Sunday, October 29, 2006

To be dammed!

We'll be dammed if this folio looks anything like the Junction Dam & Spillway, in Bogong Village!

The Kiewa hydroelectric scheme is the largest scheme in Victoria, and was built over more than 20 years from the late 1930s until 1961.

Construction was said only to be interrupted by the Second World War.

Located in the Australian Alps in north-eastern Victoria, about 200km from Melbourne, the scheme has been developed solely for power generation.

The scheme diverts and harnesses the Rocky Valley and Pretty Valley branches of the East Kiewa River, which rises on the Bogong High Plains, and the West Kiewa River, which rises near Mount Hotham.

The Kiewa scheme utilises the water from some 310 square kilometres of the Kiewa River catchment. In addition, 32km of aqueducts transfer water to the scheme from adjacent catchments, with much of the water coming from snow, which covers the area for up to five months each year.

For those of you that haven't visited the area, we definitely recommend you stop in on your way to Falls Creek. Beautiful gardens, bbq's for a picnic and a slow, peace pace make this Village a must see - not to mention great photo opportunites!

Wandering down the steep slope to the base of the dam, we went off the beaten track to capture these quite unusual perspectives.

Surrounded by masses of granite, it was interesting to examine the common white variety, was surrounded by black, also pink and dark gray.

As I explored the ground, looking for rare gems of nature, I kept one eye on Oliver who fearlessly sat a few metres perched on a boulder, face on to the dam wall.

Looking at him quite content there, I began to wonder had he considered that on the other side was a lake filled with megalitres of water!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

A magical 2nd Birthday!

It's our 2nd birthday! From humble beginnings of producing koala Christmas cards on the lounge room floor, to shooting major construction projects, releasing a DVD series, having our photography feature in calendars, on pay TV, licensed corporate gifts for the State Government, blogging for one year, framed photos for Walt Disney's office... ahhhh - how rewarding! The hard work is all worthwhile :)

A big thanks to our family, great friends, and wonderful clients who have supported us, we couldn't have done it without you!

Number one question asked this year... Why the name BISON?

In a few words - Magical 15 000 year old Stone Age (Paleolithic Period) paintings discovered at Altamira in northern Spain.

The cave paintings depict mainly bison which lived during the ice age. The paintings were made using natural pigments such as yellow, red and brownish ochres as well as black manganese earth and charcoal. In places, they were also engraved into rock... colours that are gradated into such a vast array of shades that the creatures appear three-dimensional and amazingly realistic.

How were the works painted 45 feet long without light?

What sort of magical rites did they hold? We all shared the continuing fascination with, and curiosity about creativity of that period and found the parallels that exist with what we do... Hence the name, hence the symbolism.

From the magic embedded in cave paintings, to the quality of enchantment produced by our photography and multimedia... a tangent, a giant leap perhaps - it's a step closer than you think ;)



Wednesday, October 04, 2006

What makes a city of tomorrow?

Film Victoria describes Melbourne as a futuristic city. With the development of Southern Cross Station, Port of Melbourne's face lift and famous Fed Square, it's not hard to see why.

Is Melbourne really a futuristic city compared to the rest of the world though? We thought to check out the competition and came up with some interesting results.

Introducing Victory City.

The website claims that our present day cities are obsolete and are threatening to engulf the entire countryside (I doubt anyone disagrees), and is set to permanently destroy vast areas of our best food-producing land.

Victory City™ promotes itself as the wave of the future. It's an entire city built all under one roof, and operated by private enterprise alone. They claim that there will not be just one, but many such cities throughout the entire world.

Boasting no crime (hmmm... how so?), no pollution, and no over-crowding, Victory City is a veritable utopia for those who've grown weary of trying to find solutions to today's urban problems.

Utopia or a bad dream? You decide http://www.victorycities.com