Cool and Lush

 

A temperate woodland—Europe? North America? This is the redwood plantation (Sequoia sempervirens) at Belair National Park, east of Adelaide, photographed on July 12^th, 2017. These trees were planted in 1966, the last mass planting of an exotic species to ever occur in the park, and have a long way to go to reach their full size. They towering trunks and fern ground cover create a distinctly north-temperate feeling to the hills above a very Australian eucalypt forest, and the wind in the coniferous needles is an unusual sound in these surroundings. Nothing fancy on this shot, just some minor enhancements. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Geometry and Light

The play of light and shade amongst geometric architecture has always captured my eye, and this view seemed served up to me by the very hand of fate. I took this shot on November 2^nd, 2010, during a visit to the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd., London. This is the annex or vestibule connecting the traditional museum to the super-modern, organic-architecture research wing, and the afternoon light through plate glass and girders creates a very futuristic effect. What you see is exactly as the picture came off the camera, I've done nothing with it. I could have sharpened it, added contrast, turned up the colour, the usual round, but I decided to leave this one alone. The murky feel of the light is mysterious, and the geometry created by the sunrays and steps is a hard artificiality contrasted by the natural light source. The institution serves to explore nature—the artificial contemplating the natural, if you will—and this picture creates an interesting, abstract, salute to the concept. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Changeable Weather

 

This is the view from Brighton (South Australia) jetty, looking south. The storm front was coming up from the south-west, making a spectacular grey background to a sunlit beach and sea. Looking north everything was blue and summery, so Brighton and suburbs immediately south were on the edge of the change. I took this shot on the afternoon of November 24^th, 2014, after having a business lunch at a local cafe with a client looking for a museum-quality display build, which I pursued through the Palaeo Lab at the university—I had the pleasure of being project lead on that one! Image is adjusted slightly, with increases in contrast, sharpness and colour saturation. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Tangle of Life

 

A simple image but it epitomises the “be there and catch it” serendipity of photography. Just this association of trees, just that display of clouds, the light at just that angle, coming together to make a visual maze of stems and leaves, with the depth of the rich blue beyond. This shot was taken at Belair National Park on August 13^th, 2017, beside Playfiord Lake. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

The New and the Old

 

Here is a classic juxtaposition such as could be found in any city, the soaring architecture of the 21^st century and the solid, classical style of previous epochs, cheek by jowl. This is King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, photographed on June 11^th, 2020, from the simple vantage of a bus stop on my way home. The new residential tower rises to 25 storeys, way above the already-imposing Bank of South Australia next door, though still dwarfed by the State Bank building behind. The bright winter's day demanded no photographic cleverness, just point and shoot, and the vanishing point symmetry of the buildings does the rest. Smartphone shot—Leagoo M9. Image by Mike.