Over the Bungles

Today was a very special day. We started by watching as the light first started to hit the night sky while we waited to board the coach at 5.15am.

Out in front of our very smart hotel is a row of very dramatic Boab trees and they were perfect for my early morning photo! After checking in at the little Slingair terminal and subjecting ourselves to being weighed we trouped out to the planes we had been allocated to.

According to the weight of each passenger we were arranged inside the plane and off we went. This was a trip that has been oh-so-high on my “bucket list” that I was almost trembling with excitement! I heard about the flight over the Bungle Bungles many years ago and never thought that I would ever get the chance to do it myself and yet here I was, along with ten others in this little plane, actually flying over the Kimberley outback. The Bungle Bungles are a long way (even by air) from Kununnurra so our flight took us over some glorious scenery. The pilot gave an excellent description of the places we flew over and I learned a lot about Lake Argyle and how the irrigation was managed and I also managed to take dozens of photographs (200 +) as well as video. Of course the absolute highlight was when we eventually reached the Bungle Bungles and I could see them for myself. I can hardly wait to put the video together properly!

Before the flight finished we flew over the impressive Argyle Diamond Mine in which the best pink diamonds in the world are found. Of course from where we were the hole in the ground did not look to be very large!

The flight over we had a look through a couple of Argyle diamond selling jewellery shops and drooled over the beauty of the stones and gasped at the price tags. Then hopped back into the coach to see a much humbler rock which is also found here in the Kimberleys. Zebra Rock.

The price tag is much less than the price tag on the diamonds but Zebra rock is actually quite rare and it only found in one small area on the edge of Lake Argyle and then only when the water level is really low!

Down in the waters of the river at the place where we viewed the Zebra Rock was a jetty from which to feed the fish. What fun! The cat fish were HUGE and they certainly were keen on bread. That was great to watch, the fish almost climbed over each other to be the ones to get the bread!

Our final visit was to Wyndham where the coach first climbed up to the top of a rise to a lookout from where we could see the five Rivers and the port of Wyndham. The trucks moving iron ore down below looked like tiny toys. We drove down from our perch and visited Wyndham which is only a small town – but it had a unique attraction. I believe it is the largest crocodile in the world!

Apparently it was made by students at Halls Creek TAFE college from mesh and concrete. It is really impressive!

AJ

Crossing Borders

Cases were packed and rooms checked to see that nothing was left behind and our happy band of coach travellers left the city of Katherine to head West to where the sun sets. Our base for the next three nights will be Kununurra which is in the Kimberley Region.

Our first morning stop was Victoria River, just a service station where we could take a short break and grab a cold drink. I found it so beautiful that I declared that I wanted to come back – and other voices in the group agreed with me. The scenery is just stunning.

This shot was taken of our coach parked at the service station.

Boab trees are found up here and try as I might I could not get a decent shot of one as we were whizzing along the highway so it was with some relief that I found a rather puny one when we were parked! I must try and take a shot of a decent sized one!

When we reached the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia we pulled up so that we could all take a photo of the sign!

Firie, our driver, told us that he expected his passengers to push the bus over the border 'cos it was a tradition. He was only teasing! Only a few metres from the Border sign was an inspection bay were we had to pull over and declare any fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey.

The best part of the day (every bit of the day was the best part!!) Was what followed. After driving over the dam wall of the Argyle Dam we descended to the banks of the Ord River.

The coach pulled up right at the edge of the bank and our high speed motor boat transport pulled in alongside.

Sometimes we flew like the wind and at other times crept silently on the current but ever second of our four hour trip was exciting. We learned all about the uses and control of the waters from the Argyle Dam, we spotted fresh water crocs, unusual birds that tiptoed on tiny water weeds, a large Jabiru (black and white stork) and the most glorious scenery I have ever seen before.

I complained to one of the other passengers as we were leaving the cruise that my camera was twice as heavy after taking so many photographs! The trip ended after sunset so we drifted along as the sky changed colour and magic happened on the rippling water.

Absolutely exhausted from our wonderful experience we were a quiet bunch of people as we were shuttled to our very posh hotel. A hot shower revived us and we all managed to enjoy a fabulous feast in the large restaurant. We are so lucky – we are staying in the Pinctada Kimberley Grande, what a super place for a coach tour! We feel like royalty!

AJ

Fabulous Scenery

After an early breakfast our coach was on its way south from Darwin to stop first at Adelaide River.

On the way south we learned a lot about the war time activities of this area and how the bitumen road served both as a Southern Access and as an airstrip for war planes. Evidence of those times is still on the sides of the road in the form of rusted 44 gallon drums that were once used as machine gun pits.

The Old Adelaide River Inn is home to a famous film star – the buffalo that appeared in the Crocodile Dundee movies! The buffalo died several years ago but has been “stuffed”and now supervises the happenings in the bar!

