Today's Photo Tip

I thought we'd start Thursdays post with a tip that I'm sure we can all use.......when you stop and sit in the car for at least 30 minutes, then get out and wander around for another 15 minutes, its best to check if you've switched off your lights! I found out the hard way (though it didn't turn out all that hard). A big storm hit Ballarat about 3.30pm so I jumped in the car and raced up to Lake Wendouree, hoping for something interesting. We have had only 1.8mm of rain all month so it was great to be driving in pouring rain, especially as it was just on the time all the kids get out of school, so it was packed. Being somewhat darker than normal I switched on the headlights, found my spot on the west side of the Lake and just waited to see what might happen. After a half hour or so it started to clear and I caught a few images of the sunlight catching the small islands on that side of the lake, turned around to head back to the car and noticed the lights were on, but looking a little dim.....you guessed it....the battery was flat. Anyway, the good old RACV came to the rescue, and quite quickly, too. Another funny thing was that my RACV Roadside Assistance was due yesterday and I had even contemplated whether I needed it as there are so many other options, and offers, from other insurance companies, but it looks like they have me for another 28 years after their very prompt service. So the RACV guy said I needed to drive around for a while, so I headed off to Mt Warrenheip where it was wet, and a little foggy up the top. So, thats January for another year!
PS just added the black and white Lake version.....any comments?

h

More Wonder

...from last night.

.

Wednesdays Wonderland

Once again a visit out to Lake Burrumbeet didn't disappoint. The clouds were looking a bit heavy when I left Ballarat, but there was a strip of light on the horizon that I thought may let some light through and sure enough when it did the colour was intense. You only get a few minutes before its all gone so I was madly jumping from rock to rock working on different compositions, and trying not to fall in!

r

Oregon Barns

This is a series I captured all on the one morning on a trip through Oregon back in October 2010. I've been meaning to have a look at these for a long time as I always knew they'd make a great set. Check out the roof on the last one....looks like some pretty bad wide angle lens distortion but thats actually how it was...its probably fallen down by now!

.

Glow

Tuesday evenings drive around the Mollongghip area felt like a bit of a stroll....just driving around looking for anything that caught my eye. And when I came to go through the images they came together under the one heading - "Glow"

r

Golden

Another couple from Monday night. If you look at the previous post you can see the light that was making its way across the paddocks, and when it finally got to me the paddock behind me just lit up...it was quite a sight. And then driving back home a last few rays managed to peep out of the gap that was fast closing up and ending the light show.

.

Way Out West

There was some terrific light on Monday evening, looking west from out north of Creswick. I'm often at this spot out at Allendale as it gets you up pretty high so you get a great long view of the western horizon, and this was one of the better shows of streaming light, slowly making its way across the landscape.

.

Going Back, Way Back

....to October 2008. Found this one from a visit to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado. We had one, very spectacular afternoon there with some fantastic atmospheric conditions. And I just found out today that there are now 59 USA National Parks - whilst we thought we had visited all the parks in the lower 48 States, they have just created another on January 10th called Pinnacles National Park in California. Fortunately we can add this on to the end of our upcoming trip on February 20th.

.

A Regular Visitor

.... to our backyard. I had a chance to race in side and grab the big zoom, and fired off 3 quick shots before he flew off.

.

The First Full Moon for 2013

After following the moon all week I captured this out at Lake Burrumbeet on Sunday evening. I'd actually been over to Lake Learmonth at first, but the location I had in mind didn't look too promising so I dashed (carefully!) over to Burrumbeet and found this spot.

r

Pelican Pair

These couple of images from Friday at Lake Burrumbeet deserve a showing, don't you think? Make sure you click on them for a bigger look!

.

Before the Fireworks

I went for a drive out to the Clarkes Hill area and grabbed a few "natural" fireworks before I set myself up for the fireworks show on the top of Black Hill. I know which ones I prefer.....!

.

Australia Day 2013

26th January is the day for fireworks in Ballarat. This year I decided to shoot from afar and these are from the top of Black Hill Lookout. Was great to watch from this distance, the sound is quite muted, but I think I'll go back to being closer next year - half the fun is the noise!

r

Don't forget the Aerogard!

