Today I spent the afternoon at a Blue-Dog Photography class on Mt Tamborine, it was the second half of a workshops recently cancelled due to bad weather and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. We traipsed through the rainforest to a rock pool and waterfall, the path well worn making it reasonably easy to spot snakes sleeping in the sun. Mt Tamborine has a number of national parks that are perfect for short or long walks, it is an area of the Gold Coast that I never tire of although if you visit the main street on a weekend you might wonder why. The main street is known as Gallery Walk and it is extremely popular with tourists, lots of shops and lots of cafes.
Surrounding the waterfall is an environment that is home to glow worms, you can’t see them during the day which fools people into thinking that nowhere is out of bounds as they clamber over the rocks towards the waterfall. Glow worms are extremely sensitive and their environment easily made uninhabitable by hapless humans, our teacher Danielle lets visitors know that it is a ‘no-go zone’ because it is obvious that they cannot read the signs.
After struggling with my tripod, my shaking hands and my camera settings I finally succeed in getting some shots that I am happy with. Learning how to use the manual settings on my DSLR is a slow process, but the class has helped immensely and actually having the time to practice is even more important. Today we played with white balance to create a different mood with our images and a slower shutter speed helped get that dreamy effect I love to see with waterfalls, using a remote shutter release helped with the shaky hands. Local wildlife showed up for a brief period, this really tested the brain and gave me the chance to see if I could capture a creature without resorting to the P setting on my camera. I’m pretty happy with the result 🙂
Two Black Dogs 
Great shots. Mt Tamborine is a beautiful place, I think I need to return.
Thank you. It is a beautiful place, I love going there on a weekday when it is alot less busy 🙂
So nice to have a place like that to visit. Funny you mention playing around with the settings. With my first real camera years ago that was semi automatic I had no problem doing that. Now that I have a totally automatic camera I have a fear of taking it off the P mode like you mentioned even though in the digital age if I don’t like the shot I can just delete it as compared to having to pay for development of the real film. Love the pictures.
Thank you! I do enjoy having national parks close by, as much as I enjoy going to the beach I prefer the country. Digital does have the benefit of being able to delete bad photos easily, but another thing I learned yesterday is not to delete the bad photos because you can learn alot looking at the settings.
I greet and wish you a nice Sunday
All photos are wonderful
Greetings to you also and thank you 😊
Sounds like a good course, Sam (in a lovely setting). I like your waterfalls. 🙂
Thanks Jo! It is a good course, also fun to spend time with people that love photography as much as I do 🙂
Your pictures are really beautiful and what a marvelous place to have a class!
Thanks Meg! It is a great spot for a photography class, just have to dodge the tourists and wear lots of insect repellant 🙂