Wedgetailed Eagle

I spotted this eagle soaring on the thermals above the hills alongside the road from Tarlee to Kapunda in the Midnorth. There were three in the region when I arrived, they departed after I'd taken several photos. This shot is clipped from the best photo they let me take. They are magnificent birds, wingspans of upto 5' being not uncommon. They can take pets and lambs without much difficulty. Once nearly shot out to extinction, it is nice to see they've pulled through.

Trip to Kapunda

On Saturday arvo I went for a trip from Hamley Bridge to Riverton to see relatives, and took a further sidetrip to visit Kapunda to visit the cemetary where my great grandfather is buried on my return. These towns are at what I would call the southern edge of South Australia's 'Mid North'. They lie a bit over an hour's drive from home. The above photo is a roadside shot, showing the hills above which I saw several wedgetailed eagles circling. The moon has just risen above the trees to the left.

This is a picture overlooking Kapunda, with the hospital complex on the left and the main town to midright. It is another panoramic shot, originally part of a 360' view taken from a marked lookout. Kapunda is Australia's 'oldest mining town', or so the sign says. It was once a major copper mine, but was drained to support Britain's effort in WWI. It survives now as an agricultural centre of over a thousand souls.

My great grandfather lies buried in Kapunda Cemetary. He no longer has a tombstone.

Southern Cross - Hamley Bridge

Me and my wife went up to Hamley Bridge last night. I went for a walk at one point of the evening and spent awhile on a disused rail platform, ostensibly to take photos of McNaught's Comet in the dark country sky. The darkest place I could find nearby was the railway station. Whilst there, I snapped this 25s exposure (ISO 100) of the Southern Cross above Platforms 1 and 2.

Hamley Bridge used to be a rail town with over 1000 people (last few decades of the 19th century) living there. Nowadays it's down to about 600. I'll be posting photos from my trip over the next few days I hope. And yes, there will be some more comet photos!

Australia Day Hero

This kid was one of many enjoying yesterday's public holiday at his local skate park. It was interesting to me that, having a camera with me labeled me as paedophile or potential in the eyes of many - in joking reference but the connection was there. Such a shame that our ability to participate freely with others in our world has (had to (?)) have been overtaken by security conscious insularity. Without interaction (limited by the habitual fear), how are we to learn otherwise?

The Regency Park Skate Park is an almost surreal collection of concrete shapes which takes up only a small section of this large public space. It forms part of the boundary of the 'park' area, the rest of the space being filled with golf course and a pub (where we had lunch). The central feature of the park is this artificial lake, behind it you might be able to make about about six separate games of cricket happening as maybe a couple of hundred people had their Australia Day lunch under the shade of the trees in the park.

Backyard Fungi

I was out the back working early in the morning on Australia Day (Jan 26 - a public holiday) when I noticed these little buggers had sprung up overnight in the backyard. You can see the moist soil that they've pushed up as they emerged still clinging to them (hadn't yet been dried out by the sun). Quite amazing how exhuberant even fungal life can be!

Comet McNaught - Jan 25

I've now taken several hundred photos of McNaught, over a total period of about 5 hours. My tripod and remote shutter control make this possible. I'm learning about technique and method. In this photo, the exposure time is 4s.

Comet McNaught Details - Jan 25

These three were taken over a 40 minute period. Exposure period is marginally higher (8s) than I had it the night before. I've kept sensitivity down to ISO 100. Both tail and 'flare' (caused by solar winds) are visible if you look closely.

In the following photo, the exposure period is 15 seconds.

Comet McNaught over Adelaide - Jan 25

My little obsession with our interplanetary traveller continues. My technique of capturing the images of it has improved, but that is counteracted by fact that it is growing dimmer to our eye as both it moves further away from us and the sun, and the moon grows steadily brighter.

Below is a photo taken within a minute of first sighting to the naked eye (about 40 min before the above two shots). I can make out the comet in the picture. Can you?

Comet McNaught - Jan 24

This was Comet McNaught tonight. I didn't have the exposure time set properly, too busy thinking about everything else. To the naked eye, at its best the tail was more visible than it has been until now. There can't be too many more nights when the shots will be great, the moon is nearly half full.