Going to the Gong

I've been planning a visit to the Gong Gong Reservoir, about 10kms east of Ballarat, for a while now, and Monday afternoon seemed like a good time. I haven't been out here for a while, and though I didn't get the fantastic conditions I had around this time last year, I still came home with a nice selection. The water level is well down from my last visit, which has opened up some nice glimpses of the granite boulders on the far side ..... with just a touch of left over autumn colours.

.

Dean Duo

Here's another image from Sunday arvo's visit out to Dean Reservoir. If anyone can identify these 2, please let me know!

.

Some Dean Scenes

On Sunday afternoon I made a trip out to the Dean Reservoir. The stillness of the conditions allowed me to capture some great reflections. This is one of my original locations I started visiting about 6 years ago and its always nice to return. A few years ago they cut back a huge amount of trees on the south side and I was quite disappointed at the result, though now its really look good again...thats the view in the first image here. And its really worth clicking on these for a bigger look.

.

South Shore Saturday Sunset

Saturday saw me venturing out to the south shore of Lake Burrumbeet. The clouds put on a great show, and though there wasn't any spectacular colour shows, the post-sunset pastels in the second image here created a lovely atmosphere. So don't think its all about spectacular, colourful lighshows...there is so much more to take in and appreciate.

10/2-8.36

Surreal Sunrise

Fridays sunrise at Lake Wendouree was very surreal...the colours were quite extraordinary as this image shows. I found this log resting against the shore that added a nice foreground anchor to the layout, and the small patch of water in front of the log has taken on a silky smooth texture due to the long shutter speed, whilst the open lake surface was quite violent from the strong wind. Certainly one of my more unusual Lake Wendouree images.

.

The Stand

Friday morning, as predicted in yesterdays post, was colourful - very! A great start to my birthday up at Lake Wendouree where I spent some time capturing one of the mnore colourful skies I have seen in quite a while. Its really handy living so close to Lake Wendouree...looking outside the bedroom window a faint glow of colour in the sky is enough warning to get me out of bed, feed the cat, into the car and up to the lake. On the west side of the lake is this great stand of trees thats makes for a great foreground element against the sky. These 3 are over a period of 25 minutes from  pre-dawn to just a few minutes after sunrise. 
I've got a few more to share a bit later...possibly my best Lake Wendouree image of the year.........!

.

A Little Bit Different at Smeaton

On Thursday a trip out to Smeaton to have a play on Birch's Creek offered me a couple of images a bit different to what I was expecting. The autumn colours always add a nice touch, and with no clouds to work with I concentrated on keeping the sky to a minimum.
I've got a feeling Friday morning is going to be very colourful.......!

.