Soft-Light Perfection

I don’t often claim perfection, and if it happens it’s probably by accident, but here is a frame where it all came together. Just a simple country view—a farm in the valleys on the railway between Middlesbrough and Whitby, photographed through the carriage window. But all the elements are right—no dirt on the window, no reflections of interior lights, the POV is square-on to the scene (no fine rotation required), and the composition fell into place, the farm framed neatly in the view. The sun came out—the weather was grey and damp but for a while there was sunshine. And even then, the sun angle was low, so the light had a soft, almost transparent quality that makes everything seem different to the hard light of Australia. This was November 14^th, 2006, on my first England trip, and I was about to see my home town for the first time in 35 years—getting off at the very station the family left from in 1971. Talk about circles in completion—it was something that just had to be. But the November light in England, closing in on winter and the snow, is low and soft, and I can hardly describe it—you have to see it, feel it, to understand. 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.

 

A Disconcerting Landscape

Why disconcerting? Well, first, for the sheer starkness of a dry, Australian summer—harvested fields or long-grazed-down paddocks under that merciless sky. But there’s the simple fact a cloud had drawn before the sun, so while the background is sunlit and the sky a fleece-strewn blue, the foreground is in shadow, and that lends a very strange feeling to the image. This pic was taken in the southern hills near Strathalbyn, South Australia, on December 30^th, 2018. I was airing out the camera on a new phone at the time and seeing how it handled various conditions. The cloud shadow intruded upon the moment and it was worth capturing for both its aesthetic oddness, and as a test of the phone’s chip. General tweaks in Irfanview. Leagoo M9. 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.

Rolling Country

The opposite ends of the year are so different in Australia. This country would be grey-yellow in high summer—as it is now, at the end of April as I post this, for the simple reason that while the days are shorter and the temperatures cool, there has been no rain to trigger the greening. Fair’s fair, the last green didn’t vanish until; February this year, but the rains are taking their time... This photo was taken in August, 2020, and is a view of the farms off Robinson Rd. in the Adelaide Hills. The place is so lush and tranquil it could be the English countryside. Colour contrast and sharpness were given small adjustments. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Smooth Gradient

 

One can lose track of photographs when one takes a great many, and after a little recent organisation of files I came across sets from 2019 which had been overlooked. A couple of country drives not long after my birthday that year took us to some spots in the south, and this particular shot was taken in the late afternoon from Crow’s Nest Lookout, which is on the hills above the south coast. At the time (April 16^th, 2019) I was giving another camera a workout—it’s still on standby for when my old S5600 finally gives up the ghost. This is an exercise in how the chip handles high contrast, looking past trees silhouetted in the light of the low sun. The gradient of colour in the sky is quite amazing, and the image has a great deal of “body” to it. The chip handles the conditions very nicely indeed—I must use this camera more! Note the super-wide format selected, and the higher DPI. Minor enhancement only—some gamma adjustment in effort to pull out detail in the foreground. Fuji FinePix HS10. Image by Mike.

The Wide Sky

 

A favourite photo stop is the top of Mt. Alma, South Australia. A hill, of course, as all our “mountains” are, and the road leads over the summit. But that view! In fair weather or foul, the breadth of sky is amazing, and the farms below are spread out like a toy landscape. To the south you can catch the Southern Ocean between folds of the hills, and it’s always quiet up there—birds and the bleat of sheep, wind in the grass... I took this shot on December 13^th, 2019, after an excellent early Christmas lunch at Inman Valley Country Kitchen, and you can see the country is already getting into summer mode—quite a contrast to this summer gone by in which green persisted locally until February! This wide-angle shows the breadth of the Australian landscape rather to perfection. This is a phone pic, and no enhancements were done at all. Leagoo M9. Image by Mike.

