I took off in December 2015 for a three week trip to Sydney Australia with a bag full of gear. In fact I had bought a new bag for the
trip, the Think Tank Accelerator, which is the correct size for taking as cabin hand luggage but is so big that leads you into taking far too much weight for your allowance of 7kg. To avoid having to pay excess fees I checked in at the airport with every pocket in my coat stuffed with batteries and lenses and one camera with largest lens on hanging over my shoulder under my coat . My bag was even then only just on 7kg. Needless to say once through checkin all of the gear was put back into the bag ready to go through security. I even had to leave behind my tripod but planned on buying one in Sydney.
There was plenty to shoot around Sydney with many famous landmarks. I kept a polarising filter on for most shots to bring out the sky and reduce refection in the water.
It was very unusual having a barbecue on the beach on Christmas Day but managed to get some great shots early in the morning before the crowds arrived.
New Years Eve had to be going to watch the harbour fireworks. We chose a spot a few miles down the harbour from the famous bridge and Opera House and got a fantastic view over the whole scene. I shot mostly with the 70- 200mm on the Canon 7D to give that extra length with the crop factor mounted on a new tripod purchased a couple of days before. We got our spot at the front by the fence pretty early and sat and waited for the early fireworks and then the main ones at midnight. The lovely sunset gave a dramatic light to the silhouette of the city buildings.
I also purchased a ND filter and tried to do some long exposure beach shots. I first tried at sunset one evening and was happy with the results bu
t then I went back at sunrise and it got even better. The shots were taken on Tamarama beach which was 10 mins walk from where we stayed. Using my new tripod, ND filter and the intervalometer to set the long exposure times of 45 secs I managed to capture the movement of the waves. I then did an exposure for the sky and then the foreground and combined in Photoshop to get the final image.
The weather was not always bright and sunny but I carried on shooting
We took a couple of trips out from Sydney and visited the Blue Mountains and shot some dramatic scenery of the The Three Sisters, Sky Train and waterfalls.
Of course we went to the beach. I have to admit to being a little cautious about getting sand in my camera bag. I used the Sony A600 to take in camera panorama frames.
In total I shot over 5000 frames and came back with photographs that I was very pleased with.
