The Cape Le Grand National Park - An Amazing Experience

I recently took a trip down to the Southern Coast of Western Australia for a week after the Easter break with my family and some friends. We basically stayed around two the town of Albany and Esperance.

The highlight of the trip was the half-day trip to the Cape Le Grand National Park. The National Park is located 50 kilometres south east of Esperance. It is named after Le Grand, an officer of the L'Esperance, one of the ships in a French expedition commanded by Admiral D'Entrecasteaux in 1792.

This national park is pristine and is known for its stunning scenery and idyllic white sandy beaches.

Due to time constraint, we were restricted in the number of areas in the park we could visit. We arrived first at Lucky Bay, then proceeded to Thistle Cove after spending a couple of hours beach walking (and photo taking - on my part) and letting the children in our mist play on the white sandy beach. We had a quick look around the Le Grand Bay before heading back to Esperance.

Though the time we spent in the park was relative short, it definitely left a great impression on me. We witnessed the beautiful vast landscape, the tall Frenchmen peak (one can actually track all the way to the top of the peak) and enjoyed the clean, white sandy beach and clear blue waters on the bays. This is one place I would rate as one of my favourite holiday and sightseeing spots in Western Australia.

In the coming days, I hope to share some of the beauties of the park with you. I also hope that you will also be able to witness its beauty personally as my photos will definitely do it no justice.

Some images of the Thistle Cove

A tribute to Ansel Adams and Earth Day

I didn't realise that April 22nd is both the Earth Day and the 25th years to the day of Ansel Adams death until a Flickr user told me this.


I have always admired the works of Ansel Adams. Adams was one of the greatest landscape photographer in the world. His works have influenced many photographers around the world even till today. He inspired me to wanting to draw a similar experience like his; travelling to the beautiful country side to admire and to capture the beautiful landscapes God has so graciously given to us. Fittingly the passion for the beautiful landscapes also remind us that we human must strive to protect our Earth, our only planet, the home to all of us. It is also to my amazement that Earth Day happens to be on the day of the passing of Adams.

My tribute to Adams is a photo I have taken recently at the Cape Le Grand National Park near the town of Esperance in Western Australia. The photo was taken at a place called the "Thistle Cove" in that national park.

Cape Le Grand is a national park in Western Australia, 631km south-east of Perth and 56km east of Esperance. The park covers an area of 318 km² at Coordinates: 33°56′49″S 122°09′20″E / 33.94694°S 122.15556°E / -33.94694; 122.15556

Established in 1966, the park is managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The largely granite shoreline and white sand beaches is a picturesque feature of the area. The park is a used for fishing, off-roading, tourism, and hiking.

Beaches within the Park include those at Lucky Bay, Rossiter Bay, Hellfire Bay, Le Grande Beach and Thistle Cove.

Information: From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Le_Grand_National_Park)

One can still view or even buy Ansel Adams works through a website run by his family. The web address is: http://www.anseladams.com/

Finally, I wish everybody a Happy Earth Day. Let us all do our little part to save our planet.

Beautiful Butterflies at Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport has many unqiue features. One of which being having a Butterfly Garden inside the airport. Claimed to be the world first, it is rather special to be able to unwind or kill some time in this garden. Although the garden is rather small (in fact some may not even call it a garden as it has some potted plants and a small man made waterfall), to be able to see the butterflies up close, or even letting some come to rest on your shoulder or fingers are indeed a unique and wonderful experience. The Butterfly garden is located at the Terminal 3.

I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Changi Airport earlier this year while transitting through Singapore. Here are some of the photos that I took.

Some random thoughts on Christmas 2008

Christmas day has just passed. People around the world would have seen this day in different lights. Christmas often means different things to different people. Some people celebrate Christmas purely a holiday season, some people like to spend their time with their love ones while others celebrate this day as a religious day.

Being different from many other Christians, I do not celebrate Christmas as the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible never stated that Christ was born on Christmas day. Far from it, the Bible indicated that it could not have been on Christmas day. Some historians reckon that Christ was probably born sometime between March, April or May. Without going too deeply into discussion this, I would simply like to point out that the Bible emphasised on Christ's death and resurrection, but never His birth.

