Low Sun = Keyboard Shadows

 

There are times of day known to photographers—for example “blue hour” or “golden hour”—and the late afternoon as the sun drops low creates such a time, when the shadow of every tree crosses the road and you get a strobic effect as you travel. That’s one side of the coin, another is that you get the zebra-skin mat effect, when rows of trees cast shadows that turn horizontal surfaces onto keyboards. I got this frame on August 12^th, 2017, on a trip which had already taken in Ingalalla Falls further south, This is Peel Rd, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, an unsurfaced connecting road between main roads whose vegetation has an almost primordial feeling—gigantic Kangaroo Tails feel very prehistoric. The gums are wild and gnarly, and the light as the day approaches evening does all sorts of interesting things with that natural canvas on which to play. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

A Wide Open Landscape

A simple landscape shot, but the panorama is spectacular. I got this frame in a shoot along Range Road West, up toward Mt. Terrible, in the Adelaide Hills, on the 11^th of October 2020, and the view was quite remarkable. This frame looks west over the McLaren Vale Wine Region toward the Gulf St Vincent, and the shadow in the foreground is from a stand of trees to the right (some cropping was done at the foot of the frame to exclude part of the shadow). High telephoto was used, and the brightness of the day really registers the details. From the perspective of almost five years on, I'm struck by how green the countryside is, that late in the year, though elevation preserves the growing season when the plains are already dry. It’s big country up there, and big skies, well away from the thrust of development (at least so far). Minor adjustments to contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.