The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter

Wednesday night was the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter - the closest they appear in the sky together. It was looking pretty cloudy when I headed out to Clarkes Hill, just east of Ballarat, so I wasn't sure if I was going to see the main target for the night. However, an amazing display of reverse sunset cloud formations more than made up for it. Happy with this series I headed home and just down the road near the Gong Gong Reservoir, the clouds had opened up just at the right time (of course!) to give me this view of the 2 planets together. Not a bad evening at all! Make sure you click one these for a bigger view, they look amazing even larger - imagine how they look on my 27 inch monitor!

Mawallok Open Day

I was fortunate to pay another visit to Mawallok on Tuesday afternoon. This is part of the Australian Garden History Society Conference project I am working on for November this year. With an Open Weekend coming up this weekend the garden is looking fantastic - I suggest you take the time to visit this spectacular garden if you are in the area and support the great work being done by the present owners to ensure this piece of history has a continued long history. Make sure you click on the images for a larger view.

From this.....to this

I was running around Lake Wendouree about 4.30pm Monday and I could see a huge smoke plume far over in the west. So I hurried home, jumped in the car and went after it. It was a lot further away than I thought, I ended up way over near Langi Kal Kal and still it was some distance away. But I managed to get a lot of great images (if you like fires, that is!). Heres one, up close, and then later that evening at Lake Wendouree the smoke had moved in to put on a great show for sunset....this swan couldn't wait to get into the action.

It Pays to always look up

High hazy clouds in Ballarat on Sunday...not what you'd consider ideal photographic conditions. However, I noticed some great sun halos had formed and managed some very unusual images, all in the backyard! I took quite a few variations of the tree in the second one, but that plane flying past was the pick of the bunch. Followed by a quick visit to the cemetery for sunset, and then later on some star clouds around 10.30pm, once again from the backyard.

The Stare

I just had to post this....from last Friday.....! Make sure you click on it to get the full effect!

Tree and Grass

Saturday evening turned out pretty barren but still picked up a couple of nice images...no clouds except for this fleeting group above a really nice tree on the Dunnstown - Yendon Rd, and some nice glow in the grasses next to the car as the setting sun warmed up the whole area. 

Lake Burrumbeet Moonrise

I went out specifically to get this Lake Burrumbeet moonrise, but managed to grab a few more before the moon made its appearance. The moonscape view across the coastline of the Lake was pretty much as I was planning as I did a bit of research before heading out there and new where the moon would be rising and at what time. The wonders of modern technology and the internet!