Gardens

The people in the Highlands developed a farming and hunting culture that has remained relatively unchanged for a very long time. The area is so remote and difficult to reach that it wasn't discovered by Europeans until the 1930's. The farming predates European farming and is old as any other area in cultivation anywhere in the world. Traditional housing is also visible in this picture.

Lake Kutubu

Lake Kutubu is a beautiful place in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The people that live there fish from dugout canoes for a fish that was described to me as "small" and found nowhere else in the world.

Girl with a Bush Knife

This little girl was at the side of the road in the village of Papa near Port Moresby with a bush knife (machete). She frowned when I lifted my camera, walked down the road a few steps, and turned around to look at me again. I lowered my camera, waved, and she smiled. The bag she is carrying with straps looped over her head is traditional in PNG.

Ball Sculpture

This is a sculpture in the Museum of Modern Arts in Brisbane. The balls float in a pool, moving with the current. You can see my reflection in the balls as I took the picture.

Australia Day

Yesterday, January 26th, was Australia Day and as you might expect there were fireworks. This is the view from the balcony. We get a day off so this is a three day weekend.

Australians are pretty patriotic and there was lots of flag waving and celebration. They are also tolerant and free speech is cherished. On the way in to town yesterday there was a group marching for aboriginal rights with a police escort. It was peaceful. There were also people handing out small Australian flags, free sunscreen samples, and little "tattoos" of the Australian flag that you applied to your skin. There were plenty of stalls selling all sorts of stuff.

Happy Australia Day!

Crab in a Tree

This little crab was in a mangrove tree down by the river at low tide. He was about 4' up just checking things out along the walkway. He was hiding when I first saw him, but after I stood still and watched him for a while, he came out from behind the branch where I could get his picture.

White-faced Heron eating Sushi

I have seen these smallish herons before along the Brisbane River and particularly in the mangrove. Once I saw one catch a small lizard and eat it. This was has just caught a small minnow and if you click on the picture and enlarge it you can see it in his beak. Fresh sushi, or perhaps more properly I should call it unsliced sashimi...

I have just posted a lot more Australian birds into the slide show also.

There is a Fungus among Us

It is now deep summer in Australia, this being January. We've had rain but not enough to fill the reservoirs and end the water rationing. But it is enough to make things green and tropical looking.

Whenever I see mushrooms I think of Missouri and morel mushrooms (and Aunt Becky cooking them and us eating them). I have no idea what these are and I sure wouldn't eat them. Only a fool eats an unknown toad stool. They are interesting though and I've seen lots of different kinds poking up after the rain.

frank

The trip to New Zealand was really nice and I took a lot of pictures. It is good to see that they appreciate me too - here I am holding a bottle of a favorite Kiwi beverage named, of course, after me. Click on the picture to enlarge it and read the label carefully to see what a really good drink it is.

There were so many pictures I don't think I have the time to write the stories that go with them right now. So I am going to try and arrange them in photo albums. I've started a new one called New Zealand birds over in the sidebar for a starter. I'll try and add new albums as I get time.

Out for a Walk

Yellow Eyed Penguins in New Zealand

Nugget Point

Nugget Point, New Zealand South Island, is a beautiful place. The weather was great and we were fortunate to see lots of wildlife as well as scenery. I took lots of photographs... It is going to take a while to sort through them and perhaps post some of the better ones.

Nugget Point is named for the rocks in the water off the point. Sailors thought they looked golden in certain light. Nearby there are seals, penguins, and all sorts of other birds.

Sydney

If you are a photographer in Sydney then it is obligatory that you take a picture of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. So I have taken a self portrait with both in the background. This is easy with a fisheye lens - you just put your back to the subject, point the lens at yourself, and it captures everything within about 150 degrees. You can't miss...

World's Steepest Railway

Here we are in the Blue Mountains taking the World's Steepest Railway down the mountain. It is a cable pulled affair that used to be part of an arrangement to remove coal from the mines.

Three Sisters

The Three Sisters are in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. There is an aborigine story that originally they were 3 girls who only wanted to party and wouldn't mind their father - he turned them to stone. It is a beautiful view from the lookout where this picture was taken.

No Evil

A while back I posted a picture of the original three monkeys carved above a horse barn in Nikko, Japan here. These guys are above a pub in Sydney, Australia. They look like apes instead of monkeys to me.

Dragonfly

This dragonfly was flying above the duck pond in the park in Brisbane. I took his picture with a telephoto lens as he hovered on a sunny day.

Brisbane Fisheyed and Solarized

Merry Christmas!

This picture was taken from the balcony with a fisheye lens. I then transformed it into rectangular coordinates and ran it through a solarizing filter. The fisheye lens was my Christmas present to myself.

Pop Art Lou

This week we went to see the Andy Warhol show here in Brisbane. Andy created a pop art style using silk screen and vivid colors. His Marilyn Monroe pictures are icons. He also loved television.

