Benz World Blog » Orange

New Year

Jason Benz — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 13:01:46 +0000

Happy New Year 2020. Like much of Sydney, I have been asking myself whether to do the fireworks this year considering the city is surrounded by bushfires. My solution is this picture, created from the sun light tinted orange from the smoke of the fires reflected in the waters of Leura Falls Creek in the Blue Mountains.

2019 was the most photogenic year so far, producing 200 stock photos. This was done by unintentionally driving across every state and territory in Australia. This year I will reduce my carbon footprint by doing less ambitious distances. I hope to increase the number of photos per mile by shooting more locations along my route.

My 2020 resolution is to embrace the spirit of slow travel.

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

Dust Storm

Jason Benz — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:24:06 +0000

I drove through this dust storm shortly after crossing the border from South Australia into Victoria earlier today. I have never experienced anything like it before. I did not expect it to include bands of heavy rain. This unusual combination turned much of the traffic completely orange. At a couple of points, it overwhelmed my windscreen wipers so I had to stop and clean it by hand. The moment I opened the door I was hit by the strong winds and dust. It was how I imagine stepping onto the surface of Mars.

Tomorrow, after I clean my vans air filter, I should cross into New South Wales on my way to the Blue Mountains.

Stanage Sunset

Jason Benz — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 05:36:14 +0000

Stanage is a tiny town at the tip of a peninsula and the end of a 100km dirt road. It sticks out into the Pacific ocean surrounded by islands where the continent fragments into the shallow turquoise waters at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef just north of the tropic of Capricorn in Queensland, Australia. The town is encircled by rocky headlands separated by wide open beaches where unseen creatures create intricate patterns with millions of small sand spheres. The beach camp faces west so the setting sun reflects in the ocean every evening. A rare occurrence on the east coast. Anywhere else in the world this sea view would be priceless. Here local volunteers maintain a free camp along the coast between a boat ramp and the general store. Both are kept busy by the transient population. The Plumtree store sells gas refills and can fetch anything you want in their twice-weekly supermarket run. This all makes Stanage a popular place to escape the worst of the winter chill.

Fishing seems to be the main pastime here although I photographed one guy sat on a surfboard looking out to sea. He beckoned me over and announced he was about to surf in crocodile infested waters. I asked if he thought that was wise. He just grinned and looked back at the ocean. Not wanting to discourage his obvious enthusiasm I said I had heard people have been seen swimming here. Well, he liked that. Without hesitation, he grabbed his board and started running towards the sea. Had I accidentally encouraged someone to risk their life? I went back to the van to switch to a longer lens, by the time I got back he had attracted some onlookers. One couple said they had been visiting for 30 years and never seen anyone try to surf here. Try to? As if the only problem was lack of surf, not the risk of becoming a giant reptiles’ snack on a stick!

I am currently in Mackay for a few days to restock. On Monday I will be going to Cape Hillsborough National Park for 4 days. After that, I will be exploring the Coal and Sugar region west of here before going North again to see the sublime Whitsunday islands. Although Birds, Boats and Beaches are a lot of fun to photograph it is mining and machinery which seem to be in higher demand. Currently, Mechanography accounts for less than 10% of my portfolio on Shutterstock but almost 50% of the income so these opportunities cannot be missed.

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

Eclipse Timelapse

Jason Benz — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 09:44:32 +0000

This week the internet has been flooded with photography of the 2017 eclipse from America. One had a timelapse of the international space station repeatedly silhouetted on the sun. Australia has to wait until 2028 before an eclipse will pass over Sydney so I had to improvise with this composite made in Photoshop.

Pirate Ship

Jason Benz — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 12:53:41 +0000

This ship is the Notorious. It is a replica of a fifteenth century Portuguese caravel made from reclaimed Monterey Cypress. Caravels were favored by pirates for their speed, agility and large holds. This one was designed and built by Captain Graeme Wylie over 11 years in Victoria. He now sails around the coast of Australia with his wife Felicite. We met them both this weekend, as they stopped on the Gold Coast on their way down to Sydney.

Surfer Silhouette

Jason Benz — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 01:08:24 +0000

This beautiful sunset appeared through a misty cloud at Goolwa Beach in South Australia. I had positioned myself so this surfer would walk in front of me to produce a silhouette and make the shot. Unfortunately as she approached she saw my camera and put her hand over her mouth thinking she was about to ruin it. I tried to explain it was OK but the moment was lost. Fortunately I had captured a body surfer earlier so I could Photoshop in his head and shoulders. Split toning was also used to create some extra colour.

Gold Night

Jason Benz — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:55:04 +0000

Last night we went to Brisbane to film 3 bands for the YouTube channel MusicLive4U. Highlight of the evening for us was this 10 piece funk soul band called His Merry Men who were launching their new single Gold. I highly recommend you check it out.

To process this image yellow/orange split-toning was used to achieve the gold colour under the pink lights.

Streaky Pier

Jason Benz — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:19:12 +0000

This is a silhouette of the Pier at Streaky Bay in South Australia.

I have spent most of last week going over all the old posts in this blog. I have been adding tags and links to make the site easier to navigate. Travel and Stock Photography can encompass just about everything so it has been interesting to discover what the more common subjects have been. Here are a few of the more common tags at the moment. 81 of Australia, 73 of UK, 67 of Water, 56 of Buildings, 45 of Trees, 44 of Transport, 43 of Cities, 42 of Night, 36 of Augmented Reality and 35 for Red, Blue, Sky and Sand.

Sydney Tower

Jason Benz — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:16:53 +0000

This is the Sydney Tower in New South Wales, Australia.

I used Google analytics recently and discovered a boost in Benz World Blog site traffic. On closer inspection the extra traffic was a result of a doubling in the amount of Google search traffic. I opened an incognito browser and started Google image searching the blog titles. To my surprise over 60% appeared on the first page of images. A further 11% of blog titles put into Google came back as the number one image. I use two word titles for all posts. I hope one day to accidentally name a blog with a Googlewhack but for now I am very happy with these obscure Google number ones.

Solar Nuke
200th Photoblog
Adios Adelaide
Hopetoun Rocks
Hopetoun Stingray
Sealion Sammy
Belton Folly
Belton Globes
Floyd Riot
Edible Asteroid
Austrian Clouds
Spice Bowls
Nile Skyline
Colosseum 1926
Fractal Hieroglyphics
Hathor Fractal
Pyramid Lightning
Rutland Stump
Wicker Spitfire
Syracuse 1926
Sphinx Pool
Trinidad Sunset
Dahabia Jordan

Solar Nuke

Jason Benz — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 02:19:12 +0000

This sunset was taken in South Australia on this coast.