Going great ocean road with a95


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dda95

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Oct 3, 2004
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anyone's been there b4? any photography tips? e.g. settings to take sunset, etc.. i tried looking on the web for good sites to learn photograpy, can't seem to find any. if you have good links.. can share? :)

i'm an amateur who wants to improve photos skills with my a95..

any recommendations?
 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

ermm...sorrie where is Great Ocean Rd?


dda95 said:
anyone's been there b4? any photography tips? e.g. settings to take sunset, etc.. i tried looking on the web for good sites to learn photograpy, can't seem to find any. if you have good links.. can share? :)

i'm an amateur who wants to improve photos skills with my a95..

any recommendations?
 

plinius said:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

ermm...sorrie where is Great Ocean Rd?

It's in Australia. :)

Bring a windbreaker, go in morning or evening. light is better. :D

Of course, go on a good day. no dark clouds, just blue sky with slight white clouds will be nice. :thumbsup:

May benefit from wide angle. but a95 only 38mm-114mm.... may not be wide enough. but try to frame the picture more conscientiously may have gd results.
 

dda95 said:
anyone's been there b4? any photography tips? e.g. settings to take sunset, etc.. i tried looking on the web for good sites to learn photograpy, can't seem to find any. if you have good links.. can share? :)

i'm an amateur who wants to improve photos skills with my a95..

any recommendations?


Here is the website Great Ocean Road .

My tip is to get to the opostles as early as possible or to stay as late into the afternoon as possible as there are quite a large number of tourist going through (unless you want to include people in your shots). Try to get down to the beach (a very steep hike back up) and take photo's from there as well as well as the usual lookout spots provided for the tourist. This is one location where using a wide lens is great.

Try to stop over at towns like Apollo Bay etc as there are alway nice photo oportunities there as well.

There is also a national park like the Otways which also is a pleasure to drive through.

Any way just go to the link provided for more ideas
 

Yes, avoid mid-afternoon (3-4pm). If not you will get "black" apostles, that was what happened to me. Such a waste. :(
 

When goin Great Ocean Road, best to take your time. spend at least two days down the road. For the Twelve Apostles, it depends on wht view you prefer, i like the sunset scene of it. very beautiful. :)

Yep. wide angle lens is best for taking shots at GOR.

Oh yeah, visit the Gramphians too if you have the time. it's not too far away from GOR.:p
 

Great ocean road is west of Melbourne.

While the main highlight is the 12 Apostles, there are also some good stops along the way. I think be prepared for varying conditions, as the weather can be quite unpredictable. Just be prepared for over-exposure, I guess. I took quite a lot of pics when I went there three yrs back... but not with me in the office now... :bsmilie:

U driving or taking the tour coach? If tour coach, then no choice on the timing...

Agreed that 38mm may not be wide enough, so gotta move around to frame the pic you want. If on a tour coach, also a bit of rush lor. May have to do some fill fash pics because of the direction of the sun. Otherwise a lot of tweaking on the computer.... JYTan is right... you get "black" apostles if the time is not right. :bsmilie:
 

Thanks for all the tips! ;) I'd be going down with my housemates on a 7 seater.. we are driving.. so hopefully the timing will be right when we reach there. :D soon we'd be on our way.. good luck to me with my 38mm! lolz
 

Hi, just been there last Nov. with a Canon G2. Lens coverage is not a problem though but haze is...use a UV / Polarizer filter if possible.
I happened to be there on a rainy day with light coming "on & off". Work with what you have and fully utilise it. Enjoy your trip.
 

There is a great market selling fresh seafood somewhere before the mid point. Must stop over for their fresh oysters and cooked shrimps (they call there) but they are prawn size ... FRESH and good and sold mkt price. Recommended by a local at Melborne and never regret stop over there.
You cannot miss - it is a low building next to the sea.

Do not rush through the Great Ocean Road. Slow and easy over 2 days will be good.
 

