Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Echoes of Long Ago

The ruins of Whitby Abbey are among my earliest memories. I would have first visited in the mid-1960s, and remembered them well when we came to Australia in 1971. I have had the chance to visit again on a couple of my UK trips—now, alas, also many years ago. I took this shot on Saturday November 6th, 2010, the day after arriving in Whitby from London. This was designated a rest day, so I was not catching a train anywhere else, just wandering around that quaint town by the North Sea. I visited the abbey and did a lengthy photo shoot in the afternoon light. I captured many studies of the stonework, long eroded by the salt wind—the abbey stands on the east headland—and one can lament the destruction of these great Medieval buildings. How amazing it would be to see this place in perfect condition, a relic of most ancient times. This pic was taken in good light, and required only the most minor adjustment—contrast and colour. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

A Wild Land

At first glance a jumble of colours and shapes—this is the view over central Australia looking down from the starboard side of an airliner on its way to Singapore, on the first leg of my flight to the UK, on October 31st, 2010. There are clouds and their shadows, over a dun-ochre landscape—it could almost be Mars, right?—which, one can see from altitude, seems, incongruously, to have been shaped by flowing water. Incongruous, because it’s bone dry most of the year, and subject to flash floods at wide intervals, which, nevertheless, mould the landscape in ways quite distinct from above. I have vivid memories of this flight as we passed by Uluru, and the Captain announced that they had been given permission to deviate slightly from flightpath so as to pass almost over the Rock. Passengers on my side of the plane saw it as we went by. My photos are not very distinct, there seemed much haze on the day, and the window was far from clean. This image, taken some way south of Uluru, probably in the far north of South Australia, has been enhanced a fair bit, gamma value was reduced a long way to compensate for the haze, contrast and colour were intensified, and the whole was sharpened just a little. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Futurism Today


Here’s another view of Adelaide’s Sky City building, taken from the Festival Theatre footbridge end, on May 15th, 2022. I’m always fascinated by the organic architecture, and the reflective coating of the windows that create an almost metallic look to the building as a whole. This is the sort of computer-designed structure that breaks the plain geometry format of years—centuries—gone by and ushers in the look we might associate with the future, that which seems to defy conventional logic in construction. Minor enhancements: contrast, colour and sharpness only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike

Friday, February 23, 2024

Ocean Beach

 

Whenever I visit the south coast, I’m always reminded that the next land south is Antarctica. This is the Southern Ocean, pounding in on King’s Beach, west of Rosetta Head, near Victor Harbor, South Australia. There’s usually a stiff sea wind on this coast, and often spectacular cloudscapes. You can see whales on this coast, and surfers brave the swells. That’s either cloud down on the horizon or the rise of Kangaroo island through the sea haze. I took this frame on my birthday roadtrip in April, 2018. A well-framed, well-exposed image on a sunny day called for minimal enhancements: contrast, colour and sharpness were tweaked just a little. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Wildflowers on the Cusp of Spring

In contrast to the lifeless urban nature of the last post, here’s life in its more exuberant form. I took this frame on the 7th of August, 2022, on a visit to the Aldinga “Washpool,” a natural storm water catchment just inland from the pebble beach. The area was blanketed with yellow flowers (“soursobs”) which, together with their vivid greenery, made a colourful display. The day was alternating sun and cloud, so exposures changed quickly, and the quality of the images ranged from bright colour when the sun was out, to broody, pastel canvases when cloud held sway. I was having some focus problems on the day, but captured a number of interesting views all the same. Enhancements: contrast, colour, sharpness and gamma. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Hard Streets

 

These are ordinary suburban streets in Sunderland, in the English North East, but the light from that overcast and the wet ground conspire to make the tableau seem very “hard.” I took this shot on either the 11th or 12th of November, 2010, having just arrived for the conference at the University. I took a walk down the sea front from my B&B in Roker, took in the sights of a wet, chilly day, had hot chocolate at a small corner cafe, and generally looked for atmospheric images to record. This one has a brooding quality created by that angry sky, and a certain human plaintiveness—the utter lack of green, not so much as a weed showsng between paving stones. The overall effect is somewhat dystopian, though on a sunny day in summer the impression could be quite different. Some enhancement was done—contrast, colour, sharpness and gamma value. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.


