A place in four pictures: New Norcia
We have used it as a base for our West Travel Club weekend writing and photography retreats on several occasions because of the diverse photographic opportunities it offer.
Founded in 1847 by Spanish Benedictine Monks, the unique architecture of the buildings at the Monastery, St Ildephonsus' College and St Gertrude's College make them perfect subjects and they offer an almost endless opportunity for photographers to explore their creativity. The interiors at the museum, the Abbey church and St Gertrude's Chapel are great places to practise low-light skills.
A few hours wandering the town is almost guaranteed to fill up your camera card with nice images. I recommend you bring a tripod if you want to capture some high-quality images inside.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from my last visit.
Once you're at your chosen location, put your photographer's hat on and start looking for pictures.
Set the scene:
Look for a nice establishing shot that shows where you are.
Keep it simple:
Identify a key element in the shot and use composition techniques like leading lines, frames or the rule of thirds to draw attention to it. Simple, easy-to-understand pictures are always best.
Keep it clean:
Eliminate unsightly elements in the frame by changing your point of view or focal length.
Mix it up:
A mix of wide and deep pictures or a close-up or detail shot in a series can add some variety.
Pick your time:
When we travel, we aren't always at a location at the best time for photography. The soft light and long shadows around sunrise and sunset are always nice, so if you can, time it so you are there for the 'golden hours' to really make your pictures pop.
Once you're home:
Edit your pictures hard. Quality beats quantity. If you have taken lots of photos at a place, you may end up with several sets. Group them together like chapters in a book.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
18 hours ago
- West Australian
Crying out for Argentina in Bali
If you ask a random person on the street about their favourite foreign food, there's a good chance they will mention French, Spanish or Italian fare. But they are unlikely to mention Argentine cuisine, which combines all three of the above with Latin American flair and emphasis on grilled meats, heavy wines and rich desserts. Following the closure of El Asador Grill during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no dedicated Argentinean restaurants in Perth — but there are half a dozen in Bali. On my last trip to the island, I asked around about the best one, and one name kept popping up over and over: Don Fernando, a small, casual restaurant in Canggu, Bali's dining and nightlife hipster haven. 'They have this great finisher called 'Mum's signature caramel flan',' one switched-on local said. 'The texture is soft, but it has this caramel thingy (dulce de leche) on the side. When you combine them, it's heaven. Sometimes, I go there just for dessert.' And with that, I was sold. In contrast to the generic whitewashed and tropical decor most restaurants in Bali run with, Don Fernando looks like an old-world bistro in Buenos Aires or France, with Nana-chic features like textured wallpapers, a leather kickboard on the bar, replica antique chandeliers, and roses in vases highlighting crisp white tablecloths. Behind the bar is an open-plan kitchen where chefs cook big slabs of meat on a custom-made Argentine grill: a big, heavy, cast-iron, coal-fired contraption with gears and spinning wheels to adjust interlocking shelves. The service is also old-school, with Silvano, Don Fernando's animated restaurant manager, greeting everyone at the door and offering complimentary shots of limoncello to guests dining alone. He brought us a complimentary bowl of potato skin crisps that went down a treat with a couple of glasses of Malbec, Argentina's most popular red varietal. 'My grandmother taught me never to waste any food in the kitchen,' Silvano said. The entrees were varied and interesting: creamy burrata with smoked tomato salad, a couple of house-made chorizo sausages served on a wooden block with chimichurri dipping sauce, empanadas, and a Peruvian-style ceviche — raw fish marinated in lime and coconut milk. We ordered more wine and then came the meat: a 220g skirt steak grilled to perfection with generous lashings of volcanic salt and served with triple-cooked potatoes on the side. One serving was enough for two people. That was followed by more wine and then the famous caramel flan dessert for me and a single-origin chocolate fondant. Every dish was handsomely plated and bursting with flavour. Argentine food may not be the healthiest cuisine in the world. I dozed off into a food coma in the taxi on the way back to our hotel. It's honest-to-goodness soul food, and I for one am looking forward to trying it again next time I go to Bali.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Spain, Portugal, and Greece battle wildfires
Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece continue to battle wildfires as persistent hot, dry conditions challenge efforts to contain the blazes. Spain was fighting 14 major fires, according to Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend. "Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X. The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west. A heatwave which brought temperatures exceeding 40 degrees on several days this month was expected to last through Monday. Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high-speed rail line connecting it to Spain's capital, Madrid, remained suspended. The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London. In both Spain and Portugal, it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions. In Portugal, nearly 4000 firefighters were battling fires on Friday. Seven major fires were active. Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend. A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations. Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early Friday. Following a series of large fires in western Greece earlier this week, the Fire Service was on alert Friday outside Athens and nearby areas in the south of the country, where adverse weather conditions elevated the fire risk.
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Spain, Portugal, and Greece battle wildfires
Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece continue to battle wildfires as persistent hot, dry conditions challenge efforts to contain the blazes. Spain was fighting 14 major fires, according to Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend. "Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X. The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west. A heatwave which brought temperatures exceeding 40 degrees on several days this month was expected to last through Monday. Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high-speed rail line connecting it to Spain's capital, Madrid, remained suspended. The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London. In both Spain and Portugal, it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions. In Portugal, nearly 4000 firefighters were battling fires on Friday. Seven major fires were active. Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend. A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations. Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early Friday. Following a series of large fires in western Greece earlier this week, the Fire Service was on alert Friday outside Athens and nearby areas in the south of the country, where adverse weather conditions elevated the fire risk.
