Ever since I first visited the Blue Mountains back in 2000 I have been fascinated by the area in and around the Gardens of Stone (GoS). Perhaps it was originally the enigmatic name, that sense of a hidden paradise, or seeing some crude shots of ‘jungle-like’ pagodas, it had sown a seed. When I came to live in the mountains in 2013 and subsequently bought a place in Mount Victoria it gave me a great base, only 5-20 minutes from most of the protected upper Blue Mountains but also 20 minutes or so from the lower reaches of the unprotected GoS areas and 40 mins from the main GoS valleys, Capertee and Wolgan.
But it has been the rather difficult to access areas of Ben Bullen and Newnes State Forests which has attracted my photographic attention. There have been several initiatives to extend the existing protected zones of the GoS into these areas and one can see why – amazing geology, pagodas, valleys, vistas, canyons and flora and fauna. Most of my images here are in the unprotected areas and I will add detailed location eventually to all images, but some are inside the near by Wollemi National Park. A handful of photographs are fifty meters from where I live such as Pulpit Rock or Bushrangers Cave, also in the proposed extension of the GoS.
I hope you enjoy my images in some rarely captured spots where I endeavour to capture them in a complimentary light, when camping out or treacherous treks in the dark for sunrise or sunset, are commonplace. These will be fantastic places to visit in the future and hopefully they will still be around as there are many people and conservation groups trying to protect these areas.
Please note the website images below are all low resolution 1080px wide images, the print ready originals are between 7000-10000px wide and are all very high quality (but if you order a large print then you will be contacted if Gary feels it may not be suitable and of course full refund).
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