Red Dirt

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DAY 208

My alarm went off at 6.30, but I was already awake eager with anticipation of spending my day photographing the Red Pindan with Nigel Gaunt of Red Dirt Photography, check out his website http://www.reddirtphoto.com.au , what a great way to spend the day learning from an award winning professional photographer. The morning air was nice and cool, but I was under no illusion that the day would turn out to be hot again.

For a change I am out of bed before Andy, but when I came back from my morning ablutions Andy already had the kettle on for a nice cup of tea. All of my stuff had been packed ready the night before, so all I needed to do was to have breakfast and then get Andy to drop me off at the front entrance) I would have walked, however it is actually a long walk and with all the gear I was carrying it would not have been a pleasant walk.

Last night, I made sure that my camera batteries were all charged up and the flash cards were empty and ready for a new intake of photographs. I had been told that most people on this photographic tour would take in the region of 400 photos. Also to bring along was water, sunscreen and hat. Lunch and morning and afternoon tea would be provided, although I was worried that I would still get hungry in the day so I also packed one or two snacks.

It was not long after I arrived at the rendezvous point that Nigel pulled up in the Toyota “Troopy” Tina was already on board and we then proceeded to pick up the others. Nigel said that there were 6 people today. In turn we picked up Susan, Daniel, David and Stephanie. Steph was just along to be an observer and make notes for her husband David.

One point to note about this Photographic tour is that you don’t have to have all of the gear or have an SLR camera, this is about photography and not necessarily equipment so you can come along if you have a simple point and shoot camera, they also have plenty of hidden programs for you to play with and get the best out of your camera.

Our first stop was to go down to the port, it was still before 8.00, but the sun was up and so was the temperature. We all walked down to the Pier where we stopped half way along and Nigel commenced with his lessons, first a general chat about photography and then some practical camera use and technique.

Well, I am not going to bore you with the technical stuff, but one thing I have learnt about is the use of Aperture Priority, now I do use a lot of the manual stuff on my camera, but I have not mastered the use of the aperture priority function so was pleased that this was the main subject. This should help me to achieve some of the shots that I have wanted to achieve, such as slow exposures on running water.

We also covered the picture content and the “rules of photography”, such as the thirds, although Nigel agreed with me that rules are there to be broken, sometimes what you see does not necessarily warrant the rule of thirds, however during this lesson I learnt how best to use that rule to my advantage.

After spending so much time with Andy in the last (nearly) seven months since we have been away, I did start to miss his company as I am sure he would be missing mine, although it was a pleasure to spend time with like minded people because we were all on holiday (or extended holidays) and we were all taking a keen interest in photograpy. However it was not long before we got busy and because we are focussing (ha ha excuse the pun) on photography I had no time to think about what he was doing for the day.

Back at camp Andy was busy finding things that needed doing, after of course he had a shower and a leisurely shave. When he got back from his shave he found that the Trueys had stopped by to leave a DVD for us that they borrowed, they left a note, we were both disappointed to have missed them but they are moving on today after spending yesterday getting themselves ready to get back on the road again, they are expected to be in Darwin in the next few weeks.

Back with the camera, we spent a good couple of hours discussing techniques, photographing the pier from the top and underneath from the beach, concentrating on lines and light and their uses.

One thing that Nigel does talk about in particular is the best time of day for photography and he says that you don’t get good photos by watching “Home and Away”; he is also frequently up early to chase that ultimate photo. However Nigel tells us how to get the best results during the daytime because if you are on tour, that tour bus will be waiting and you cannot expect the tour to wait just because you want the light to be right or the tide to be in just to get the perfect picture.

We stopped at a gallery for our morning tea, this gallery is where local artists display their arts from Photography, sculptures to jewellery. Once morning tea is done, Nigel discusses more technical stuff that I won’t bore you with, but I found very useful.

We also ordered lunch, so that it can be picked up fresh on our way out to Price’s Point where we would eat lunch and then spend a few hours on the beach taking photo’s using different techniques before heading onto Cable Beach for the sunset and camels.

It was hot, the drive up there took about an hour you take the road for Cape Leveque but you turn off shortly after leaving the bitumen which is still a long way from Cape Leveque.

