Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff

The start of this month I started off concentrating on editing the backlog (which I am now stressing less about in order to focus on my health, which means all of these images are again from my phone) and hanging with friends. The first photography trip wasn’t until the 10th of April, which was to watch Puffing Billy (the old steam train that winds its way through the forested mountains of the region) pull into Belgrave station. This required all my patience as a multitude of passengers poured from the locomotive to walk or stand directly in front of me as I was taking photos.

After this shamble (I was also disappointed that it wasn’t billowing steam as it came into the station, the way it does along some parts of the track), my support worker and I drove to Sherbrooke Forest. This was a lesson for my support worker who had been telling me the fortnight earlier his hate for leeches. During one segment of this 2.5hr walk he was inundated with well over a dozen baby leeches whilst I remained unscathed. We now pack salt on our adventures! For some reason I was placed in charge of the map and being extremely Irish when it comes to directions, we ended up getting lost and tacking on an extra hour to our walk. However, it wasn’t a complete failure of a trip.

Sherbrooke is a gorgeous pocket of Victoria, only 90mins from Naarm. Sherbrooke Falls themselves are nothing to write home about, but the river walk is exquisite. We also had the added bonus of seeing a very angry crayfish – a Eustacus Woiwurru (Central Highland Spiny Crayfish). These unique and very aggressive crays make their burrows in the ground and can be found near freshwater. In Victoria they are becoming harder to find, so I registered the sighting on the iNaturalist app – which I highly recommend as it is a powerful tool in the fight for conservation. It’s cousin up in Queensland is on the endangered list.

The menacing Eustacus Woiwurru (a screenshot from my laptop)

With no rest for the wicked, Michael and I flew to Lutruwita on Friday and spent Saturday driving from Longford (near Launceston) to Somerset (near Burnie). Saturday we went chasing waterfalls: Liffey Falls, Upper Preston Falls, and Delaney’s Falls. Between Liffey and Preston, we took the time to walk to Tulampanga Lookout and I am so glad we did. I now urge everyone to visit this lookout to give perspective over how insignificant humans actually are in the grand scheme of things. You can feel the ancient call of these cliffs, the area being a sacred women’s space for the local First Nations people – the Pallittorree.

The inspiring view from Tulampanga Lookout (mobile phone image by T.Leigh)

Whilst I did not get attacked by leeches when out with my support worker on the Wednesday, I did find one on me after Upper Preston Falls but because I had learnt from my support workers experience, I deliberately wore knee high white socks on the trek. I know white socks are the last colour you want to be wearing whilst getting dirty, but I was able to see the black leech immediately and flick it off me with a nearby twig. Win!

Sunday was an early start at Fern Glade Platypus Reserve. This is a nice, easy walk and we had the place to ourselves until we were about to finish up our breakfast at a picnic table near the river. We had not seen any platypus whilst walking, but as we were finishing up breakfast, I noticed two women concentrating on the water down by the river’s edge, so I tiptoed across the gravel path to stand at the viewing platform nearby and lo’ – there was indeed a real wild platypus swimming and diving for an early breakfast itself – my first time seeing a platypus in the wild! Such a phenomenal way to start the day.

Next, we drove to Upper Cam Falls. Reviews on Google Maps are mixed about the difficulty of finding the falls. Let me tell you – it is very, very easy to find. Whilst it is not signposted, and there is only a goat track down to the falls, it is a very simple five minute walk (although I do not think I would like to do it in the wet). The effort is worth it. These falls, this little pocket of nature, is magical. It feels like the best kept secret – so pristine and perfect. I could have literally stayed there for hours; however, I was wary of leeches so didn’t sit on any damp logs, plus we had a schedule to keep.

The mystical Upper Cam Falls (mobile phone image by T.Leigh)

Our next stop was Hellyer Gorge. It is a little walk near a river that is pretty with plenty of different types of fungi and mushrooms (that I like to think are faerie houses/villages, so I do not approve of foraging – plus Irish tales of p!ssed off faeries are scary – you do not want to anger a faerie!). This is a nice area, but I would not go out of my way to see it.

