A punctual group of members and friends amassed at Melbourne Zoo entry gate on Sunday 9th for our September Monthly Outing.  It was a full day of conviviality, and of course some photography!  Despite a somewhat overcast beginning and end the weather remained fine during the day.

It was great to see a range of newer and older members forming mixed groups.   Most participants began the day with the primate loop followed by the tigers and elephant loop before morning tea.

Outings provide opportunities for newer and long term members to meet and talk.  Across the day the groups remained mixed and provided opportunities for all to exchange of ideas and settings.  Thanks to members who shared their expertise and special thanks go to Dave Sumner, our club wildlife photographer, who spent much of the day sharing his expertise amongst the newer members and visitors.

Following an outdoor lunch we viewed the 50 Greatest Wildlife Photography outdoor exhibition curated by National Geographic then continued photographing until around 4:30pm.  Then a tired group of people straggled home to check their handy work.

Thanks to Ross Eddington for organising the outing!

More photos from participating members can be found in the gallery.

Our September outing will be to the Melbourne Zoo on Sunday 9th September 2018. The outing will take up the morning and include lunch. You can stay on after lunch if you want to spend more time there.

Register with Helen and Ross at outings@waverleycameraclub.org by 5PM on Friday 7th September 2018. More details will be sent to you once we have final numbers.

Also Melbourne Zoo will be the first venue in the world to unveil a brand new outdoor exhibition
curated by National Geographic. There will be 50 Greatest Wildlife Photographs on display.

Whilst the weather for our recent South Wharf Outing wasn’t ideal for a stroll, it produced some interesting opportunities for us to photograph. We had everything from sunshine to hail which frightened a few off, but the dedicated were rewarded.

We met at the Melbourne Convention Centre during the later part of the afternoon and pretty well experienced hail immediately. Inside the Convention Centre seemed to be the place to be. This gave us some opportunities to capture the architecture of the building and at the same time shelter from the rain. The three levels gave us some interesting angles and an elevated view over the Yarra. After the rain the sun shone and created some spectacular reflections.

The glorious sunset at 5.41PM never arrived so we captured some shots around the South Wharf Marina during the ‘golden hour’ and then enjoyed dinner together at Hooks by the Yarra. The meal was excellent but I think the staff added to the experience.

The weather during the evening turned out to be delightful, so again we tried the upper level of the Convention Centre by night, with different effects. The Webb and Seafarers Bridges were also highlights.

We headed home at about 9.15PM to avoid the crowds from the football but could have stayed longer. The rain definitely contributed to a great Outing!

More images from our members can be found in the gallery.

Little did I know when Anthony Yap proposed this trip last year what an adventure it would be! Those of us who made the trip were myself, Anthony, Rosie Hughes, Russell Lucas, Marie Shaw, Alan Bennett, Geoff and Jill Shaw, Cookie Chong, Jenny and Cheng Yip. Paul had to head home after KL to attend family matters. In addition to our club members there was Marcellian Tan (one of the organisers), a group of his friends and the irrepressible Jack, our local guide.

We started in KL with a side trip to Melaka – it helped to acclimatise with the hot weather and to remind some of us how to use our cameras. KL was a dusty bustling city with a lot of building happening in a rather random fashion and terrible traffic. Melaka was charming – I would go back there any day. Highlights of the Malaysian stopover were the Iron Mosque (at dawn), Petronas towers at dusk and MelakaJonkers and the Serkam Mosque. Marie and I gowned up to enter the mosque – but as mere females were only allowed to look in from the outside areas.

Then on to China, after arrival at the Guilin airport we got onto our barely air conditioned bus with all our luggage. This was our main form of transport for the week other than various forms of local transport and all the walking. First stop was the Longji rice terraces via the village of Dazhai. This gave us an introduction of what was to follow. We transferred to a village bus, then local vans…then porters carried most of our camera gear and overnight bags in baskets as we walked to the rice terraces at Xiaozhai Yao village. The Yao people were very friendly and the terraces a wonderful exercise in graphic design- complete with local models! The trip back was equally eventful with a bit of 4 wheel driving down the mountain tracks.

Read more “The KL and China trip – July 2018”

Our outing for August will be to South Wharf during late afternoon and evening on Saturday 11 August 2018.

• South Wharf Precinct Photography
• Sunset shoot (sunset at 5.41PM)
• Elevated Vantage Point Photography
• Dinner together
• Possible Photography from King Street Bridge
• Possible Photography of the Flinders Street Station Building which has just been refurbished

We will meet at 3.45PM at South Wharf. The outing would expect to conclude at about 9PM.

Please register at outings@waverleycameraclub.org by 5PM Thursday 9 August 2018. Final details will be sent to you once we have the final numbers.

Nineteen keen photographers attended the Motocross Outing last Saturday. We meet in the Bunnings, Vermont South car park at 9.15AM and walked to the Motorcross (about 200 metres).

The weather was blue skies all around but we would have preferred a little cloud cover. The Nunawading and District Motocross Club allowed us to access various ‘on track’ locations for close up action. OH&S vests and signed indemnity forms were a requirement.

The Outing gave us the opportunity to practice capturing sharp images of fast moving subjects and at the same time include some motion blur – challenging!

Burst mode appeared to be the choice of the day and so by lunch time, most had captured several hundred images; the action was non stop.

More images from the day can be found in the gallery.

Our monthly outing for July will be to a Motocross Event during the morning on Saturday 14th July 2018. The location is at Vermont South. We will meet at 9.15AM and expect to be able to capture action shots from ‘on track locations’ during the event.

Register with Ross Eddington at outings@waverleycameraclub.org by 5PM Thursday 12th July 2018.

Our June 2018 outing was to Churchill Island, off Phillip Island, on Sunday 3rd June 2018. This had been planned to enable members to photograph pelicans feeding, farm animals in a working farm environment and surrounds.

We had 17 participants for the Outing and met at the San Remo Fisherman’s Co-op, San Remo; just in time to see the feeding of the pelicans on the beach. Perfect weather; a little cloud but otherwise blue skies!

We then drove to Churchill Island and enjoyed lunch together at Churchill Island Cafe. The cafe had set up a special table for us.

After lunch we saw the milking of a cow, sheep shearing, whip cracking and a working dog demonstration. There were many other farm animals to photograph.

Some stayed until late in the afternoon which allowed them to enjoy a magnificent sunset during the drive home.

Others stayed to enjoy fish and chips at San Remo for dinner.

A good day had by all!

Gallery for this outing.

Our Outing for June is to Churchill Island, (off Phillip Island) on Sunday 3/06/18.
This Outing will allow you to capture images of pelicans feeding, heritage farm images and a variety of farm animals; including Heilan coo. There is also a wetland nearby.

11.30am: Meet at San Remo.
12.00pm: Pelican feeding
1.00pm: Lunch (menu attached)
2.00pm: Farm experience photography.

Activities/demonstrations on the island include:
2.30pm: Sheep Shearing
2.45pm: Whip Cracking
3.05pm: Working Dogs

Register at outings@waverleycameraclub.org by 5PM Friday 1st June 2018. Final details will be sent to you once we have the final numbers. Please let Ross know if you would like a lift or can provide a lift and confirm if you are wanting to join everyone for lunch.

Entry fee to the farm is $13 but is expected to be less on the day for WCC!

Our Outing for May is on Sunday the 6th at The Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens, (formerly known as The National Rhododendron Gardens), Olinda. This Outing will allow you to capture images of autumn.

• We will meet at 10AM at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens, The Georgian Road, Olinda.
• Lunch will will be onsite at Cafe Vireya.
• After lunch, there will be an opportunity to also visit the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens.

Please register with Ross Eddington at outings@waverleycameraclub.org by 5PM Friday, 4/05/18.

When registering:

• Please let us know if you will be lunching with us, (ie: advise as early as possible so a table can be booked).
• Also if you would like a lift or offer to car pool, please mention it in your registration and provide enough time to allow coordination.