Arriving on the cliff tops, we sit down to eat lunch and as we eat, Nigel tells us about the area that we are sat in and how it has taken him a long time to gain acceptance from the aboriginal communities in the area in order to take photos and use them in his gallery, it is worth noting that some aboriginal communities do not like having their photos taken and it can be disrespectful to show a photograph of someone who has died since it was taken, a lot of respect can be gained by asking permission.

The government also have plans to build a gas processing plant here, now this is one of the most beautiful places in the world and it would be sacrilege to destroy this part of the world, it would have significant impact on the environment here. However there are arguments that it would bring employment to the area, with more industry required to help sustain what the plant needs to run, therefore Broome would grow significantly in size. It will change this area for good it would be difficult or at least take a long time for its natural beauty to reinstate itself long after the gas plant has been closed down.

After lunch we walk down to the beach, it is hot, really hot but after a while you do not think about it as we more so concentrate on what there is on the beach to photograph. As Nigel puts it look for a way to tell everyone back home what Prices Point is like using photographs, people need to be able to step inside the photograph and get the true feel of the colours of Broome and its surrounding area.

There is no shade on the beach, thus the importance of bringing a hat and plenty of sunscreen, but with sunscreen on by the time you have knelt in the sand you find that you begin to get covered in sand which is not a good thing when you have a camera as a single grain of sand could easily get into the wrong place and cause a lot of damage.

After a cool drink we are back in the troop carrier on our way to Cable Beach. I chat to Daniel on the journey back, I find out that he is on his honeymoon. We were all surprised and asked how he managed to get away with coming on this tour on his honeymoon, but of course his new wife is also going to enjoy her day being booked in for spa day.

It has been great to talk to some of the others on the trip, again different company but likeminded people we are all there today to learn something about photography.

On Cable Beach we all disappear into the dunes to find other subjects to photograph making use of the sun while it is still up and of course the different light and shadows that are now being cast across the landscape.

On the beach we are ready for the camels, finding the best spot to photograph them as they walk past, I did feel that I took some particularly nice ones last week when we had the one day with the best sunset, but today the sunset is not quite as spectacular and the tide is coming in so it is not leaving a residue of wet sand to use for reflection, but still you have to work with what is there for the best shot.

I look at someone that has just run into the sea, naked, yes I did say naked! I knew there was a “clothes optional” part of the beach but I had not realised that it was so near, apparently the nudist beach is anything north of the rocks which of course we have been coming to nearly every night that we have spent in Broome and that is the only person that I have seen without clothes.

The sun has gone behind the horizon and we are left with some interesting colours to photograph and with the use of tripods learn some new techniques with slow exposures.

The day comes to a close it is nearly 6.30, it has been a long day and as much as I have enjoyed it, I feel exhausted now and look forward to having a nice shower to cool down, freshen up and then sit down with a nice cup of tea.

One by one Nigel drops us off at our respective hotels, backpackers lodges, caravan parks etc. As soon as I arrive back Andy has the dinner on and a nice cup of tea. I needed to Skype my parents tonight as I have not been able to speak to them for a while, so was anxious to do so as we are leaving Broome soon.

We also had an internet problem but using the online help chat service provided by Telstra, that problem was soon sorted out.
Andy told me all about his day and that included cleaning out the air filter on the truck, there was a big pile of red dirt on the ground that had come out of the filter, this is what we had collected since the 27th May when he fitted a new air filter on our arrival in Broome. Andy also tidied the truck in preparation for leaving Broome in the next day or so.

Suddenly I found that it was 9.00 and I still had not showered, so off I went, the night was very warm again, the temperature guage was still ready about 30 degrees and was not showing any sign of getting cooler.

We went to bed early, my hair was still wet, but I was so tired I did not care that it would probably look terrible in the morning. Tomorrow was another day and I could put my hair right with a shower in the morning.

It was hot and we both lay on top of the sleeping bags daring not to move and longing for a cool breeze to drift over, but it was not long before sleep took over.

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Photos

Red Dirt
While I was out in the red dirt phographing it, Andy was cleaning this red dirt from the air filter in the Patrol

Plants of the Dunes
As the sun goes down.

Tina and Susan
Two fellow tour members