Not to be forgotten.....

On Thursday afternoon I went for a run around Lake Wendouree, and decided to carry my smaller camera with me as the conditions looked quite promising. I stopped a couple of times as the sun was breaking through, and this one on the north side of the Lake was my favourite. This is another image I didn't want see get forgotten on the computer.

.

Winter's Farewell

Friday was the last day of winter, and knowing there was a full moon (the second this month) I spent some time deciding on where to capture it. The skies co-operated perfectly out at St Georges Lake at Creswick and the clear, cold, still conditions were perfect. I did manage to get chased off this spot earlier by a couple of very large geese, but fortunately they decided the other side of the lake was a better spot for whatever they were up to!  Now, on to spring and all its colours!

.

Turkey Path Falls, Pennsylvania

Once again looking for something else I came across this from last October's trip through Pennsylvania. The Pine Creek Gorge is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and on a very wet morning we hiked down to the river and found this lovely falls near the bottom.

.

Windfarm Winter

Though we've had a couple of days lately that suggests Spring is almost here, on Thursday it was very wintry again and so I headed out to the wind farm area around Waubra. The fleeting sunlight made for some great lighting conditions, this panorama will be even better if you click on it for a larger look.

.

Down into the Gorge

On Wednesday afternoon I ventured back to the Moorabool Gorge, determined to get down to water level. I did make it, though it was downstream of where I have been looking to get to. If you look at this image and then imagine turning left around the far end thats where the really sheer gorge sides are, but the blackberries are making it very tough. I think when the water level falls back it may be possible to walk up the river itself. And plenty of kangaroos, (or wallabies, I'm never really sure), around, but they never stay still for long and certainly never let you get close enough for a decent pic.

.

A Simple Lake Sunrise

Tuesday morning at Lake Wendouree. I was pleased to be asked to give a presentation on Tuesday evening at the Ballarat Arts Foundation Annual General Meeting and showed the members my winter in Ballarat and district. I always enjoy these presentations and especially showing local Ballarat people just how much great scenery we have so close to home. Its great to have this variety mixed up with our USA trips - yes, the next one is fast approaching on September 24, so stay tuned for some more exciting details!

.

The Daffodil Field

On Monday afternoon I headed out to see how the field of daffodils was looking this year. This site is right next to the Yarrowee Trail and River, north of the freeway and is quite a sight and I think its just about at its peak. There seems to be daffodils everywhere you look in Ballarat this year, but this house-block size patch takes the top award. I'd love to find out the history of why its so abundant!

.

Spray at St Georges

After my visit to Lake Wendouree on Sunday I decided to slip out to St Georges Lake at Creswick to have a look around the falls off the end of the lake where it runs into the Creswick Creek. I'm a regular visitor here so I'm always looking for new takes, and thought this was worth posting, rather than letting it stay hidden in the archives. And how could I go by a day without posting some running water?!

.

Reflections

Lake Wendouree on a Sunday afternoon, in amongst the pools near Fairyland. 

.

Peerewur Falls

On Saturday afternoon I made another visit to the Peerewur Falls on the Lal Lal Creek. A sign of spring on the banks with some daffodils blooming - who knows when these were planted? Water level was great and its becoming one of my favourite spots, it will be interesting to follow it over the seasons. Thanks again to Damian and his daughter Sara for the company, and guidance, and also to the 3 dogs that love to tag along!

.

Lal Lal Moorabool Photo Exhibition

This weekend, August 25 & 26, is the Lal Lal Moorabool Photographic Group Annual Exhibition at the Lal Lal Hall. I was invited to judge the Landscape and Lal Lal sections, so on Friday afternoon I decided to combine the visit with an earlier trip out to the Falls, only about 3km from the town. This was the last image, of many, just before sunset and it seemed well suited to black and white. After this I then went on to the Hall, and was very surprised by the range, and quality of the exhibition. Lal Lal Moorabool is a new club, only in their 2nd year, but they have mounted a quality exhibition from many photographers far and wide. They are to be commended for the great job they have done, and I must say I was made to feel very welcome by the members. So if you get the chance this weekend, pop down to Lal Lal to see the exhibition, a great chance to catch the Falls in full flight with the continued rain we are getting, and I've been told the Lal Lal Hotel puts on a great meal.
PS ....and make sure you get one of their sausage rolls they will have on sale at the Hall!

.

