Check Skywatch Friday for more fabulous skies.tff
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Skywatch Friday: Kingscliff
I spent the week after Easter at the beach on holiday. My wife and I were at Kingscliff on the east coast of Australia, and this is how it looked.
Check Skywatch Friday for more fabulous skies.
tff
Check Skywatch Friday for more fabulous skies.tff
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Skywatch Friday: After the rain
After a very wet Easter period, today might be fine!Check Skywatch Friday for more excellent pix.
tff
Friday, April 10, 2009
Skywatch Friday: Uplight
Like an orange torch being shone into the sky.Check Skywatch Friday for more wonderful images.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Skywatch Friday: Bulimba sunrise
Dark clouds and the morning sun combine to form this rich red sunrise over the suburb of Bulimba, on the Brisbane River, at 5:30 this morning. Click on the photo to see a larger image.
Like skies? Visit Skywatch Friday for skies from around the world.
tff
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Your Brisbane: Past & Present
Thanks to images sourced from the archives of the Queensland State Library and the John Oxley library, I have begun a photographic project that compares old photographs of Brisbane with current photographs taken at the same location.
Where possible, I am replicating the viewpoint of the original image, although sometimes this is impossible. Over time things tend to change, and buildings and trees mushroom where none stood before, or once quiet roads are now too busy with traffic.
As a preview, I can show you what I mean. Below is a photograph printed in the Brisbane's daily newspaper, The Courier-Mail, in 1913. It shows the Winchcombe Carson wool store that was completed in 1911, and gives an idea of the size of the building, which takes up a whole block. It was used, of course, to store bales of wool prior to them being loaded onto ships at the nearby Teneriffe Wharves.
(Photo: courtesy State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library)
The building still stands; now converted to much sought after (and expensive!) New York-style apartments.
(Photo: the foto fanatic)
It was not possible to provide exactly the same perspective. This photo had to be taken from the middle of a busy road using a wide angle lens. I suspect that the original was taken from a higher position, and probably using what we now call a view camera, where the lens can be moved independently of the camera body. This prevents the distortion that arises from having to angle the camera upwards to capture the entire building. My image has been adjusted in Photoshop to reduce this distortion as much as possible. If this isn't done, the buiding looks like it is falling over backwards.
TFF
See my new blog here: http://yourbrisbanepastandpresent.blogspot.com/
Where possible, I am replicating the viewpoint of the original image, although sometimes this is impossible. Over time things tend to change, and buildings and trees mushroom where none stood before, or once quiet roads are now too busy with traffic.
As a preview, I can show you what I mean. Below is a photograph printed in the Brisbane's daily newspaper, The Courier-Mail, in 1913. It shows the Winchcombe Carson wool store that was completed in 1911, and gives an idea of the size of the building, which takes up a whole block. It was used, of course, to store bales of wool prior to them being loaded onto ships at the nearby Teneriffe Wharves.
(Photo: courtesy State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library)The building still stands; now converted to much sought after (and expensive!) New York-style apartments.
(Photo: the foto fanatic)It was not possible to provide exactly the same perspective. This photo had to be taken from the middle of a busy road using a wide angle lens. I suspect that the original was taken from a higher position, and probably using what we now call a view camera, where the lens can be moved independently of the camera body. This prevents the distortion that arises from having to angle the camera upwards to capture the entire building. My image has been adjusted in Photoshop to reduce this distortion as much as possible. If this isn't done, the buiding looks like it is falling over backwards.
TFF
See my new blog here: http://yourbrisbanepastandpresent.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Taronga Zoo
On a recent lightning visit to Sydney, I went to Taronga Zoo for the first time in many years. The magnificent site of this zoo, with its great views back across the harbour to Sydney, is worth the admission price alone. Someone told me that the giraffe pen had the best views in Sydney:
And by the way, this goat also has luxury accommodation in one of the most expensive cities of the world:
Generally, the animals seem to be well treated and healthy. It is always a shame to see wild animals in captivity, but these days the zoos have valuable breeding programs and research departments that contribute to animal welfare. According to Taronga Zoo, their Asian elephants were saved from a life of begging in the streets of Thailand, and so I would prefer to see them interacting with the public at the zoo, rather than continuing to live in those circumstances:
However, this Burmese tiger seemed really distressed, and was continually pacing backwards and forwards inside its glass-walled enclosure:
I guess zoos are neither good nor bad, but necessary. Animals in the wild are still poached for meat or killed for profit, and their natural habitat is continually shrinking. At least at a zoo, they are treated humanely and have the best food and medical attention available. Because of this, and because they are separated from their natural predators (including man), many animals have longer lifespans in captivity than they would experience in the wild.
But you can't help but feel some sort of empathy for them as they sometimes look so forlorn:
I certainly wish we had better communication with the animals - I'd love to know their thoughts.
TFF
And by the way, this goat also has luxury accommodation in one of the most expensive cities of the world:Generally, the animals seem to be well treated and healthy. It is always a shame to see wild animals in captivity, but these days the zoos have valuable breeding programs and research departments that contribute to animal welfare. According to Taronga Zoo, their Asian elephants were saved from a life of begging in the streets of Thailand, and so I would prefer to see them interacting with the public at the zoo, rather than continuing to live in those circumstances:
However, this Burmese tiger seemed really distressed, and was continually pacing backwards and forwards inside its glass-walled enclosure:I guess zoos are neither good nor bad, but necessary. Animals in the wild are still poached for meat or killed for profit, and their natural habitat is continually shrinking. At least at a zoo, they are treated humanely and have the best food and medical attention available. Because of this, and because they are separated from their natural predators (including man), many animals have longer lifespans in captivity than they would experience in the wild.But you can't help but feel some sort of empathy for them as they sometimes look so forlorn:
I certainly wish we had better communication with the animals - I'd love to know their thoughts.TFF
Monday, September 22, 2008
Witches Falls National Park
This is Queensland's oldest national park, having been declared in 1908. It is situated on Mt Tamborine, to the south of Brisbane. Mt Tamborine is just west of the Gold Coast, and over recent years has developed its own tourist persona for those people who prefer mountains to beaches.
As part of photographing the wedding of some friends, I stayed on Mt Tamborine for a few nights and had the opportunity to explore the park. The park has views west to the Great Dividing Range, and the sunset at the end of the afternoon was sublime:
During the day in the park, the sunlight filters through tall trees to provide dappled light on the rainforest floor:
As well as trees and other rainforest vegetation, there are an enormous number of large boulders in this park. It looks like giants played marbles there back in the dreamtime:
As you can see, the boulders have become covered with liken over thousands of years. Sometimes they are taken over completely by the root system of trees, showing how hardy these rainforest specimens are:
Naturally, the rainforest is home to many birds and animals The song of the whipbird and the peacock are never too far away, and even the ravens get a look in:
As part of photographing the wedding of some friends, I stayed on Mt Tamborine for a few nights and had the opportunity to explore the park. The park has views west to the Great Dividing Range, and the sunset at the end of the afternoon was sublime:
During the day in the park, the sunlight filters through tall trees to provide dappled light on the rainforest floor:
As well as trees and other rainforest vegetation, there are an enormous number of large boulders in this park. It looks like giants played marbles there back in the dreamtime:
As you can see, the boulders have become covered with liken over thousands of years. Sometimes they are taken over completely by the root system of trees, showing how hardy these rainforest specimens are:Naturally, the rainforest is home to many birds and animals The song of the whipbird and the peacock are never too far away, and even the ravens get a look in:
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