Mysterious Waterfall

"An Aura of Mystery"

Deep Blue Mountain Waterfall

This blog's had so many WYD photos recently that you could be forgiven for thinking it's no longer a "nature photography" blog! But never fear, today I re-introduce the old theme again.

This photo was taken on my not-so-recent holiday to Goomburra. I was quite surprised at the way the water turned out - there is a very distinct blue-ish tinge to the whole image, and the fall itself seems to be falling through a veil of dark blue. There is a certain atmosphere to this picture which I can't quite define, but the word "Mystery" seemed relevant to me.

What does this picture make you think of?

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Thunder and Lightning! Strike at Night

"Thunder and Lightning!"
Lightning striking in a thunder storm at night
Sky Watch Friday

Wow! That's what I thought when I saw this lightning bolt strike last night. We had a thunder storm here (fairly rare, I might add) and so I went out, like I did during our last lightning storm, in the cold and wet, to get some lightning photos. The noise of this particular strike nearly deafened me! It struck less than 1km away, so the thunder came almost instantaneously.

I took this picture on "B" shutter mode with about a 20-second exposure at F6.4. The lightning you see in the picture is actually the result of two strikes - one huge lightning strike (the large ball of white lightning on the left), and another smaller one almost directly after.

Because of the long exposure, and the brightness of the lightning, I had to use the GIMP to adjust the saturation curve for this image to make the lightning bolts visible. But I can assure you it isn't "touched up" in the common sense of the word - this is exactly what it looked like in real life! Even though I only saw the lightning for a second, I can still see the strike as if it was right in front of me now. And I can hear the thunder just as clearly - it was the sort of sound that's so loud and deep that you can feel it as much as hear it!

This Thunder-bolt Sky Watch Friday photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

The Colors in the End of a Rainbow - Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Colors of a Rainbow
The End of the Rainbow - A Pot of Gold?

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.
Shutter speed: 1/140, F4.9, ISO 800

Australian Kookaburra - Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Australian Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) after the Rain

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.
Shutter speed: 1/350, F7.2, ISO 100

Lighting Striking Dead Tree

Lightning Striking at Night - Dead Tree Silhouette

The other night we had a big thunderstorm with lightning over here, so naturally I was out with the camera in the cold and wet while others were inside snug and warm. Actually, I wasn't so foolish as to bring the camera outside during the rain, but after the storm passed over I went out looking for lightning shots. I took a few 30-second exposures, but the noise even at ISO 80 was disappointing. Decreasing the shutter speed by increments, eventually I got down to a 2-second exposure at ISO 80. Now for lightning, there's not much chance of getting a good shot with only a 2-second exposure. But I tried anyway. And what turned out was amazing...

It was a one in a million chance. During the second exposure, a huge bolt of lightning split the sky - directly in the middle of the frame. And this is how it turned out. I find it amazing that I was able to get such a good shot on just the second try. The lightning is streaking through the darkened sky, ending in a flash of electricity near the ground. A dead tree stands in stark silhouette against the backdrop of dark purple clouds. The pitch black of the surrounding terrain serves to intensify the scene, as well as provide a natural frame for the action.


It just goes to show: don't rely on the tried and tested methods, do something different and strange - it might just work out!

After the Rain Part 1 - Jasmine Flowers

It's been raining here lately, so I though I might post a few of the photos I got just after the rain stopped.

These photos all show jasmine flowers at their various stages of development. The Fujifilm S9600's super macro mode helped here to get really close up shots. The two pictures on the left hand side show water droplets hanging off jasmine buds, while the photos on the right show fully opened jasmine flowers.

These photos taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Related Photos:
The Blossom of the Pond (Water Lily Flower)
Balloon Vine Flower with Water Droplets
Silverbeet Leaf with Water Droplets