Bill Gearon RIP

Looking out over the glacier towards a new beginning, Greenland

My dear Uncle Bill died on Monday afternoon in Bendigo, Australia. He was 97 years of age.

I received the news from my mum during a break in a photography class I was running that night. Being a bloke I was able to put it aside and go back to work. But in the early hours of the following morning, during the hour of the wolf, the memories started coming in thick and fast.

He was a lovely man, a straight shooter and as solid as a rock. A family man and a pillar of the community Uncle Bill gave a significant part of his life to serving the poor. Sadly missed, but remembered with joy and admiration.

Of my mother's 4 siblings, all boys, he was the last of her remaining brothers.

I never knew Little Tommy, my mother's brother killed by a car when he as a toddler. But my memories of my uncle Bill go back to my childhood years when he and his wife, Lorna, would visit us in my hometown, Hamilton. I doubt that there were more than a handful of visits from any of mum's brothers over the years. But I remember them all and the joy those visits brought my family.

When I was 17 I spent some time convalescing from a severe and prolonged bout of Glandular Fever at Bill and Lorna's home in Bendigo. I still remember the address, though I've only been there once since. I was 1/3 of my current age then.

At Bills 90th birthday my mum told a story about when, as a very young child, she told her big brother Bill that she was cold. He reached out, took her hand and put it in his pocket. She remembers that story still, more than 80 years after the event.

I'm only sorry that I hadn't made the effort to visit Bill and Lorna over recent years. Ironically I'd spoken with my youngest sister recently about organizing a day trip where a few of us kids would be able to travel up together and spend some time with the two of them. They say it's the thought that counts, but action counts for much more and I wish I'd got it together.

Much loved and dearly missed, Bill Gearon may you rest in peace.

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Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru

Distant View, Iceland

Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 70-200mm f4 L series lens and 1.4X Extender @ 113mm. Exposure Details: 1/8 second @ f8 ISO 100

What a bizarre landscape? Grass, steam, ash, sheep and distant mountains. Welcome to Iceland!

I made this image in the early hours of the morning after a long day of travel and exploration. My photo traveling buddy Joseph and I pulled our camper van off the road and decided to settle in for the night. But I was restless. The light and the weird landscape beckoned and I headed out for the next few hours to explore the surroundings.

What awaited was a hard land made up mostly of ash and steam. It was Mordor on earth. After a while the sun began to rise and I made photos looking into the light. The dynamic range (contrast) was extreme, but well suited to the eerie mood of the location. Frankly, it was a bit spooky!

After a time I took a circular route back to the car and came upon the outlook from which the above photo was made. It provided a more hopeful view, albeit a little less dramatic than the ones I'd be exploring earlier.

I love the 3-dimensionality of this image and the way the warm sunrise rakes across the landscape. The sheep provide a great sense of scale to the landscape. I had to make 4 separate photos as the little blighters kept moving around. The one I decided upon shows both sheep standing resolutely and looking back towards the camera. OK, I baa baad them.

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Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru

Through The Mist, Huangshan, China

Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4 L series lens

Photographing Yellow Mountain

Regular visitors to this site will be aware of my fondness for Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in Eastern China. I visited during the slow winter season in January 2011 and reveled in the low tourist numbers on the mountain trails at that time of year.

The above photo was made during a very brief clearing in the mist that surrounded me throughout my 3 days trekking the mountain trails. I love the way the mist is swirling around the rocky outcrop which, only moments earlier, was an impenetrable wall of white mist.

Huangshan, I can't wait until I return. And, while it would be great to visit again during spring or autumn, I may well choose to return again during winter. It's hard to beat a location where pathways are largely free of the literally millions of tourists who visit at other times of years. Have no doubt, this is a place of great beauty.

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Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru