Benz World Blog » Kalgoorlie

Galah Cockatoo

Jason Benz — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:03:15 +0000

This bird is one of Australia’s iconic animals. The Galah or Rose-breasted Cockatoo is one of the most common in mainland Australia. This one was in Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields of Western Australia. To process this image I desaturated the greens and boosted the reds. Some vignetting was also added to darken the edges.

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

Barbaras Festival

Jason Benz — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:58:10 +0000

This is the St. Barbara’s Festival in Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields of Western Australia. This is what miners call the Baby Truck. I think it safely qualifies as Mechanography.

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?

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.

First Last

Jason Benz — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:04:30 +0000

This image was taken on the 2nd December 2011 when we visited the Mining Hall of Fame in Kalgoorlie. Unknown to us until we got there this would be the last time this tourist attraction would be open to the public. It’s a shame it closed as there was much to see and it gave a real insight into the history of mining in the area. After getting advice from Carole she helped me get this image printed, framed and hung at The Deck Gallery. To my surprise, it sold in less than a week. This was the first time I’ve sold a physical print and met the buyer of an image. It was great to know where the image would be going. The nature of selling via Stock Photography is such that I have only found out where one image has ended up by chance in 5000 stock sales.

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

Baby Truck

Jason Benz — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:42:18 +0000

This is what miners in Kalgoorlie call the baby truck. This one took a break from its 24/7 duty in the super pit to take part in the annual parade. The only reason its big brother did not make an appearance this year was it could not fit under the new power lines across the main street. There are 40 trucks like this each carrying 220 tonnes of rock with an average of 2g of gold per tonne. The drivers of these truck can earn £1000/day and they are always looking new drivers. The 500 meter deep Super pit at the edge of town has only recently restarted digging since the rise in the gold price has made it economically viable again. We spent an enjoyable 4 days in Kalgoorlie. We met some prospectors and have seen more nuggets of gold than you could imagine. We are now deep in the gold fields at a place called Niagara Dam. We had a close encounter with two Brumbies today and Karen also saw her first willy-willy this afternoon which she described as a perfect mini tornado about 6 foot tall and very loud. Tomorrow we head for Leonora.

Kalgoorlie Express

Jason Benz — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:08:49 +0000

We have gone inland to the Goldfields of Western Australia. This train passed by our outback campsite last night pulling 135 cars full of ore from the Kalgoorlie mines. We celebrated Karen‘s birthday by checking in to a powered campervan site in Kambalda with hot showers. Tomorrow she has been promised a shopping trip to the gem stone and gold capital of Western Australia. It’s a good thing I start work in three weeks.