Cooktown and Rock Art

Cooktown, Queensland, 17-18 July 2022
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From the bush camp (posts Laura Bush Camp 1 and 2, with much more rock art), we returned to Laura and then to Cooktown. However, the journey back from the bush camp was quite different for me than the way in. I was hit by gastro on the last night there. I have been to several countries including India and Madagasacar where you need to be careful about directly or indirectly consuming water without having problems but it didn’t occur to me I might need to take care within Australia and fulled my camel (backpack water container) with tap water at Laura. The bouncy and speedy drive in on the tiny four wheel drive was great fun but the journey out was torture and they had to stop several times so I could vomit at the side of the road. From Laura we went straight to Cooktown and I also stayed in bed for all of the next day.

That next day Jools went out and got some medicine for gastro from the Chemist. Unfortunately, we later found it produces hallucinations when you are dehydrated, which is what happens with gastro. I got up during the night for a piss and didn’t turn the light on so as not to disturb Jools. I then saw dogs and cats in the corners of the room though I knew they were not real. Walls completely changed in appearance from one look to the next. The short trip to the toilet became a maze and I became quite disoriented and repeatedly bumped into things. We were in a split level apartment and I ended up falling down the four steps to the lower level in the dark. I bruised my left forearm and severely bruised the palm of my left hand. It took months for my left hand to fully recover but I didn’t hit my head so it could have been much worse. Also, I am right-handed, otherwise I might not have been able to use the camera.

Mouth of the Endeavour River from Grassy Hill Lookout.

The day after that I was semi-recovered and we went for a short drive in the afternoon. We did not see much of Queenstown in our time there but at least our accommodation was a good place to recover.

Grassy Hill Lighthouse from 1886.

Hibiscus flowers nearby.

I think this is Finch Bay, not far from Grassy Hill.

In the late afternoon we visited the bird hide at Keating’s Lagoon.

These are images from trees in the river along the way.

I might have been able to get closer images off the path except that the crocodile warning signs made that inadvisable. More images from here in the next post.

The following day we joined a rock art tour with Culture Connect and set off along this road.

We stopped at a river crossing that we later drove through.

Looking down the river.

Later, on foot, a stream crossing requiring care when carrying camera gear.

Rock art. Kangaroo.

Lungfish maybe?

Turtles on the left.

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We walked to another rock art site.

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Crocodile, northern quoll perhaps, cassowary (maybe emu), fish, head of the previous figure.

Crocodile.

This image and the next one were taken looking upwards in a cramped overhang space that was logistically quite awkward.

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Xanthorrhoea flower cone.

View from the road on the way out.

Laura Bush Camp Day 2

Dec25

Near Laura, Queensland, 14 August 2022
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(For the benefit of some Americans who may be reading this, this post has absolutely nothing to do with Laura Bush).

Gnaingar.

On our way to another rock art site, this is the flowers of Gnaingar, or Eucalyptus Phœnicia, or Scarlet Gum, endemic to the far north of Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.

A kangaroo, perhaps.

Male figure.

Female figure.

Main figure a snake, probably dreamtime serpent.

Fish, perhaps.

A cave for special female ceremonies.

Inside, dragonflies on the walls.

At the next site, perhaps a family group. Appears to be made by a negative process with removal of colour.

Two females, one over a long figure perhaps snake, eel or lungfish.

Here is the site overall. You can see some of the figures shown above.

We dropped down to a pool fed by a small waterfall.

A tree trying to grow in a most surprising place.

Contorted trunk and roots of a eucalypt beside the pool.

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On the move now. Taken from a moving four wheel drive vehicle. There has been some fire stick farming going on to manage the land. This involves small scale slow cool burns that do not escape to destroy land and wildlife.

Images on the move.

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Passing a large termite mound. The black pole with a blue cap is on the vehicle.

Back to the main rock art site.

I was looking for a different perspective this time. Most of my shots on the previous day were taken with a very wide angle lens (Fujifilm 8-16mm) whereas most of these were taken with a moderate telephoto (Fujifilm 80mm macro).

These figures may be very old, maybe 20,000 years.

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The upside-down person represents someone who has transgressed fundamental rules of the society and received serious punishment such as exile or death.

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Given how far north we are, this is probably a cassowary rather than an emu.

