Way Out

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a larger version 

An empty canvas ready for 2014 - plenty of projects in mind, but which will become reality?

Animaux Nuisibles

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version.

Stumbled upon this window display in Paris, France - don't know how long the rats had been hanging there for, but they looked in fine condition! Last night's catch?

X

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a larger version

Captured this image whilst exploring Hong Kong - somewhere between Sheung Wan and Central.

N465

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Waiting for the train on a cold, bright morning at Southern Cross Station, Melbourne.

Mock-up

Click on the image to enlarge.

For some time now I’ve been toying with an idea for an altered image, but how to execute it is quite another story.  I’ll keep at it!

MOTUL

Image copy PeteM2020
Click on the image to enlarge.

Confidence,  control, courage and a little bit crazy - you just have to admire their style!

Vacant Possession

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image to view full size.

Southern Cross

Image © PeteM2020
Click for the full version of the image

An unusually quiet moment at Southern Cross railway station, Melbourne.

Big Stopper ND filter

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image to see a larger version

Here’s an image from my experimentation with a “Big Stopper” filter (Neutral Density 3.0, 110, 1000x). Bit of fiddle to get the exposure right, but got the results I was after in the end. I’ve put together a separate webpage with more images from the day – click this link to see more!

Adding to The Story

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image to enlarge

Australian MotoGP

31,000 people came to the Phillip Island (Victoria) track to see the
“Big Boys“ in action. The Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo went home with the trophy and I went home with a stack of great images. Everyone a winner!

Images © PeteM2020
Click on the images to enlarge

Supercross Championship

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a full version

The event was on Sunday at Phillip Island, Victoria. Here were all the ingredients that made for a great day at the motorbike races - spectacular riding skills, noise and red dust.

The Experiment

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Encratites

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version 

End of the day

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island, Victoria -  an all year round surfer's paradise.

Broad Reach

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a larger version.

At 50 odd feet, she's big - everything is big and heavy. After last night's storm - vessel intact and off-duty crew sleeping. Now heading north-bound past Fraser Island at a lazy 7 knots - time to reflect on the skills of sailmaker and rigger.

Up There

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a larger version

What better than a green octopus soaring above the beach? The innocent joys of harnessing the wind  – and making happy childhood memories.

Staircase To Nowhere

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version. 

Well seated

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image to view the full version

The train stops at several interesting old railway stations on the journey from Melbourne to Bendigo. Stopped at Trentham, my fellow traveller reflected well into his relaxed seating. From occupying four seats he now scored five!

Friends in Melbourne

Image © PeteM2020
Click for a full size image

A HDR image processed in Photomatix Pro from 3 files with exposure compensation of -2, 0, +2 f-stops. I've in the past also tried seven images with exposure compensation of -3,-2,-1, 0, +1,+2,+3  f-stops. In my experience, 7 files didn't make much, if any, difference.

Marine Melange

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Fujiya - Tokyo

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

No-name

Image © PeteM2020
Click on  the image for a larger version

Most industries proudly blazon their name across their property. That lack of branding is probably why this graphical composition, enhanced by the stark winter light, appeals to me.

Coote Island, near Melbourne.

Railway Totems

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Although the trains are still running, I’ve no idea whether these old signals at Ballarat, Victoria, are still in use. Maybe they are just striking relics from the railway’s heydays.

Ballarat International Foto Biennale

Image © PeteM2020

Hand basins - Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version

Corroboree Rock (Antanangantana) East MacDonnell Ranges, Central Australia

Despite it’s name, the real significance to the local Aboriginal people of this rocky outcrop is not well known. Quite a sight with the Spinnifex and Senna on the high ridges and Supplejack, Whitewood, Bloodwood and Red Mallee in the valley - even found the odd native fig at the base of the rock.

Image © PeteM2020

The small roadside sign reads “No Dogs Allowed” – looks like they might have had a dog problem a few thousand years ago!

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the images for larger versions

Anchor

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

Rail Crossing

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version.

Inter-city cycling lane, Hobart, Tasmania - another image inspired by the works of Australian painter Jeffrey Smart (21 July 1921- 20 June 2013).

Shipping Containers

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version.

