Hi, thanks for reading my 2018 photography retrospective! Photographically it has been a fairly lean year for me. The family and I didn't go away on a big trip somewhere, which means I didn't get to photograph for weeks on end (like I do when we go and do a road trip somewhere) and it means this year I've only really photographed around South East Queensland and a bit of NSW. Having said that, I've photographed at a few places I have been wanting to for a while, but hadn't had chance until now.
January
January started with the usual 1st January sunrise shoot. We were staying up at my brother-in-laws on the sunshine coast, so I headed to shoot the 'dolphin rock' at Point Cartwright. I've seen so many photos of it, but have never shot it at sunrise myself.
Dawn on 2018I captured this image at Point Cartwright at dawn on 1st January 2018. I wasn't planning on photographing dawn this year, but when my wife suggested we head up to stay at her brothers place on the Sunshine Coast so we could go fishing on New Years Day, I thought it was a good plan. Twelve hours later I was photographing this awesome scene!
This is a location I have wanted to photograph at sunrise for a while, so I had no hesitations to head here when I decided I would shoot the sunrise.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO100 f22 0.3sec
Lee 0.6 soft grad
See more images at www.MartinCanning.com
I also shot some of the first light on the beach just south of Point Cartwright.
A couple of weeks into January, I was driving home and I thought it looked like there would be a decent sunset, so I nipped home, grabbed my camera gear and headed to Wilson's Outlook.
Brisbane Ablaze!On Friday, while I was driving home from work I thought that conditions were shaping up for a pretty decent sunset. After having a couple of weeks off work and watching the sunsets I was aware that nice colour in the sky was around 7pm, so I knew that if I headed home and grabbed my camera gear I could get to Wilson's Outlook before sunset - and that is exactly what I did! It was a fantastic sunset to photograph and just witness the changes in colour in the sky - so awesome!
Canon 5D Mark II + 17-40 f4L
Two images stitched:
17mm f16 10sec
17mm f16 8sec
Lee 0.9 Hard Grad
Capture time: 12/1/18 7:03pm
January also brought the first day of school for Harry, so I took some photos of him!
February
I didn't do any photography in February, but went to an event my favourite Australian landscape photographer, Ken Duncan was hosting. Chi took a photo of Ken and I for me. Check out Ken's work if you haven't ever seen it - his photos are just amazing!
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
March
Over the Easter long weekend, we stayed up at my wife's brothers house on the Sunshine Coast. This brought the opportunity for some photography.
On Good Friday morning, I went to Point Cartwright again for sunrise. It was an enjoyable morning with some interesting light!
Sunrise SwellI took this shot on Good Friday morning down at Point Cartwright on the Sunshine Coast. I wasn't expecting much colour in the sky as it was quite cloudy but there was this burst of colour to the south and then some awesome light rays to the east!
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO100 f/16 1/6sec
Lee filters
Glory on Good Friday!I headed out to Point Cartwright on the Sunshine Coast to photograph sunrise on Good Friday morning. I must admit early on I thought the sunrise would be fairly flat due to all of the clouds, but without these clouds there wouldn't have been the light rays. It was glorious to capture this scene on Good Friday!
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO 100 f/16 1/13sec
Lee filters
On Easter Saturday I went out photographing with my nephew and brother-in-law. We headed to Buderim Forest Park and photographed Serenity Falls.
Serenity FallsSerenity Falls is located in Buderim Forest Park on the Sunshine Coast. This falls is actually part of Martin Creek. I took my nephew and brother-in-law here on the Easter long weekend as they wanted to do a bit of photography.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 30mm
ISO100 f/16 3.2sec
circular polariser
I also stopped to photograph the roots of this massive tree (and get bitten by mozzies!).
The Forest FloorDuring the Easter long weekend this year I headed out photographing with my brother-in-law and nephew. We went to Buderim Forest Park to photograph Serenity Falls. I couldn't walk past this scene as we meandered back to the car without firing off a frame. This scene was perfect for a panoramic shot.
Fuji G617
Velvia 50 film
Capture date: 31/3/2018
We then headed to Point Arkwright for sunset and moon rise.
April
April was probably my biggest photography month of the year. It was my son's first soccer season, so I took a few portraits and a team photo.
In April I headed with Chi to Glen Innes for a couple of days to capture some autumnal colours. We stopped off in Tenterfield along the way.
I always enjoy the New England region to photograph. Unfortunately the colours were probably a couple of days past their best. It was a bit of a surprise to me as I hadn't seen much on social media and I had been hearing that the colours had only started to turn later this season. We drove almost every street around Glen Innes to find some interesting scenes. We came across Murrayfield which has some nice colours.
A rainbow also appeared!
Then, some nice light came!
Murrayfield Autumn LaneThis shot was taken during an autumn colour sojourn to Glen Innes in April this year. At this particular location a large shower had just passed over and then this beaming light lit up this fantastic scene. We came back to this scene a couple of days later and a lot of the leaves were gone!
Fuji G617
Velvia 50 f22 1/2sec
Capture time: 25/4/18 4:16pm
We shot what we thought would be a dull sunset that turned into quite a nice one!
Old Oak SunsetI totally wasn't expecting the explosion of colour that I experienced this particular sunset. Conditions were fairly cloudy and there had been a tiny but of colour in the sky, when all of a sudden this whoosh of colour was everywhere! I had to quickly scramble to find a suitable subject to frame it with and so I ran over to this old oak tree.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 34mm
f16 13sec
Circular polariser
Capture date: 25/4/18 5:31pm
The next morning was fog city! I usually like photographing fog, but this fog was incredibly thick.