Seven seater? I hope you're not intending to have a full vehicle. Travelling with people often means you have to compromise with time. Not many people understand why we take so long to get 'that' shot. Or even return to the same place several times to try different things.

A really wide angle is not all that necessary. At the 12 Apostles, the viewing point juts out from the coastline, so you see them in line with you instead of across... Anyway, your camera comes with the stitching mode and software, rite?

If you're heading from the city to GOR, there is a small stop called Gibson's Steps before the 12 Apostles car park. Gibson's Steps car park is small and easy to miss. It leads you the the beach, where you can get close to the first two apostles. If it's low tide, you can walk quite some way down the beach.
 

acroamatic said:
Seven seater? I hope you're not intending to have a full vehicle. Travelling with people often means you have to compromise with time. Not many people understand why we take so long to get 'that' shot. Or even return to the same place several times to try different things.

A really wide angle is not all that necessary. At the 12 Apostles, the viewing point juts out from the coastline, so you see them in line with you instead of across... Anyway, your camera comes with the stitching mode and software, rite?

If you're heading from the city to GOR, there is a small stop called Gibson's Steps before the 12 Apostles car park. Gibson's Steps car park is small and easy to miss. It leads you the the beach, where you can get close to the first two apostles. If it's low tide, you can walk quite some way down the beach.


Yup that's right! the Beach is the best place to take picture as there are also less people around. have a great time over there! stop over at their town to enjoy ur lunch before you travel to great ocean cos there is no restaurant over there!
 

Once you drive out of the forests area, Gibson Steps will come up pretty soon on your left, so don't speed through or you will miss it. Look for the signs.

The main rocks will be after this location (less than 3 minutes drive away). You will see many parking lots on the right side and a building that houses some exhibits and contain toilets.

Your final destination for the 12 Apostles will be after Port Campbell, a small town about 10km after the main rocks. Drive through the town, 5 minutes later you will hit your final destination.

All attractions have signs that are brown in colour.

Best to travel with all photographers in the group, if not you will see that everyone comes back with a BLACK face after the trip. Non-photographers just don't understand, especially girls.

Also, PLEASE DO NOT SPEED along the Great Ocean Road. Or you may end up Sky-Diving into the ocean. These stretch of the Great Ocean Road is very narrow, has no railings, once off and you are gone. There are too many steep bends that requires you to have speeds of between 25km/h ~ 45 km/h every 10 to 20 seconds. Since you are driving an auto car, just drive carefully. Of course, as I'm quite familiar with aussie roads and that I drove a manual car, it is pretty damn exhilariting negotiating the mountains and bends, you get that adrenalin rush! ;) People nowadays only know how to drive auto, manual is so much fun! ;)

Do not take the Great Ocean Road at night, too dangerous. Take the Princess Highway and cut down using small roads to Port Campbell if you are travelling from Melbourne and vice versa if you must travel at night. These roads have no steep bends, pretty straight throughout. In fact, if you are in a hurry to get to the 12 Apostles fast, it only takes 2.5 (fastest I tried) to get there as compared to 4 hours if you take the Great Ocean Road. Of course, you will miss out on the breath taking scenery of the Great Ocean Road. But at night who cares, you don't see anything anyway. :)

Forget about The Gramphians, visit only if you have time. I don't find it worthwhile going there.
 

acroamatic said:
Seven seater? I hope you're not intending to have a full vehicle. Travelling with people often means you have to compromise with time. Not many people understand why we take so long to get 'that' shot. Or even return to the same place several times to try different things.

A really wide angle is not all that necessary. At the 12 Apostles, the viewing point juts out from the coastline, so you see them in line with you instead of across... Anyway, your camera comes with the stitching mode and software, rite?

If you're heading from the city to GOR, there is a small stop called Gibson's Steps before the 12 Apostles car park. Gibson's Steps car park is small and easy to miss. It leads you the the beach, where you can get close to the first two apostles. If it's low tide, you can walk quite some way down the beach.

