Winter Afternoon Light

First one here is from along the Yarrowee River just before the sun went behind the clouds, and then a bit later on out at Glen Park just as the sun returned from behind the clouds.

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Birch Creek Black and White

From almost under the bridge....seemed perfectly suited for black and white.

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Sunny Smeaton Selection

I had a feeling on Tuesday that a visit out to Andersons Mill and Birch Creek at Smeaton might deliver some nice images. The creek is still flowing nicely after the recent rain (July's rainfall locally was actually slightly above average) and the first image here was directly in front of the Mill - I was standing in the creek for this one! Then some great light broke through as I was heading over toward the bridge, giving me these two images. Under the bridge was fantastic....thats still to come!

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A Cold Morning at Bryce Canyon

Here's a selection from the March visit to Bryce Canyon. Always an amazing place, and more so with a fresh layer of snow!

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Bo Peep and Burrumbeet

On Monday afternoon I spent some time wandering along the Bo Peep Creek (that eventually winds its way into Lake Burrumbeet). The first image here is a view I caught upstream from the small waterfall I have photographed many times. And then on to Lake Burrumbeet to catch the remnants of a sunset. Along the Lakes shoreline you come across patches of sandy beaches that create something a bit different from the usual rocky shoreline....and I always like those trees sitting out on the water like this.

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Sunday Strolling

After running a lap of Lake Wendouree mid afternoon in the rain, I thought I was in for another grey end to the day. However, the clouds started to clear away and after a great rainbow just across the street I thought I'd better get out and about. First stop here was at Glen Park, just in time to catch the tail of this rainbow, and then after quite a few miles and 65 minutes later I found myself at Warrenheip where the sunset put on quite a show with my 2 favourite trees. And in the last you can see some sunset clouds falling down to the ground. You can click on that panorama for a much bigger view!

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Two Lakes - Two Great Skies

The best thing about the grey day here in Ballarat on Saturday was the great skies. Here's a couple, about 20km's apart, late in the day.

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Alcorns Road Views

On Friday afternoon I found myself out near Kingston, past Creswick, and with some nice light and sunrays on the horizon I caught a series from a spot on Alcorns Road that gives a great westerly view from up high.

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Death Valley Drama

A couple of images yet to see the light of day from our May 2011 trip to Death Valley. Rather than the 100degrees plus temperatures we were expecting we had much milder (in the 80's) temps, and with some great skies!

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Sunrise Moonset Sunset

More from Lake Wendouree in Ballarat on Thursday. An epic sunrise had me jumping out of bed and racing up to the Lake for the first image here, then a quick dash back to the south east corner where the moon was setting amongst some terrific reverse sunrise colours....just 2 minutes after that first one! To finish off the day, a very cold touch of colour breaks through just on sunset from the same location as the moonset image....and who says winters in Ballarat are dull and boring!!

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Sunrise Sunset

On Wednesday I made 2 visits to Lake Wendouree here in Ballarat. In the morning I was hoping to get the setting full moon, but the clouds squashed that idea, though there was a pretty nice sunrise, and some feverish birds that all flocked over to me, no doubt expecting breakfast. The blur image here is just fooling around a bit by swiping the camera across the horizon as the sun breaks through. 
Then back for the sunset. After a clear blue sky day, some nice clouds developed late in the afternoon and both of these images are from near the jetty on the east side. The swell in the last one was a bit strange....no passing boats at all to create the rolling motions and it didn't seem windy enough to create anything like this.........

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When in Doubt - Lake Burrumbeet

Lake Burrumbeet always delivers something interesting, and on Tuesday it looked dull and grey, though the clouds had nice textures to work with. This is a rock formation I haven't photographed before, helped along with some subtle pastel colours just on sunset. Let me know tell you, it was very cold here! Make sure you click on these for a bigger look, then let me know which you prefer - colour or black and white?

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Some Flowing Water

I went back out to the Gong Gong on Monday to see how the Yarrowee is flowing. There's enough flow to give me some nice opportunities amongst the rocks - here's a couple.....

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A Couple of Monotonal Trees

One from Saturday and one from Sunday.

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Grey Colour

After Saturdays excitement, Sunday was very cold and grey all day long. I headed out to the Gong Gong Reservoir as I wanted to check out the Yarrowee Creek to see if the flow was much improved after the good rain from the last few days. On the way out I hit some very heavy fog and when I got out  there I decided to go up to the reservoir and see what I could find amongst the fog. Along the shore there is some great colour just below the surface, possibly from the tannins, making a great contrast with the generally grey feel of the setting.

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SNOW!

My request for snow on Saturday (read Fridays post) was answered big time! And a big selection to show....well worth clicking on these for a bigger look! This is the first time in the  5 years I have been serious about my photography that I've had the chance to work with snow at home and I had a great time out around the Clarkes Hill and Mollongghip areas. I was so excited I didn't even notice the cold, though I reckon those cows were feeling a bit! The snow turns everything into a bit of a fairyland, and at one spot I met a guy who had driven his 4 young kids up from Creswick to have a play and throw some snowballs. And a big thanks to my friend Josie, who lives out that way, who was on the ball, realising what a great opportunity for me and gave me the call to let me know. Otherwise I think I would have missed it because there was no indication in Ballarat where it was just grey and wet.

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Winter from Warrenheip

The mild, and wild, weather changed markedly on Friday. Right back into winter at its best, and the clear, crisp views off the side of Mount Warrenheip certainly made up for the very cold conditions. Not long after these, the weather really closed in. In the first one here, you can usually see Clarkes Hill and Wombat Hill on the horizon....looks like another wintry weekend on the way. With a bit of luck, maybe some snow.....?

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Where To Go on a Windy Day

Thursday was VERY windy, and wet, and surprisingly warm here in Ballarat. By later in the afternoon the rain had cleared, though the wind continued to blow very hard. I headed out west and found myself out amongst the Waubra windfarm towers and was lucky to get some terrific light low on the horizon way out west. I know a lot of people are not big fans (get it, fans!!) of the towers but I find them great to photograph and when you're standing right underneath one of them they are quite majestic. I wonder if we will look on them in 3 or 4 hundred years time the same way everyone looks on the windmills in Holland?!

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