The do-it-yourself Uluru Tour: Day One

Despite Damascus offering at the last minute to accompany me on my Uluru adventure, I set off on a solo jaunt. I did try to get a travel buddy to share some expenses but the timing just didn't work out. 

It took quite a bit of research to organise this holiday. Far more than I would have expected. I was initially planning to fly from Brisbane but there are no direct flights from Bris to Yulara, which is the town just outside the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. I could have flown to Alice Springs but then there's still the matter of getting to Yulara (about a 5 hour drive!) and then back again. Jetstar had cheap flights direct from Melbourne so I planned my stay around the best prices. Fly in on Thurs, out on Tue. 

After an aborted flight (all strapped in, ready for take off), we had to swap planes. Finally arrive at Yulara, step out the door of the plane and Look Look Look. There it is! The Big Red Rock!

Travelling for Dopey Dora's. (Notes taken on the trip)

I didn't realise NT was a different time zone. Duh. 30 mins behind. ( *This was in August. Don't know about daylight savings)
Also, it's not as hot as I thought it would be. I expected the nights and mornings to be cold but not all bloody day. ( *I had to buy a jumper as I didn't have enough warm clothes).

There's a courtesy bus from the Airport that stops at all Accomm.  If I had someone to splits costs I would have hired a car, but it seemed a bit pricey just for one person for that length of time so I started off with buses. Uluru Resort and AAT Kings buses pretty much have everything stitched up to offer tightly packaged deals. There's not much in the middle range of accommodation, with Camp Grounds and Backpackers at one end and straight to bloody expensive at the other. I chose a 4 bed mixed dorm at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. I wasn't quite bold enough to go for the 20 bed female dorm. Besides, you never know who you might meet in a mixed room! (*Note: No one interesting)

First impressions of the Outback Pioneer Lodge were pretty good with a beaut range of flowers to tempt me to get the camera out. 

Notes for Dopey Dora's.

Print out all bookings.Pack various size zip lock bags. 

I'm sick.
Ugh.
A cold. 
This is not good.
Trying to be positive. Failing

I had woken that morning feeling a bit off but put it down to not enough sleep in the lead up to getting away. On the plane I was a bit worried I might be getting sick. By the time I checked in there was no more denying it. I had the bloody flu.  (OK, maybe it was just a cold, I don't know the difference, but I was sick and getting sicker). There was an issue with the cleaning and my room wasn't ready.  I confusion over which bus was the courtesy bus that would get me into town (to buy some cold & flu tabs!) so I wasted a couple of hours around the grounds of the Lodge, finally got my room key, had a debate with an older guy over who got which bed, he wasn't convinced that I was right so off we went to the front counter before he finally admitted defeat. Too late to catch the bus in to the town centre by then as I had the Field of Lights Tour booked. So I dosed up on Panadol and off I went. 

There are three options to see the Field of LIghts. It's on until March 2018. The $39 pass gets you there after sunset and into the installation. You can't use a tripod in amongst the lights but in the $85 option you watch the sunset from a higher platform (with Champers and Canapes) and you can use a tripod there. There is another Option for dining but I wasn't interested in that. As far as I could tell, you had to catch the bus (AAT Kings, of course) and couldn't just drive yourself out there to have a look. I could be wrong though. 

I hadn't found my photography groove at all at the sunset platform. My head was foggy and I was aching and there were people everywhere (I'm making excuses for the shabby photos). The lights were impressive though and I've included one pretty ordinary (and very noisy) shot just to say I was there. 

The guide did say we could use a tripod as a monopod down amongst the lights. There are walking tracks right through the installation and it covered a bigger area than I expected. So it was impressive and I enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to see it. However, it did seem a bit contrived to simply get more money out of the tourists (there's not much else to do at night so it's a clever idea) and by the end of the trip I decided the Fields of Wildflowers were far more impressive. And they were free! 

Where do you learn photography?

Following on from my tip on Fundamentals of Photography - Technical - Light- Composition.

How do you learn these things in the real world? Sure, there's a gazillion books and youtube videos. You could even read your camera manual (heaven forbid!). But you can't ask questions or get help or feedback from those methods. Following are some suggestions and ideas I have. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear about them in the comments. 

• Look for Camera Clubs in your area. If you don't like the first one, try another one. Some are better than others. Or some just suit some people better than other people. Shop around and try them out. 
• Meet up groups for Photography. Join one or start your own. 
• Local TAFE colleges usually offer short courses. I teach photography at RMIT (Melbourne)
• The local camera stores often run short courses. Here's a link to Ted's Learning Centre

One day workshops are ok once you know what you're doing, but when you're starting out, I really recommend doing something that goes for several days or weeks. You need the opportunity to practice what you've done. To get feedback. And to build on each skill. Most people who do a one day workshop on "How to understand your camera' really don't understand enough at the end of the day, and they forget most of it anyway. 

• Check out the Canon Collective Workshops. They really look like they've done their homework and are offering some great opportunities. Nikon have their own version. Google your camera brand and see what they offer. 
• There are a multitude of Travel Tours on offer where you go on a trip and learn along the way. Find one with an interest or area that suits you. The prices can be a bit up there so shop around to find what you want. (And check mine out, of course!)

You never stop learning with Photography. Enjoy the journey. 

#1 Photography Tip

All photography, every image, comes down to three parts.

Technical - Light - Composition. 

1. TECHNICAL: Understand your camera, how it works, and what it can and can't do.

2. LIGHT: Look for the light (and shadow) and know how to use it. 

3. COMPOSITION: Decide what goes in and what stays out of your image, and where you put things in the frame. (An understanding of Design Elements will help improve your composition.) 

