Archive for the 'Photos' Category
New Photo: Wind farm
I’ve not been able to get out and take photos recently, so here’s one from the archives.
This was taken at the Starfish Hill wind farm, located on the coast of South Australia, near Cape Jervis.
From the photo, it’s really hard to judge the sheer size of these things. Each turbine sits upon a 68 metre tower, with each blade being 30 metres in length. The farm consists of 23 turbines, and produces enough energy to power 18,000 homes.
The many moods of a mantis
This little guy was quite a find. He was hanging around in a tree in my backyard, doing whatever it is that insects do when they don’t have a macro lens pointed in their general direction.
It was only after I started looking through the images that I realised something – he was not only watching me (or more precisely, the huge, shiny glass thing right in front of him), but seemed to posing. Go figure 
Your challenge: I’ve posted the whole mantis set to Flickr – come up with the description for the pose or expression. The best one on each ends up in the title.
Make sure you view the large version to get your inspiration
New photo day!
I’ve been meaning to post these photos for a while.
These photos were taken on a recent spur-of-the-moment midnight trip to a local lookout.
This was my first foray into Strobist territory; the basic premise involves cheap, off camera lighting to create dramatic effects. Anything DIY earns extra brownie points.
In this case, I used a Vivitar 285HV flash, a remake of the “classic workhorse” used over the last 20 years, placed on the ground firing upwards at 1/16th power using a remote trigger.
Considering I’ve haven’t progressed very far through the whole Strobist “training” course (read: haven’t done much more than read the concept ), I was very happy with how the shot came out.
It also helps that I had a patient model, especially when the battery in my transmitter started crapping out
This was taken in near pitch black as an experiment in curves, not only in the subject, but in the shadows still present in the darkness.
The classic city lights at night photo.
Everyone should have one of these in their collection.
Aside from hunting for shadows in the dark (where else would you find them? ), I was also on the hunt for interesting textures.
For some reason, I dig the stippled effect on the pavers from this angle.
Next up will be another catchup post.
No commentsHappy New Year (plus fireworks!)
Happy new year to all and sundry.
May your 2008 rock harder, be more awesome and more shiny than all your previous years combined.
Our new years was spent relaxing on the side of a hill, looking out at the city’s annual fireworks display. While our position turned out to be a tad average due to the surrounding trees and the fireworks detonating lower than expected, I still managed to end up with some great photos of the event.
If you want more (and face it, who doesn’t want more fireworks?), click here for the full set.
Oh, and for my first good deed of the year; a hint for budding photographers.
If you use UV/daylight/skylight filter on the end of your lenses (especially cheap ones used only for protection), remove them for firework shots unless you have already tested how well they do with glare, lens flare and reflections. If your filters are not glare friendly, you will probably end up with something like this.
Some of my favourite photos from the year that was…
This post is going to be a bit different than usual.
I’ve gone through the archives to pick out some of my technically or creatively best photos that I’ve taken this year. This is to not only show the world what has been hiding on my drive, but also to set a personal benchmark for me to see how far I progress in my photography in the year to come.
So, with this lofty goal, I present some of my favourites from this year!
(Click for bigger versions)
From a colour and subject point of view, I really like this shot.
It was taken at that particular time of an evening where wet sand turns into a mirror, reflecting one of the most awesome sunsets I’ve seen in a long time.
While I was playing with capturing light, my infinitely more sensible other half was relaxing, taking in the sea air and keeping an ever-watchful eye out, just to make sure the horizon was doing it’s job.
If you’ve ever done the tourist thing around South Australia, it’s highly likely you’ve seen this before; it’s almost a rite of passage for all visitors to either go or be taken to Granite Island.
As the name suggests, it’s a big rock located just off the coast of Victor Harbour Victor Harbor on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It’s joined to the mainland by this particular bridge, with transport for weary tourists provided by horse drawn carriages.
The bridge has been around for years – I can remember walking across it many times either looking for penguins or to go stargazing in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, the horses had a big night on the town the night before and thus were unwilling to pose for photos while the hangovers were being nursed. You’ll either have to imagine them or hunt them down yourself during your inevitable visit.
