V & C Impressions

Almost Grey Nomads caravaning around Australia

Author: Vincent

  • Pic of the Day – Mango Man

    Pic of the Day – Mango Man

    Had a short holiday to Townsville over the weekend.

    One of the things that drew me to the Fujifilm camera system is the film simulations you can get straight out of the camera.

    This is a JPG straight out of the camera, just with some minor adjustments and a small crop. The film simulation is called Rockwell (velvia).

    The settings are below, I have changed the color to +2, I found the recommended setting a bit too much.

    Velvia
    Dynamic Range: DR200
    Highlight: -1
    Shadow: -1
    Color: +4 (changed to +2)
    Noise Reduction: -4
    Sharpening: +4
    Clarity: +5
    Grain Effect: Weak, Small
    Color Chrome Effect: Strong
    Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
    White Balance: Auto, +1 Red & -1 Blue
    ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
    Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)

  • Holiday 2020 – Surat

    Holiday 2020 – Surat

    Surat 7 September.

    We stayed in Surat for one complete day, just so we could have a look around. It was Sunday so not much open, not that there was a lot around anyway. This is a town that has seen busier days, after saying that we found the locals friendly and helpful, the town clean and tidy.

    Below are some pictures from an antique car museum, at Glenmorgan, called Montys Garage. It’s right on the main road so you can’t miss it. Unfortunately, it’s closed as it appears the original owner has died, and the estate is in dispute. This is what we heard from a Surat local.

    We also decided to drive back to Myall Park Botanical Gardens which we passed yesterday on our way to Surat. Now when you say Botanical Gardens, I think flowers, bees, birds, lots of color. Well this place is not like that. It’s all about trees, Australian trees. With only one volunteer on site, he’s done an excellent job considering how big the place is. You don’t walk around the gardens here, you drive around. Catherine & I don’t really know much about tree species, we found this place to be of limited appeal.

    One idea to keep in mind is that you can stay there overnight or longer, they have cabins, camping facilities at a very reasonable cost.

    On our way out of the Botanical Gardens we came across a water hole/dam, which to us looked more promising than the Botanical Gardens themselves. Lush and green with wildlife.

    Back to our campsite in Surat, Fisherman’s Park. where we enjoyed a nice sunset with a few beers.

    Tomorrow onto Carnarvon Gorge.

    P.S Sorry for the photos being out of order. I tried to do this on the road, but with an unreliable internet connection it proved to be next to impossible.

  • Holiday – Brisbane to Surat

    Holiday – Brisbane to Surat

    Part one

    With a 5 hour drive ahead if us, we set off from Brisbane at 8.30am, hoping to get to our destination by 2pm Google says allow about 5 hours for the drive. As is usual for us, a few stops along the way happened, with some pleasant surprises.

    Our first pit stop was at Toowoomba, where we stretched our legs and swapped driving duties.

    Second pit stop was at Tara where we purchased gas and toilet stop in some dodgy old falling apart loos. Swapped drivers where our next stop was Glenmorgan where there was an old car museum. We later found out that the owner had died a year earlier and the family is fighting over the estate. Apparently the museum has been closed for a year, but since it is on the side of the road you can just walk though it.

    We then drove past a Botanical garden sign, and since we where running behind time, we pushed on to Surat. We planned on going back the next day to have a look. How can a Botanical garden exist in a place with next to no water? We were curious..

    After that we saw some Emu’s on the side of the road, stopped to take some pics, not the easies as the are very shy.

    we managed to get to Surat at about 3.30pm, time enough to set up and have a beer or two.

  • Fujifilm X-T4 IBIS Control

    Fujifilm X-T4 IBIS Control

    I have just got this camera and had to do a search on the internet to find out how to turn the IBIS (IN Body Image Stabilization) of and on.

    In the menu system for photography on the camera, there is not a specific entry for IBIS. In the manual IBIS is nowhere to be seen for photography, for video it is mentioned.

    Instead it is called IS mode, which is the same as the X-T3 which of course does not have IBIS. This is where the confusion lies. Looking at the X-T3 and 4 manuals, the wording is identical except for the note content at the bottom.

    Below is a simple explanation of how it works.

    The IS mode is in menu Shooting page 2 on the camera

    ShootingSettings Description automatically generated

    IS MODE Options Description automatically generated

    There 3 options –

    1. Continuous
    2. Shooting Only
    3. Off

    Option 3 will not be in the menu if the lens has an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) switch. The lens OIS switch will switch both lens and IBIS off together. It’s either both on or both off. The OIS switch has priority over the camera menu selection.

    Option 3 will be there if the lens has no OIS switch so IBIS can be turned off in camera.

    For me, I set my camera to option 2, to save battery, as I walk around with my camera switched on, no point having IBIS working when I am not taking a picture. On a tripod it will be off. To make this an easy option to get to IS mode is in MY MENU.

    Hope this helps someone out there.

  • Link – Does Sensor Size Matter?

    Link – Does Sensor Size Matter?

    A video from The Slanted Lens Youtube channel abut sensor sizes compared. What does it really mean for your photo?

    It’s interesting as a talking point but at the end of the day these days it really doesn’t matter if you are an amateur/hobbyist photographer. You can get awesome pictures out of any camera.

  • Pic of the Day – Urangan Pier

    Pic of the Day – Urangan Pier

    A holiday snapshot from Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay.

    A popular fishing and tourist spot, at about 1.2km long it seemed to go on forever. Since the tide goes out a long way this pier will get you out towards the deep water for those massive fish everybody dreams about.

    Considering how bad this year has been, this has been a welcome break.

  • Pic of the Day – Betoota Trucks

    Pic of the Day – Betoota Trucks

    A couple of old trucks at Betoota, the smallest town in Australia, population about 0.

    This is a composite using Luminar 4 and a bit of Photoshop to change the sky.

    • Canon EOS 6D Mark II
    • 1/30 sec. f/11 25mm, iso800
  • Pic of the Day – The Olgas

    Pic of the Day – The Olgas

    This photo was taken last year on our big holiday around the center of Australia.

    Unfortunately, there was no clouds in the sky, so I have tried out Laminar 4 sky replacement feature. The sky is my photo has well.

    • Canon EOS 6D Mark II
    • 1/250 sec. f/8 29mm, iso200

  • Pic of the Day – The Eye

    Pic of the Day – The Eye

    I have been trying to get into street photography, here is pic from my walk around Brisbane last weekend.

    It’s a play on shadows, inspired by street photographer Sean Tucker.

    • Fujifilm XT-3
    • 1/200, f4 23mm, iso400
  • New Website Theme

    New Website Theme

    Today I have spent the day updating the website, hopefully making things a wee bit better.

    I am in the process of going through my images and rebuilding my image galleries, a long overdue project.

    I am also going to offer digital downloads, hopefully that won’t be too far into the future.

  • Pic of the Day

    Pic of the Day

  • Pic of the Day – Southern Cassowary

    Pic of the Day – Southern Cassowary

    The Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large bird which can be found in Queensland, New Guinea and eastern Indonesia. They are secretive by nature so are hard to spot in the wild.

    This image was captured at David Fleay’s Wildlife Park. A great place to take the family out for a picnic.