It doesn't matter what you like to photograph, those three things are the foundations you need to build on your photography skills. You can pick up hints and tips from books or blogs, but if you can get with other photographers who will share ideas and give feedback, then you'll really see a big jump in understanding.

I teach photography at RMIT in Melbourne and I run Photography Tours that provide great opportunities to practice what you learn. Keep an eye out for an upcoming post where I share some more ideas and resources for learning to take better photos.. 

And because you can't have a blog post without an image, here's a couple of favourites from the desert in Morocco.

Happy Birthday to Me, from my daughter.

Aka, luckiest mum in the world. I have two very special kids. Rebekah wrote this (on Facebook) for my Birthday. 

This is my Mum.

Sometimes she forgets who she is. Sometimes she feels a bit lost in the world.

I know who she is. 
Joey knows too.

Now that we're full proper grown ups, we're going to tell you a bit about our mum.

If you've met her I think you will agree that she certainly is a mum, but she is so much more as well.

This person is the strongest person in the whole world.

She has lifted and carried Joey and I through all sorts of challenges we couldn't make it through on our own.

From autism, epilepsy, anxiety and depression - she never tried to "fix" us.

She alone guided us, she was patient with us, she was supportive, kind, and she believed in us.

She recognized the challenges that we could overcome on our own and encouraged us. She empowered us. She would pick us up, dust us off, and wait at least an hour before deciding if we needed to go to hospital or not (I could be dramatic at times. But the broken leg was legit.)

She is calm in a crisis. She has extinguished multiple, literal fires.

In this photo we were in the Sahara desert. She is an adventurer but
she is a also a home body, a home owner, a home maker and home builder.

She is a teacher, an artist, an intellectual. She is passionate and incredible. She is inspired and inspiring.

There is no one else like her.

We exist in awe of her. Even when she feels flawed and flat and frail (as all sensitive people do sometimes), she has achieved more than you could imagine.

We love her endlessly. Unwaveringly. We could flood the Sahara with our love until it was an overflowing ocean.
We could fill the MCG a million times over with it and still have more left over.

If she ever doubts herself, we never will.

Happy birthday Mum.
(Sorry we can be little shits sometimes)

Double Delight - Timeless Photographs of Twins

Two weeks old. Jacob and Harper. Perfect little models who slept through their whole session and didn't poop once. Amazing!

Alicia gave me free reign when it came to photographing her little bubs. I'm not a fan of fancy props and poses and gimmicky ideas. I prefer classic, simple and uncluttered. Images that are all about the baby and not the accessories. Images that are timeless. 

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Despite my best efforts of not only catching up on work but even getting ahead and getting some personal work done, I'm now further behind than ever. There are a few reasons for this.

One reason is I have a very dear friend fighting for his life. Yes, the Big C strikes again. About the time I was freeing up space to catch up on work was when he was first diagnosed. I covered his classes in the hope he would soon be returning to work. That was wishful thinking. It's been a roller coaster ride for him and not a fun one. Good news and hope one minute, back in hospital with doctors shrugging their shoulders the next. I've tried to be available to help in whatever way I can. There's nothing makes you feel more hopeless than watching someone go through this level of suffering.

I had work in Qld to do. When I left him he was doing ok (ish). Soon after I got to Qld he was back in Hospital. Home for two days and then back in again. By the time I got back to Melbourne they didn't know what was going on but it wasn't looking good. This is not how things were supposed to work out. The new drug trial he was on was giving positive results (hell side affects but it was working). But now, well, when palliative care is mentioned, you have to check your expectations. 

Last week I had a couple of clear days put aside to get work done. Instead I chose to spend it with my friend. In between all this I had been planning an escape to Uluru. The bucket list, ya know. I considered cancelling it. But then I thought, if cancer teaches you nothing else, surely it's to take the moments when you can, because you never know when you won't get the chance. So I went. And the day I landed in Yulara I got sick. Nothing life threatening. 'Just' a cold. Personally, I think it might have been a strain of 'man flu' because I sure felt like I was dying. I was travelling on my own, sleeping in a shared dorm room, trying not to cough all night and keep others awake. Forcing myself to at least achieve one thing each day thanks to the assistance of modern drugs. It was a struggle, but I am glad to say I have been to the big, red rock and it is wonderful. Even more awesome was the amount of wildflowers there were. When I'm better and caught up on work, I'll share more photos.

And now I'm home. And my head and my chest hurt so much I can hardly think. The work is banking up, deadlines are looming. I can't visit my friend until I get better. The cold is affecting my thinking and everything seems monumentally hard. 

But I keep thinking of a conversation I had with my Aunty Avis many years ago. She had terminal cancer at the time. I asked her for some life wisdom to share. She said that even though she vaguely knew the term 'don't sweat the small stuff' throughout her life, she really understood it's relevance once she was staring death down. I'm trying to adopt that philosophy. I know you can't live each day as if it could be your last, because if it's not, you then have to deal with the next day. But striking that balance between dealing with what is important and what can wait and not stressing about it, that seems to be the goal.

So if you're waiting on me, to get a print to you or reply to an email, or make a decision, I'm working on it. Work with immovable deadlines has my priority. The other stuff will happen when it happens. I hope you understand. 

And if you know someone with the dreaded lurgy, make or buy them some chicken soup and deliver it. I'm sure they'll be grateful. And if you know someone with cancer, maybe give them a foot massage. 

PS. I've lost my voice so can't answer the phone. I can't even call to get an update on my friend in hospital. Last I heard though, some of the worst symptoms were easing and he was slowly improving. We're still planning a trip to Bryce Canyon next year. 

In the meantime, here's one shot from Uluru. Front row seat at sunset. 

Front Row Seat