Tag: Australia

The Milky Way …

YouTube is a remarkable resource. As well as how to poach eggs in the microwave I have learnt from and been inspired by some excellent photographers. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that all the good English landscape photographers have north country accents. One of the best bits of advice in landscape photography is stand in front of a better landscape and the north of England is blessed in that regard. Once you’re hooked it’s not an insuperable effort to go further afield.

Richard Tatti is a local not a pom, he lives not far from me and he also plays to his strength. Not landscapes but nightscapes. He is well worth checking out <HERE> or find him on YouTube or Instagram.

In many places light pollution makes the stars hard to see. I live 15km from the nearest town which in any case is not very large. Just walking out my door at night is all it takes if the sky is clear. You can see the glow of Maryborough in the lower right corners of both today’s photos.

The Milky Way season is upon us. The galactic core is not visible in the middle of the Australian summer but we can now find it in the east in the early morning. As the season progresses it will move through the south becoming higher and visible for more of the night before shifting to the west and becoming an after sunset phenomenon.

So here’s my favourite tree again …

You can now check me out on instagram click <HERE>

Macro Madness …

Ballarat’s Begonia Festival is in full swing. I went along yesterday with my macro lens for the opportunity to photograph an enormous collection of virtually unblemished flowers.

Walking back to the car around Lake Wendouree a Black Swan presented itself for a photo. The only lens I had with me was the 100mm macro lens. You use what you’ve got so here is the first photo I’ve taken of a live free bird with a macro lens!

The Fergie …

The tractor is a 1953 UK built Massey Ferguson TO30 and it’s parked just a few yards from my back door. It was a clear sky last night and there was a smallish window between the Milky Way making its appearance and moon rise. I set up the camera, worked out my lighting and went to bed with the alarm set for 2.45 am.

I think it was worth it …

The bright “star” tucked in the left side of the Milky Way is the planet Jupiter.

The Classics …

Let’s start early morning …

The Twelve Apostles

I didn’t even attempt a sunset – the crowd scared me off. Early morning is a better option. Not so many people are prepared to get up before dawn and some of those that do prefer the east facing lookout to watch the sun come up. I was happy with long exposure blue hour shots looking west.

Loch Ard Gorge is not so packed. There’s plenty of room and several lookouts so to some extent you can pick the spot that best utilises the sun’s position that day.

Loch Ard Gorge

Once the sun had gone I went to an east facing lookout for another image …

Loch Ard Gorge

The previous evening I was on the beach at Gibson Steps for sunset. I certainly wasn’t alone but the crowd was limited to those fit enough to climb back up the cliff!

Gibson Steps

Great Ocean Road west …

This February has been an extremely busy month. I really needed a couple of days to relax so it was off to the western end of the Great Ocean Road to take a few photos of the iconic scenery. I visited the eastern end back in January and blogged about it from January 20 and following days.

This time it was under canvas at Princetown a spot that looks like this during the day …

and like this (sometimes) at night …

It is very handy for getting to the Twelve Apostles and nearby attractions and I will share the photos …

Waanyarra …

The miners of Waanyarra didn’t have far to go to Morton’s Welcome Inn. Nor did they have far to go to the cemetery.

Most of the gold rush era graves were marked with wooden memorials. They have fared badly, most are gone and with one exception the remainder are illegible. Three plaques at the gate list the names and ages of the people known to be buried here although the exact locations are unknown. Very young children figure prominently.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.       Matthew 24:44 – King James Bible

Among the few headstones there is one for Michael Morton. This is likely the man who built the old Welcome Inn. The name is right, the place is right, the era is right. There is an inconsistency in the age however. What I know of Mr Morton was gleaned from a descendant writing <HERE>  which gives him as 19 years of age in 1847 therefore  77 in 1905.

More Large Marsupials …

Kangaroos tend to lay up during the day, often in a wooded area, and move to their grazing area late in the afternoon. Evening and early morning are the times when drivers have to be particularly careful. The road sense of a kangaroo is fairly minimal although natural selection is working on it.

A mob of about a dozen adults plus pouch young came across my little farm the other evening. They were grazing as they came. I was accurate in my prediction of the route they would take. I hid in a large bush and they slowly made their way up to me.

 

 

They are shy. They compete directly with the local sheep for the currently scanty grass – they have no friends among the farming community.

This one discovered me …

and they were gone in an instant.

Morton’s Welcome Inn …

On a lonely road in Victoria’s Golden Triangle there stands an old stone building. It once provided a warm welcome to the diggers in the Waanyarra gold field.

Morton’s Welcome Inn

Michael Morton was 19 years old when he was found guilty of cow stealing in 1847 in Tipperary, Ireland. He was sentenced to be transported. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall with brown hair and a fresh complexion. He was single, a labourer and couldn’t read or write. The journey took him via Bermuda and the Cape of Good Hope eventually fetching up in Van Dieman’s Land in April 1850 where he and almost all of the convicts coming off the good ship Neptune were given a pardon on the condition that they not return to the old country.

In 1852 he crossed Bass Strait and joined the gold rush. And soon after he built a pub that also served as a store. It held a license from 1866 – 1883 which doesn’t mean it wasn’t in business before that!

interior

It was not a large space. It had to house his growing family, eventually eight strong as well as his patrons. Since the last digger was fleeced the building has  at some time done duty as a wool shed.

Imagine it on a cold winter’s night after a hard day’s yacker, a fire in the hearth, good company and a beer.