Since it was getting warmer and drier, many of us passengers bought ourselves bottles of water. Wanting a “sugar fix” I also bought myself a bottle of iced tea! Mango flavoured, very nice! Our next stop was the beautifully maintained war cemetery.

Here lie the unfortunate people of Darwin who were killed in the air raids on that city by the Japanese. By European standards the casualties were very small but to this remote area of Australia it was a catastrophe to lose over 400 people including 63 civilians.

The sprinklers were busy watering the imaculate lawns and the plantings of shrubs so we visitors had to time our walk among the markers on the ground so that we didn't get drenched too!

From here we made our way to Edith Falls. No one in the group wanted to swim so we enjoyed our sandwiches and juice in the picnic area and wandered around and took photographs.

This really is a beautiful waterhole and picnic area. The lawns are trimmed and the pathways paved so that it is easy to negotiate – which is important since we have two people in our group who are not very agile.

I don't know if I would call it the “best part of the trip” for the day but I certainly took the most photographs at the Katherine Gorge. We sat on a punt and were taken along the waters of the Katherine Gorge. The light was just beautiful and the scenery spectacular. Although I took hundreds of photos I will not share that many!

My final picture is of the canoes for hire, These are only for hire when the rangers are sure there are no esturine crocodiles to cause problems. The trees behind these canoes are weighted down with fruit bats. It is just as well I can't paste the horrible smell that these creatures put out! I thought the combination of the clean and colourful water craft contrasted so well with their backdrop!

AJ

A Darwin day

This morning I took off on foot to explore a little of the Darwin in easy reach of the hotel. The hotel is not far from the waterfront so my walk was very pleasant. I followed the signs to the WW2 oil tunnels but instead of tunnels I stopped to take pictures of artwork that was on the way to them.

The neglected and damaged artworks were a challenge to capture under the very shady trees but two of them appealed enough for me to make the effort. The first was a semi-circle of concrete on which were placed moulded flowers – some of which were missing.

The other was again a semi-circle of concrete, this time decorated with mosaic tiles in the form of eucalyptus leaves. These I really liked.

At the end of the pathway I came across a fenced enclosure and got quite a surprise when I noticed a sign board and a peep hole in the fence.

Of course I had to approach the peep hole and take a picture of the screen and the deckchairs. How wonderful to have stars on the screen and stars up above!

Of course my eyes were drawn to the water - there are many ships calling in to this city

I found a set of steps up an escarpment and climbed them to discover yet another piece of artwork to commemorate all the travellers who had landed in Darwin from 1870 to more recent times. This plaque tells you “why”.

The shadows from the trees make seeing the whole of the mosaic a little difficult.

This small section of the mosaic shows how interesting it is and how under-rated it appeared to be – the path was blocked so I had to retrace my steps and I was the only person who was inconvenienced! Not another soul was there except for the young man keeping me back from where the huge crane was operating a little further along the path, and he wasn't interested in art!

Now that I have spent a little time sharing my pictures, it is time I went out and took a few more!

The “Tour”starts tomorrow but the rest of the passengers are arriving this afternoon.

AJ

Sunrise to sunset - From Home to Darwin

How exciting! This is day one of my trip to Darwin and the Kimberleys. A trip that has been a “dream”of mine for such a long time. The cameras (three of them) are primed and ready for action. Colin has been left at home to “keep the home fires burning” - he is not as keen about exploring as I am! However he did ferry us (son Steven and me) to the train station at sunrise.

The one and half hour train trip was quite uneventful, it was quite amusing to see how the travellers were seated so close to each other and yet managed to remain isolated from each other by either studying their smart phones or by staring blankly! Steven and I chatted to each other and stood out from the others because of it!

Once in the airport we checked in and I bought a very welcome cup of coffee. I was so ready for it!

Little Daffy bear posed for a few photographs along the way and was getting a bit weary by the time we sat in the transit lounge waiting for our plane to be called. It is tiring being so popular.

At last we were on our way. It was clear enough to take a shot out of the window as we left Brisbane – but we did not fly over the city so my photo is of the suburbs near the airport.

When we were approaching Darwin over the Gulf of Carpentaria we crossed over a few little islands, I couldn't resist taking another aerial shot because one of the islands was reminiscent of a manta ray, the row of little clouds formed the “tail”.

Once in the airport and the phones turned on I rang Colin to tell him we had arrived and Steven rang Lydia to tell her! At least we have our priorities right even if we both have left our partners at home!

We waited out the front of the airport for a friend (Susie) to collect us and I shot of yet another picture of the totems by the kerb.

I had heard so much about the Mindel Markets and this evening I eventually managed to see them. 

The sound of a didgeridoo player and drummer filled the air and we were drawn to the sound. A large crowd had surrounded them but I still managed to take a little video of them. What a wonderful sound. The “didge”player was using four different didgeridoos at the same time, each had a different tone. On the top of the sand dune behind the players were two little boys silhouetted against the evening sky, dancing to the rhythm. They were fun to watch. They were so unaware of being seen. Of course we had to go onto the beach to watch the sunset. 

