I managed to get way to Lake Alexandrina yesterday. Suzanne went sky diving in the early morning near Lake Alexandrina, and we spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon exploring the northern edge of Lake Alexandrina.

salt lake, originally uploaded by poodly.

This region of the Murray-Darling Basin does not have a healthy future --economically and ecologically. Many people still have a strong belief---faith--that enough rain will arrive and save the situation, even though natural science says otherwise.

Others claim---eg., the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group (RLACAG) ---that water is available upstream and can be supplied in time to save the lower lakes and Coorong. If there is no such water available (and catchment inflow data indicates there isn’t) and the scientists and government advisors are right, then the RLACAG freshwater only position is untenable.

My concern on this brief trip was to start using the Linhof Technika 70 with its 6x7 and 6x9 film backs to explore ways to photograph this very flat landscape on the ground. The problem was a formal one: the best way to construct the landscape so that I could then start using a view camera and sheet film.

I used the digital camera as a kind of sketch book and took some exploratory shots with the Linhof 70 and the 6X7 film back. Focusing on an upside down image on a groundglass is slower than through the viewfinder of an digital camera or a Rolleiflex SLR, but I got used to fairly to it quickly even though I hadn't done so in a while.