As is usual in the IT industry, there are certain things that can only be performed at really ugly hours in the morning. This particular morning, featuring a major server migration, was no exception.
(You want me to do what? At 4am? Seriously? <sigh>)
This day’s early start finished much earlier than expected, providing plenty of spare time and the rare opportunity for me to take an early morning walk around the neighbourhood and see dawn break.
(For those that know me, they’ll agree this is almost unheard of; me surfacing before 9am usually makes people run for earmuffs or headphones to drown out excess whinging)
This morning was different, though; seeing this sun rise and start turning the clouds golden with a sense of accomplishment so early in the day was well worth the price of admission.
Many a story has begun, “it was a dark and stormy night…”
Whilst there was no such storm on this night, I’ll settle for “dark and pea soupy” for this photo.
This was taken just outside the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, on one freezing cold night while seeking refuge from the wind at a tram stop.
The night really was as eery and orange as the photo alludes; the only light available was from the sodium street lamps burning through the fog, as well as the head and tail lights of passing cars. Visibility was down to around 100 metres and there was not even a hint of sky or moon visible.
Walking around in this, at night, when you can’t even see the traffic lights at the corner of the block, was certainly a bizarre experience (as it was again the next day – the fog didn’t start burning off until around lunchtime).
On the topic of storms, this truly was from a dark and stormy night (and was officially taken two days before 2007 – because I like this shot, I’ll let it slide for this year though).
This photo was taken using my old trusty point’n'shoot set up on a nasty table-top tripod precariously balanced on the window sill, randomly taking shots in the hope I’d catch a bolt of lightning.
Fortunately, luck and, well, lightning struck right over the neighbour’s roof.
Cindy is absolutely nuts for birds. Her weekly series, Friday Feathers, is amazing to look through (as is all her other work).
Given Cindy’s interest in all things feathered, I go out of my way to try to find birds for our international show and tell sessions (although, my knowledge doesn’t extend much past “duck”, “goose”, “turkey”, “chicken” and “galah” – all the edible ones… well, except for the galah).
This time around, I was lucky enough to find a pair of galahs while down the coast taking a few day’s worth of rest and relaxation. These two were hanging around in a tree right near the beach front and were more than happy to pose for pictures, which is more than I can say for the Victor Harbour’s horses.
Another shot from down the coast.
The place we were staying in was a five minute walk from the beach. Being so close, I couldn’t resist spending each evening there, watching the sun set.
These guys were a bunch of friendly teenagers, determined to fish long into the night and were very interested in talking about and looking through the rest of my sunset photos.
No idea if they were successful in, or even cared about, catching their quarry; they just seemed more than happy to find some bait, throw in a line and shoot the breeze for a few hours.
With this view, who could blame ‘em?
Our local botanical gardens has undergone a significant overhaul since I was last there a few years back.
One of the improvements was a new glasshouse, specifically built to grow these humongous lillypads.
Most interestingly, the lillypads share their home with a bunch of small, guppy-like fish who were interested in anything and everything walking by. You would see a small swarm of them start to surface near where people were leaning on the edge of the pond causing the ripples you see in the otherwise mirrored water.
This orangutan was one very clever monkey.
He spent the best part of an hour showing off for the dumbstruck masses who congregated around his home to watch him jumping around, finding things to throw around and effortlessly climbing bamboo poles and ropes.
I seriously, I think he’d have a future in Parkour if he put his mind to it.
This photo was taken after he was done with his exercise (or the audience), and progressed to the brooding segment of the show.
This one here is another favourite for the colour.
I’m not sure if this peacock was tame or just plain fearless. He was more than happy to sit on the fence, eyeing off all the passers-by while I (and a couple of other interested people) approached with cameras at the ready.
In true supermodel style, there was a pose, a turn, a pout and another pose before he got bored and moved on.
I have to wonder how frequently he has to put on that show; it’s certainly well rehearsed.
While wandering around town with my camera one afternoon, I came across this small alleyway filled with trees, vines and an old brick wall in the middle of nowhere.
