My lad, Alex, is getting quite good on the knee-board these days... but this time ... ???.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Adele, Claire and Laura having fun ...
Trust me... riding on an "air-head" can be huge fun as Adele, Claire (my daughter) and Laura had at Teal Flat, up stream from Mannum on the Murray river, South Australia.
It really takes some hanging on at times. Adele (left) who is very accomplished at water sports is struggling to hang on this time. Amazingly she didn't fall off (this time).
It really takes some hanging on at times. Adele (left) who is very accomplished at water sports is struggling to hang on this time. Amazingly she didn't fall off (this time).
Adele, Claire and Laura getting very confident...
My eleven year old daughter, Claire loved the company of Adele (left) and her friend Laura, special girls indeed. At sixteen, Adele is an amazingly accomplished photographer in her own right. I suspect she will go far if she chooses photography as a career. To be honest I am quite in awe of her prodigious talent at such an early age. Some Adel's shots can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/adele_fergusson/ certainly worth a visit...
Claire knee-boarding
To say I am a proud Dad is total understatement. Claire sure knows how to have fun.
PS: Being a widowed Dad does not leave me much time to pursue my passion for photography. So a few days up at "Teal Flat" on the Murray River, South Australia allowed me to take a few shots, some 2,550 in total, which will take me a little while to go through. In the mean time here are a few I have processed....
PS: Being a widowed Dad does not leave me much time to pursue my passion for photography. So a few days up at "Teal Flat" on the Murray River, South Australia allowed me to take a few shots, some 2,550 in total, which will take me a little while to go through. In the mean time here are a few I have processed....
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Someone had to start the P pics..
We were lucky enough to be able to be at the Adelaide Zoo for the opening day of the Panda exhibit. The company I work for (R.M Williams) had months ago booked into the Adelaide Zoo for our Childrens Christmas party . The Panda opening had been delayed until today so only the so called VIP's were allowed in, oh and us as well:) The Panda's are under quarantine so they are behind glass at the moment making photography very challenging.
The Panda's sleep for 20 out of 24 hours...
...so we were very lucky see Funi with her eyes open. She is seriously cute I have to say. She put on quite a display, rolling around, yawning (missed each time, bugger) and eating a bit.. The whole experience was much better than I expected. Just lucky I think. Wang Wang, like most men given the chance, was mainly asleep but he did move around a reasonable amount but it was far too hard to get a decent shot of him.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
HDR Auburn 1
Taken recently at Auburn in South Australia. This is from a series of five RAW exposures spread over three stops
It was a little windy so the tree leaves moved a bit unfortunately.
All images first converted to 16 bit tiff in Nikon Capture NX, merged and tone mapped in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2 and saved from 16 bit Tiff to JPG. Then resized with Faststone.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
It was a little windy so the tree leaves moved a bit unfortunately.
All images first converted to 16 bit tiff in Nikon Capture NX, merged and tone mapped in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2 and saved from 16 bit Tiff to JPG. Then resized with Faststone.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
HDR Auburn 2
Taken recently at Auburn in South Australia. This is from a series of five RAW exposures spread over three stops.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
HDR Coorong 1
This is from a shot (or series of 9 RAW shots) taken a couple of years ago in the Coorong of South Australia at sunrise. This is an area that is suffering the effects of a long drought in SA.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2.
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
HDR Coorong 2
This is from a shot (or series of 9 RAW shots) taken a couple of years ago in the Coorong of South Australia at sunrise. I was not alone... with a gazillion mozzies keeping me company.
Probably about as far as I'd like to push HDR. I like to keep the images looking as realistic as possible, more along the lines of simply extended dynamic range i.e digging out detail in shadows and recovering blown highlights (or in reality simply flattening contrast but that sounds boring eh).
This is an area that is suffering the effects of a long drought in SA.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
Probably about as far as I'd like to push HDR. I like to keep the images looking as realistic as possible, more along the lines of simply extended dynamic range i.e digging out detail in shadows and recovering blown highlights (or in reality simply flattening contrast but that sounds boring eh).
