Why I Return Here.....

Once again on Tuesday morning the conditions had me heading out to Lake Burrumbeet for sunrise. As you know I'm out here quite often as it offers so much to work with. Also, as much as I like to discover new locations, I find that Lake Burrumbeet will have interesting conditions where other spots on the same mornings are flat and lifeless. 
This is a series of aerials from before sunrise in the first couple before the sun lit up the scene, including  a rare (for me) selfie! And can you spot my "Burrumbeet" tree in these?
I do have some nice images taken at ground level that I'll get to next........

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Springtime

Another nice misty morning at Mt Warrenheip on Monday where the Forget-Me-Nots are still looking great. The dampness of the rain overnight really adds to the depth of the colour. This is a patch that I can only get to from up high, flying through the trees to get in close.
And to give you a general idea of how awesome this spot is, a short snippet of video...make sure you go to the Vimeo website to see it at it's best!

https://vimeo.com/24058416210

Windfarming

As you can see from the first image here, on Sunday morning there wasn't a cloud to be seen. So by getting up high I was able to take the skies out of the scene and come home with a couple of nice images. The reflection of the wind tower is quite a unique viewpoint on these well photographed structures, and then in the last image another one of my lone trees standing out against a colourful backdrop as the sun had risen high enough to light the scene.

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A Super Saturday Sunset Session

Whilst I did spend some time on Saturday afternoon photographing the yachts at Lake Wendouree, it was the sunset later on that was the real highlight of the day.
The boardwalk at View Point makes an appearance in each of the first three images here, showing how the colour changed from the strong yellows right on sunset to the deeper reds and purples about 15 minutes later. 
It was great to find the first family of baby ducks here, especially with light like this. The second one of the ducks shows what happens when your shutter speed is a bit slow, though I thought it created quite an interesting effect. The highlight for me of all these images is the last one...the rakali. Whilst I used to call these fellas water rats, I did learn earlier this year that they are in fact a native rodent....

Hydromys chrysogaster, commonly known as rakali, rabe or water-rat, is an Australian native rodent first described in 1804. The change to the aboriginal name Rakali was intended to foster a positive public attitude by Environment Australia. 

He was very busy gliding back and forth as the light reflected off the sunset was pretty special. I grabbed a few images and this one was actually the last one of the night!

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The Lake Burrumbeet Tree

A visit to Lake Burrumbeet on Friday morning was the first pre-planned visit to a spot that I feel is going to get regular visits in the future. There is a lone tree siting about 10 metres off shore that has the potential for an on-going project to capture it throughout the seasons. If you go and google "Lake Wanaka Tree" in New Zealand you'll get a bit of an idea of what I'm talking about. This lone tree in NZ has been photographed by thousands of photographers over the years and I figured I'll work on a similar project much closer to home. So to start off here's a couple of images, one from above and the second one when the grey, misty conditions finally started to break up a little to let some light in. 
And just for good measure, a fly past by a group of swans and then on the way home a very foggy sheep group. In fact by the time I was coming home the fog had increased substantially.

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Looking For The Light

On Thursday evening, with no clouds to work with, I headed to a location that I was hoping would offer me some nice reflected light. Birch Creek at Lawrence has a number of sections that I visit every now and then, and this section offered me some great images as the sun was really lighting up the opposite bank and creating these intense reflections in the water. Still some great flow in the creek along here, no doubt helped along by the rain from  the day before. The last one here is another one of those local images I capture that I could almost convince you I had taken somewhere far more exotic.

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Birds of the Lake

Around 3pm on Wednesday afternoon I was up at Lake Wendouree here in Ballarat... a few squalls of rain suggested we may get some nice conditions for a few images. However it was all a bit tame so I had to settle for this set of birds. Whilst reviewing them later at home, I felt they would make a nice set when cropped down to a long, wide format...what do you think?