With a digital camera and software it is pretty easy to generate pop, although I am not sure it is art. Here is "Lou on a Red Couch" converted to pop art. Since Andy liked television, I've animated it too. Click on Lou and you can see him change colors in true '60s style.

Anhinga Catches Fish

Anhinga, Round One

Today I went for a walk along the river at lunch, needing to just get out and clear my head of work. For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't take my camera. It was cloudy, I was just taking a short walk, and couldn't be bothered.

As I walked along, an anhinga popped up about 10 feet out in the river with a small fish speared in it's bill. Anhinga have a body a bit larger than a duck that floats very low in the water. Their neck is like a snake and the beak is needle shaped and about 3" long. The silvery fish, about the length of the bird's beak, was speared cleanly through the middle of the body.

The anhinga worked it around, popped it up in the air, and swallowed it on the way down. He then smoothly dived back under the water looking for new fish. I don't know if I'll ever get to see that again so close up. Next time I'll have a camera.

Anhinga, Round Two

On the way home, I saw another anhinga, this time in a tree in the mangrove. I had my camera this time but having a camera is of limited use if you can't use it properly. The light was low and I had left a polarizing filter on from the last time I used it. Having a polarizing filter on your lens in low light is like wearing sunglasses when it gets dark. Needless to say the pictures aren't too good. All this despite the fact that I got down in the mangrove to take the picture wearing my dress shoes.

Oh well, if you want to see what an anhinga looks like, here is a picture I pasted behind Yebisu a while back: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v661/fmilburn/?action=view&current=FHM_8915Anhinga.jpg

This fine fellow was sitting on the pelican statue on the piling in the river below where we live.

Ant Down Under

This ant is surveying his kingdom. He is about 5/16 of an inch long (8 mm).

I am the king of the world!

Angel Girls on Queen Street

There is almost always something interesting on Queen Street. I don't know exactly what these two were doing but they were getting attention as they strolled along. Click on the picture and look at the expression of the girl in the background on the right.

Longfinned Eel (Anguilla reinhardtii)

I spotted this eel in the duck pond of the botanical gardens and believe him to be a Longfinned Eel, one that is found along the eastern coast of Australia. Handsome fellow, isn't he? He is about a meter long.

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CBD from Kangaroo Point

This is a view at dusk from on top of the bluffs at Kangaroo Point where the bats cross over to the park.

More Bats

Flying bats are hard to photograph - they are moving fairly fast, they are moderately far away, they are black, and they only fly at night. Moving black things are hard to photograph at night. But tonight we went up to the place on the bluff at Kangaroo Point where they cross the river to the park. There are thousands of them. This is the best picture I got, taken right at dusk. Click on him and you can see some detail in his wings. I like his pointy little ears.

I've been taking a fair number of bird pictures and have pasted some of them behind Yebisu.

Skippy at the Golf Course

Today I played golf at a golf course that had a lot of kangaroos. These three were lining up to carry bags but we rented carts instead of getting a caddy. They were thick though. I hit about a 300 yard drive right into a bunch of them and when I yelled "fore!" they all looked up, covered their heads, and gave me a look like I was the 9th yahoo that day to hit into them.

We saw another python today. He was full length beside the walk along the river just down from the apartment. I was able to pace out his length - right at 10'. It was the second time I had seen one in that area.

Howse Boat 4 Sale

Tell me this isn't good engineering, not to mention nice design. I like the way the colors of the trailor have been perfectly coordinated with the pontoons. At first I thought it was a store bought boat but when I saw all the custom features I knew this had to be the work of a home craftsman.

This is so well done I began to wonder if maybe we don't have relations here in Australia. For sure, you would be proud to have this craftsman as family.

Carpet Python (Morelia spilota)

This python was basking in the sun just next to the walkway through the park at the bottom of the cliffs on Kangaroo Point. I am no snake expert but believe it to be a carpet python. If you are good at snake identification, post me a note below.

It is easy to overestimate the size of a large snake but this one was on the order of 3 meters (10 feet). The head shot at left was taken from a distance of about two feet. He was very still while I photographed him except when I accidently moved the post beside him and he raised his head and tasted the air around him with his tongue.

Pythons are not poisonous although they can be agressive feeders I understand. They are helpful by ridding us of mice, rats, and other such pests. There are lots of stories around here of pythons getting into houses - especially the old Queenslander style. We haven't spotted any in the apartment yet :-)

Carpet Python (Morelia spilota)

Full body shot of python next to walkway on Kangaroo Point.

Balloon Man

As I have written before, there are lots of street performers in Brisbane. This fellow makes balloon animals on Queen Street. Just after I made this photograph he sold a balloon dog to a little girl with her father.

Digeridoo

This aborigine man is playing the digeridoo on Queen Street just up the street from the baloon man. If you want to know more about the digeridoo here is a site: http://www.didgeswedoo.com.au/digeridoo.html