Painted Reflections

 

Reflections in water are one of my favourite things to photograph. They’re ever-changing, completely dependent on the light and wind conditions, and the artistic effects are always pleasing. This is Playford Lake, at Belair National Park, South Australia, which I‘ve shot many, many times over the years. Depending on the time of day, the most amazing studies can be taken from the path that circles the lake. If I remember correctly, this is a long telephoto shot from the west end of the lake, looking back to the western end of the island, and the light angle suggests quite early in the day. This shot was one of many taken when the light was just right on November 15^th, 2023. Minor tweaks to contrast and colour only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Wild Land

At first glance a jumble of colours and shapes—this is the view over central Australia looking down from the starboard side of an airliner on its way to Singapore, on the first leg of my flight to the UK, on October 31^st, 2010. There are clouds and their shadows, over a dun-ochre landscape—it could almost be Mars, right?—which, one can see from altitude, seems, incongruously, to have been shaped by flowing water. Incongruous, because it’s bone dry most of the year, and subject to flash floods at wide intervals, which, nevertheless, mould the landscape in ways quite distinct from above. I have vivid memories of this flight as we passed by Uluru, and the Captain announced that they had been given permission to deviate slightly from flightpath so as to pass almost over the Rock. Passengers on my side of the plane saw it as we went by. My photos are not very distinct, there seemed much haze on the day, and the window was far from clean. This image, taken some way south of Uluru, probably in the far north of South Australia, has been enhanced a fair bit, gamma value was reduced a long way to compensate for the haze, contrast and colour were intensified, and the whole was sharpened just a little. 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.

 

Long View

This is the view from the top of Mt Alma, South Australia, looking southwest toward an amazing Southern Ocean skyscape. I’ve been over that road many times, and one can never keep going without stopping to photograph the view. From farm lakes that make patches of sky in the landscape, to the rolling countryside and ever-changing cloudscape, it’s one of the best vantages around. Look south-east, you see to Lake Alexandrina, look west there are dark forests... I took this frame on July 1^st, 2018, on a family expedition around the southern vales--the country is wearing its winter green, such a change from the parched summer yellows. The image was enhanced a little, with increase in contrast and colour, decrease in gamma value and a little sharpening. I chose not to square up the skyline, as the angle of the road makes it a bit vertiginous at the best of times. Just a snap, but what a view! Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Very Australian Highway

 

There's something just so Australian about hot tarmac under a cloudless sky. Ever since director George Miller made an artistic statement out of roads over forty years ago, the temptation has always been to get down on the white line when traffic is sparse and capture images like this. I shot this one on November 23^rd, 2020, on the last leg of a country drive from Palmer to Mount Pleasant. This is in the northern grain lands—there were huge harvesters working not far from our stopping point. This picture evokes the vastness of Australia, and is just as it came from the camera. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Magical Valley

This is a simple roadside snapshot looking over the eastern end of the Piccadilly Valley, South Australia. This whole area is one of the most picturesque and fertile spots in the ranges, a high valley lying east of Mt Lofty, and in its western parts, over toward Summertown and Uraidla, home to market gardens and vineyards. This photo was taken in the late afternoon of June 3^rd, 2018, and one might be forgiven for thinking this was Europe, rather than the Antipodes. Imported northern species mingle with the native flora in the cool of altitude and the damp of early winter, creating a spot with an undeniable magic. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

19th Century Landscape

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This image is an excellent contrast to my last photo from the Esk Valley Railway. That time the lighting, the cleanliness of the window and the angle on the subject were wagering against the shot, but this time everything was going for it: a clean window, lighting favouring the subject matter, and a lower telephoto factor providing for less inherent grain. This is a classic old farmhouse in the Esk Valley of Yorkshire, between Middlesbrough and Whitby, snapped on a sunny afternoon in November, 2007, from the passing train. But for the visible motion on the foreground tree, you would almost think you were standing on the far side of the valley from the clarity. The frame was sharpened and colour- and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto. Image by Mike.

Colonial Memories

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The Adelaide Hills are dotted with little sites like this, reminders of the colonial past are everywhere. These farm houses were built between the late 1830s and the turn of the twentieth century, and some of them were still inhabited in the 1960s, even though there was no electricity wired in, and you carried water from your well! (A friend of mine raised five kids in a house just like this, near Victor Harbor! They were a sturdier breed in those days.) These structures were built to last, and will be around a great deal longer, even though they're now derelict and some, like this one, are no more than ruins. This farmer's cottage stands at the edge of the Scott Creek Conservation Park, South Australia, and this image was captured in the fall of 2007. The grass is green ... we've clearly had some rain! Photo by Mel, 2007.