Sunday, February 4, 2024

Changing Weather

Sunsets are an eternally fresh and wonderful subject for photographers to capture, and the passing events of sunrays and clouds are so ephemeral you must often just shoot what’s before you and see how the chip handles it. This frame, of the day's end through an incoming weather front, a welcome relief from Australia's summer heat, was captured almost nineteen years ago—February 11th, 2005—and is part of a group of sunsets I photographed from Flinders University. I was finishing my Masters Degree at the time and was up and down to the campus frequently. Sunset in February is quite late, mid-evening, so I had obviously been working in the library or in a meeting, perhaps a student gathering I preparation for the new term about to begin. I took this shot, like a number of others, while walking down to get the bus home, through a part of the campus completely redeveloped in later years. Minimal enhancement was used—contrast, colour, sharpness and gamma value. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Friday, January 26, 2024

A Bright Day in Winter


A simple but evocative shot, looking down from the overlook towards Myponga Dam, in Adelaide’s southern hills. The bright sunshine gives the image a feeling of warmth, but it was a chilly day—scarves and woolly hats were needed against a strong sea breeze farther down the coast. The old dam is always a photogenic subject, with its great lake nestled in the green countryside. I took this shot during an expedition dpwn t the south coast in July 21st, 2017. Image was minimally enhanced—contrast, colour and sharpness only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike

 

Thursday, January 25, 2024

New For Old



An interesting and unusual composition—a close up from dead astern of the Waco biplane operated by Adelaide Biplanes, from Aldinga Aerodrome, South Australia. The Waco is a modern-build of a classic 1930’s patent, this particular aircraft dating from 1992. The lines are most engaging, and this unusual aspect presented itself from the way the aircraft was parked near the airfield cafe! I grabbed this frame on January 11th, 2023, and would love to go see the planes coming and going again! Image was minimally enhanced—contrast, colour and sharpness only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike. (As it’s been two weeks since I posted, I’ll get something else up tomorrow, as well.)

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Still Life?

This is a most interesting piece—Dale Chihuly’s chandelier for the rotunda of the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, London. It was created in 2001 and I photographed it on November 1st, 2010, during my third UK trip. It’s a confection of blown glass, drawing on the Murano techniques of Venice, according to the V&A’s website. It creates a flowing sense of motion in a still object and its towering, extended, pseudo-organic form puts one in the mind of life, though not of any recognisable form. This was a straight forward snapshot, one of several of this subject, using the background architecture to frame the glass confection. It makes a most futuristic picture, oddly juxtaposing the classical architecture of the building with the surreality of the art. The only adjustments were a touch of contrast and sharpness. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Friday, January 5, 2024

Geometric Futures

The built environment contrasts with the natural world in one cardinal way—the artificial follows geometry, straight lines, repeating patterns, while the natural, at all but fine scale, follows organic forms and random patterning. Juxtaposition of one with the other creates the appeal of well grown-in urban spaces. This, however, is pure geometry: this is the west-facing side of the experimental medicine building on North Terrace, Adelaide, Soth Australia—commonly known as “the cheese grater” for obvious reasons. Evening light catches the coated windows from the persepctive of the tram stop. The picture was captures on the evening of the 1st of October, 2013, and was only slightly enhanced, with contrast, saturation and sharpness marginally adjusted. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Green Valleys in Spring

The hills of South Australia have a seasonal range of colour values, from a green so rich you’d think it was Ireland, in the wet months, to their characteristic yellow-grey in the harshest summer months. Depending on elevation and what sort of season we get, their nature can vary a lot at the same time of year. This is the stud farm at Hope Valley, in the southern hills, photographed on October 9th, 2022, one of our three consecutive La Nina years. The landscape is still appreciably lush, though spring is well matured and what should be the hot weather is just around the corner. But in these times of strange weather patterns there seem no hard and fast rules any more. This is a medium telephoto shot, framing up the horses in their paddocks against the house on the hill for a very picturesque composition. Contrast, colour and sharpness were adjusted slightly. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.