HaydnDarePhotography
FollowDriving down a deserted road at your own pace with all the time in the world is an amazing way to explore your surrounding areas. Cold days also make for the be...
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Driving down a deserted road at your own pace with all the time in the world is an amazing way to explore your surrounding areas. Cold days also make for the best mountain weather!
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Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Runner Up in Empty Roads Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Travel Photo Contest 2019
Contest Finalist in Tall Trees Photo Contest
People's Choice in A Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in A Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol4
Peer Choice Award
Contest Finalist in Curves In Nature Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 25
Staff Favorite
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I was out exploring on a recent and very wet morning at Mt Margaret, just a little more than two hours away from Melbourne, Victoria. I had never been to this mountain so I had no idea what to expect!Time
I had my alarm set to wake up at 5:30 am, which I did. I was meaning to go out that morning to shoot because I had just gotten some new gear and I was eager to test it out. Little did I know, it was cold enough for it to be snowing at the top of the mountain (this is Australia remember, even our mountains aren't always covered in snow!). Spending a few hours up there freezing my butt off was well worth the perfect conditions that came by at around 11:30am on the way back down for this photo.Lighting
The sun was hidden behind the clouds, but showing enough to light everything up. It was just gorgeous. No harsh midday shadows, low white clouds lit everything up evenly.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 5Ds with a Canon 70-200 f/4 at 200mm. This photo is a panorama that I put together using Lightroom making it a much larger image than I thought it would be at first.Inspiration
I was out by myself, so I had all the time in the world to explore at my own pace and find some nice shot. I was actually just about to dive home when I saw this view on the way down the mountain, at first I thought it was just more cloudy skies and then the cloud began to move away from what it was hiding! I said "Oh sh*t, that looks good" verbally, got out of my car and started to take my photos. It was the last set of photos I took for the day!Editing
This photo is a vertical panorama using five different photos. I had lenses on me at the time that would have been able to take the whole thing in one shot, but I wanted to get the most detail I could, even using a 5Ds with it's 50.1 megapixel sensor wasn't enough for me. So I put the 70-200 on it, focused where I wanted the focus to be, turned autofocus off (this is important for panoramas) and took my images. I loaded them up into Lightroom and merged them into a 111 megapixel photo. From there on, I tweaked the exposure and all the other usual stuff to give the photo more life!In my camera bag
I recently bought a Lowerpro backpack so now I take most of my gear with me where ever I go. When I go out on adventures like this, always pack my Canon 70-200 f/4 first, fantastic lens. Then I pack my Canon 5Ds with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro attached to it, I keep my Canon 7D Mark II in my bag too because I trust that thing more than the 5Ds in extreme weather, it's never missed a beat since I got it three years ago. I also have a 16mm lens on my Panasonic GH5 which I use for video while I'm out. The last main piece of equipment is my favourite lens of all time, the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 Art, anyone who has a crop sensor camera should get one! Then there's the usual stuff like extra batteries, memory cards and a few snacks!Feedback
Exploring is the best piece of advice I have give, go out alone (if you feel comfortable) and take your time, you'll reward yourself when using patience on landscapes. If you want to take photos this one, your best bet is to head anywhere that is mountainous, covered in forest and gets wet quite often! I always try to travel to places that aren't exactly for tourist, they're much more undisturbed, quiet and more often than not, more beautiful. On busy touristy roads, you may not be able to get out of your car, walk down the road and take your time taking photos. If you wanted to go around the area that I took this photo. It was taken at Mt Margaret, in Victoria, Australia. The whole area in a gold mine for beautiful landscapes as it's near Lake Mountain and not too far from Mt Donna Buang down south. Be careful though! A lot of the side roads are tough 4WD tracks!