Dingo at the front.

A wider view with many figures.

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Back at the base now, probably after dinner. The is a macro landscape with some combination of ground cover, bush and miniature tree.

Rock Art.

In other words, Art created by the Rock.

Balanda Rock Painting.

Perhaps reminiscent of the cargo cult of Papua New Guinea, this is designed to encourage the great gyroscopic whirring bird to drop from the sky.

Night sky from near the tent, a ten second exposure from 5:30am.

If you are on a PC or Mac, this image will appear very dark against the white page here. You need to click on it for a larger version to see it properly.

There is also something moving in the sky with a somewhat discontinuous light, perhaps a satellite or a plane.

Atherton Tablelands in Infrared

Nov21

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 8-10 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

Links go to ordinary colour posts at the same location (for more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies..

A camera with an infrared sensor in broad terms sees infrared, red and green instead of red green and blue. By default the image for my camera comes out in orange/ yellow tones that then requires processing. I am interested in where I can take it for creative effect.

Herberton.

Herberton and Tully Gorge.

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Grevillea Flower.

Big Millstream Falls.

Millaa Millaa Falls.

Rainforest and Sugar Gliders.

Zillie Falls.

Ellinjaa Falls.

Falls on Barron River near Dinner Falls.

Waterfalls and Striped Possums.

Same viewpoint but actually a different image as well as a different interpretation. The water shows a different shutter speed.

Dinner Falls.

Rainforest and Sugar Gliders

Nov6

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 9 August 2022
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On our second full day in the Atherton Tablelands, we first headed to Malanda, which was not far. We discovered a wonderful coffee bar near the Visitors’ Centre with great coffee and perhaps the best muffins I have encountered. The owner told us he is a chef and made the muffins himself, whereas most places purchase premade cheap frozen muffins, with a corresponding cost in taste. Creeping Americanisation perhaps.

Krefft’s turtle.

We walked several trails in Malanda Falls Conservation Park on both sides of the road. We were hoping to encounter a tree kangaroo in one of a number of locations in the Atherton Tablelands but this was not to happen. However, there was lots more to see.

There were a number of these turtles swimming round near the bank at a particular location in the North Johnstone River.

I think there may have been a description of this symbiotic flowering plant in the Visitors’ Centre but I did not record it so I can’t tell you what it is.

Grey-headed Robin (Heteromyias cinereifrons).

North Johnstone River.

Funghi by the path.

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Red-legged pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica) moving quickly through the bush.

Funghi by the Path.

Millaa Millaa Falls.

Next we visited the waterfall circuit at Millaa Millaa.

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Zillie Falls.

With a bit of a scramble, I found a good location for the Zillie Falls and also took some studies of water and rocks.

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Ellinjaa Falls.

I also had in mind to visit Crawford’s Lookout, North Johnston Lookout Track, Mamu Tropical Skywalk, Innisfail and Babinda Boulders but we would have needed an extra day for that.

Returning to our accomodation at Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodges, we were able to experience nightime observations of sugar gliders (petaurus breviceps longicaudatus).

A Striped possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata) briefly appeared.

And then it was back to the sugar gliders again, feeding on the sap of a tree.

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Herberton and Tully Gorge

Oct30

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 7 to 8 August 2022
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Cairns/ Atherton Tablelands Road.

This is a view from the road from Cairns to Atherton Tablelands. I posted an infrared view from the same spot in the previous post.

Curtain Fig Tree.

In the previous infrared post we saw images of the Cathedral Fig Tree. This is a different one, close to Yungaburra where we stayed on the first night. the Curtain Fig Tree.

This tree started out as a seed dropped in the branches of a host tree, presumably excreted by a bird. Over time, the fig strangled the host, causing it to fall over against another tree and the fig roots reached to the ground, creating the curtain you see.

Over more time, the host rotted away, leaving just the fig tree. It is nearly fifty metres tall and you can get a sense of the height of the roots from the people on the platform near ground level at lower right. It is believed to be around five hundred years old.

On our way south, we dropped into the Hastie’s Swamp Bird Hide. These are plumed whistling-ducks, in the reeds near the shore.

Great Egret, in non-breeding plumage.

