Fields of gold

I’ve recently been on a little road trip into the Australian countryside. It seems that despite droughts, flooding rains and the odd election, the country is still very beautiful. We saw plenty of green rolling hills, sheep, cattle and quite a few alpacas.

One thing I noticed on my travels were the fields of canola, which I think is a relatively recent crop in Australia. This prompted me to take a few photos which I thought I’d share. What’s interesting is that I took these shots without wearing my glasses (too lazy to take them out of my bag) so I couldn’t really see what I was doing. Fortunately, they came out quite well thanks to employing the rule of thirds. This rule is well known to most photographers, and is the first thing you learn if you study photography or design. Basically, it means that you divide the page into thirds and place your horizons or focal points on one of the lines of the grid, rather than plonking things in the middle of the screen.

Here is an excellent explanation from Darren Rowse from the Digital Photography School in case you are unfamiliar with the concept.

It a kind of foolproof method for taking a decent shot, even when you can’t see that well what you are doing!

The shots below were taken at a dingo sanctuary in Bargo, NSW. The dingoes were in beautiful condition and seemed quite friendly, although we were not allowed to get too close to them. To be honest, I think my husband took the first photo, but he has a natural eye for composition.

It was a wonderful opportunity to have some time away from work, relax and recharge. I highly recommend taking a break away from your normal routine if you get a chance and don’t forget to take your camera.