Natural Spectacle

Australia can certainly turn on some ominous and imposing skyscapes. South Australia's major changes usually come from the southwest, big storms rolling in off the Southern Ocean, and they never disappoint when it comes to drama. This one was shot from a holiday camp at Normanville, South Australia, on the evening of February 17^th, 2023, looking west, as some very impressive things were occurring. Slight adjustments were made to gamma value, contrast, saturation and sharpness. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Neon Extravaganza

 

Sometimes things take you by surprise and you shoot almost automatically. This was such an occasion—this is the weather awning of the main entry to Heathrow Airport, west of London, and I was making my way back to Australia on the evening of Tuesday, November 16^th, 2010, having come down from Sunderland by train to King's Cross, passing through much fog on the way, then making my way through the metropolis as the sun went down and finally out to the airport by train from Paddington. Just as I was walking into the airport, they turned on the neon and the effect was stunning! It looks purple but I remember it being individual red and blue fluorescent tubes that together created the illusion of colour. I shot several frames to record it, having already photographed the night-time environs—the camera was in my hand as the lights came on. I could have squared up the image but it would have cut into the thematic material, so this time I'm posting it just as it came off the camera, other than a touch of sharpening, contrast and gamma correction. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Vines and Changing Weather

Here is an opportunistic shot, a high telephoto framing looking toward a hill with a storm sky. The view is northward on Foggo Road, McLaren Vale, South Australia, just over the road from Foggo Wines. The date was May 9^th, 2023, and the late afternoon was weathering up, a grateful end to the warmer season leaving the landscape rich in fall colours. This was the third of three frames capturing this scene, each at different degrees of zoom, and this one, closing in to register both landscape and the densest part of the cloudscape, burned in the best colour. It's a delightfully rustic scene in the modern idiom, the vines of the wine region I think of as “the green sea” under the sort of spectacular sky Australia so often provides. The image was sharpened slightly and the contrast was tweaked a touch. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Steel Bike

 The Kenny Blake Memorial Sculpture on the High Street of Strathalbyn, South Australia is an internationally recognised sporting monument. Kenny Blake was a South Australian motorcycle racing icon until his untimely passing at Britain's Isle of Mann in 1981. This sculpture took three months to build and contains over 4000 mechanical components and items of scrap. The imposing, life-size monument stands on a stone pedestal on a street corner, and perfectly captures the power and grace of the sport. The intricate detail is endlessly fascinating, and it would be interesting to reshoot at different times of day to catch the changing light across the monument. I captured this image when passing through Strathalbyn on January 19^th, 2023. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Any Day in the Park

 

People in general sometimes take our National Parks for granted, which is a shame as they really deserve our very finest appreciation. Belair was Australia's first National Park, established in the 1880s, and remains one of the best—as parks-pass holders we used the place as a frequent getaway for a day among green spaces and wildlife. I caught this image on September 9^th, 2020, on the trail leading op from Old Government Farm to the ridge overlooking much of the park, with views to the sea, and it struck me at the time that the interplay of light and shadow was nothing short of magic. The steep embankment up to the trees, its ranks of vegetation each catching the sun at that precise angle, could not have been more perfect if an artist had executed the composition—the sort of fleeting moment an artist would wait for, then sketch furiously in a swift tonal values study, and commit to canvas later. The image has been adjusted slightly—contrast, colour and sharpness. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.