It seems that all the tourists in Darwin had gathered on the beach to do just that! They made a wonderful shot too!

To draw my ramblings to a close, here is one of my sunset pictures. It was worth lugging the camera along!

AJ

A simple and fun technique for Photoshop Elements

While playing with my photos today I taught myself how to remove a large empty space from a photo. My picture had items in the foreground then a large area that was empty before there was more in the distance. Closing up the empty space makes a great difference. Here is how it is done.
My picture started out looking like this

From the menu bar, click on Image>Recompose.
Nothing appears to have happened - but at the bottom of the screen there are two new controls

By default, when you touch the picture you will find you have a brush that allows you to paint over the parts of the photo that you do not want to damage. If there are people in the picture, be sure to touch each and every one or they could end up distorted! This is how I touched the parts I wanted to keep safe.

Now you need to click on the lower brush - the one with the minus sign beside it - to show which part or parts of the image you do not mind losing.

Once again I used a freehand line to mark the width of sand I wanted to remove.
I then clicked outside of the picture and this gave me the crop bounding box - you can see the nodes on the image above,
I then left mouse clicked on the centre bottom node and pushed the node upwards.

At the bottom of the image appeared the usual two symbols that you chose to accept the change or cancel. I selected the "check" symbol. When the bottom of the picture was pushed upwards the areas that were covered with green did not alter their shape at all. I did notice that the blank area of sky at the top was compressed even though I had not indicated one way or the other what I wanted to happen there.
The picture now has a transparent space that needs to be removed. So the next action is to use the regular crop tool.

When the crop boundary is exactly where you want it, left mouse click  the "Check" mark.
If you glance across at the Layers Palette you will notice that the image is now a layer. This means that it needs to be "Flattened" before it can be saved as a "jpg".

To flatten an image either go to the Menu bar and click on Layer>Flatten Image or in the Layers palette right click on the layer and left click on Flatten Image .
This technique can be used vertically as well as horizontally and the results are quite amazing! You have to try it!
AJ

Creating a lens effect with Photoshop Elements

I was recently asked how to make a small part of a picture in sharp focus when the rest was blurred. Since this effect might come in useful for you to, I thought I would share my method. (There are many different ways of achieving the same thing).
Firstly I found  a clipart image of a magnifying glass and after removing it from its background (using the Magic Wand tool) It was pasted onto the picture I had chosen. The magnifying glass has been moved to cover three birds.

This is how things look in the Layers Palette.

Now I want to select those birds so that they will fit into the magnifying glass. In the Layers Palette I clicked on the eye to the left of the magnifying glass. Doing this makes the layer "invisible" so that you can see what is below.
I then left mouse clicked on the background to make it the "active" layer.
I chose the Eliptical Marquee tool from the tool bar - it may first be seen as a Rectangular Marquee, it is a "multi" button so you have a choice of eliptical or rectangular.
I held down the SHIFT key on the keyboard to enable me to make a circular selection of the birds.

The circle was not in quite the right place so I had to place the cursor INSIDE the circle and move it to where I wanted it. Do not try to grab the edge of the selection or you will create a new selection.
Ctrl +J copied the circle selection and pasted it above the background.
This is how things look in the Layers Pallet now. Notice the "crossed out eye" in the layer that contains the magnifying glass.

I then clicked on the eye to make that layer (glass) visible again and clicked and held the left mouse button down as I dragged Layer 1 so that it was between Layer 2 and Background. The mouse button released when a dark line appeared between layer 2 and Background.

The picture now looks like this (only part of the picture is shown)

The picture does not look very inspiring just yet but we are only half way there!
The next thing I did was select (using the Rectangular Marquee tool ) most of the picture but leaving an even sized border all the way around. Ctrl + J copied and pasted that layer above the Background.

This layer is to be blurred so from the Menu Bar I selected Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

I watched the main picture rather than the preview window as I slide the selection button to the right until I had the amount of blur that I felt was adequate. I needed enough contrast with the sharp image of the birds but not too much that the picture looked really false.
I used the Rectangular Marquee tool again to draw around the blurred layer and went to Edit >Stroke (Outline) Selection to put a white line around that layer. (If I tried to apply a Stroke without using the Selection tool, the stroke was blurred too.
Next the bird layer was selected (click that layer in the Layers Palette) and re-sized to fit inside the round shape of the magnifying lens (Ctrl +T gives the Transform tool) To create a more natural look I went to Layer>Layer Style>Style Setting>Glow.

This makes the glass look as if it is convex (slightly rounded)
And here is the final image.

If you are observant you will notice that the handle of the magnifying glass is in a different position, I rotated it a little before I flattened the image! The "Transform" handles on that layer are still showing!
AJ