Autumn Lingers

Thursday, the last day of Autumn at the Ballarat Botanic Gardens, and still some lovely colour around. This is the cypress swamp at its best. I've got a huge back log of images to work through....stay tuned, this morning was, again, sensational!

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The Forgotten Sunset

Well, almost...after all the excitement of Wednesdays morning shoot, which I am still sorting through, I did pop up to Lake Wendouree last night for what turned into a pretty fantastic sunset.....heres one of the last I took.

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Wednesdays Wonders

One of those mornings that you remember for a long time.....headed out to Warrenheip as I know there is a nice spot half way up that you can get some nice early morning views, and that paid off big time. One of the best foggy sunrises I've ever seen, the first one here is just a taste, I'll post a few more later from this spot. Its a bit hard to see at this size but the small white dot in the lower left is the farmer out in his ute driving around the paddocks checking on the sheep. I was pretty happy with this spot and was heading back to to town, but rather than turning right towards Ballarat, I decided to go left out towards Dunnstown, and things just got better and better. Theres an old relic in a paddock that was looking nice in the fog, spider webs hanging off fences, lovely long driveways and to top it all off, something I have never had the opportunity to photograph before....a fogbow! Wow!

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Big View from Mollongghip

I was out at Daylesford on Tuesday arvo, and timed it so I could come home to Ballarat late in the day. It was quite overcast but up high at Mollongghip I picked up a few nice grand views looking across to the west. A nice selection........but make sure you come back tomorrow, I got some fantastic images this morning (Wednesday) on a brilliant, foggy, sunny morning and managed to capture a sight I have never seen before.....!

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Another St Georges Falls

Still going through all the great images from my visits over the weekend, and thought this one was worth a look.

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Balla-Relics Scouting

I spent Monday evening scouting a few sites for the Balla-Relics project. First stop was the Band of Hope No. 9 site in Redan......I went armed with shears to tackle the overgrowth but it was much bigger than I remembered so I took some images anyway which will work well as a comparison when I do get it cleared. Then the Winters Freehold No. 2 mine mullock heap, and finally the Evening Star in Sebastopol. Its amazing to realise what stills remains within the City limits, but mostly overlooked these days.

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Prior to my Sunday afternoon excursion, I went out early Sunday and, having passed this small cabin many times in the past, made the stop as the clouds were pretty interesting and I knew it would work well in black and white. Its in Clarkes Hill Road, near, yes, Clarkes Hill....but actually closer to Bullarook. 

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The Falls at St Georges Lake, Creswick 2

Actually its my 3rd visit in 3 days....I figure whilst its looking good I'll make the most of it. This time I was determined to get down lower at the base and I can tell you it took a bit of bush bashing and it was very slippery! But the gumboots did there job for this selection.

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The Falls at St Georges lake, Creswick

After my ramblings around on Saturday afternoon shown in the previous post I stopped off at St Georges Lake again to see what else I could find and this is one I really like. I think it deserves to be in its own post!

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Saturdays Excursion

Went for a drive out through Creswick and out past Smeaton as some grey, low dark clouds and rain were all over the place. First here is from Alcorns Road at Smokeytown, then a couple from Cowies Rd...the big hill in the last one is Mt. Moorookyle, an old volcano.

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Everglades National Park, Florida

We've been home 5 weeks now and I've finally got to the Everglades, our 43rd National Park........we were there at the end of the dry season, so not a lot of water around, but still very happy with this selection. And had to finish this set off with the obligatory alligator! One more park to go on this trip........

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Bad weather has its rewards

As anyone in Victoria would know, Friday was very cold and very wet. But the amount of rain had me thinking that St Georges Lake waterfall at Creswick might have some action going on....and indeed it did!

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Nimmons Bridge II

Another from Thursday night that I felt was worth showing.

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Nimmons Bridge

I was actually heading down to the Devils Kitchen on Thursday, but thought I'd have a quick look at Nimmons Bridge - and ended up spending the rest of the day there. Though there wasn't any spectacular light to work with, there were some great fast-moving clouds and  I still got some nice images, and with a view to converting to black and white, this one I particularly like. Its the Golden Stream Historic Reserve, a disused deep lead mine alongside the iconic Nimmons Bridge. 

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If you keep looking.....

....you can still find interest in places you have been to many, many times. Once again out around Windermere and Burrumbeet, quite a range here. 

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Big Skies at Windermere

....and the trees and sheep were a big help, too! This from a Tuesday evening journey when I thought I was going to get some big sun rays, but these great skies more than made up for it.

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Yes, it was cold!

About 60 of us met in Creswick at 6.30am on Monday morning for the final event on the VAPS weekend calendar....and, yes it was very cold....I checked later in the day and it was minus 2.5! But it was a lovely morning for photography and I think without exception everyone was thrilled when we drove into the driveway of the property I had organised for us to visit. Here's a selection from my morning, starting with Creswick Town Hall at 6.16am, and finishing with Andersons Mill in Smeaton (an afterthought on the way back to Smeaton, I had 2 members from Knox with me so I was pleased to be able to add a little extra to their morning.....for all you VAPS people that may be reading this and feel like you missed out, just let me know when you're in Ballarat and we'll meet up again!). I've been getting tremendous feedback from everyone about my presentation on Sunday, and constant thanks, but just let me say a big thank you to all of you in return....trust me, I enjoyed the weekend as much as you all did! And make sure you click on these for a larger look!

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