wide open road

wide open road

21 Dec 2009

Greetings from Brisbane where I'll be spending Christmas week. I'd planned to post some Christmas treats today but I was inspired by my road trip from Sydney to Brisbane and decided to post some of those images instead.

I enjoy long distance driving which is a good thing because it's a long drive between Sydney and Brisbane. I load up the car with healthy snacks, prime the i-pod with driving tunes (Powderfinger, Crowded House, Paul Kelly, P.J.Harvey and Hunters and Collectors) and sing all the way whilst counting the kilometers as they tick over.

I stayed overnight with Farmer Andrew in Dungog on Saturday night before making an early start on Sunday. We had a bbq and watched the lorikeets, parrots, galahs and cockatiels swooping through the trees. It was a beautiful golden sunset so I took a few last minute photos of the garden in the golden hue.

I took a back route to Brisbane driving along Thunderbolts Way which takes you through the Great Dividing Range to the New England Highway via Walcha and Uralla. In case you're wondering, Thunderbolts Way is named after a local bushranger who roamed the area. I love this part of the drive because I have the road to myself and Thunderbolts Way reveals so many unexpected treasures. I stopped the car a few times, which is rare for me, so I could take a few photos.

The first gem was this sweet little church. The wedding photographer in me couldn't resist it. Wouldn't this be the perfect location for a sweet country wedding with photos in the adjoining orchard?

It was about 6.00 a.m. when I took this series of photos so the dew was still on the ground. Back into the car until I spied the trees on the hill and stopped to take some photos of the highway, the trees, the roadside flowers and the curious cows watching my every movement. 

They were not keen on being photographed and legged it as soon as their image was taken.

The last image I named 'The Wide Open Road' after the classic Triffids song of the same name. I was singing the song loudly as I drove along this stretch of road and no, I wasn't driving when I took the photo.

I'll be back with some Christmas baking on Wednesday but before I do, I'll leave my Sydney readers with a question. One of my blog readers has asked if I teach photography classes. Is this something that would interest my Sydney readers?  Teaching is a very large part of my day job and whilst I haven't run any photography classes to date I've been thinking about doing do.

If I have sufficient Sydney readers interested, I'd be happy to run a small group class for 4-5 people. The course would be a combination of both theory and practical sessions and would cover topics such as exposure, lighting, composition and design, colour management, image processing etc, etc. Practical sessions would be on location and you choose the theme - interiors/food/portraits/travel. You would need access to an SLR camera on the day, either digital or film and ideally a laptop as well but doable wihout and there will be homework! The course would be run over 2 sessions on separate days to give you time to work on your images/complete your assignments.

I know the comments page isn't particularly user friendly so if you're interested please send an email to info at jillianleiboff.com

I'll be back on Wednesday with some Christmas treats so until then,

Jillian

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Film vs Digital

Film vs Digital

15 Feb 2009

In the States, Jonathan Canlas runs a workshop that he calls "Film is Not Dead". In that spirit I shot some film during my road trip to Canberra.

Below are some of the images that I shot digitally, then to compare I shot the same image on film. All the digital files are straight out of camera (sooc) whilst the film scans are also uncorrected. I overexposed all the colour film, Fuji NPH 400, by 1- 1.5 stops to keep the whites white, whilst I normally underexpose digital images slightly to make sure I keep detail in the highlights.

Look how blue the sky is in the film and how the colour pops in the film images. So what did the image really look like? - about halfway between the film and the digital image. 

Will I keep shooting on film? Sure thing,

Jillian

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Gunning

Gunning

29 Jan 2009

I've been to Collector before but I've never visited Gunning. When I found out the 2 places were only 24 kilometres apart I decided to return to Sydney via the scenic route taking in both Gunning and Collector. None of the sites I visited mentioned the road to Collector was unsealed for about 20 kilometres. The car handled the road pretty well though she was looking a bit dusty by the time we arrived in Collector.

Gunning is a pretty typical country town with a few cafes, a book store, an antique shop, a courthouse and a Chinese restaurant.

