t make it onto the site, I’ll go back when I get the new filter and give it another go.