For sunset, after lunch and a nap, we headed to Tioxide Beach. It wasn’t what I was expecting (which were rockpools that I wanted for foreground material with the golden hour colours in the background), it was an adventure with driftwood and dead cut logs everywhere. Tioxide Beach is near Burnie, which is proud about its ongoing commercial logging industry, so I’m not sure how many of these logs have fallen off of the back of trucks, or how many of them have washed up from other areas. The deadwood is interesting to photograph, but as a Pagan, it hurts to see the felling of so many trees and the wastage of the industry.

Tioxide Beach at the end of the day (mobile phone image by T.Leigh)

Monday is a workday, so it was lots of driving to shops on the way to Nipaluna. Whilst Michael was at their appointment in Pataway/Burnie I headed to the beach and some rocks leading into the water. Such a fun time, especially getting the camera ready and chasing after birds so they would lift off en-masse. Then we had some time before the Launceston appointment, on the lands of the Kanamaluka People, so we spent a couple of hours around dozens of juvenile peacocks strutting about Cataract Gorge. Even for a Monday, this area was teeming with people. I would like to spend a day here doing all of the walks, but we just walked across the Alexandra Suspension Bridge and back and then around the Basin.

I truly loved this area, and we will definitely spend more time here in the future, however, with the mountains and trees everywhere juxtaposed with the large area of manicured park grass and Olympic sized swimming pool, it made me think about what we do to the land for the sake of commercial tourism. Surely this area speaks for itself and doesn’t need the gaudiness of these two colonist structures to bring people here (& I’m deliberately ignoring the horrendous chair lift).

Alexandra Suspension Bridge at Cataract Gorge (mobile phone image by T.Leigh)

Tuesday morning, whilst Michael was in appointments, I photographed around Salamanca and up to Battery Point (where I had never explored before). I also did a spot of street photography, which is not my natural go to, so I really admire professional street photographers and their craft.

Hobarts street art (mobile phone image by T.Leigh)

Due to circumstances, that was the last photography adventure for the month. However, I did train up to Ballarat for an afternoon to check out the sublime Nan Goldin exhibition. Previously stating I admire street photographers; I also greatly admire those who can capture humans. Nan Goldin is an absolute ace at this genre of photography. Having recently seen her documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”, I was looking forward to seeing this exhibition and the level of talent is exceptional. Fortunately, the National Gallery of Australia has purchased the entire exhibition, so hopefully generations of Australians can experience this significant work for decades to come.

Now that I am no longer stressed about getting all of my editing done immediately and the flow-on effect of that decision, I am not nearly as stressed as I have been getting. I have been putting a lot more time into positive energy and it feels like that is paying off, to the point that I may have exciting news for you in my next blog post (watch this space - subscribe to email/rss notifications).

T.Leigh

A quarter of the way

The first quarter of 2024 has been and gone – can you believe it! My apologies for the silence, I took some time off after working as a contracted event photographer for Midsumma Festival and have found it difficult to establish a routine. Which isn’t to say I have been sleeping this whole time – I wish!

First up, with the money my Ko-fi fans have graciously donated my way, along with my savings and the first half of my Midsumma payment I was able to buy my new waterproof full frame camera body – the Nikon D850. The D850 has been a blessing - allowing me to push my old lenses at low light events, and photograph beautifully crisp and colourful landscapes.

I ended up photographing seven extraordinary events (including Carnival, Pride March, and Victoria’s Pride) on behalf of Midsumma. “Animalising” is one of the events I photographed that has altered me forever – to the point where I am now trying to formulate the basis of a grant to allow me to photograph the official Bull Trance Festival in Batu City, Indonesia, which the director of “Animalising”, Taka Takiguchi told me about. The trance master of “Animalising”, Master Agus runs the festival, and I would love to explore the connection and importance of trance and nature within the local indigenous communities who have re-embraced this tradition.

