Duck Rise

Some of the most intense colour I have seen for quite a while at Lake Wendoure on Wednesday morning. This series was captured at Fairyland on the west side of the lake and the first 2 give a good overall view of where I was. They also show how quickly the light can change...there is about 6 minutes between these 2. 
It was the close-ups of the ducks that I really enjoyed capturing. The colour reflected off the water was amazing, and once again they show how the light went from the reds to the yellows.
The last one here is a bit unusual. Whilst at this spot I felt something fluttering around my head and soon realised this dragonfly was dangling from a single thread. It was whipping back and forth in the strong wind and took me quite a few attempts to catch one in focus. You can also see how there appears be to something extra on the front of the dragonflies head...I reckon this may be the body of the spider that had spun the web that caught the dragonfly.

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Lovely Lal Lal

There was not too much in the way of clouds to work with on Tuesday morning, so I headed to this view across Lal Lal Reservoir that I knew would still give me some nice images. Some nice pre-sunrise colour was a nice start and as you can see in all these, the wooded point looks great from up close and from far away. 

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Birds on a Wire

It took a while on Monday morning to find something worth capturing. It took the sun a while to crest the heavy cloud bank, and when it did I was out north of Ballarat at Mt Rowan where this row of birds were well placed. 
And later in the day the the white faced heron I had seen last week had climbed into the culvert under the path on the north side of Lake Wendouree that runs through to the North Gardens wetlands, and I managed 2 quick frames before he flew off.

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The Towers

On Sunday morning I had a chance to capture the towers of Mt Warrenheip and Mt Buninyong. Well almost...as you can see it was a bit foggy and I had to wailt until they appeared through the fog.
And it gives me a chance to post a couple more images from that great morning at Mt Warrenheip from last week....once again featuring the towers.

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A Saturday start....

As you can see from this series from Saturday morning at Lake Wendouree, the morning started off quite dull as one of the school crews puts in some last minute training for the big race on Sunday. The wake that came from the boats created some great waves that really peaked when the colour had really fired up and once again some well timed birds add nicely to the scene. These were all taken on the north side of the Lake at Durham Point where I also got to capture this group of kayakers putting in the hard yards as they went past, back and forth, quite a few times.
Whenever I'm capturing a great sunrise like this looking across to Mt Warrenheip, I think it adds so much more to the image if you can find something to place in the foreground and this morning I think I was very fortunate.
And for those of you technically minded, that first image of the rowers was shot at 10,000 ISO - it was pretty dark!

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Birding

Something a little different today from my usual. Whilst I don't chase birds specifically, I'm always happy to grab a few images when they are there to be seen. The first one here is from Friday on the north side of Lake Wenduree at the culvert that runs underneath the road between the North Garden Wetlands and the Lake itself. I've noticed a couple of these white faced herons in the last few days and was happy to get one to pose so well for me.
The second one is from the beginning of last week when I came across a very unusual sight in the Fairyland area. Whilst no expert  I had a feeling this was an unusual sight ... a family of Magpie Geese with 12 new ones tagging along - check out those brown heads! I think one of the unusual apsects is the fact there were 3 adults. I've been past this spot a number of times since and they are no where to be seen.

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When all Looks Lost.....

On the way out to Lake Burrumbeet on Thursday morning it was grey and overcast ....  however it's amazing how often you reap the rewards when you are prepared to get yourself out there amongst the landscape. Once there I could detect a slight sliver of colour on the horizon and it didn't take too long for the sky to put on a welcome colourful show at my favourite spot on the west side of the lake.

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Wednesday Wonder

There was a very intense burst of colour on Wednesday morning out west of Ballarat at Leigh Creek. These 2 images were taken along the road that leads down to Kryal Castle where I spotted a some bales sitting on the horizon, and then the view to the south west away from the rising sun, though not quite as colourful, was far more dramatic.

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The Drama Unfolds

Totally different conditions on Tuesday at Mt Warrenheip after the soft and subtle views from the previous morning. A fantastic blanket of clouds over the mountain was offering some dramatic views as the towers on top were trying to force themselves through the thick, fast moving scene. This is a couple of my favourites...the 2nd one here shows what happens when you are shooting directly into the sun with some amazing lens flare and rainbow colours from the elements in the lens.

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Softly Softly

Some lovely soft, misty conditions on Mt Warrennheip on Monday morning. Nothing too dramatic about these, just calm and soothing.

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Sunday Sunrise

Quite a nice sunrise on Sunday morning out at the north west corner of Lake Burrumbeet. By getting up high in the first one I was really able to open up the view across Callender Bay. In the second image I got down low just over the dam that sits in front of the lake view.... from this view point the reflection of the sky works really well.

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Rotten Luck

On Saturday morning I had to chase the fog far to the south of Ballarat and ended up past Lal Lal on the way out to the old Iron Mine. I turned up the strangely named "Rotten Lane" and quickly spotted the first image here. I had to move really quick and as you can see the bird is just about to take off...I only managed the one frame and he (or she) was gone. Very unusual to see a bird like this (I think it's an egret) perched like this as I couldn't see any dams close by that usually attracts the water birds.
Further up the lane I found the foggy tree and a couple of kangas, whilst back close to Lal Lal there was pretty nice view looking down the road.

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Definitely Worthwhile!

On Friday morning before sunrise the sky was dark and overcast, so I didn't head out for the sunrise. However, whilst I was having breakfast a bit later I noticed the clouds had started to break up and by going out the front where I can get a glimpse of the top of Mt Warrenheip, I had an inkling it might be worthwhile to see what I could find. I'm glad I did!

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Dean and Clarke

On the way out to Dean Reservoir on Thursday morning the sky was looking pretty clear. Luckily the clouds and colour in these first 2 images developed before my eyes and with the addition of this family of swans I was able to capture some nice images.
On the way back to Ballarat through the Clarkes Hill area I caught another couple of images - some great layering in the last one.

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Keep Your Opens Open.......

Wednesday morning was looking a bit dull at Lake Wendouree here in Ballarat. However if you search around you can always find something worthwhile and eventually the sky did put on a bit of a show over Mt Warrenheip. Before that happened I caught a couple of cormorants sitting in this group of trees on one of the small islands on the west side of the lake. The swirling sky in the background added some great drama. And then whilst keeping a watchful eye on the swallows, I grabbed only the one image as they took off for their ritual swarming fly by.

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Lake Learmonth Wonder

A fantastic morning on Tuesday at Lake Learmonth where the foggy conditions gave me plenty to work with. My favourite is the first one here that shows the massive fog bank slowly floating across the lake and in the distance you can see the carpet of fog sitting over the landscape
And the birds at the lake also put on quite a show ......

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