New Fern Life – Sherbrooke Forest
A couple of images from a cool winter’s walk through Sherbrooke forest, Victoria, Australia.
Olinda – Ferns in the Dappled Light
I went to shoot the Olinda Falls today but the light turned out to be a bit too patchy and harsh. The dappled light streaming down through the tree-top canopy did however provide the right conditions to make a feature of the ferns.
Visiting the Silky Lady – Hopetoun Falls
The Hopetoun Falls is a popular tourist attraction located in the Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia.
Pictured below – A View to the Falls – Just a short distance from the car park, visitors are treated to a tempting glimpse of the falls from above through a gap in the lush forest greenery.
A short picturesque walk down a path through the forest gives access to the base of the falls. Upon arrival at the base it’s very easy to imagine that you’d somehow been transported into a fairytale. It’s a dream location for photographers and indeed it’s difficult to take a bad shot here.
Below – The Silky Lady
Below – Peeking at the Silky Lady
Below – In the Land of Fairytales
Morning in the Forest of Ferns
Early morning in the forest of ferns.
As the sun rises higher in the sky, beams of sunlight break through the forest canopy spotlighting details in the foliage.
Glint
Shhhhhh, ….you can hear the forest breathing!
Sherbrooke forest is a protected area of bushland located in mountains on the outskirts of Melbourne. It’s an area of fairly thick bush with a series of meandering walking tracks for visitors to enjoy.
The best way to explore the forest tracks is ideally alone, …. and as quietly as possible. Many of the forest’s resident animals are nocturnal but there’s still lots to see and hear during the day if you just stay still and quiet for long enough. You can forget about seeing anything much at all if you travel the tracks in a chatty group because the animals will freeze and wait for the noise to pass.
When I visited Sherbrooke forest it was a stinking hot day. I’m sure glad I packed a water bottle into that camera bag. The pedestrian traffic along the track was fairly light, probably due to the heat of the day, and this allowed me to stop several times along the track, undisturbed.
In this forest the animals are not tame but are somewhat conditioned to the presence of human visitors. If you stay still and silent for a couple of minutes, the animals seem to relax and carry on with their usual business. You start to hear the rustle of dried leaves as the animals move around on the forest floor and if you continue to stay quiet you can sometimes catch a glimpse of one of the wild residents.
On the day I visited Sherbrooke forest I was able to catch glimpses of wild kangaroos or wallabies and also a wandering echidna. I must admit though, that when I stepped off the track to photograph something of interest, I was very aware that this is also “snake country” and so I was careful to check where my feet were landing.
These photos were taken using a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens at an aperture of about F11 to give a deep depth of field (DOF). If you would like to see a higher resolution version of any of these photos then please go to – http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimworrall/ The images are marked with the tag “Sherbrooke forest”.
If you have any questions you can contact me at – jim.worrall@gmail.com
Update – High resolution versions of the photos above are available as prints at –
http://www.redbubble.com/people/pixelmuser/