Gone bush!

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Gone bush. The words have an almost mystical quality about them in this country, because they mean ... packed up the tent and gone waaaay out yonder, well beyond network coverage, won't be back till Tuesday, earliest, so don't come looking. They can also mean, "Have vanished for the foreseeable future, gone 4x4 adventuring, will be back when I'm good and ready, with an esky full of barramundi on ice." In other words ... civilization has been shrugged off, one has returned to nature! The quest for sanity has commenced! This imaged is through the windscreen, on one of the access roads leading to the Deep Creek Conservation Park. It's primordial ... raw ... primal. Some of my best pictures are through the windscreen. The rules are simple: clean the glass to avoid "ufos;" zoom out to about 100mm to get past the windscreen wipers and windscreen surround; try to keep the radio aerial out of the picture -- or crop it out later; set a fast shutter speed, because the car is moving and all roads are bumpy; and watch out for the sun direction, because if the light falls directly through the windscreen you'll get "glare," and a reflection off the dash mat into the glass. Stick to these rules and you can get some amazing pictures. Have fun! Photo by Jade, 2006.

Still life, with wine casks

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Here's a taste of history, standing at the entry to a carpark in McLaren Vale ... those wine barrels could be fifty year sold -- or older! "Life meets art" here, too. The photo has been profoundly enhanced to produce an affect almost like a painting. The original photo was captured with the Fuji S6500fd ... and was flat, without much color, and "washed out" by the lighting conditions. At the software level, the contrast was flattened, the color was resaturated, the whole image was darkened, and then sharpened to the point where it takes on the "art" look. Photo by Mel, 2007.

Not a drop to drink

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Drought. The word raises a shiver -- and if it doesn't, it should. Australia is having a rough time with water shortages now, and in the last few years the water restrictions have started to bite. We're not rationed yet, but what you can do with water is strictly legislated! This picture was taken on the Fleurieu Peninsula in February 2008, almost a year ago at the time of this writing. It's summertime, and it's ... hot, dry, bright. Relentless. The camera would have been one of the Fujis; the conditions were perfect for digital cameras, and I have no doubt I left the camera to take care of everything -- I would have been too busy sweating to worry about the details! Photo by Mel, 2008.

Frozen Motion

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Perspective and the illusion of motion are some of the amazing phenomena of photography. A hundred years ago such optical illusions were glimpsed momentarily and perhaps recorded by adventurous artists, but photography revealed a world previously invisible. The famous sequence of photographs taken around 1890, showing a horse jumping a fence at fraction of a second intervals, and which demonstrated the mechanism for motion picture photography, is an example of this hidden world. This photograph was a simple snapshot from the window of a north-bound express between London and York on an autumn evening in 2007. Of the collection of stills and video the FinePix S5600 captured before the light grew too dim and the coach lights reflected in the windows overrode everything outside, this one best epitomises the streaking speed of the train. The dimming light of evening, while compensated for by the auto-exposure, also produced a shutter speed slow enough for the streak effect to be pronounced.

Fall comes to the Fairbanks hills

The further north you travel, the earlier autumn arrives ... and the shorter the time it stays! Fall in Alaska is a ripple which begins in the Arctic and heads south, and in any one place it only touches down for a few days before the leaves fall and winter seems to be knocking at the door. In the hills around Fairbanks -- the location of this shot -- you can be sure you've wandered into an enchanted forest. The whole world seems to have turned gold ... but it doesn't last. You seize the opportunity and shoot ten or twenty rolls of film, fast as you can! This picture is a scan from a print made in 1999. The camera was a Pentax K-1000; the lens was probably the Tamron 80-200mm zoom. The film stock would have been Kodak Royal Gold. It was scanned at 600dpi not long ago, and enhanced in Irfanview. (My best work from the era was done on transparency ... difficult to scan on the desktop, even if I had access to the slides, which I don't. Alas, they're in storage.) Photo by Mel, 1999.