Reaching for Distance

This shot was an experiment with the high-end of the telephoto range of the camera I was working out at the time. It’s a view from Crowsnest Lookout, on the hills above Victor Harbor and the south coast, with the town of  Middleton (IIRC) in the foreground, taken on April 13th, 2019. That’s the Southern Ocean, with the Coorong barrier beach and Lake Alexandrina in the background. We were into ‘golden hour,’ the sun declining rapidly off to the left. Minor adjustments were made in IrfanView. Fuji FinePix S6500. Image by Mike.

 

Gulls on Painted Water

I love shooting reflections, and sometimes, when you close in on a reflective surface to exclude the ‘real world’ source material of the reflection, the result can become abstract art. Here are seagulls on the placid waters of Whitby harbour, Yorkshire, England, photographed on Sunday, November 7^th, 2010. I had taken a long stroll around town in the afternoon, visited the abbey on the headland, and would soon be shooting the lights after dark, but here the ambient conditions were suspended near the end of day, and the waters picked up this artsy look—almost like an illustration coloured in. Minor-adjustments to contrast and colour only. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Down the Tube to Lanantarn

Yes, I’m a sucker for vanishing point symmetry, it catches my eye and I’ll shoot it whenever I find it! This is the Heathrow Express terminal deep under Heathrow Airport, at 5.33 and 54 seconds (by the electronic signage) on the morning of Sunday, October 31^st, 2010. My plane had just got into Blighty, Customs was a quick process (I remember we were the very first plane load fronting up to the desks for the day!) and I was eastbound for London Town with my luggage. I travelled with the camera round my neck and shot as I went, and all sorts of interesting things appear as one goes. The light was low, of course, so non-moving subjects were preferred (cameras were less fancy in those days, and soaring ISO speeds were a thing of the future). 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.

 

Sombre Evening Sky

The south end of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, is “big sky” country, long and flat, conducive to appreciating those amazing South Ocean cloudscapes that roll in. This is Clayton Bay, in the lakes region, in the late afternoon of May 26^th, 2018, and a weather front was coming up fast. The scene had a moody atmosphere, spectacular but sombre, and I captured several interesting studies of these clouds over the water. The image is sharpened a tad, squared-up with custom fine rotation, and contrast and colour have been adjusted slightly. Fuji FinePix S5600. 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.

Pastel Skies

Been very busy and two weeks have gone by since I posted—so this will be a two-post day. First up, one of these shots you just have to be there to get—this is part of a sequence of images taken out the window at my side on the last leg of my journey home in 2010, capturing the changing tones of the sky and light on the aircraft as the sun came up The sun was rising on the other side of the plane, but I got to see the delicate graduated colours in the sky. Luckily, the temperature and humidity conditions conspired to give me a clean, ice-free window at this point. The view is over the starboard wing of an Airbus A-330, the QANTAS plane Noosa, heading into Adelaide on November 17^th of that year. The frame is almost exactly as it came off the camera. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Blue and Gold—A Whitby Twilight

 

This is a longer view toward the Gothic church in Skinner Street, Whitby (I posted a close up almost exactly a year ago, “Cold Stone, Warm Light,” on July 20^th, 2023) which I captured around November 6^th, 2010, during an afternoon and early evening stroll through the quaint seaside town on the Yorkshire coast. The sun never rises very high at that time of year, so time of day is often difficult to pick from a photograph. This was probably not much after 4 in the afternoon, but the streets are filled with shadow, very blue against the golden light catching the upper parts of the church. It’s a magical place and a magical time of year, just after Guy Fawkes’ Night, when autumn slides quickly into winter. I remember having a drink at The Granby Freehouse, at right of the picture, still a very traditional pub at that time—I’m not sure if it has succumbed to development and updating in the 14 hears since. I set a scene in my first vampire story right there in that street (appearing soon in an anthology with Hiraeth Books!) Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Colour Therapy 3

Blue sea, green grass, perfect compliments in a pallette of colours meant to bring tranquility. This is the view south toward Cape Jervis from the cliffs above Morgan’s Beach, in the south of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, taken on July 21^st, 2017. That's Kangaroo Island on the horizon. I got a fair few interesting shots on that day, as the weather and sun angle were being kind. Simple composition—I let nature do the work. The frame was squared-up a touch with fine-rotation; contrast and colour were tweaked slightly. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Colour Therapy 2

 

Following the theme of colour for its own artistic sake, here is a study of the trees at Mylor, South Australia, which I took on July 13^th, 2017. The sun was beautiful on the foliage, and while some trees were still showing their autumn reds so late in the season, these perennials were in their full winter green. The two shades of green against the blue sky made an irresistible melange of colour. This is the image just as it came from the camera. Fiji FinePix S6500 (one of my learning outings on this camera), automatic. 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.

Roman Corner

I’m sure there’s a wealth of history about this exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, but I think of it simply as ”Roman Corner.” One walks through here between one part of the classically-appointed museum and another, but this particular area recreates ancient times—the statue is probably original, and the marble probably all comes from Italy. If you look in the right direction for a moment, you could be two thousand years ago, in a well-to-do house of a lost civilisation. I took this photograph on November 1^st, 2010, my one and only (to date) visit to this amazing museum. Contrast and colour were increased a little, as was sharpness. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.