Last month, we finally got around to something we’d been wanting to do for years. That is to photograph the dawn out at Fingal Rocks, also known as the Giants Causeway. Its an amazing example of geology on show. The columns of basalt rock were formed when lava flows from the Tweed Volcano cooled suddenly. Anyway we were suddenly inspired, so we went out the evening before to check out timing, access and angles. We were the only photographers, but there were plenty of couples holding hands as they watched the sunset. Very romantic, except for us who were scrambling over the rocks taking photos as usual. We stayed overnight at Kingscliff so that we could be there before dawn. We were surprised to find there were about 6 other photographers all vying for the best spots. It turned out they were an enthusiastic Flickr group who had come down from Brisbane with the same idea. So here are some of our favourites from the morning, plus one of Alan during the scouting process. One of these photos (the sunrise shot at the bottom) is going to be featured in a display at a new guests lounge at the Tweed Billabong Holiday Park, together with several other of our photos. More on that later!

Tags: Fingal heads, Fingal Rocks, NSW, Giants Causeway, landscape, Photography

We had been planning for a while to revisit the wild places of the Border Ranges with the aims of refreshing ourselves in the forests as well as an enjoyable day taking photos. Accompanied by our new friend (and fellow photography nut) Peter Bracher, we headed off from Uki at 4.30 am in order to catch the sunrise from the mountains. We were rewarded with the amazing display you see below. Here is a taste of what we witnessed and captured!

It was quite windy up on the edge of the caldera as you can see from the next photo:

We then delved into the more sheltered forests for the rest of the day, exploring the treasures large and tiny - from ancient antarctic beech trees to carpets of moss sparkling with jewels.
As they say in the kids books “tired but happy they wend their way home” - just stopping at Sphinx Rock Cafe for a great hot chocolate on the way.
Here are a few more images from the day:

Tags: Scenic, landscape, border ranges, Mount Warning, Sunrise, antartic beech, brindle creek