This is an area that is suffering the effects of a long drought in SA.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2
Camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and cam triggered with electronic remote release.
HDR Coorong 3
This is from a shot (or series of 9 shots) taken a couple of years ago in the Coorong of South Australia at Sunrise. This is an area that is suffering the effects of a long drought in SA.
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2
Created in Photomatix, yellow, red and blue each given a lift over multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop CS4, sharpened in Nikon Capture NX2
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A new site ...
I have started a new look web site using a toolkit called "Wordpress". It may be found at www.boxflat.net/wp
This Wordpress thingy is amazing in the power it has. An excellent example of open source software. It'll keep me busy for sure.
I'll may eventually switch this site to it when it is developed further and have this blog site sub-ordinate to the new wordpress site.
Aah the fun:)
This Wordpress thingy is amazing in the power it has. An excellent example of open source software. It'll keep me busy for sure.
I'll may eventually switch this site to it when it is developed further and have this blog site sub-ordinate to the new wordpress site.
Aah the fun:)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Hibiscus at Centennial PArk
I'm chuffed that this shot will be shown on the ABC weather segment (Adelaide, South Australia) on July 21.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Broken pipe...
I'm trying to get the energy to start digging up the side of our house to repair a broken pipe. I suspect it has been leaking and has caused massive cracking to the back part of the house.
This will be a huge job, cutting concrete & digging through clay down a loooong way to get to the pipe. Still, I really need the exercise.
Then will come the repairs to the house. I shudder to think of the effort and costs...
This will be a huge job, cutting concrete & digging through clay down a loooong way to get to the pipe. Still, I really need the exercise.
Then will come the repairs to the house. I shudder to think of the effort and costs...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
On Facebook
When Facebook first started up I was "asked" to have a look at it. So I joined but did little with it ever since. Anyhow my next door neighbour, various friends etc have been active on it so I thought I'd have a go. So you may find me on Facebook as well....
So now I have to maintain this site, my word press site (just starting out on this at (http://www.boxflat.net/wp), my flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/ngarkat), my photoshop site (hardly use this) , Microsoft's Live Photo (ditto), several private photo shoot sites off my Boxflat site (Netball, Drama, Soccer, Dancing, Weddings, parties for friends etc), dpreview posts etc etc.
Life gets busy eh :)
So now I have to maintain this site, my word press site (just starting out on this at (http://www.boxflat.net/wp), my flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/ngarkat), my photoshop site (hardly use this) , Microsoft's Live Photo (ditto), several private photo shoot sites off my Boxflat site (Netball, Drama, Soccer, Dancing, Weddings, parties for friends etc), dpreview posts etc etc.
Life gets busy eh :)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
A trip to Boxflat ...
I just took the kids out to Boxflat. What an amazing site. Amazing in that it is a disaster.
The Ngarkat Conservation Park had a huge section (the north western part) of it burnt out in 2006. So much so that the back end of the family farm which borders the Ngarkat northern fence line was burnt, along with several other farms.
The fire was a very "hot" fire. It really "cooked" everything in its path. Much more so than a "normal" bushfire. Given the current drought, it is easy to see how devastatingly stressed the park is. Regrowth is currently minimal.
I suspect that part of the problem lies with the how the park is managed.
I can clearly recall an experience many years ago when I was a child. I spotted smoke from a fire "out in the desert" so I rushed to tell my father (as we used to call it "the desert", however it is normally far from being a desert). He said to me "Don't worry about it Pete. These fires often occur due to lightning strikes. If the fire looks like it's going to escape the desert then we'll do something about it as there is no possible way to stop a fire in the desert itself. We'll just keep an eye on it".
Back then no one in the district got excited. How things change.
Well meaning people have made some really dopey decisions when in reality nature is quite capable of looking after itself with only the occasional guiding hand needed. Now I honestly believe my father's advice to me at the time, is something the National Parks people should consider taking on board.
These days, when a fire occurs, it is quite comical to see what happens. Fire spotting planes, Helicopters, State Emergency Services called out, Voluntary Fire services (EFS) called out, mobs of National Park people (who you rarely normally see around the place), TV crews, you name it. Well intentioned it may be, in reality it is clearly a waste of time and huge amounts public money. In particular it puts lives at risk.