Last night at Lake Burrumbeet the bugs were pretty ferocious....but they did give me this nice image shooting into the setting the sun. And for those of you viewing from overseas, Aerogard is a well known Australian insect repellant, should be quite handy tonight at the Australia Day fireworks!

.

Flinders Island Morning

This is a couple from my second morning (last Tuesday) - when the sunlight hits those rocks it lights uplike you wouldn't believe!

.

A Clear Summer Evening

After a promising start to the day on Friday (we had some great looking grey skies and even a few heavy drops of rain) it then cleared to another fine, sunny day with no clouds. Still had plenty to work with out at Lake Burrumbeet - the moons looking great again, I always find it amazing the way it can just seem so distinct and crisp against the sky, only 2 more nights to full, and the birdlife is always worth chasing, especially when I'm using the big zoom lens.

.

See the Horse

Have I been looking at this too long or is there a seahorse in this rock formation?

.

First Morning at Flinders Island

This is from Monday morning, and though there wasn't a big, spectacular sunrise the fast moving clouds, combined with a slow shutter speed, still gave me an image I'm very happy with. This was at 5.30am!

r

A Mystery Location

Lets see if anyone can identify this spot I found on Thursday, and its within the Ballarat City limits......

r

Crayfish Traps on Flinders Island

Wednesday morning - From my last morning down on Flinders Island....some pre-dawn glow in the sky added just enough colour to complement these crayfish traps. Crayfish are a big part of the local economy on Flinders. Even though we photographers are always chasing impactful, cloudy skies, sometimes the simplicity like this works just as well.

r

Deep Bite Bay, Flinders Island

Just got back to Ballarat, this is from Tuesday afternoon on a hike I did around the coast from Killiecrankie for a couple of hours. Most of the rockery is large granite boulders but I came across this section of amazing, sharp, jagged formations, and this one in particular caught my eye. Got plenty of great images to work through in the coming days...stay tuned!

.

Voyageurs National Park in Black and White

 This is from the great 2 hour boat cruise we did around Lake Kabetogama.

.

The Rock

Castle Rock is one of the iconic sights on Flinders Island, and my gracious host, Charlie, had spent most of the afternoon driving around the south part of the island, and on the way back up to Killiecrankie thought it might be worth a look. It was a few miles off the main road up a pretty rough track (or so I thought!) He couldn't have planned it any better....late, golden light with a great reflection....this is just one of the many from the visit here. Its got to be 20 feet or more in height, so is quite an impressive sight.

.

On the Way to Flinders Island

Grabbed these out the window flying across Bass Strait, and then a moon from the balcony here at Killiecrankie.

.

Vermont in Black and White

Just in case I can't get internet access whilst on Flinders Island...this from last October in Rutland, Vermont.

2.00.5

Rolling Along

Saturday evening at Lake Wendouree. No clouds, but some nice rolling waves were catching the last yellow reflections of the sun. 
And I'm off to Flinders Island on Sunday afternoon for another 3 day visit, so look for the next post to be something new and different. Flying direct from Ballarat in a small 4 seater, that should be something else!

.

Mars

....it really felt like it with this amazing colour show. One of the most intense sunsets I've seen anywhere, I actually de-saturated this slightly! Click on this for the full size view, its amazing!

.

Come on, cast your vote!

An epic sunset out at Lake Burrumbeet on Friday night almost caught me off guard. When I drove out there was a lot of cloud around and I spent the first 20 minutes just shooting (with the camera!) the pelicans and then just as we were nearing sunset a bit of colour started to appear and I thought I'd better get ready for this. Quickly changed lenses, grabbed the tripod and found a spot that would give me some nice foregrounds to work with. This image is the start, I'll post the really colourful later on, but as nice as this is in colour, a black and white version seemed just as strong. So let me know...at the bottom of this post are 3 check boxes....lets make "Fantastic" the colour preference choice, and "Cool" the black and white choice! And if you're not sure, click on them for a larger look.

r

Wednesday Extras

A couple of extras from Wednesday...first one was on the way out, and then the last stop of the night. That tractor is actually huge, but gets dwarfed by the massive sky.

.