Golden Ending

A great sunrise to end 2016 out at Spreadeagle Road, between Yendon and Mt Egerton. There was low lying mist that really intensified the sunlight as it lit up the landscape. This windmill made a nice subject from a number of different viewpoints. And then, as is often the case on mornings like this, the spider webs scattered around added an extra dimension to the scene.
I'm not sure how many photos I took in 2016. I know it was at least 366 (leap year!) as I was out every day throughout the year! I'm sure 2017 will be equally productive.





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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Before I get to Saturday images, I thought I'd welcome in the New Year with one of my favourite images from last year that I never got around to posting.
Mt Emu Creek at Pittong after the rains in early October put on quite a show just before sunset with the late afternoon sun setting the water alight. I've left this a bit larger than usual so make sure you click on it.
Really looking forward to a great 2017 after a fantastic 2016...I hope you'll come along for the ride!
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Foggy Farm on Friday

On Friday morning I had a great sunrise at the Farm...some terrific foggy conditions across the fields created some really nice views in all directions. These are the conditions when aerials really are at their best, getting up high above the landscape to reveal some amazing sights.


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A Day at the Lake

On Thursday the forecast was for storms and heavy rain...neither of which arrived here in Ballarat, though other parts of the State really copped a hiding. 
A brief few minutes of colour at sunrise started the day off, and then around 2pm some great, and promising clouds moved in. Whilst the display was quite spectacular, hardly a drop of rain came from it before clearing away to bright blue skies. Later on before sunset there was some great clouds above the Fly Fishers Club before a final touch of colour looking across to View Point.




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One to Remember!

I didn't head out to well after 8pm on Wednesday. The day had been extremely windy and hot though it had backed off quite a bit by late evening. As I was making my way around Lake Wendouree I was tempted to just wait it out there, however with enough time to head west, I ended up at Lake Burrumbeet. I made a stop on the way out at the Windermere silos as there were some great clouds sitting behind them, and when I got out to Burrumbeet the conditions really didn't look as exciting as they turned out. I thought the big bank of clouds might kill any chance of some colourful action, however the sun managed to sneak under the clouds to put on a fantastic show. Whilst most of the action was to the west, there was some great reflected sunset colour across the windfarm to the north, just a reminder to always look around you when catching a sunset.
Now as exciting as this all was, it was when I got back to Lake Wendouree that I captured something that I have never seen before. I was actually sitting in the car at home for 4 or 5 minutes waiting to hear the end of Beethoven's 5th. Once that had finished and I got out of the car, I noticed there were some incredible clouds sitting up high so I quickly headed back to the Lake to capture a couple of views above View Point. As nice as the sunset was, this was the highlight of what was an incredible evening. 
And I got back in time to watch the end of the Big Bash, too!







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Early Morning Ballarat

Tuesday saw me undertake an early morning tour of some of Ballarat's most iconic locations. After hearing recently that the Civic Hall was now lit up at night I was keen to capture it and early morning well before dawn it was looking great. Not really sure of where I was heading I noticed this view of the Railway Station as I was crossing Armstrong Street - the rails really give this a great graphical look. After that I ended up over at Sovereign Hill where the soft, pastel tones just before dawn were quickly overtaken with the strong, contrasting light as the sun made its way over the distant hills.
I did get a couple of long-distance views of Mt Warrenheip and Mt Buninyong that I will get to later.....they look great!





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Boxing Day Bonanza

I was up again early for the sunrise on Boxing Day at Lake  Wendouree. A hint of colour out the window around 5.15am had me convinced it was going to be a good one - and indeed it was!
Sunset wasn't too bad either, with some nice virgas falling from the sky and just catching some sunlight.



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Christmas Sunrise

Christmas Day morning was mild and clear.....with a taste of the hot day to come. Out at the Farm I caught a couple of nice images just as the sun cleared the horizon on a new crop of potatoes. A great start to what turned out to be great day...hope you all had a nice day!

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Dean Delight

Sunrise at Dean Reservoir was a nice way to welcome Christmas Eve. Some great clouds gave me some great images and the sun rays were some of the best I've seen. Open to the public, this spot is something a bit different from the usual Ballarat district locations and on a hot day is well worth a visit.



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Friday Colour

Some nice colour around on Friday. Another colourful end to the week at Lake Wendouree looking across towards View Point with a little bit of elevation...and not from the drone!
Earlier in the day, an Eastern Rosella made a visit to the backyard to munch on some seeds. We get quite a range of birds into our small yard and its always a pleasure to sit and watch them go about their business.


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A Sunset and a Sunrise

A simple end to a cloudless evening on Thursday at Lake Wendouree. The flag out on the end of View Point was well placed as the sun set. When shooting directly into the sun the contrast can be very intense as the first one here shows.
And from Monday mornings sunrise down at Yendon, a set that shows one particular dam that caught my eye from up high.




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My Latest Sunset

Wednesday was the Summer solstice...the longest day of the year. So sunset at 8.45pm was the latest it will be all year. Out at Lake Burrumbeet I captured another couple of images in my Trees Project before finishing up with some corellas high above me. Now the days start to get shorter...a minute or so a day and before we know it we'll be back into Winter, but not before the heatwave about to hit over the Xmas weekend and beyond!


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Snow Time

It's been a while since my last post. We had a fantastic snow event last Saturday here around Mt Roland and Sheffield and of course I wa...