The dancers of “Animalising” in rehearsal, by Teague Leigh

What have I been up to since the end of Midsumma Festival? Well, here’s the brief rundown of the photography and art adventures I have been on in date order:

Based on my time with Midsumma this year and what I saw and overheard during and then read and discussed afterwards, I wrote an open letter to the board asking for all members to step down as a vote of no confidence after the violence that was enacted at Pride March. The LGBTQIA+SB community deserve better than to kowtow to police and political parties and I firmly believe there is no place for uniformed police officers to march in any Pride around the world, particularly whilst we are still being abused by these institutions without recourse.

Midsumma Festival Pride March, by Teague Leigh

March was jam-packed and an indication that whilst I have not found routine yet, I am back to busy:

The first photography adventure with my support worker was to Noojee & Gentle Annie;

Then we took a few friends to Daylesford for the weekend for ChillOut Festival where I did bring my camera, but only took a few images at both the Pride Parade and the Carnival. I didn't end up with too many shots as my very old long lens is starting to melt on hot days (it was 38 degrees Celsius - in March! - hello global warming) and not focus automatically;

Cape Schanck mid-month was outstanding. It has long been on my bucket list to photograph and the ferociousness of it did not disappoint. I only managed to stack and land in the water once (within the first 30mins - but I got the shot!) and the tide, whilst going out, was still quite high by sunset (1.3m), so we didn't make it all the way around to the rock pools where I would have loved to have shot from, so I will definitely come back again;

Thanks to your ongoing commitment to my craft and the beauty I am trying to share with the world, and my final payment from Midsumma, I bought my new weatherproof wide-angle lens to replace the limited non-weatherproof wide-angle crop-sensor lens. She's a heavy-duty workhorse, though I must admit I am still getting used to her personality.

For instance, my previous Nikkor 12-24mm wide-angle lens was not fish-eyed, meaning the front of the glass was not rounded outwards. This new Nikkor 14-24 however, is fish eyed. It does not affect horizon/straight lines at all, but what I have discovered is that I need to clean the lens all the time. My workload has been bogged down trying to remove dust spots! I did some Milky Way photography with it which I am not looking forward to editing. There’s a tip for every photographer – know your equipment and make sure it is always clean before every use.

Michael & I went to Sea Lake for a weekend. Nearby Lake Tyrell (Direl) was another longstanding bucket list location, so it was fitting we spent our 5yr anniversary celebrating "walking on water" out on the pink salt crystals of the lake;

Lake Tyrell (Direl), Victoria, by Teague Leigh

During this trip we visited many places along the Silo Art trail and various other places across the Mallee region. I give thanks to the Latji Latji & Ngintait, as well as the Ngai Awang, Ngawait, Nganguruku, Erawirung, Ngaralte, and Ngarkat people as the original custodians.

Did you know that Wergaia is the word for Mallee and refers to the Eucalypts that grow with thick multi-stemmed roots under the ground that collect water? Local lore in the region is fabulous and I urge you to read up on it.

Penultimately, I took myself to Bendigo for two nights, sans camera, as a bit of a cleanser for the months of hard work prior;

Lastly, my support worker and I drove to Marysville to hike Steavenson and Keppel Falls. When I planned that trip Steavenson Falls was the main objective and I had also scheduled sunset in the region, however, once we saw Keppel Falls, I ditched sunset (even though conditions were promising for a gorgeous colour) and truly communed with the magic that is this region.

On the way out of Keppel falls, just after sunset, a tire shredded on the gravel road, and we were stranded for 2hrs as my support worker struggled to swap tyres. Perhaps this was the spirit of the Taungurung people, willing us to slow down and embrace the rivers and mountains of the region?

Despite the difficulty, we persevered in the dark with relatively cool heads, so I’m jubilant knowing that we can triumph over adversity together.

Triumph over adversity. Mobile phone image by Teague Leigh

Going forward, my plan is to continue blogging monthly about the previous month and share tips and tricks that I have learnt as a disabled queer trans artist. I will also start providing more information about the lands on which I visit so that you can get a feel for Country no matter where in the world you are.

I have some amazing news about the upcoming months, but you'll have to keep engaging with my blog posts to hear all about it. As always, I thank you for your support. Together we shall share the magic that is nature in an effort to save it.

This month’s blog question: How many dust spots are too many?

Together we are stronger.

T.Leigh.