A Quick Dash

On Thursday afternoon I had to make a quick dash out locally and be back home in time for visitors we have staying with us. Fortunately, after a very mild start to the day, the weather turned quite nasty and presented me with some great conditions. First stop was at Black Hill lookout here in Ballarat on my way out of town, then a quick loop out and around Clarkes Hill  as some great stormy skies, and plenty of rain, moved through really quickly. Happy with this lot I was just cruising back in to town near Kirks Reservoir when the sky started to clear and a hint of a breaking sun suggested a rainbow may be on the horizon, so I ducked into Kirks and watched this great rainbow unfold. Not a bad little trip at all!

.

Coming Home

After my visit to Guthrie Falls, just a mile or so from there was this great view of some mammatus clouds hanging there in the sky. Wow!

.

Reflections at Guthrie Falls

On Wednesday afternoon I went out to Guthrie Falls out past Linton just north of Pittong. I was here a few weeks ago after recently discovering this gem, and the increased water flow on this visit really added to the drama. I've got many great images to work through, and on the way home there were some great atmospherics - this one shows the small reflecting pool I found on the edge of the falls.

.

Natural Bridge Queensland

From my trip up north just after Xmas last year.....thought this was too good to keep hidden, in fact when I found it today it was the first time I've seen it since back then. Natural Bridge, Springbrook National Park in south east Queensland is a most unusual geological feature created over millions of years by water tumbling through the roof of a basalt cave. 

.

The Green Tree II

Tuesday was a bit dull and grey so I thought I'd just pop out to Mt Warrenheip again to get a close up of the green tree. I've seen a lot of trees in my time, but the greenness of this one has me quite intrigued...not as wet as the day before so the bark had dried off and lost a lot of its deep, saturated colour.

.

Spring has (almost) sprung

Another from Mondays visit to Mt Warrenheip...the forget-me-nots are blooming lovely!

.

The Green Tree

On Monday I made the trip to the top of Mt Warrenheip, only about 12 kms from home. Wandered around for a while and was pleased when the cloud cover started to descend, and then came across this great tree. A lot of the bark had been stripped off and the underneath was this vibrant green, probably the early stages of moss developing, but certainly made a strong contrast to the remaining red bark.

.

Lal Lal Falls in motion

Lal Lal Falls

After Saturdays visit to Moorabool Falls, I knew I had to visit Lal Lal Falls to see how much water was flowing, especially after having to take a detour the night before as the road around to Lal Lal was blocked by the flooded Lal Lal Creek. I thought this selection made a nice triptych...this would look great hanging on the wall! Make sure you click on this for a bigger look!

.

Shadow Play

On Saturday I went back to Moorabool Falls to see if the recent rain in the last few days had made much difference, and I gotta say they are booming! If you're in the area you really should make the effort to visit Moorabool or Lal Lal Falls, its quite a sight. However, whilst shooting the Moorabool Falls from the viewing platform, the sun broke through and I noticed my shadow cast on to the falls. What makes this image even more interesting is the large tree shadow on the right. This tree always blocks  the view of the falls from further downstream making it very hard to get the classic up the river view of the falls...great the way its made its way into one of my images in such a positive fashion!

.

Raging Waters

Wet is all I can say! This is the bridge over Birch's Creek just out of Kingston on the Werona - Kingston Road. I can usually cross here (carefully) in my gumboots, but no thought of that at the moment. Lots of paddocks starting to disappear below water at the moment, and more rain forecast over the weekend. Mmmmmm......should have the waterfalls booming even more!

.

...till the cows come home......

......thursday evening on the side of Mt Callender......Lake Burrumbeet is behind me. Another foray into black and white.

.

5.05 - 5.06

I was out on the west side of Lake Burrumbeet on Thursday evening, watching the skies, waiting.......and it was very cold! Then, for just a brief moment, the sun broke through to light up the reeds just offshore. The dark, ominous clouds added their drama to the scene. I checked when I got home and I managed to capture 5 frames - the camera data times them all between 5.05 and 5.06. Did I mention it was cold.......?!

.

Slaty in Black and White

I thought this was worth sharing....some granite boulders from the side of the creek.

.

Slaty Creek, Creswick Regional Park

On Wednesday I made the trip out to Slaty Creek, a spot I haven't been to for a very long time. In fact I can't remember ever having seen it with running water. This is in the middle of an old gold mining area and the landscape is pretty harsh in places with the the still visible upheaval of the land all around. Still a nice place to explore and only a few kms from Creswick, and the creek is running very well.

