State Route 120

State Route 120 is perhaps better known as the Great Southern Highway. It is the road that takes you to York once you leave Perth via the Great Eastern Highway. I always breathe a sigh of relief once we turn onto it because it means we’re leaving the madness of Perth and returning to our quiet country existence. I love driving down it watching the forest change gradually from Jarrah to Wandoo.  The other thing I look forward to is the art work you see. For the last twenty or so years people have been decorating some of the trees. It maybe a complete paint job of a long dead tree or it maybe a small painting on board or sheet metal that has been attached to a tree.  Every now and again a new piece turns up and its always a pleasant surprise.

 

 

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dave Minion. Great Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Australian Easter Stump. Great Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Startled stump. Gret Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Mary has seen better days. Great Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Tipper is not what he used to be – his ears have been broken off. Great Southern Highway, Western australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Happy to see you. Great Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

 

 

State Route 120 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Lucky The York Tree. Great Southern Highway, Western Australia.

 

I was feeling a bit of a loose end. The weather has been unpleasant and I didn’t feel like going out to photograph wildlife or wildflowers. I suddenly had the bright idea of documenting the art along the Great Southern Highway. To make it more interesting I decided to use some of my old classic film era Olympus lenses – specifically the OM Zuiko 21mm f3.5, the OM Zuiko 35mm f2, and the OM Zuiko 135mm f2.8 – on my Sony A7r. The whole process of framing up, setting up a tripod and manually focusing the cameras and carefully making the exposure is the complete antithesis of photographing birds and it made a nice change.