A Lap of Lake Burrumbeet

Starting with the well known viewpoint as some nice clouds were moving through, then across to the west side of the lake down Dobsons Road for a well placed rainbow before swinging way down south and back up to the south shore in time for the reverse sunset sky.

Lake Wendouree Panoramas

Tuesday evening presented some great clouds at sunset, but this time looking east. Heres a couple hovering above the finish of the rowing course.....its interesting to see the change of colour in the 5 minutes it took me to go back to the car to change lenses. And the church across the road with a new moon making its first appearance.

Moorabool River and Falls

Monday evening I ventured out to the Moorabool Falls area again.......I ended up wandering upstream of the falls for a while, then tried another view of the falls from the viewing platform, and grabbed a great dark, threatening sky at Warrenheip on the way home. I still feel I can get some really great shots at these falls so I'll continue to make return visits.

Death Valley Sand Storm

Back in May this year I found myself in the middle of a huge sandstorm on the Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley. The clam before the storm was really nice, but when the storm came through it was actually quite confronting (I don't want to say I was scared!). Anyway I managed to keep shooting through it all and came away with some nice images.

Bo Peep

On the south east corner of Lake Burrumbeet the district is known as Bo Peep. The creek that runs into Lake Burrumbeet is signed as Burrembeet Creek but a lot of the locals still refer to it as Bo Peep Creek. After nearly 2 inches of rain over the weekend it was flowing pretty high and made for some nice images, along with a newly harvested field.

Mount Buangor State Park

On Saturday I headed about 69km west of Ballarat to Mount Buangor State Park. This park was a real revelation to me, and to top it all off it has a great waterfalls trail! With all the rain we are having well into spring the ferns and general growth throughout the park was really lush - certainly a place I'll be returning to very soon.

A change of plan

Friday evening I was going to head east from Ballarat, but as soon as I drove out the driveway the heavy clouds out that way convinced me to head west instead, so out Rememberance Drive to Bo Peep, which is an area near Lake Burrumbeet, and then on south chasing some clouds towards Haddon, and a stop off at Lake Wendouree to catch the sunset afterglow looking to the east. For the third time this week some birds made a welcome appearance into an image. Also my first mullock heap for quite some time!

A Simple Sunset

On the way home from Trawalla Homestead Thursday evening, this well known spot, and tree,  looking across to Lake Burrumbeet (the lake is over the hill!). Amazing how something as simple as a couple of birds in flight can make a simple, pleasant image into something so much better!

The Inaugural 2011 Ballarat Arts Trail

December 3rd and 4th
If you'd like further info about the venues, don't hesitate to contact me, this is the first time this is happening, and it should be a great chance to view a range of artists work. Here's the brochure blurb....
Fourteen of Ballarat’s professional and semi-professional artists have come together to create an “Arts Trail” across Ballarat and district venues.
They are passionate about their art and will open their studios and workshops to the public to allow visitors to view first hand the working environment and the art work
of a group of successful artists.

Among the artists are many award winners, art teachers with local and international experience, and members of well know local art groups.
Visitors will be delighted with the variety of working styles and the artist’s media, with realist painters working in watercolour, pastels and oils, textile artists, mixed media artists, a landscape photographer, sculptor and a ceramic artist being involved.
The artists, who are coming together for their first experience of the Art Trail, hope that this may become an annual event. They wish to provide greater access to the arts for a broader sector of the art loving public, and hope to attract those who are not regular gallery goers as well as those who are. One of their aims is also to appeal to children and to encourage their interest in art.
Most of the artists work from their home studios while some work collectively in other workshops. These range from appealing loft studios where peacocks roam in the gardens to those who have converted the garage into a functional art-making venue.
All are happy to talk about their artistic inspiration and to show their work to the visitor. Work will also be for sale at all venues.
For further info have a look here..


http://barts.webs.com/

Information brochures and Arts Trail maps are available from the Ballarat Tourist Centre, the Art Gallery of Ballarat and Creswick Tourist information Centre. 

Warrenheip Wanderings

Wednesday evening I spent the late evening wandering the area surrounding Mt Warrenheip, only about 12km east of Ballarat. Finished off with a whole paddock of horses that seemed to be mothers and their foals. They didn't stay too close but I managed to grab one nice image.

Out at Burrumbeet again

When in doubt of where I'm going, usually when the conditions aren't that exciting, I always head over to Lake Burrumbeet...and these show why. The first one is another view across the same fields that I seem to be stopping at regularly, and you can see why. If you go back a week or 2 you can see 2 other great images from this spot. And then on to the Lake itself, and a nice colourful burst at sunset.

Death Valley and Mt Baker Washington

Heres 3 extra images today from a couple of past trips. The first one shows Mt Baker up in Washington State from October 2010, then a couple of nice sunrises, first from Ridgecrest on the way into Death Valley, and then the Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley, both from May this year.

St Georges Lake Creswick

Monday evening I went out to St Georges Lake Creswick, and found my way up the back road that gave me a great sunset view across the lake. Some great skies, and photogenic ducks all contributed to a great visit.

The Jetty at the Lake

Lake Wendouree Sunday evening...just playing around with some slow shutter speeds to see what effects I can get with the water, and I thought these looked quite nice.