We next spent a few hours at Herberton. This is a grevillea in flower at the side of the path..

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Herberton was the graveyard of old cars, which we will see more of in a future infrared post. The is a 1942 UK Austin, ex Forestry Department.

Time takes its toll.

This small bird is a Chowchilla, the southern subspecies orthonyx melasmenus with a longer beak.

Dodge emblem. The text says Dodge Brothers and is probably from the 1930s.

1936 Pontiac Flat head 6.

I don’t think this one would make a good getaway car, given that it has wooden stumps instead of rear wheels.

1934 Buick Straight 8.

The cornering ability of this one is probably suspect.

No identification for this one.

Since it has no wheels, maybe it was intended to fly.

Perhaps the front of an engine housing.

Gone full circle.

Different view of the same grevillea. I realised my shutter speed had only been 1/10 sec so retook it, but need not have worried due to image stabilisation on the lens.

Inside Elderslie House, home of J.Newell, Founder of Herberton.

Herberton was established by John Newell in 1880 for tin mining. In late 1880 it had a population of 300 males and 27 females. The Historic village opened in 1973, on the edge of the actual town of Herberton. It was created by Harry Skennar and includes buildings and artefacts from nearby and further afield. There are probably forty or fifty buildings including historic shops.

Coach House.

Day’s Garage.

The Dispensary or Chemist.

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Dispensary window ledge.

Driving on further south towards Tully Gorge, we visited Big Millstream Falls near Ravenshoe.

Tully Gorge Lookout.

That bare patch in the lower mid right is where Tully Falls was when it was the largest waterfall in Queensland. The free flow of the Tully River was stopped in 1960 by the construction of the Koombooloomba Dam, so now the falls only flow during a big wet season. The road to Tully Gorge Lookout has been sealed for only a couple of years.

A stream flowing by the path on the walk down to the lower viewpoint.

Cliffs and trees from the lower viewpoint.

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A closer view of the Tully River above where the falls used to be and might be again from time to time.

Looking down also at the Tully River, downstream of the falls, now only occasionally fed by the waterfall.

Emporio

Apr2

Thira (Santorini), Greece, 11 October 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

From the lighthouse at the south end of Thira, we drove north and then headed towards the other coast, away from the caldera. On the way, we stopped at Emporio, always one of my main planned points of interest for Thira. It is a traditional village, the largest on the island, and the name refers to trade as it was once the main trading centre for the island.

There is little point trying to add captions for most of the images. they are a visual feast of a wonderful urban microcosm.

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There are two ways to take this sign. One, you may be a pedestrian and should beware of others hooning around on motorcycles in the narrow laneways. Alternatively, you may be on a motorbike and this is how you should do it. Crouch down for better aerodynamics and ride really fast.

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Finally a few macro shots on the way out, probably near the church where we started from.

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Locked Down in Canberra (Floriade)

Oct14

28 September to 9 October 2021, Canberra, ACT.

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While in lockdown we are still allowed out to visit open places in our immediate area. Usually I’ve just been going for walks in the reserve out the back but I have also made some visits to Floriade. This is an annual flower festival in Canberra. Usually it is jam-packed with tourists and visitors from other Australian states but because of lockdown it was not publicised and no-one can come into Canberra from outside. Usually I don’t attend because of the crowds and because other than in small very occasional doses I find it all a bit twee, but it does have some interesting potential for photographs.

Australia, Canberra, Floriade, Flowers, Focus stacking, Landscape, Macro, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

I visited Floriade three times. The first time I was interested in trying focus stacking, taking lots of images and assembling them later to get arrays of all the flowers with all of them in focus.

I found it didn’t work as well as I was expecting. We don’t see detailed arrays in perfect focus like that and I found that the detail was overwhelming the composition. This first image is cropped in considerably for that reason.

I was using a Fujifilm X-E4 (for which you can specify start and end focus points for photo stacked images) and an 80mm f2.8 macro (and processing in Zerene Stacker) though as it turned out, most of the images didn’t really need a macro lens.

In the original version of this image, there were too many flowers in focus for the eye to know where to rest. I had to crop the image in considerably and also reprocess it so that fewer flowers were in focus.