It would be better I believe, to carry out regular "cold" fires or "burn offs" in controlled circumstances at cooler times of the year. Only burn off say five to ten percent of the park each year i.e a ten to twenty year cycle. In this way the wildlife has a better chance to escape, the bush has a chance to recover (actually many of the plants rely on a regular burn to produce new growth or to germinate seed but they sure don't need to be "cooked").
As it is, the park seems to be managed in exactly the opposite way I believe it should be! A totally odd thing to do is to allow well meaning but ill informed "Friends of the Park" to close off tracks and access to many areas of the park. It does not taken long for existing tracks to be overgrown and many are now inaccessible for emergency vehicles when necessary. Ironically, when the National Parks people want access during a fire, incredibly they sometimes BULLDOZE a path in a futile attempt to create firebreaks or to provide access. Did they skip common sense at University?
A significant disappointment to me was that the northern track into Boxflat has been "closed". There is an existing approach from the east and also from the south still available. There is also an approach from the North West but I won't tell anyone if you don't. However the northern part of what I call Boxflat (directly east of the old ruins from the Gara station days) has been "blocked off" for public access. Now this area is (or was) very attractive with old gums and a pleasant trail through it. Great for camping. Not anymore. Why???? I'm stumped (poor pun I know).
At least the old ruins are still there largely the same as I recall them to be from when I was child too many years ago. My father's "signature" is still engraved on the walls along with many other locals. Now many people are aghast this "vandalism" these days, however it is interesting to read the names still there. At the time it was the thing to do. Some idiot has recently tried to damage some of them unfortunately but at least most are still there.
One area the parks people seem to have missed is the old well in the soak area proper. Now the real vandalism was when the old SA Mines Department took it into their collective university trained heads many years ago, to blow it up! So there is not much of it left. However there are still remnants of superb limestone rocks the old timers dug up. Limestone appears all over the Eastern part of South Australia but the rocks at Boxflat contain some of the very best fossils contained in limestone that I have ever seen. Remarkably clear specimens great to see still there. Excellent stuff.
Just why the old timers built the "out" station (now the ruins) so far away from the flat and the Well I don't know. Possibly because the area flooded at times.
An unfortunate result of closing tracks in the park is the concentration of vehicular access on to only a few tracks. This creates all sorts of problems with tracks sometimes hard to negotiate due to deep ruts, erosion etc. No wonder then, there are often calls to ban 4X4 and motorcycle access to the parks. Just silly.
I know of one person several years ago (a "Friend of the Ngarkat Conservation Park") who proudly showed me photos of one his many trips to the park where his troop of "friends" had a ball in a muddy clay flat with their 4x4's. What an incredible mess they made. And he was proud of it. So it was apparently alright for them to have fun in this destructive manner and yet then close off the tracks for others (who most probably would have behaved better).
Continuing my rant, the National Parks people seem to think they are the holders of all knowledge of the park. My family has now five generations of knowledge of the area. Not on a single occasion have we been approached about discussing management of the park neighbouring us. Yet the locals are expected to drop everything and fight a fire (putting their lives at risk) that they know is unmanageable. This is incredibly frusting for them.
The area even now has a staffed Park Management Office in Lameroo, this is probably a good thing, however the park seems to be in its poorest state of health that I have ever seen. Heck of a pity I reckon.
The Ngarkat Conservation Park had a huge section (the north western part) of it burnt out in 2006. So much so that the back end of the family farm which borders the Ngarkat northern fence line was burnt, along with several other farms.
The fire was a very "hot" fire. It really "cooked" everything in its path. Much more so than a "normal" bushfire. Given the current drought, it is easy to see how devastatingly stressed the park is. Regrowth is currently minimal.
I suspect that part of the problem lies with the how the park is managed.
I can clearly recall an experience many years ago when I was a child. I spotted smoke from a fire "out in the desert" so I rushed to tell my father (as we used to call it "the desert", however it is normally far from being a desert). He said to me "Don't worry about it Pete. These fires often occur due to lightning strikes. If the fire looks like it's going to escape the desert then we'll do something about it as there is no possible way to stop a fire in the desert itself. We'll just keep an eye on it".
