Trees

Friday turned out to be a day of trees. First up early morning at Lal Reservoir where the dead trees lining the lakes edge have turned this lovely ghostly white colour creating a striking contrast with the deep blue of the water. 
Later in the day I was running a few tests at Victoria Park here in Ballarat where there is still some late autumn colour clinging to the trees. A final stop at Lake Wendouree for this sunset view at St. Pats Point was a nice end to the day, and week!

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Thursday and Friday

Running a bit late today....first up is an image from Thursday mornings visit out to Lake Burrumbeet. This is a view I have captured many times...there is something about those 2 trees sitting out in the water that really appeals to me, no matter how many times I see it.
And to finish off another week...just got back from a nice end to the week up at Lake Wendouree at St Patricks Point. 
So that's its for the first half of the year!

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Have You Been to Glendonald?!

Whilst Wednesday morning didn't have quite the impact as the previous mornings extraordinary sunrise, it was still pretty nice! I was heading north out of Creswick under grey and boring skies when I  realised that out to the west was where the good conditions lay. So I ended up at another of those locations that most people have never heard of....Glendonald. And whilst at ground level it was quite nice, from up high it was an amazing sight. We are certainly getting some fantastic conditions this winter, that's for sure!

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Extraordinary.......

Extraordinary....... that's the only word I can use to describe Tuesdays sunrise. I was up early looking for the forecast fog on my way out to Learmonth. However, it was just overcast and grey and I was almost tempted to turn back for home. Looking across to the north east  I could see a very slight hint of colour on the horizon and realised I needed to get up to a high viewpoint to hopefully capture whatever developed. I dashed across to the north side of Mt Hollowback knowing there was a great view from up there. As you can see from this series it started slowly....and then developed into, once again that word, extraordinary. One low hanging patch of cloud slowly made its way from left to right and once the sun hit it, the shadow it cast was simply amazing. Using my big zoom lens I was thrilled with the images as the light and colour peaked and then slowly faded back and died away.
As you all know I see a lot of amazing sights on my daily travels and this has to be right up there with the best of them. And it's also a great example of getting yourself out there even when the conditions don't look to be too promising. 

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Monday Morning Mist

Monday morning was grey and misty on the side of Mt Buninyong and getting up above the road on the side of the mountain really opened up the view. I really like the painterly feel of the third one in this series.

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Two Seconds or Less

A nice bit of colour appeared out of some grey skies on Sunday morning at Lake Wendouree at the end of the rowing course. These 2 images show you how shutter speed can make such a difference to an image. The first one here is shot at 2 seconds, followed by another at 1/80th of a second....quite amazing, isn't it?
Just near this spot I also found this first batch of new cygnets. They have been around for a week or so and  are certainly one of the earliest hatchings I've seen. They are in for a long winter. And it's always nice when you can get one of the cygnets to give you the "stare"!

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Some Exciting News......

My USA National Park book has now been out for almost 11 months (oh, how time flies!) and I have just received news from the publishers that it's been reprinted....so it looks like it will be around for some time to come!
And I never post without an image....this one is from last Sunday morning here in Ballarat at Victoria Park, There is still some very nice autumn colour on display along the avenues throughout the park....this is looking along Quercus Avenue into the mist. Maybe a book on Ballarat and district is worth a look at.........

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Saturdays Sensational Scenic Selection

Another fantastic morning on Saturday....how often do I seem to be saying that?! I headed out west to Lake Burrumbeet where a nice calm surface helped with some lovely reflections, from ground level and just slightly above looking down on the lovely reeds you find out there.
Soon after I had an inkling there might be some more nice conditions a bit further north of the Lake, so I made my way over to Weatherboard, first with a quick stop to grab this fantastic set of sun rays above the fields. Once at Weatherboard I grabbed a few aerials and then some long shots of the wind farm sitting amongst the dissipating fog. And one last stop just off the freeway looking across to Mt Hollowback where the clouds and fog had built up to this amazing view. I did head over closer to this view, though it was pretty much gone by the time I got there.

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Mt Warrenheip to Lake Burrumbeet

There was not a lot on offer on Friday, though I did capture a couple of nice images out at, and around, Mt Warrenheip. The low lying clouds created some nice atmospherics amongst the gum trees and I do like how this one light coloured tree contrasts with the darkness of the others. In the second image a lone tree always makes for a strong, graphic element in landscape photography, certainly helped by the fast moving clouds rushing past.
And just a taste of what's to come from another fantastic Saturday morning, starting out at Lake Burrumbeet.

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Newlyn Morning Magic

Thursday morning was remarkably similar to Monday morning. Initially when I hit the road the conditions were grey and flat, however I detected a slight hint of colour on the horizon out to the north east and made my way over to Newlyn Reservoir. Slowly the colour built up into what was a pretty spectacular sunrise that, like Monday morning, quickly passed into more grey, overcast conditions. The last image here is the small water tower at the reservoir surrounded by some interesting reflections of the sky above.

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The Winter Solstice

This years Winter Solstice has come around very quickly and I was keen to capture the start and end of the shortest day of the year. Conditions were not too exciting for sunrise though the early calm conditions at Lake Wendouree offered some nice reflections and in the first one here you can see some unusual light above the sports grounds along Gilles Street. These first 3 images were taken 11 minutes apart and give a good idea of how the light can change so quickly. Later in the day the conditions hadn't improved a lot when I captured this trio just around sunset with some colour in the eastern sky.

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In the Shadow of Eastern Peake

The foggy conditions were back big time on Tuesday morning. I found myself in the shadows of Eastern Peake where the view looking out across the landscape was spectacular. 
I quite often post a couple of images from a particular spot and say I'll post some more later...this time I've decided to give you the full gallery in one sitting...so I hope you're prepared....it was a good one for sure! 
The last image here caught my eye as I was flying around and thought might be of interest to those that may wonder how I get the aerial shots.

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