This has obviously been here for a very long time going by the size of the trees – I have no idea how they have survived for this long with the very limited light that managed to make it’s way in.
I was aiming for a low-key shot with some interesting textures – I think the imperfect brick wall makes it in this one.
A lot of my photography this year has revolved around people and portraits; there’s just something about people just being people that I want to learn how to capture.
In this case, I think I managed to do it. This photo is of my aforementioned infinitely more sensible other half. A combination of right time, right place, and her wanting to hide behind a piece of garden infrastructure to escape the crazy nieces and nephews running around made for a wonderful portrait.
Cute, ain’t she?
(For the record, she made me promise not to upload the karaoke photos. I will, however, accept bribes from anyone requiring one for “amusing” purposes )
My favourite photo, and I’d like to think, one of my best.
This is my son Chris, circa 3 months of age.
For those not familiar with the story, Chris was born with an extremely rare condition known as VACTERL Association – a collection of abnormalities affecting the vertebrate, anus, cardiovascular system, trachea, (e)oesophagus, renal system and limbs (and other skeletal structures).
Possessing three of the seven abnormalities is sufficient to be diagnosed with the condition which affects roughly 250 births a year worldwide.
Chris was special.
He took on all seven.
Plus extras.
Head on.
And did it with a smile and nary a whinge, even after eight major operations in four months, right up until the point where he lost his fight for life.
Suffice to say, he was a fighter, an inspiration and an all-round awesome kid, although I suspect my opinion may be slightly biased.
Above all, he will be missed.
I won’t go into further details here; if you are interested in more information, leave a comment, email me, read his journal or view his gallery.
So, here’s a line in the sand. Most of these are either straight out of the camera or slightly post processed to correct white/colour balance or cropped.
I think I’ve got most of the basic technical stuff down; now it’s up to learning the art and the craft and seeing where it takes me. I suspect one of my first stops in the new year will end up somewhere near Strobist-ville; my cheap Vivitar manual flash and remote trigger awaits!
For you, though, stick around or subscribe to the feed to see more photos from the archives as they are uploaded, as well as the new stuff coming up in 2008.
8 commentsVisit to the Botanical Gardens
This weekend was pretty sweet. My other half organised lunch with friends at the local botanical gardens, just for something different.
Although I’m not really much of a plant guy by nature (believe me when I say I kill more plants than I save – I can still hear the screams), it was a great excuse to get the camera out and see what was around.
The botanical gardens have gone through a serious upgrade since we were last there many years ago; a new glasshouse built for lilly pads,water feature, sculpture and new restaurants.
We also came across plenty of the native wildlife; these ducks were everywhere and were absolutely fearless. This one, in particular, was more than happy to sit there and pose while I had a lens around a foot or two away from his noggin for a good few minutes.
More photos from the outing are here. Warning – large quantity of duck lies beyond that link.
2 commentsStorm
A couple of days ago, we had a spectacular storm hanging around Adelaide for a few hours with plenty of lightning to watch. Armed with the smallest tripod I could find, I managed to catch this photo through one of my windows during the light show before the battery gave out.
Enjoy!
No commentsSunset
Given last week was a little quiet around RejectReality, I’m going for a double-post tonight.
V & I were out and about all over the place on Saturday; catching up with some friends for lunch at the Oxford (congratulations K&J!), then way down south for an engagement party for one of V’s cousins in the evening and killed some time in between with a movie – V’s choice (as I wasn’t going to make her sit through Sin City). We saw Monster-in-Law; fortunately, it wasn’t as horrendous as I thought it would be, for a chick flick.
With an hour to kill between Marion and the engagement party, we went for a drive next to the beach around Seaford.
Cue one decent sunset and a fully charged digicam, and this is what you get. I’m quite happy with how it turned out, considering it was taken in near pitch-black, no flash, balanced on the steering wheel of my car (with all the windscreeny goodness that entails to screw up your focus when shooting from inside the car), 6 second exposure (with no stabilisation) and probably two or three other elements which really should have meant death for this photo.
A minor histogram-based levels adjustment in photoshop and score one for the good guys!