This isn’t cropped in, it is as composed but the wind was blowing around so that the flowers were moving with respect to each other. The camera took around 150 images but there was no way I could use all those. So I selected 12 and combined those for essential detail, leaving the background out of focus.

This image didn’t require cropping and isn’t really part of Floriade. These are flowers on reeds growing on a small swampy island and I got down low to take them against the light.

This image is also not cropped, and works OK as a focus stack, with varying layers of white, green, red and purple.

Most of the images from this series I ended up discarding though.

The second time I visited I had a very different approach. I used a long telephoto with a very fast lens to get a flower or part of a flower in detail, with most everything else completely out of focus.

(A fast lens is one that opens very wide at maximum aperture and lets in lots of light with a small depth of field. To be precise, I used a Nikon D850 and 300mm f2.8 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter, all taking at maximum aperture of f4. The Fuji equivalent would be a 200mm f2 + 1.4x TC, but I do not have that lens.)

Using a long lens with a shallow depth of field like this brings out subject isolation and for the most part worked much better than trying to get everything in focus.

There were also some ducklings in the park.

The third time I visited I had in mind a variation of the approach. I still used the same long telephoto and this time I focus stacked, but only a small number of images. The images could be dramatic with a single shot but only part of a flower might be in focus. I wanted to see how it would work with a bit more depth of field to get the whole flower in focus. (Starting with the image above)

This worked well but there was too much wind on this day (it doesn’t take much when focus stacking) so I had to be patient and wait for lulls..

Locked Down in Canberra (Macro Landscapes in the Rain)

Oct7

4 September to 5 October 2021, Canberra, ACT

Small worlds in rain.

(Acacia in bloom).

I live backing onto a nature reserve. The first five images are on the path at the back of the houses, no more than fifty yards or so from the back gate.

I decided to get some practice going out and shooting in heavy rain. Some places you travel to you may well encounter it and not want to waste too much time sitting around. I found it has interesting potential.

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Almost all the rest are further out in the bush, no longer in heavy rain, and within about twenty minutes’ walk if I’m not stopping to take photographs.

There’s no real need to describe most of these images (though feel free to ask questions). I’ll add notes on how I took them at the end.

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As you may have noticed at the top, they were taken over a period of about a month.

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These two were at a different location, at the Jerrabombera Wetlands.

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These are on a young eucalypt just outside the back gate. They look like caterpillars but they are actually spitfire bugs or sawfly larvae and are harmless to people and animals. Sawflies are a kind of stingless wasp. They are closest to the ancestral form of all hymenopterans (ants, wasps, bees and sawflies) and survive as fossils from the Jurassic.

On the back path by the fence again.

Back in the bush.

Though I didn’t encounter the heavy rain again, many of these images are taken during or after lighter rain, which brings out colours and changes the feeling.

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There are thirty-seven images here and only five were taken as a single image (marked with an “s” below them). The rest were focus stacked. Macro images have a very small depth of field, but to increase that you can take images at slightly different points of focus. Then you need to combine them later in post-production using Photoshop or a dedicated program such as Zerene Stacker or Helicon Focus. That’s focus stacking.

Focus stacking doesn’t require a macro lens or subject. With a wide angle lens in a landscape you may not need many exposures. At the extreme, using a 4mm circular fisheye lens, it required just two exposures to be in focus from around three inches to infinity (that’s the Pimilea Physodes image in this earlier post). Conversely, macro depth of field is very small and I took as many as 600 exposures for some images in this post.

Anyone can focus stack, provided you have appropriate software to combine the images. It’s good to stop down to f11 or so (to reduce the number of exposures) and useful to use manual focus, preferably with focus peak highlighting if you have it.

At the most basic level, you have the camera on a tripod, take separate exposures and carefully adjust the focus for each shot. Alternatively, you can set the shutter going on fast burst and slowly move the focus through your desired range. In both cases you need to be careful not to leave focus holes where you moved the focus too much between exposures.

It’s easier if your camera automates the process. I have Nikon D850, Fujifilm X-T2 and Fujifilm X-E4 cameras that do that. They all operate a bit differently. The D850 and the X-T2 fire away from a starting focus point for a set number of exposures. You also have to set the delay between exposures (usually 0) and the focus adjustment between exposures (usually a middling value in the range).

