Tag Archives: clouds

Two Sides To The Orroral Fire

As the fires rage through the country we all look to the authorities to keep us up to date, informed and safe.

As mentioned in my previous post I have been volunteering as part of a fireteam helping to defend rural properties, this also means I have exclusive access to these rural properties that are currently under threat in the Southern areas of the ACT (Australian Capital Tettoriy).

Just like 99% of every Australian, I am by no means an expert on fire activity and movements, nor do I have any idea of how to really tackle such an enormous job of controlling, steering and eventually extinguishing these fires. What I do know I have the ability to use the equipment I have at hand to get visuals of the firefront and its movements as it crawls along with the mountain ranges like the snowline melting after the winter.

I have at my home a great view of the eastern side of the fires and a northerly view from the farms. Capturing, watching and reporting these fires out to people that are in their path has allowed me to keep these people informed so they can make the right decisions but the side effect of taking photos so they can see what the fire is doing, is that I do get to take some incredible photos and the ones sit at the top of the pile are the sunsets.

Here is just one of them.

In the photo below you can see to the left half has the fire in the hills while the right after is yet untouched.

As I look at this image I can see and feel the destruction the fire has had on the impacted areas. I look and wait knowing it will pass to the other side bringing with it a renewed pressure to bring this fire under control.

The other interesting this about this image is the cloud formations above the fire ground on the left of the image to the clouds in the yet untouched areas.

To me, it looks like the heat of the fires have pushed the clouds up where on the right the cloud cover is flat. I’m a sure someone much much smarter than I that can tell me if what I am seeing is actually what is happening here. 🙂

For the locals some more details in the photo:

From left to right, you can see the firefront moving as it snakes its way from the Tharwa village towards the Corin forest area and then onto Tidbinbilla. Mount Tennent is out of shot to the left, while the valley to the left of the hill in the middle is the Corin Road and the hills in the far right is the Tidbinbilla nature reserve and the Brindabella Ranges.

On the right is the untouched bush and on the left is the out of control Orroral Fire
On the right is the untouched bush and on the left is the out of control Orroral Fire

What An Amazing Weekend!

The weekend away was full of fun and excitement in such amazing scenery that I cannot comprehend.
The strangest part of the weekend is that we are in a drought, and the lakes and the dams which we visited are amazingly low. While in North Queensland around Townsville they have had over a metre of rain in the last five days.
Here is a photo took at blowering reserve some hundred kilometres west of Canberra.
As you can see the dam is really green, the water levels are extremely low and the fact that is green means that the water levels have been so low for such a long time the vegetation has grown says a lot.
I have a heap of photos which I want to share and will I guess I’ll have to space out over a few days so I dont bore shitless, so here is the first of the ones which I took.
Hope you enjoy them and let me know what you think.

The Eagles Nest

Waking up this morning an hour or so before sunrise I peeked out my window and to my surprise, the sky was clear as a bell which was weird considering the forecast was for rain and cloud but hey… I wasn’t complaining as I could use my early morning wake-up to sit out to the arboretum and capture the sun rising over our city before it started to wake.

I must say driving around Canberra before dawn on a Saturday morning is actually quite pleasant. The traffic is almost non-existent and in winter time the area is crisp as a new hundred dollar bill. Not that I’ve actually seen one of those in some time. lol

And getting to the arboretum was not surprised that there was no one around, not even any birds. Not sure if it was the cold weather or the fact that it was too early, maybe even a combination of both, either way, had the place to myself.

On top of one of our lookouts at the arboretum as sculpture there that is made up of all different types of metal shapes to create what is an Eagle’s nest sitting on top of the Eagle’s nest as you can see is an Eagle. Surprise surprise. During the daylight hours, it’s interesting to have a look at how they put this thing together but I must say I prefer the silhouette of the structure against the rising sun and the blue skies.

The Eagle's nest at the Canberra arboretum
The Eagle’s nest at the Canberra Arboretum

In the background, you can see Black Mountain with the fog on the clouds rolling across it as they moved from the hills towards the lake. While you can’t see it in this picture the tower was illuminated green. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture an image they are satisfied with that showed off the color but I guess that is a good excuse to go back.

Behind-the-scenes of an early morning sunrise
Behind-the-scenes of an early morning sunrise

Spending a few hours before dawn, taking the time to take some photos and take in the surrounds is a great way to start a weekend and a great way to ground yourself.

Were you sleeping while I was up capturing these photos for you also out and about capturing similar memories?

Sun rising across the nation's capital
Sun rising across the nation’s capital

Another weekend down

Wow, what a fantastic weekend and OMG what a sunset we had this afternoon.

After a weekend here in Canberra with two consecutive mornings hitting  -8° I took the opportunity to take my family camping. hahahaha

Yes I know right! Completely batty and completely insane but with all the cold into super frost that we experienced we got time to bond and capture my own memories, only to get home this afternoon and be greeted with the most amazing sunset.

What memories did you capture over the weekend?

Amazing Sunset after Subzero Temperatures
Amazing Sunset after Subzero Temperatures

Don’t Let The Rain Scare You!

A lot of photographers run away from the rain and the dark clouds.  I am not one of them.  The drama in the clouds the extra saturation in the landscape and the clean air always make for fantastic photos…..

Sure you might get wet but we are not made of sugar and you will survive.

The dark clouds formed and the rain started to come down so I jumped on the bike to chase the light like you only can on a BMW RR 1000s super sports bike and I must say I love the results. <3

So next time when the rain starts so falling go hunting for great photo ops… you will be surprised where you will find them.

 

BMW RR1000S in the rain enjoying the sunset
BMW RR1000S in the rain enjoying the sunset