This post breaks with the initial historical approach to this minor weblog about the trials and tribulations of the practice of large format photography in Australia in an increasingly digital world.
The photo below is a behind the camera photo made in 2021 when I was at Lorne with the Friends of Photography Group (FOPG). It was made in the Otway National Forest, whilst we were on our return to Encounter Bay. The location is near Joanna Beach, which is between Apollo Bay and Lavers Hill on the western edge of Cape Otway. I had wanted to explore the coastal rocks around Blanket Bay and Point Franklin, but time had run out. That is for another photo trip whilst en-route to Melbourne.
The specific location of the photo is the Aire Settlement Road. I was looking for the Old Ocean Road but I made the wrong turn. No matter. The Aire Settlement Road is easy to access and I could quickly set up the 5x7 Cambo monorail on the side of the road by the car. I had seen this particular road on an earlier trip, when I had briefly photographed along the nearby Old Ocean Road. I had remembered that photo session and I had always wanted to return to the Otways.
(You can see a larger version of the photos in the post by clicking on the photo).
Though this photo is a self portrait, it is really a momento of FOPG's Lorne field trip and a good bye to FOPG. FOPG disbanded just after their weekend Lorne trip in March 2021. The FOPG website has gone. Since it would not have been archived by the National Library of Australia, the group only exists in people's memories, and these fade over time. (I will publish some of the large format photos that I made on that field trip latter as they still need to be developed by Atkins Lab in Adelaide).