But while the world celebrated, it also gave me the opportunity to think about what has become of this world and humanity in general. Christ came to bring us hope and salvation. He also came to teach us about love one another and yet what we see today are wars and rumours of wars. What we constantly witness on news and current affairs are often filled with reports of crimes, misdemeanors and misadventures. Human morality and humanity have sunk to all time low. I think we have truly disappointed our Lord Jesus. His teachings were utterly forgotten and abandoned.

Christmas is a good time to reflect what we have done throughout the year. Perhaps part of Christmas is truly to share some precious moments with our love ones, to right some wrongs, to ask for forgiveness and to set new course of direction in our lives.

Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, as usual, delivered her message to the people of Britain and the Commonwealth during this Christmas.

One part of her message gelled with my thoughts:

The Queen said of the current financial crisis and what is happening around the globe, "in such times as these we can all learn some lessons from the past. We might begin to see things in a new perspective and certainly we being to ask ourselves we it is that we can find lasting happiness. Over the years those who have have seemed to me to be the most happy, contented and fulfilled have always been the people who have lived the most outgoing and unselfish lives. The kind of people who are generous with their talents or their times."

Strangely enough, the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also delivered an alternate message to rival Queen Elizabeth II's annual address. It is easy to dismiss his message altogether, but interestingly I have found some small truth (yes, some, but not a lot) in his message, the part where he mentioned what Christ would like us to do - to love one another, to take care rather than to oppress the less fortunate.

This year has been an interesting year. As the financial crisis deepens, the world spirals into more conflicts in the middle east, South Asia between India and Pakistan, the ongoing conflict and violence in Afghanistan, I truly hope and pray that we Christian would step up and live a life that is different from the world. We must show God's love to other. We must go forth and be the light and the salt of this world. Let us pray that we will be found worthy of God's use for His work in 2009 and beyond till Jesus returns.

May you have a blessed New Year and a fruitful 2009.

The World of Macro Photography on Bugs

Russell Falls - the highlight of my recent trip to Tasmania

Russell Falls is one of Tasmania’s most treasured places. Located in Mt Field National Park, it can be reached by following a path from the Mt Field National Park Visitor centre. The walk path will take you through a mixed forest comprising towering swamp gums, the tallest flowering plant on Earth, and species typical of wet forests and cool temperate rainforests, such as dogwood, musk and myrtle. Towards the falls, the track is framed by stunning tall tree ferns. The falls themselves are impossibly picturesque.

I always love being in the nature, being able to witness the beauty of God's handiwork and at the same time find the peace and quiet that nature offers. I was able to take some time off last July and I took my family to Tasmania for a week of relaxation. Tasmania is well known for its nature beauty and I have heard too many praises from past visitors and thus I was eager to see it for myself.

Russell Falls are simply breath-taking. They may not be famous like the Niagara Falls but nevertheless they are just as beautiful and one of the better known waterfalls in Tasmania. Recently the Australia Post has issued a waterfall series of stamps and stationary and the Russell Falls were one of the featured waterfalls.



It was certainly rewarding for me to be able to witness the beauty and to immerse myself in the surrounding of the falls. I could stay at the falls whole day had it not been the fact that I was with my family and the sky wasn't exactly that bright that day. Having only arrived at the Falls in the afternoon, we were only able to stay for some half an hour before having to make the journey back.

Nevertheless, the short visit to this beautiful place yielded me some great images that I will always treasure and look upon with smiles and fond memories.





Having just witnessed the Russell Falls, I was thirsting for more. The Horseshoe Falls were just some 100 metres upstream from the Russell Falls. Naturally, I couldn't leave that place without giving them a visit. Unfortunately, the short path from Russell Falls to the Horseshoe Falls was closed for repair. I ended up having to drive a few kilometers deeper into the National Park and walked some over 1 km to the Falls. The reward was great as I was yet again treated with some magnificent scene to behold.



It was an awesome feeling to witness such beautiful work of the Lord. As the sky was growing dark, I hurried back to my car to meet up with my family. You see, I was alone all this while as I figured that it would be must faster for me to "mini jog" my way to the waterfalls site alone with a camera and a tripod... not the smartest thing to do I know. Looking back, I should not have attempted such silly "feat" as I would be in a bad situation had I met an accident or some unfortunate circumstances (which I shall elaborate no more). I think sometimes photographers do silly things and take unnecessary risks in an attempt to capture the "wow" shots.

