Junee, NSW

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It is easy to forget amid the flurry of distraction.

My photographic aim for this trip was to wander Junee with the digital SLR. It had been overlooked during the recent trip to the Blue Mountains. There, the video camera dominated proceedings.

What was I suppose to remember?

I was suppose to remember entrances and exits, accommodation … anything that would embed the experience in my memory and help me create an interesting story for the blog.

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I managed to photograph one entrance

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The weekend at Junee was organised by family who regularly travel around NSW with a group of caravan-hauling friends. Occasionally, they dip into the southern half of the state. Occasionally, I’ll tag along and set up my tent.

In the flurry of distraction, I forgot to take a photo of my little dome tent sitting alongside the sweeping arc that was their row of mobile homes.

Three outings had been planned for the day. The first was a photographic delight – the Railway Roundhouse and Museum. Some places are photogenic, and you come away with your own personalised tourist brochure. The tour guide tried to be helpful, but our group scattered quickly amoung the carriages, excitedly digging out our own memories of past rail journeys.

The second outing was photographically boring – the Liquorice Factory. Nothing sang to the camera, so I put it away. The tour guide sat us in old movie seats. Dutifully and with interest, we listened, watched and tried to answer questions reminiscent of past school excursions. We were regularly rewarded with samples. I highly recommend the rocky road, and now wish I had bought two blocks … no, three blocks.

The final outing was photographically cliche – Monte Cristo homestead. But, thinking back, the tables and dressers and mantles were overflowing with objects. Perhaps if I’d lowered the angle of my gaze I might have seen things differently. Perhaps I missed an unusual photographic still life or two … or three …  as I skipped too quickly through the available rooms inside the house. Outside, the buggy shed and out-buildings lent themselves to the usual images of timber and dust. The tour guide blurted some instructions at the front door, most of which I did not hear, and we were left to follow a trail of arrows that, for the most part, pointed in the other direction.

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The moral of the story is that visual stories are easier to build with my little Lumix and the video camera. The key elements of a story are fleeting. They are easier to capture with something less intrusive than the big digital.

However, and it’s an important “however”, the big digital is in its element when hunting for the “big” image.

There were two from this field trip I’m happy to share.

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You might also enjoy a deliberate “hunting” trip where I tried for the first time to bag a big image or two … or ten … of the Skywhale.