When Water Holds the Sky

Reflections are always fun to work with, and still waters are that perfect mirror for the bright sky. Lakes are, by their nature, spectacular fodder for photographers interested in landscape studies. Lakes don’t have to be large to deliver the visual goods—this one is small indeed. Here a palm reflects among the lily pads at Himeji Gardens, on Adelaide’s South Terrace. The Japanese gardens, created to celebrate the city’s twin status with Himeji, are a haven of peace and always a delight to visit. I got this frame during a visit with friends on June 12^th, 2011—cool weather here in the south, when afternoon sun vied with dark clouds in the east. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Tree Bark and Seed Heads

This is such a simple image, but an artistic one. The frame is filled with nature—living systems from side to side. I took this frame as part if a shoot at Byards Wetlands, South Australia, on August 20^th, 2025, and my eye was caught first by the lighting angle, back-lighting the seed heads of the reeds, then by the organic patterning of the tree bark. Bringing them together was a matter of choosing the angle to exclude any hint of other background—and there it is, an earth-toned panorama of life in the dusty warmth of an Australian spring.

I’ve been focused on work these last few weeks, so will post a few pictures in quick succession.

Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Poco M5. Image by Mike.

Gnarled Giant

Just a forest photo, but look at the shape of that tree... The Australian eucalypt is one of these trees able to take on any shape at all, as determined by the conditions in which it grows, and this one was growing from a steep bank in a gully. It reaches for the light one way, water the other, and creates such a remarkable shape. One would imagine an artist had been extravagant in the layout of a work for dramatic effect, but such things are common in the endless variation of gum tree morphology. However, what really makes the picture is the sun angle—the degree of backlighting, the way it shines through the foreground and understorey vegetation, silhouetting the tree—that's where the art happens. I took this shot on the walk through to Ingalalla Falls, down on the Fleurieu Peninsula, on August 12^th, 2017. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

A Stark Land

Apologies for the month-long absence, I’ve been particularly busy with writing and getting away on a brief visit. Here are a couple of Australian images in quick succession to compensate. This one was taken up by Palmer , way north of Adelaide on November 23^rd, 2020, at the first pull-in. The land was so dry, the sheep seemed to be scratching an existence from almost nothing. The air was hot and oppressive, and the distance was blue with haze. This angle is looking northward, if memory serves, toward agricultural buildings. There were grain silos not far away. I was struck by how very stark South Australia is by that time of year. This year, we’re into uncomfortably hot days a month earlier. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

The Hidden Sun

There’s nothing so ephemeral as sun rays through cloud, shifting as the clouds move and the sun declines... They’re moments of time never to be recaptured, yet can be frozen in images (I almost typed ‘on film’) for posterity. I took a series of frames when nature made this show as heavy weather blew up over Hastings, on November 15^th, 2012. I was on my fifth UK trip, visiting towns in the south, and Hastings turned on some thick weather. The camera chip handled the contrast amazingly. While the pictures looking away from the sun were flat and soft, as is to be expected on such a grey day, when looking toward the spectacle over the Channel the sense of “light in the darkness” came through profoundly. Minor adjustments to colour and contrast in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Cool in the Valley

Even at high summer, there are places the water continues to flow and the trees remain green. This is the Sturt River flowing through the bottom of Coromandel Valley, South Australia. This shot is dated 21^st of January, 2020—deep in the hot weather. But under the trees, life blooms—the river is filled with life, and the long trail beside the water is a popular walking route. It feels a long way from civilization but the main road is about fifty metres away. This is just a snap shot, taken from a bridge, but the variety of vegetal greens, the reflections on the river, the contrast, all make the image an interesting and well-featured composition. Minor adjustment to colour and contrast only. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Evening Storm

I captured this frame two years and one day ago—September 11^th, 2022. A simple shot, looking west over the back garden hedges, of a storm front moving up from the gulf. This is one of those occasions when nature presents you with a spectacle and says “catch me!” I took a long series of frames that evening, but this one has a strange purple hue to the light that is so effective, so unusual. I could have processed it out, but that’s what the evening looked like, and that’s what I'm presenting. A tiny touch of contrast enhancement was the only effect applied. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Deceptive Woods

Why deceptive? This image excludes anything man-made: one would be forgiven for thinking I was in the depths of a forest when I took this frame, and that’s somewhat true, as the whole region is heavily forested. But there was a town’s main street just behind me. These trees are above the carpark at Aldgate, in the Adelaide Hills, where a walking trail begins, leading a few kilometres to Mylor. The main road, carrying the weight of through-traffic, is below and behind my POV; sun through trees is a favourite theme and composition of mine. This frame was captured on the 15^th of April, 2017. Some minor adjustments were made: colour was increased a little, and gamma correction was used to pull out mid-tone detail from the otherwise harsh contrast. Image by Mike.