Back then no one in the district got excited. How things change.
Well meaning people have made some really dopey decisions when in reality nature is quite capable of looking after itself with only the occasional guiding hand needed. Now I honestly believe my father's advice to me at the time, is something the National Parks people should consider taking on board.
These days, when a fire occurs, it is quite comical to see what happens. Fire spotting planes, Helicopters, State Emergency Services called out, Voluntary Fire services (EFS) called out, mobs of National Park people (who you rarely normally see around the place), TV crews, you name it. Well intentioned it may be, in reality it is clearly a waste of time and huge amounts public money. In particular it puts lives at risk.
It would be better I believe, to carry out regular "cold" fires or "burn offs" in controlled circumstances at cooler times of the year. Only burn off say five to ten percent of the park each year i.e a ten to twenty year cycle. In this way the wildlife has a better chance to escape, the bush has a chance to recover (actually many of the plants rely on a regular burn to produce new growth or to germinate seed but they sure don't need to be "cooked").
As it is, the park seems to be managed in exactly the opposite way I believe it should be! A totally odd thing to do is to allow well meaning but ill informed "Friends of the Park" to close off tracks and access to many areas of the park. It does not taken long for existing tracks to be overgrown and many are now inaccessible for emergency vehicles when necessary. Ironically, when the National Parks people want access during a fire, incredibly they sometimes BULLDOZE a path in a futile attempt to create firebreaks or to provide access. Did they skip common sense at University?
A significant disappointment to me was that the northern track into Boxflat has been "closed". There is an existing approach from the east and also from the south still available. There is also an approach from the North West but I won't tell anyone if you don't. However the northern part of what I call Boxflat (directly east of the old ruins from the Gara station days) has been "blocked off" for public access. Now this area is (or was) very attractive with old gums and a pleasant trail through it. Great for camping. Not anymore. Why???? I'm stumped (poor pun I know).
At least the old ruins are still there largely the same as I recall them to be from when I was child too many years ago. My father's "signature" is still engraved on the walls along with many other locals. Now many people are aghast this "vandalism" these days, however it is interesting to read the names still there. At the time it was the thing to do. Some idiot has recently tried to damage some of them unfortunately but at least most are still there.
One area the parks people seem to have missed is the old well in the soak area proper. Now the real vandalism was when the old SA Mines Department took it into their collective university trained heads many years ago, to blow it up! So there is not much of it left. However there are still remnants of superb limestone rocks the old timers dug up. Limestone appears all over the Eastern part of South Australia but the rocks at Boxflat contain some of the very best fossils contained in limestone that I have ever seen. Remarkably clear specimens great to see still there. Excellent stuff.
Just why the old timers built the "out" station (now the ruins) so far away from the flat and the Well I don't know. Possibly because the area flooded at times.
An unfortunate result of closing tracks in the park is the concentration of vehicular access on to only a few tracks. This creates all sorts of problems with tracks sometimes hard to negotiate due to deep ruts, erosion etc. No wonder then, there are often calls to ban 4X4 and motorcycle access to the parks. Just silly.
I know of one person several years ago (a "Friend of the Ngarkat Conservation Park") who proudly showed me photos of one his many trips to the park where his troop of "friends" had a ball in a muddy clay flat with their 4x4's. What an incredible mess they made. And he was proud of it. So it was apparently alright for them to have fun in this destructive manner and yet then close off the tracks for others (who most probably would have behaved better).
Continuing my rant, the National Parks people seem to think they are the holders of all knowledge of the park. My family has now five generations of knowledge of the area. Not on a single occasion have we been approached about discussing management of the park neighbouring us. Yet the locals are expected to drop everything and fight a fire (putting their lives at risk) that they know is unmanageable. This is incredibly frusting for them.
The area even now has a staffed Park Management Office in Lameroo, this is probably a good thing, however the park seems to be in its poorest state of health that I have ever seen. Heck of a pity I reckon.
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