Futurism Today

Here’s another view of Adelaide’s Sky City building, taken from the Festival Theatre footbridge end, on May 15^th, 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

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

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 7^th 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.

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 11^th or 12^th 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.

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 11^th, 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.