Water Dragon in Profile

I never tire of photographing the water dragons. This was a pretty big one that was on the sidewalk at Roma Street Parklands. He was close to 3 feet long and let me sit down beside him and take his picture with the lens only a couple of feet away. Click on him to enlarge so that you can see the detail better. I am not sure why he is looking at my hand like that but you can see him salivating. This is a low resolution picture made for web viewing. The high resolution one

is even better.

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Great Egret with Fish

There were lots of birds in Tasmania and I took quite a few pictures of this egret. In this shot he has just caught his dinner. He flew about 10 feet, hardly landed, and then quickly caught the fish with his wings still open.

I think I have labeled most of the pictures correctly but may have missed a few. If you ever find one not identified correctly, be sure and let me know...

Tasmanian Coastline

Tasmania is quite wild in places. We didn't get into the wild places really - pretty much stuck to the trails. There is a very nice local scene, although maybe not quite as nice as New Zealand. Definititely worth a trip though...

There are more scenic pictures and bird pictures in the albums I have posted.

Beware of Falling Rocks

Tasmania is very scenic, but beware of falling rocks.

Less than Truthful

Everbody knows that photographs can be altered such that they don't reflect reality. Actually, no photograph really reflects reality. Think about it - it is a technically limited two dimensional recording of a 3 dimensional reality. I would digress into Heisenberg's Uncertainy Theorem and how nothing can really be recorded accurately but that probably would be over the top. Well, if you insist, you can read about it here.

But back to today's topic. The second photograph is derived from the first - double click each picture and look them over carefully. The original isn't a particularly good rendition of the scene as I saw it to begin with. What interested me at the time were the beautiful clouds and the panorama. I didn't have a conventional lens that would take in all of what I was seeing so I used the fisheye. This fisheye records 180 degrees corner to corner and distorts the heck out of everything by definition so we know right off it isn't going to be an accurate rendition.

The original is pretty poor. In addition to the fact that I had the camera at a tilt, the photo is boring, has no focus point, and the water is ugly. So, to make it more like what I wanted, I ran it through a rectilinear filter to get rid of the fisheye, straightened it, and then played with the colors until I liked the clouds and shoreline. Then I made a copy of the upper half and flipped it to make the mirrored scene on the river. I filtered it some more to make it look more like a reflection and then cropped it to make a panorama.

Actually, my "improvement" looks a bit fake and post card like but it is more interesting than the original. I don't do this sort of thing often but it is kind of fun every once in a while...

Story Bridge from New Farm

There are lots of pretty views along the river. Believe it or not, this is a fairly "straight" shot from the camera in that I haven't altered it much. It was taken just after sunset, with the sun setting about in the middle of the photograph.

St Patrick's Day Parade

This steam engine was at the end of the parade on Saturday.

Maritime Museum

There is a maritime museum just down at the bottom of the hill where the footbridge goes across the river built around an old dry dock. This Lighthouse Ship is stored there and you can see it from the bridge. Like I said, it is just down the hill. One of these days I need to go through it. Can't believe I haven't done it yet...

Batty Boat Tour

Last weekend we took the "Batty Boat Tour" up the Brisbane River to Indooripilly. There is a mud island there where the bats congregate and sleep in the mangrove trees close to the river. They number in the thousands and I took quite a few pictures but most didn't turn out so great because it was near dusk.

Brisbane River Boats

Brisbane is shaped by the river both figuratively and literally and boats have long been a major part of the city. This is Mirimar cruising the Brisbane River at night. The picture was taken from South Bank and I panned the camera to keep the boat sharp, but of course the background is blurred.

I think I have photographed just about all the passenger boats and ferries on the river now and have posted them in an album. I can recognize and name many of them on sight and all have distinguishing characteristics. For example, there are two main classes of City Cats - one class is newer than the other and is a little larger and a bit less angular. If you look carefully at the pictures you should be able to pick them out. Another interesting thing about the City Cats is that they are all given local aboriginal place names.

The ferries are very popular with tourists and a fair number of locals use them as well. I could take the ferry to work and it would shave a few minutes off my commute but of course it isn't that much further for me and I like the walk. Some of the other boats can be rented for parties and many have regularly scheduled cruises serving meals. We need to do that sometime.

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Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise grow like weeds in Brisbane. I spotted this one along the walkway at the Botanical Gardens in afternoon light against the dark background of some rainforest trees and undergrowth.

Queen Street People

Have you noticed that a lot of my photographs don't have people in them? We went to a photojournalism exhibit sponsored by Nikon over the weekend - I think every photograph had people in it - or at least almost every one. It got me to thinking about my photographs. Maybe half or less have people.

So I am putting this one of a Queen Street magazine shop in. This will get my people count up.

Why don't more of my pictures have people in them? Actually, I spend a fair amount of time finding angles that don't have people or waiting for them to leave. It is only when I find the people really interesting that I might try to capture them.

Now, people can be interesting to you because they are your friends or relations or a famous person or they may be of interest regardless of who they are just because of what they are doing or how they look. Actually, a lot and maybe most, people are interesting if you will get to know them. When we went to the Christmas party last year I was surprised at how good the photographs were I took because everyone was having fun, they were largely unposed, and nobody felt like I was imposing on them even when I asked them to pose.

Anyway, I like birds and scenery too. And they never tire, except maybe the birds, of posing for you. I'll try and capture more interesting people too though.

Masks

I don't know what to write about this week. It has been a long week at work and nothing much to write about that seems really interesting. We went to a nice restaurant the other evening though and on the way back I saw these masks in the display window of a store that rents costumes.

I think I have written about masks a number of times now. Do a search in the little dialog box to the left and you will see. There were the masks in the old town of Kawagoe near Tokyo, David wearing a Hyotoko mask I got for Stuart, and the PNG masks I photographed in Port Moresby. And now these. It is interesting that so many cultures use masks isn't it?

PNG Highlands

I wanted to post a picture to show you just how rough the Highlands in PNG are. I've posted a lot more in an album so you can flip through them if you want. It is truly amazing country. We flew in by fixed wing and then spent about 5 hours in a helicopter.

The rain forest seems endless and is covered by mist and rain a lot of the time. The rivers are large and fast flowing with muddy waters from the erosion. They get more than 10 meters of rain a year. The weather is very pleasant and actually cool due to the altitude.

The terrain has a lot of impact on the people of course. For eons they have been separated by the mountains and rough terrain. Over 800 languages are in active use in PNG and the tribes and groups have unique cultures.

Beaver Falls

This is Beaver Falls and as you can see it is spectacular. And as best I know, nobody else was around to see it except for us. Very remote...

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.