 

Converging Reflections

Anywhere there’s water, there are reflections, and Playford Lake, at Belair National Park, is a place one can photograph over and over, as the changing weather and differing times of day and year conspire to make the precise nature of the pictures different every time. I took this one on a fairly blah day, May 9^th, 2023, an expedition that took us a few interesting places in the Hills region. The weather had been cloudy and the light soft until the sun broke through at this point, and I was able to grab some studies with far more substance—better colour and contrast, with defined shadows and, above all, reflections. These are the trees on the small island in Playford Lake, a haven for waterbirds, and surely one of the most-photographed islets of its sort. Minimal enhancements, via Irfanview. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Colour Therapy

A couple of days past the solstice of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, things have been pretty cold—sunny days before rain is due, but some very cold nights. So at this time of year I thought it would be nice to post an absolute contrast, a spring photo . This blossom is on a tree in the front garden, frame grabbed on the 8^th of September, 2017. Basic tweaks only. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Nature’s Symmetry

 As a photographer I’m fascinated by symmetries, whether man-made or natural, and here is a natural one—the long, straight trunks of pine trees creating a vanishing point when viewed directly upward. I took this photo on the 8^th of April, 2017, probably somewhere in the Kuitpo Fortest region, though I couldn’t swear to that as there’s no record, and other parts of the same expedition are down around Mount Compass and environs. No matter, the symmetry’s the thing, and its always interesting to see parallel lines in nature. Some enhancement was done, contrast, colour and sharpness. 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.

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 9^th, 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.

 

Misty Forest

Nature can turn on some amazing views, not all of them grand vistas of sea or sky. Some can only be glimpsed by being “inside” the weather, such as happened on this expedition, a drive through Adelaide’s southern hills on the 14^th of July, 2023. The weather was thick and clouds were hugging the hills, so when ascending from the low-lying vineyards of the McLaren Vale Wine Region into the grey overcast, one found oneself in the densest mist in a long time. An excellent opportunity for a shoot was found on a graded track near Range Road West, where the gnarled gums, frozen in their apparent writhing gesticulation in the hazy airs, created a distinctly primordial feeling. Minimal image processing was used. 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.

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.

End of Day

When I was a mid I loved shooting sunsets—capturing those glorious, ephemeral colours in the western sky. I would snap away with a Kodak 126 Instamatic, and I did quite well, given what I had to work with. Half a century on I still can't get enough of sunsets, and from time to timer have the opportunity to record the process at some length. This is one of a long series of frames taken looking west over the Adelaide plain to the Gulf St Vincent from a vantage at the top of the ranges, at the top of Range Road, on May 2^nd 2022. This angle is close enough to exclude the silhouetted power pylons just off camera to the right, which, though visually interesting for their own sake, are not terribly aesthetically pleasing. This makes it a natural world image, subtracting the machine subtext of the towers. No image manipulation was done on this one. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Not-So Hidden Gem

 

This image evokes thoughts of deep forest, of a gorge in pretty inaccessible bush land, or a national park perhaps; but a main road is actually less than thirty metres away, to the left. This is the Sturt River where it flows through Coromandel Valley, parallel with the main street, and constitutes the Coro Linear Park. There is usually water in this stretch, all year round, and the valley stays remarkably green even at the height of summer. This photograph was taken on January 21^st, 2020, during a walk on the park trail before coffee and going on to Belair National Park. No retouching or fine tuning, this is just as it came off the camera. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Refuge for Wildlife

 

This peaceful scene of an Australian waterway is just a stone's throw from habitation—just across a road, as it happens. Here is nature in harmony with suburbia: the Onkaparinga River at Old Noarlunga, the highest stretch at which the river is in fact a tidal estuary. Here one finds fish aplenty and birdlife to match: pelicans frequent the area, testimony to the plentiful catch to be had. I took this frame, looking toward the cliffs on the east side of the river, during a family walk around the Noarlunga “Horseshoe” on February 13^th, 2020; nothing fancy in the approach, simply taking advantage of the scenery to compose a pleasing image. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.