Wandering Wilderness with the Helios
24/08/26
It’s always time for an adventure when the folks come to town, and while the main purpose of the visit was to reinforce the shed out back for storm season (I do not need it falling onto my motorcycle), we always make time for me to take them to some new locations… new for them, that is... On this particular visit, we managed to get out twice, double the usual amount! Given the low stakes of the trips, I thought it would be fun to focus on the combo of the Canon R8 with the Helios 44-2, a combination I still need a lot of practice with and haven’t had the chance to touch in a couple of months. The results? Dreamy, as one would expect.
Our first trip was out to Dumaresq Dam, my second visit to that location in almost as many weeks. We wanted somewhere close to home, and given we only had a few hours free that afternoon, the trail around the perimeter of the dam was really the perfect length. The main takeaway from the walk is that I really need to get a step-up ring for the Helios so I can shoot more openly during the day. Not wide open, mind you—I think f/2.8 is quickly becoming the sweet spot with that lens—but open enough to retain the swirly bokeh that makes the lens so unique. It really does add a nice layer of abstraction to any close-up shots of the environment you take.
25/08/26
The following day was planned to be the big one: taking my parents on a nice big loop from Armidale to Uralla via Thunderbolts Way, and it ended up taking the best part of the day. The first stop was Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve, one of my favourite destinations and a spot I really need to spend more time taking portraits. I didn’t get much in the way of shots as we were moving quickly since we had to leave the dogs in the car, but I managed to snag a couple of cuties of the parents while they were out in front of me. It’s a really lovely spot at the moment, with the wattles out in bloom.
Our last stop before the Bolt Inn for lunch was Yarrowyck Crossing Reserve, a spot I have revisited many times now since I was originally introduced to it for a portrait shoot with good friend Lisa Goldzieher. Last time I visited this location, it was with Evelyn, and the river was bone dry, with absolutely no water flow. It was amazing to see it running again, and not to the point where it made getting around downstream a struggle—just enough to keep things nice and fresh. Honestly, I could spend all day poking around this spot, and maybe someday I will. I really love a bunch of the photos I got here on this day. What a great way to wrap up an all-too-brief visit.