I second this... I have done it and it's pretty cool. You can walk down the steps to the beach and take some low angle shots. I think along the way, there's a few more lookout points for photo opp, i think you can get a map at the visitor centre at Apollo Bay. If you have time and a good vehicle like a 4 wheel drive, try driving thru the back road on your way back to Melbourne. You can visit the numerous waterfalls and see some nice trees instead of the constant sea view you will see on GOR.

I suggest you take a break at Apollo Bay for lunch, then slowing move out at around 3-4 so you will reach 12 apostles around sunset then stay 1 night. Next morning, shoot more before you head inland for Melbourne.
 

Hey guys! Thanks for all the advices! Tho some came a bit too late.. I came back from the GOR trip two weeks ago :confused: Had a better understanding of my humble A95's capability. And yes.. like wat all you guys said, the beaches are magnificient! :thumbsup:

Just like what Acroamatic and RaidenII mentioned.. yes.. it's horrible to travel with non-photographers, and GIRLS. :angry: They are happy snappy with their p&s cameras as long as they're in the frame, doesn't fret about compostion, don't really care about lighting conditions, exposure settings, or how the image will turn out. yes.. BLACK faces.. :eek:

One fine example.. I found this spot at the top of the hill to take some nice pictures into the sunset across the length of the blue lake at Mt Gambier.. i got nagged and 'tsk-tsk'ed and tantrumed to go down to another 'lookout' spot, with the view is across the breadth of the lake. I took quite some time there.. cos when i tried to set the exposure settings for the lake, the hill and sky got over-exposed. when i tried to adjust the exposure to make the sun-set sky look better against the lake, the lake got underexposed. Doesn't help things that i'm a newbie at photography!

And when we're at some waterfalls, near dusk, some don't seem to understand why i needed the tripod and longer exposure (= longer time) for the camera.. they are happilly clicking away with camera flash, which i doubt will be very useful by itself with that kind of light.

It was a horrible experience to travel with 7 people, the majority of them are really nice, just that in my case, it was only 1 whose tantrums that I have to deal with.. Overall, it was horrible. I wouldn't even want to look at some of the videoclips i took the first few days together when we were okay with each other. The only consolation was in the scenary and some nice photos i took. choose your travel mates carefully man.. lolz. :dunno: Only photographers will understand each other, why the tripod, funny phototaking spots and time! For being able to anticipate and understand that, you guys are great!
 

That is why I enjoyed travelling alone or with photogs. The last time I went on GOR, another photographer was with me. We are mature enough to take our own photos so no overlap :)
 

Watcher said:
That is why I enjoyed travelling alone or with photogs. The last time I went on GOR, another photographer was with me. We are mature enough to take our own photos so no overlap :)

True... i am lucky,sometimes when i go tour with my wife, she willhelp me lug my bag, hold my lens while i change filters etc as she knew i love photogrpahy. Of course, sometimes she will complain like i take so many shots for what etc.
 

nemesis32 said:
True... i am lucky,sometimes when i go tour with my wife, she willhelp me lug my bag, hold my lens while i change filters etc as she knew i love photogrpahy. Of course, sometimes she will complain like i take so many shots for what etc.
Wah so lucky :) An understanding spouse :eek: :D

For those missing GOR, here is some for reminders:
rainbow.jpg

and
wide-bay2.jpg
 

.............................. the tripod said:
"Why can't a lady be just like a man? So understand, so kind..." - from Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.
 

I have been to Australia almost once every year. As for this year, I went there twice, total of 2 months this year. I just came back 3 weeks ago, this
time specifically to do landscape photography. Spent 8 days travelling from Melbourne, to Sydney and then back to Brisbane (Brisbane is where I stay all the time coz my sister is living there. Always travel to Gold Coast when I'm there, and sometimes to Sunshine Coast). BTW, 8 days sleeping in the car, saved a lot in accomodation. :)

Took very good photos during this trip. I'm busy setting up my website, will let you guys know when it is ready.
 

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