The light did pop out, but it took ages to come!
SteadfastDespite the changing seasonal conditions and this tree losing all of it's leaves during winter, it still stands resolutely and unwavering.
Canon 5D Mark II
70-200 @ 155mm
ISO400 f/16 1/250sec
Capture date: 26/04/2018
We found some other autumn colours around the area too.
Golden AvenueThis photo was taken just south of Glen Innes in April 2018.
Canon 5D Mark II
70-200 @ 100mm f/11 1/20sec
Circular polariser
Capture date: 26/04/2018
Tuscany in New EnglandThis photo was taken in the New England region of new South Wales during a quick 2 night trip to Glen Innes to capture autumn colours.
Canon 5D Mark II
70-200 @ 100mm
ISO400 f/8 1/80sec
Circular polariser
Capture date: 26/4/18
The Poplar PathThis shot was taken in the New England area of northern NSW in April 2018.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO100 f/16 1/20sec
Capture time: 27/4/18 9:32am
Autumn PasturesChi and I came across this neat row of red trees just on the western side of Glen Innes in April this year when we went there for a couple of nights to photograph some autumn colours.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 40mm
ISO100 f/8 1/200sec
Capture date: 26/4/18
We shot a few night scenes also.
Life on MarsThis photo was taken at Stonehenge, just south of Glen Innes on a fairly mild autumn evening. I headed to Glen Innes with a mate to capture some autumn colours and we decided we would shoot some stars. Unfortunately the moon was almost full which meant we didn't see as many stars as we'd hoped, but it did light up the scene so we could capture some detail in the rocks we were photographing.
Canon 5D Mark II
Samyang 14mm
ISO 100 f2.8 124sec
May
May was a pretty lean month, except I took a few headshots of the Scientific Program Organising Committee for a national hospital pharmacists conference.
June
June was another lean month photographically, but we had two family outings where I shot a few sunset frames with my point and shoot Fuji X100S. The first was to Shorncliffe and the second along the riverwalk near the CBD.
July & August
July and August were lean months - I didn't get out photographing.
September
In September I visited Melbourne for a conference. I ventured out one evening to take a few photos.
Melbourne ReflectionsMelbourne Reflections I took this shot in Melbourne last month when I was there attending a conference for work. Canon 5D Mark II 17-40 @ 17mm ISO 100 f/16 30sec
October
October was probably my second biggest photography month as we headed away to Hastings Point for a family Holiday. This brought great opportunity to photograph Hastings Point and Cabarita Beach. I visited both of these locations on numerous occasions at sunrise and sunset and captured some nice shots.
Cabarita RainbowI took this photo down at Cabarita Beach during a short family trip away in October this year. Cabarita Beach is probably the first place I ever took a panoramic image - I stitched a number of digital frames. This shot was taken on my Fuji G617 panoramic film camera.
Fuji G617
Velvia 50 f22 1sec
Capture time: 1/10/18 5:30pm
Sunset SurferI took this photo down at Cabarita Beach on sunset one evening. A surfer walked through the frame, rushing off to get the last few waves before the sun sets.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO 100 f/16 1/8sec
Sea RushI took this shot at Hasting's Point on the NSW northern coast. I love the contrast between the still pool in the foreground and the rush of the wave that has just come in.
Shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with a 17-40mm lens at 17mm
ISO f/16 1/6sec
Lee filters
Capture time: 04/10/18 5:40am
I also headed to Wilson's Point for a sunset.
I played photographer at work for a Bake off competition too!
November
November was pretty lean too, but I did take some photos at an engagement party we had for work as there were numerous (too many to count!) engagements within the department at work.
I also ventured out briefly (as I had a spare hour) to photograph the BRISBANE sign at Southbank.
Brisbane, you rock!How awesome is Brisbane!? It just played host to a national hospital pharmacists conference and I took this shot in between the end of conference proceedings on Saturday afternoon and the commencement of the gala dinner on Saturday night.
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 23mm
ISO100 f/16 4sec
Lee 0.9 soft grade
Capture time: 24/11/18 6:38pm
December
In December I took the camera to the work Christmas party and took heaps of photos of events we went to at Christmas. I haven't headed out to shoot landscapes yet this month, but maybe I will shoot sunset tomorrow!?
Conclusion
Photographically, I don't think 2018 was as rewarding as previous years for me. I didn't get out as much as I would have liked and probably haven't shot my best work this year unfortunately. I knew this was likely to be the case with no major trips planned and commitments in other areas of my life, which have been rewarding. I usually finish with my favourite image of the year, and I can't go past the complete ranbow I shot at Cabarita Beach in October.
Rainbow WatchersThis photo was taken at Cabarita Beach which is on the far northern NSW coast. I headed here for sunset as I saw a large band of clouds out at sea moving in this direction. Bits of a rainbow popped out over various stages over about 20 minutes and I just waited and then finally the full rainbow came out before it poured with rain!
Canon 5D Mark II
17-40 @ 17mm
ISO100 f/16 0.4sec
Lee filters
Capture time: 1/10/18 5:39pm
I trust 2018 has been a good year for you and I am looking forward to showcasing more of this beautiful world we live in through photography in 2019.
Thanks for all of the comments, likes and share's on social media. See you in 2019!