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Lake Burrumbeet Up and Down

No sign of the forecast foggy patches on Tuesday morning as I made my way out to Lake Burrumbeet. Whilst there was no huge sunrise, there was still enough interest out there to keep me busy, both at ground level and up high. 
The first image here was taken well before the sunrise when the "blue hour" is at its most intense. The pelicans always look good from above and then a few sunbeams broke through for just a few minutes - quite intense when you get in close with the big zoom lens  in the last image here.

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Mountain mist

The forecast for Monday was calm with patchy fog...which turned out to be more misty than foggy. Initially I found myself at Dean Reservoir where I captured a range of images, mostly from up high. Coming home I thought I'd check out the side of Mt Warrenheip and as you can see from this set, the conditions were pretty good! Just the right amount of mist in the trees and a sun that was trying to break through, creating some lovely soft light. The dampness created a rich, saturated feel to the colours creating something quite special. You can see in the last one here when I'm in close how the strength of the colours really show through when not softened by the mist. All of these are aerial shots, even that last one!
I'll get back to the Dean Reservoir later......

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At Last.......

I mentioned in yesterdays post about the fact that the pelican image I captured at Lake Wendoure was very close to home. Well todays image doesn't get any closer.......
I'm sure most of you have noticed the local black birds, especially around this time of the year as they are nesting and generally flipping about all over the place. We have had blackbirds around for years, so much so that we even give them their own names. A few weeks ago I noticed one particular bird that seemed a little different to the usual blackbirds... we call her Cherry. What makes Cherry so unique is her colouring.....have a look at the image and you will see exactly what I mean. She has this lovely marble colouring that I have never seen before on a blackbird. Not sure what the reason maybe, if anyone has any ideas please let us all know.
She has been especially hard to catch with the camera as she never stays still for more than a few seconds and never gives you time to even think about catching her with the camera. So on Sunday afternoon I was making a cuppa in the kitchen when I noticed she flew into a tree just outside the window. I quickly grabbed the camera and fired off a few shots before she once again took off. As you can see she is getting the nest ready, gathering twigs to make the new brood comfortable.

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Pelican and Pelicans

My relationship with local pelicans continued on Saturday, this time a lot closer to home. Coming back home around Lake Wendouree after grocery shopping, I spotted a lone pelican on the lake on the east side near the boat sheds. By the time I had got home and walked back up to the lake he (or she) had moved further north, not too far from the small jetty. I captured a number of images of him just cruising along and he was starting to get in quite close to shore when a couple approached with 2 dogs and this seemed to spook the pelican into flight...which made for a much more interesting image as he flew off, most likely back to Lake Burrumbeet.
And this gives me a good chance to post a few more images from earlier in the week when the pelicans really put on a great show for me early Tuesday morning.....how about that last one....two pelicans parades in the one shot!

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A Last Visit?

On Friday I made what might possibly be my last visit to Moorabool Falls this year. I was happy to find enough water flow to keep me busy for a while, looking at the base of the falls, and then looking downstream in the opposite direction as the Moorabool River West winds its way down to the Lal Lal Reservoir.
And then on the way home this tree was bathed in light against a dramatic dark sky...some of my favourite lighting conditions.

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A Smorgasbord - Take Your Pick!

A big day of photography on Thursday with multiple locations captured. 
Started with a nice start to the day at Lake Wendouree in between some very heavy rain just after sunrise...these 2 images from the end of the rowing course where the sky was putting on quite a show.
Later in the morning I made a visit out to "The Farm", my year long project capturing the various activities, this time in amongst the cows. Whilst out that way the canola was suddenly bathed with a sunny break that really lifts the colour, especially with some dramatic skies.
Around 6pm I was coming back from a visit out near Smeaton where, once again, the sun broke through to light up one of the old mullock heap mines.
And I thought that was it for the day, though around 7.30 a touch of colour in the sky tempted me back up to Lake Wendouree for a colourful end to a great day.

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