I particularly liked Bailey's Garage and shot a few film images whilst I was there.

As I didn't fancy a lamb burger for lunch at the local cafe I got back into my car and drove to the Lynwood Cafe.

I met one other car on the drive to Collector. I passed by amazing bleached fields of grasses blown by the wind which I stopped to photograph.

I can't wait to see how the film version turned out.

Next post - the Lynwood cafe.

Jillian

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Dungog

Dungog

22 Jun 2008

June was always going to be a busy month. Tuesday night I met a friend for yet another birthday dinner, this time at bistrode in Surry Hills. Sandra and I both dined on posh comfort food - wagyu corned beef with suet dumpling and rhubarb and apple crumble. It was all delicious and I was very glad that I'd squeezed in a visit to the gym before the meal. The rest of the week was a combination of work and last minute trip planning.



It was time to take a road trip to visit my brother in the country. After a few weeks of wet weather Saturday was a glorious day - perfect weather for the 3 hour drive to Dungog.



I came with cameras and baking goods as I always take photos and bake something whilst there. I made a coconut pound cake with passionfruit icing but we didn't have time to cut it before it was time for the long drive home. I'll be making another cake this coming weekend so there should be some photos of the cake next weekend.



The garden was blooming and I had a roam around the vegetable garden that's been planted since my last visit. We had roast lamb for dinner with salad ingredients from the garden - lettuce, rocket, snow peas and some herbs. I munched on freshly podded peas whilst Andrew picked the proper stuff.



We went for a stroll around Dungog this morning while waiting for Andrew's bread to bake. I cut a slab, buttered it and smeared on some vegemite to sustain me on the long ride home.



Back home it's been all chores, chores and more chores. Another busy week ahead with the final birthday celebration planned for Saturday. Who else can spread 1 birthday over an entire month???

Jillian

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Southern Highlands Road Trip - Berrima and beyond

Southern Highlands Road Trip - Berrima and beyond

28 Apr 2008

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, the first dry day in 14 days. I decided not to waste the day and hopped in the car for a drive.



I drove to Berrima in the Southern Highlands just over 1 1/2 hours south of Sydney. Sydney is a lot like Brisbane in many ways. We don't have 4 distinct seasons here just hot, cold, wet or dry.



I was craving some autumnal tones so I decided to head south to cooler climes.



Berrima is a beautiful Georgian village that time forgot. On a Long Weekend it is a very popular place so I avoided the main street with it's tea houses and antique shops and roamed the back streets.









As it was the Anzac Day Long Weekend, I made a pilgrimage to the war memorial. It's a beautifully maintained part of the gardens where sprigs of rosemary lay intermingled between the fallen oak leaves. I took a sprig of rosemary home with me for remembrance.



From there I wandered along Jellore Street with it's cute mix of cottages and Georgian mansions. I wish there was a scratch and sniff component to this blog so you could all experience the beautiful scent of the roses.





I got back into the car and drove back to Sydney via the Illawarra Highway to Wollongong.



I've not been to Wollongong before so headed straight to the beach with the twin lighthouses. A wedding was being held at one lighthouse so I approached the other. The seas were treacherous that day so I made it to the lighthouse with sodden shoes. I had to shoot into the sun so there is a bit of drama to some of the images.



I also took some photos of the lighthouse in the opposite direction from the road to North Beach but they were pretty dull by comparison.

Sorry, but I went a bit crazy with the collages cos I had so many nice images to share,

Jillian

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road tripping part 2

road tripping part 2

28 Dec 2007

I'm back home in Sydney after the Christmas break. It's a 12 hour drive from Brisbane to Sydney along the New England Highway which I did in one journey. About halfway home I spied this old station managers cottage just outside Uralla. I took photos for about 20 minutes until the bush flies forced me back into the car.




Who knows what other gems are lurking in the small towns that dot the highway? One year I must take a few days to do the journey so I can make a photo essay of the region.











Not having any of my artwork on the walls I'm thinking of making a large canvas art print of one of the images but which one?

Jillian

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