Up Stream

A few days ago, I went with my son as the day faded from afternoon to evening to get some images of Brisbane along its broad river a little upstream of the CBD.  It was a lot of fun and I managed to score some iconic images of the river, its bridges and our fair city.

Tis expedition was largely exploratory and we intend going back again, in the near future,  to take more images from similar viewpoints but while there is more light and colour in the sky.  Next time the images should be even more striking.

Train across the river

Train across the river

Evening colour

Evening colour

Bicycle lights

Bicycle lights

Intersection

Intersection

Two Bridges

Two Bridges

Bridge aglow

Bridge aglow

Like silver

Like silver

Rising City

Rising City

 

Moffat Beach

On the weekend Sharon and I went to Moffat Beach after checking out the Caloundra Markets … and it was windy.  It was so wild even the sea birds were grounded and the sea swells closed the beaches.

I had my camera so I fitted a dark filter (9 stop) to see if that would calm the waters.  It worked, sort of.  Check the images in the post to see if it made a difference.  I think if I had my polariser with me the combination would have truly flattened the swell.  Next time…

Flying High

I’ve never flown in a light plane before, so when offered the chance to take 2 flights in a Cessna 175 last weekend I had to grab it with both hands.  Actually I grabbed it with one hand since the other was around my Nikon.

The first flight was from Redcliffe to Kilcoy, traveling at about 500 metres (1500 feet) on a perfect winter’s morning around low mountains, over farms and along the Stanley River.  Then a couple of hours later we flew out over the waters of Lake Somerset and got fantastic views of water coming out of the Somerset Dam.

The post includes some shots that not only show the landscape from 500 metres but also illustrate abstract patterns that are only visible on land and water when viewed from an altitude.  Taking the photographs through the plane’s windows had it challenges, but nothing took away the exhileration of seeing, and capturing images of the world below.

I hope some of this is communicated in the photos.

 

Top of the Town

The ‘Top of the Town’ is a group of retail and commercial buildings along Brisbane Street in Ipswich (40ms west of Brisbane) that is fighting back against urban changes that saw a flight of business from the city’s CBD since at least the 1980s.

These old spaces now contain trendy coffee bars and antique shops among other new uses.  Most of the architecture is from the beginning of the 20th Century and the new activities are a good fit.

Images in this post provide a glimpse of the some of the items for sale now in the ‘Top of the Town’.

Sky tiles

Gallery

This gallery contains 2 photos.

On my birthday I was presented with this fascinating cloud pattern that beautifully complemented the coloured tiling on the Clem7 tunnel exhaust in Brisbane’s Wooloongabba. Near to where I took the sky image was an antique shop which I checked … Continue reading

The past is mostly a foreign country

Europeans first settled on Darwin Harbour during the 1870s.  Since then the area has experienced waves of change which have left evidence of their impacts.

Several events in particular made their mark: the earliest settlement to service the undersea telegraph to Asia and Europe; gold mining in the late 19th Century which drew thousands of Chinese to the Top End; the growth of air transport and links to the wider world, expanding government presence and defence preparations between the wars; bombing raids on the town in 1942 and 1943; the growth of civil community after the war; and then Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

This post includes recent images recording some of the evidence of these events and changes.

 

An afternoon in Noosa

Over Easter I had the pleasure of enjoying the late afternoon beach ambience in Noosa as the sun was heading for the western horizon.  The balmy air was still, the light golden and the beach still crowded. The sea was warm and the gentle waves regular.   In Hastings Street the restaurants were preparing for dinner.  Then the setting sun sent a rich glow over the Noosa River.

I just had to get some images to remember these moments.