I have always avoided blogs as I figured nobody would be remotely interested in the minutia of my mundane existence.

And while that remains true, some people I come across, both online and in the real world, do express an interest in the images generated by this particular project of mine, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The Ross River wanders through Townsville rather inconspicuously. Some drive over the bridges with barely a sideways glance. Others appreciate the great network of bike/walking paths that follow the river for much of its journey through town.

Over the years I have made several embarrassingly futile efforts to lose weight by running and walking around the river of a morning. In that time, like many others, I have come to enjoy the understated beauty of our river - often reflecting fiery red or pastel pink sunrises and sunsets, or the bright blues of a midday winter sky.

So I started taking a camera with me. My little Olympus EPL1 was perfect for running with. The 9-18mm lens was light & compact, as was my Joby gorillapod I carried in lieu of a real tripod. I did get some great colour shots, but started to convert some to black & white as well when composition & features seemed to suggest it may work better.

I've been a fan of IR photography for a while. The spooky work of Simon Marsden is fantastic. So when I finally shelled out some surprisingly meagre coin for a small IR converted Olympus EPM1, I started on cemeteries. I still love cemeteries , but out of curiosity, I also started to drag the IR camera along the river to capture landscapes. I found it is a wonderful tool for capturing the shapes and textures of the riverside paths and trees.

Why Infrared, you may ask? IR provides a unique view of the world. The tones available are noticeably different to a "normal" camera. Green leaves turn out a snowy white. Blue skies turn black. Textures seem to be clearer and more defined.

Paths and tracks offer an easy composition solution for a photographer. Leading lines almost always work. The challenge here is to capture as many different variations on the theme as possible.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Here's a few samples from this project.

There are more in the Dark Paths and Silver Light gallery in my portfolio. I hope you enjoy.