More atmosphere

March 2, 2015 Peter Damo

A continuation of the weather this afternoon ie, more clouds and interesting atmospheric conditions. Now you see it, now you don't - except if you catch it in between!

The dense air creates a 'thickness' in the scene. Even though clouds are prevalent, a low level mist colours the background skies. A little light throws highlights on the escarpment.

Sunlight pierces the cloud cover further towards the west.

Lion's head? Close up version of a photo from yesterday's blog under different lighting conditions.

Elsewhere on the mountainside, a rusted out car becomes visible after the bushland is 'cleared' by a fire.

Support pillar in shelter near Katoomba Falls.

Change of weather

March 2, 2015 Peter Damo

A very warm day yesterday but predictably the clouds rolled in over the valley later in the afternoon. This shot was taken from Narrow Neck which was soon enveloped in cloud cover.

20 minutes before - taken from Cahills Lookout, scene of bushfires in November 2014. This angle could be shot thanks to fires burning away the undergrowth and foliage allowing access to lower areas.

Unremarkable

February 27, 2015 Peter Damo

How often do we venture out as photographers to capture a beautiful scene? As it happened the day I shot this image was also the same day an earlier photo was taken with dramatic cloud formation and featuring another tree. Firey skies and black clouds are striking in their impact. This is not one of those photos. It is however a simple exercise in relationships and tones with a helpful diagonal element thrown in (cloud base). The dark tree form is rooted in the solid (also dark) base. The light cloud form above also benefits and is shown up by the darker sky. The tree is also slightly slanted away from the cloud at the top which is 'moving' from left to right of the frame. The tree may be catching a low flying darker cloud (what has this guy been smoking!). It is Friday afternoon....

One more thing on format. Some time ago a photo magazine publisher had a podcast on image format of a newer camera he was using. In particular he pointed out how he was quite taken by the 16 x 9 format it offered him (he could selected that crop factor in the camera menu). He concluded that since becoming used to that format, other crop factors seemed... not quite right. The crop factor of the above image is 4 x 3. The photo wasn't copped afterwards, it was taken like this. Neither are right or wrong. Both can be powerful. Some people never stray from the square.

Hay barn - Wilton, TAS

February 18, 2015 Peter Damo

A strange combination of cool weather and no rain - Tasmania has been pretty dry for months. Fields are yellow and hay is an important food source for cattle and horses.

Heading north

February 15, 2015 Peter Damo

Tasmania isn't a big place. If you move around you will see a variety of weather conditions. This shot was taken traveling north from Hobart. The weather moved in and provided a subtle landscape with just enough detail. Sometimes a limited palette of colours contributes more to a photo.

2015 Tasmanian Wooden Boat Festival

February 14, 2015 Peter Damo

Hobart turned on some well received warm summery weather for us mainlanders during the boat show recently. Well worth the trip with boats of all types on display in the water and in the exhibition halls nearby (on the waterfront). A lot of salty old dogs roaming around with many years of experience in life on the water. I had only the Olympus em5 with 24-80mm (full frame equivalent) capturing these images. Every kind of watercraft was represented from super lightweight single seater kayaks and row boats to sea going yachts and ships reminiscent of the 'old days'.

Also represented at the Festival was the Wooden Boat Centre at Franklin offering short courses in boat building. A short tour of the facility gave us the low down on this craft and a little history as well.

Surprisingly few tools are required to build your own boat according to John, our tour guide. Some of the older tools are shown on display here. A course is around 7 weeks to complete. 2-5 people are taken for each group. At the completion of the course, one of the attendees are invited to buy the finished product if they like. Materials for a 12-14ft boat are around $7,500.

Most of the timber used to make boats in Tasmania come from the bottom of rivers. They are floated to the surface then processed (dried etc).

In the background is an old style motor boat as you might have seen in a James Bond movie. There are no straight straight panels in that example.