Working Late in the “Fish Bowl”

Image © PeteM2020

Here is an image made at Docklands, in Victoria, Oz. What you see is just a small crop of a large panorama I put together a few weeks ago. The finished pano can be found here: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/134321
Have fun, explore the image, view the panorama in full screen mode and zoom in on the details! Enjoy!  

Shinkansen at Kyoto

Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for the large version!

Comfortable, fast, clean and spot on time – not even a mobile phone to disturb the peace. The landscape flies past the window at 300km/h  - it’s like being at the movies, the film running at double speed. Fabulous!

Escalator To Nowhere

Hamer Hall, Melbourne - Image © PeteM2020
Click on the image for a larger version

I know – I’m a sucker for reflected images. Found this concoction in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall. Haven’t yet worked out if the appeal lies in the visual order brought into chaos or simply the labyrinth the eye has to navigate to make sense of the image.

Another Brick In The Wall

Image © PeteM2020

Redshift - Speewah*

In the Australian outback, on a moonless night - I wonder if this is how Crooked Mick would see redshift from the Speewah?

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version

For more about Crooked Mick of The Speewah - 

see here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speewah

The Blue Hour

Think… 1970s, England. The Blue Hour… that time of suspended animation between pub lunchtime drinking hours and the reopening for pub evening drinking hours. I am relieved to report that common sense has since prevailed – now all-day imbibing is available!

Image © PeteM2020

Keen photographers on the other hand, carefully calculate the Blue Hour – those 20 odd minutes when the sun is just below the horizon and the light is particularly blue. For the curious, a Blue Hour calculator can be found at http://www.bluehoursite.com, and an iOS App is also available! 

Vicolino - Melbourne

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version.

Green World

The deep green reflections on the right caught my eye the other evening in downtown Melbourne. At first glance, I thought I was seeing a miniature version of a building - a convincing optical illusion.

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version

Platform 9

Mobil Lubrication

Image © PeteM2020

Not what I expected to find deep in rural Victoria. This bold beauty sits in Kongwak, a small Gippsland hamlet with a population of less than 200 souls.  

The Light in Winter Festival

Image © PeteM2020

Little did I know that the festival has been an annual event at Federation Square, Melbourne since 2007 – maybe I don’t get out enough!

I rather like the way this HDR (High Dynamic Range) image has captured the ambiance of the evening. (Click on the image for a larger version)

Web Bridge, Docklands, Melbourne

Sure, photographing Webb Bridge is by now a bit of a cliché, but on a cold, windy wintery night with clear skies and great colours – why resist?

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version.

"Rubin Face" – optical illusion.

Image © PeteM2020

Rubin face or the figure-ground vase is a famous set of ambiguous or bi-stable two-dimensional forms developed around 1915 by Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin.  (Just what you were dying to find out!)

I spent some time in Photoshop fiddling with this image to get the illusion to work – take too much away, or not enough, and it falls apart.  I’m quite chuffed with the final result!

Mark Rothko

Image © PeteM2020

When I found this scene, the Russian born American artist Mark Rothko came to mind. The distinct colour palate, the way this window has been constructed and placed low on the wall conjured up memories of his mid 1950’s paintings.

“I also hang the pictures low rather than high, and particularly in the case of the largest ones, often as close to the floor as is feasible, for that is the way they are painted.” – M. Rothko


A Tall Rat’s View

I was very taken by Oliver Fluck’s 2011 “A Rat’s View” night-time New York image showing the Chrysler Building. This image is my inspired copy. I felt that Flinders Street Station might be the answer, but I’ll keep hunting for other suitable Melbourne landmarks and shorter rats!

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version.

Supermoon

Tonight was the 2013 perigee full moon – got out a long lens and took these at about 17:45 and 21:00 (est) near Melbourne. Too cold for howling dogs tonight – even the frogs are quiet!

(Taken at 17:45)      Image © PeteM2020

(Taken at 21:00)       Image © PeteM2020

Fog in the Yarra Valley

Image © PeteM2020

Click on the image for a larger version

It’s that time of the year again – cold, crisp mornings with frost and plenty of fog in the valley. This was a spectacle just too good to ignore, so using a long lens, I snapped a few frames and put together this panorama.