Personal Journey and Adventures of Nina

I could honestly spend every weekend cleaning and organising for the coming week but I decided that life is too short. If I sat around the house, the piles of dishes would taunt me. I've had a pretty stressful few weeks so fresh air and a change of scenery seemed appropriate. It was time to get out of the city! With the wonderful roads now, it only takes an hour to get to Springwood and Blaxland. I remember visiting my Godfather here as a child and it was at least a 2 hour drive. I am definitely grateful for our roads. (but maybe not the tolls!) First stop Lennox Bridge , in Blaxland. Opened in 1833, it is the oldest surviving stone arch bridge in Australia. Usually there would be water running under the bridge but we haven't had any significant rainfall in over two months.  It's only Spring and already we are getting the hot high sun which makes for contrasty images. I would have come out earlier but had to vote in the local council elections! Next time tho

30 second exposure of Sydney Harbour Same scene without a filter . LONG EXPOSURES Oops...forgot my Tripod For fun I like to play around with longer exposures. The first image (above) is a 30 second exposure. You can do this on a bright sunny day by using a filter on your lens or at night without a filter. 10 Stop Solid ND Filter -  I used a BW 10 stop filter to get the top image. They are around $50-$100. Tripod - Ideally a tripod is recommended. I actually forgot my tripod so set my camera up on a nearby pylon and used my lens hood to keep the camera upright and steady. Focus First - once your camera is setup, focus the lens on the scene, then switch the lens to Manual Focus (MF). Then attach the filter. You cannot focus with the filter on because it is so dense you cannot see anything. EVEN EXPOSURES The light difference between the sky and the foreground can be greatly different. This means you will often get