That beside, these places left a deep and sweet memory for me. I would love to go back there sometime soon and attempt to capture more beautiful pictures.

Lamentation of a A NAS sufferer

Once again, this poem never stopped me from smiling, or should I say, very lamenting.

The NAS Sufferer's Tragic Lament

Oh, how I wish I’d never gone Into a shop that stocked Nikon. I could have simply walked on past The shiny bodies and the glass. I should have spent my cash on booze Or bought my wife some fancy shoes, Or gone to any other store Instead of walking through that door. And even once I’d gone inside My fate remained mine to decide. I could have chosen something cute – Perhaps a Canon point-and-shoot? But, like a moth towards a flame I walked straight past the other names. The Nikon salesman looked at me And rubbed his hands with overt glee. “A camera, sir? You bet your ---!” And that was how it came to pass That in a minute, maybe less, I owned a new D70s. I captured everything that moved, I exponentially improved. My work would hang in the Smithsonian! But then I stumbled on Nikonians… And suddenly I knew the truth, Was faced with concrete, graphic proof. My pictures sucked! My gear was tragic! I had no talent, much less magic.

And so I read and read some more And soon became a crashing bore -- An uninvited tip dispenser On depth of field and full-frame sensors. But, to my shame, my main reaction Was chronic gear dissatisfaction. Woe is me, alack, alas – I had a fatal case of NAS! I had to have the very best There was no way I’d accept less And so I spent and spent some more On lenses, bodies, gear galore. It had to end, that crazy spree, And did when my bank called on me. The heartless swine, I'm sure he laughed As he shut down my overdraft. My credit cards went in the garbage They threatened to foreclose my mortgage My B&H account went too, Along with my (now) ex-wife Sue. So let my tale serve as a caution To stay away from Ebay auctions. Don’t rush out and buy the new Just because you’re NAS-struck too. And what of me, your tragic scribe? How have I managed to survive? I’m well, no really, it’s true, I’m free! But I REALLY want that new D3…

Source: Unknown... would love to discover who the original author was.

More beautiful tulips from the Araluen Botanic Park

Spring in Araluen Botanic Park

Spring in Perth brings new sunshine and gentle cool breezes. It is also when flowers begin to blossom. Hearing the news that the wonderful Araluen Botanic Park is having financial and council problems, and that it may have to shut down next year, my family and I decided to go with a few friends to visit this wonderful park before it disappears like the many other tourist attractions we used to have in Perth.

This post is the beginning of a series of posts I will put up to showcase the wonderful flowers and settings in the park. Deep down I hope and pray that this wonderful park will continue to survive and to give us opportunities to enjoy its beauty and the beauty of the flowers therein.

Araluen Bontanic Park is well known for its Tulips collection. Every spring, the garden will inevitably be dressed by an array of colourful tulips from around the world. It is therefore, fitting, to present some of these wonderful flowers for all to share.





The Tulip (Poem by Ernestine Northover)

Tossing turban style contours, with an aloofness as one passes by,
Utilizing every charm it possesses, under a lupin blue cloudless sky,
Like a guardsman, gallantly standing, holding up his noble head high,
In rainbow colours, brilliant and stately, a vision to surely yield a sigh,
Ponder thus upon the regal tulip, it has pure beauty, you cannot deny.



Clean as a lady
cool as glass
fresh without
fragance
the tulip was.
(Poem By Humbert Wolfe 1924)

Taking Pictures of Children

Children make great subjects to a portrait photographer like myself. Children are often fun to photograph as they have myriad expressions, emotions and energy. They have the ability to live in the moment, to laugh and to play. However, on the flip side, they do sometimes have short attention spans and can be uncooperative and cranky. It is thus important to understand how to work with them, coax, tease and even engage in some sort of play (eg. "peek-a-poo" or "hide and seek") with them to help facilitate a relaxing environment in order for them to let go and express their natural selves. The photographer will then be able to make most of the capturing of those unexpected fleeting moments and priceless memories that the children so often bring.

Here are some of the images of children I have recently captured. Most of these photos were captured at events like weddings and family picnics.