Benz World Blog » Industry

Monthly Fossil

Jason Benz — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:26:09 +0000

The new solar roof has reduced my carbon footprint and solved my power shortage. As well as eliminating all reliance on coal powered electricity it has enabled me to change the way I travel. When I began #vanlife in 2018, I would need to squeeze into a town caravan park every couple of weeks to recharge, restock and upload a few photos. Now I produce enough solar juice to power my laptop and fridge everyday. This allows me to stay in the bush and therefore only need to use fossil fuel on one day each month, to do the shopping run. By returning from the shops to a different camp my seasonal migration is also included.

This image has been accepted by Adobe Stock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Walking Dragline

Jason Benz — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:54:53 +0000

This Walking Dragline is one of the largest things I have photographed. I was focused at infinity and still used a wide angle lens to get it all in. The boom that supports the bucket is as long as a football field and the whole thing weighs 6,500 tonnes. This one is working at the BMA mine I visited today. It is one of many open cut mines surrounding the town of Blackwater. The town calls itself the Coal Capital of Queensland but it could claim this title for Australia as the state has more coal than the rest of the continent combined. Australia exports about 70% of its production making it the worlds largest coal exporter. The abundance of black stuff goes some way to explaining why a region known as the sunshine state gets 98% of its electricity from fossil fuels.

I have booked a week at the Blackdown Tableland National Park before I resume shooting the mines.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Broken Hill

Jason Benz — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 23:10:03 +0000

This is one of the many frame heads which are scattered around Broken Hill in New South Wales. The wealth of minerals under this isolated city made Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP Billiton) the world’s largest mining company. We have been here for a couple of days and will be heading for Sydney once we visit neighbouring Silverton which has been used in many films including Mad Max II.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Engine Maybe

Jason Benz — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:00:49 +0000

This is a piece of Randon Iron we found deep in the Goldfields of Western Australia. I think its some kind of engine. What do you think?

To develop this image the blue and green were desaturated in Camera RAW leaving a red spot colour.

Super Pit

Jason Benz — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:37:16 +0000

I took this shot of Karen at the Super Pit open cast mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

Do you think we should include this image in the Machanography category?

Bridge Walk

Jason Benz — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 05:23:43 +0000

This is the view you get of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a pedestrian commuter. You can pay over $200 to climb up to the top. Due to increasing insurance costs it is unlikely they would let me take 2.7kg of camera and lens with me while I climb.

Can this qualify as Mechanography if it has no moving mechanism?

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Top Stock

Jason Benz — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:51:34 +0000

This is a shot of the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. I remember the viewing area over the pit had one of the highest concentration of flies we experienced anywhere in Australia. This image has just become my all time best selling stock image at Shutterstock. It has only been online for 10 months but it has sold more then the old number one which has been online for 6 years.

Old number one

The Superpit image is available for high resolution download here.

The Firework is available for high resolution download here.

Puffing Billy

Jason Benz — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:26:42 +0000

Yesterday we took a ride on the Puffing Billy Railway which runs from Belgrave to Gembrook in Victoria, Australia. It runs on a 2’6″ gauge lines and was built over 100 years ago. As you can see you can sit on the window sill and dangle your legs outside which adds to the experience.

Galaxy Lithium

Jason Benz — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:23:33 +0000

This is part of the first stage processing for the Galaxy Lithium mine in Ravensthorpe. Chris, Robert and Jugal were kind enough to give us a guided tour on Thursday. This rig uses a variety of mechanical processes to separate the spodumene concentrate which contains the Lithium you find in your mobile phone battery. Like most mining in Australia this product is bound for China. Galaxy also owns the processing plant there. I thought this was quite clever of them as I believe most mines sell raw ore to China without adding any value.

After removing the Galaxy logo for copyright reasons this image was accepted for Stock Photography at Shutterstock and is available for download here. I also blended the image with a slightly less high contrast Photoshopped RAW development to adhere to strict stock image quality standards.

Steam Engine

Jason Benz — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:01:01 +0000

This is inside the cab of a steam engine at the Railway museum in Merredin. This image adds to the newly dubbed series of pictures named Mechanography. A little Orton Effect was used to process this image as well as some selective desaturation. We are spending a little more time in Hopetoun and plan to cross the Nullarbor at the end of February.