.

Along the Yarrowee

Tuesday afternoon was spent exploring along the Yarrowee River out past Brown Hill, north of the freeway. There's always some nice action along this section and the high water level is certainly making it a bit more lively. This triptych will benefit from a larger view - so click on it to check it out.

.

Getting wet at Moorabool Falls

I went with some friends to visit the Moorabool Falls on Monday afternoon, and we all had a great time - the falls are really booming, and the area has been cut back quite a lot to make it easier to get some nice views of the falls. We all scrambled up pretty close to the base and the spray was flying everywhere, as the attached image shows. Rather than try to battle the spray by constantly wiping the lens I decided to go with it as is, so those viewing this can get a closer feel to the actual conditions.

.

In the backyard.....

...from Sunday morning.

.

Sunday Sunset at Lake Burrumbeet

Went out to Lake Burrumbeet to look for new ways to photograph this often visited location, and found this nice beach side composition....and then I could't resist the great sunset!

.

The Balla-Relics Project

Something very different today.......I've been working (slowly) on a follow up project to last years Goldscapes exhibition. The plan is to find and photograph the lost and forgotten relics of Ballarat's gold mining past that still exist within the City limits. I posted a few images earlier this year, and for Saturday's excursion I made a visit to the remnants of one of the mines in the Mt Pleasant area. There's not a lot to show for most of these relics, and this pile of bricks buried in the forest was quite a challenge, but amazingly, the local graffiti artists had found this site and their colours added some life to an otherwise bland brick wall. I still need to confirm the actual site name for this one, the amount of different mines scattered throughout the city is quite amazing.

.

The Badlands

This is where I was heading to on Wednesday afternoon but ended up going down to Mt Buninyong. So on Friday afternoon with another cold wet day, but passing sunny breaks, seemed like a good idea to visit the Ballarat Badlands down in Sebastopol. This image is incredibly similar to some of the vast landscapes we see on our trips to the USA south west, but at a much smaller scale.  I really like that extra touch of green in the foreground, and the constant wet conditions has everything looking rich and saturated. Very hard to move around here as the surface was very soft and slippery, and certainly a location that deserves regular visits. Click on this for a better look, its got heaps of detail to explore.

.

Andersons Mill, Smeaton

I was pretty excited last night when the rainbow appeared above the Mill, but actually think this one, especially in black and white, is a better image.
And a bit of history on the Mill.....
In a postcard setting on the banks of Birch's Creek at Smeaton, Anderson's Mill stands as a reminder of an industry that flourished after the gold rush of the 1850s. Standing much like it was over 100 years ago; the five-storey bluestone building and its magnificent iron water wheel are still in place. 
You can read more here....
http://www.ballarat.com/andersons.htm

.

Smeaton Smorgasbord

Very cold in Ballarat on Thursday...the wind was freezing, but the hoped for snow didn't eventuate. Great clouds had me driving for miles until I ended up at Smeaton and found quite a range of images. First up is this massive cloud I found myself underneath - thats Mt Moorookyle just poking its head above the horizon. Then down to Andersons Mill, where Birchs Creek is raging, and whilst I was shooting these it started to rain, and out came the rainbow perfectly positioned above the Mill. Happy with this lot I headed home only to find just up the road some great reflections off the side of the seed mill tanks. Who needs snow!!

.

Atop the Mount

Wednesday afternoon entailed a visit to the top of Mt Buninyong. The clouds I noticed from back in town sitting on top convinced me to change my plans and head that way. This is a selection of the fog shrouded trees. Maybe today I'll get to where I was planning to go last night.....!

.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

As you all know I'm a big waterfall fan, and I thought this view of Multnomah Falls from our October 2010 trip was worth sharing. At 620 feet its a bit larger than what I have locally to work with!

.

Around the Corner

On Tuesday I went out to the Yarrowee River at the Gong Gong Reservoir. As has been the pattern this winter the water level is very high - here's a selection...and the first one especially suggests the title of this post!

.

Out Mt Beckworth Way

On Monday afternoon...another of those cold, fast moving, great skies that Winter is all about. And plenty of rainbows as you drive around. The 2nd image here is the bluestone remnants of the Mt Beckworth Presbyterian Church...I've been down this road a few times and this was the 1st time I've noticed this site, with its small commemorative plaque.

.