With the D850, when you finish a burst, the focus stays on the last exposure so if you haven’t specified enough frames, you just set it going again for the rest. With the X-T2, it goes back to initial focus so if you didn’t specify enough frames, you need to increase the number and start again. But it does make it easier to make a panorama in the same focus range. Three of the images above were also panoramas, combining two or three focus stacks.

The X-E4 can operate like the X-T2 but it also has an Auto option where you can specify the start and end points, so you don’t end up shooting lots of autofocus frames.

In all cases, it is better to start a little before what you see as the initial focus point because you can easily miss what that really is. When taking macro focus stacks, you need to carefully look through at different points of focus before taking the shot and even then it is easy to miss debris and extraneous elements that can disturb your composition.

It’s not necessary to use a tripod, though it definitely helps. The second acacia image, that I have marked with a “t” was hand held (with a long telephoto lens). There was some wind too and I was impressed how well Zerene Stacker dealt with that. It did have a clean background against the tree though. It would not have worked had there been other plants also blowing around further back. The previous three images (from the previous day) may also have been hand-held.

The six images at the back of the houses were all taken with the D850 and a Sigma 180mm macro lens. All the others were taken with Fuji, mainly the X-E4. Most of those were taken with the 80mm macro (sometimes with 1.4x teleconverter) and I also used 8-16mm, 14mm and 100-400mm lenses.

This post is the second of a short series of images from Lockdown in Canberra. The previous one is here, two posts back. The next one is (insert link when available). They are interspersed with Uzbek monochrome posts.

Keeping quiet in Canberra

Feb6

February 2020 to January 2021, Canberra, ACT

My last local post in January 2020 was Australia Burning, which included images taken in Canberra on one of two days when bushfire smoke meant Canberra had the worst air quality of any city in the world. Then COVID struck.

There was lockdown in Canberra for a month or two but there have been no local cases since last April, just a handful of incoming people in quarantine hotels. There are currently no locally-sourced cases in Australia, just a few incoming travellers. Though many criticisms can be made, State and Federal Governments did fairly well, supporting many people (though with glaring holes) and following medical advice. State Governments have been prepared to engage lockdowns where necessary and from time to time closing off State borders and isolating localities. People arriving from overseas have to stay for a fortnight in a quarantine hotel.

Unfortunately, while the Federal Government has been prepared to follow medical advice, it shows no signs of being willing to follow scientific advice on climate change. Huge areas burned in January and a significant majority of the population want effective action on climate change. If nothing continues to be done, temperatures will continue to rise, fires will become larger and more prevalent, the ecology and wildlife of the country will be devastated and the capacity for agricultural production will greatly decline.

In the meantime though, I have made no overseas trips since 2019 due to COVID and have been keeping fairly quiet.

Buoys in a small canal at Kingston Foreshore.

In March I joined a Fuji event that allowed you to use various new cameras and lenses. I tried some of these but this image and the next were taken with my X-T2 and 100-400mm lens.

Reflections in the same canal.

Roots of a bonsai tree at the National Arboretum.

In June I visited the Bonsai Garden at the Arboretum and took this photo with my Fuji 80mm macro lens. It is focus-stacked, which means I have taken many images at different points of focus and later combined them with software.

Succulent in the front garden.

In August I had purchased a Fuji 8-16mm zoom and took some test shots in the front garden, this one and the next one. The succulents are quite small so it’s almost macro because the lens can focus quite close. These are also focus-stacked but because I was using a very wide angle lens, that required only a few exposures.

Small flowers in the front garden.

Grevillea Macleayana.

I also visited the Australian National Botanic Gardens from time to time, this image and the next four. The first three were taken in September and the last two in October.

Telopea Speciosissima.

Banksia Spinulosa.

Pimilea Physodes and panorama near the Visitor’s Centrte.

I took this with a circular fisheye lens and it is also focus-stacked, with just two exposures. The depth of field is amazing, but not quite enough to go from the stamens of the flower (0.1 metres) to infinity in one exposure.

Grevillea Macleayana.

Another focus-stacked exposure with the Fuji 80mm macro lens. This one took 70 exposures and I had to wait for it to be still and retake it several times when a breeze came up during the exposure.

Archie Webb in the Top 12 Challenge.

I have also gone back to table tennis, both socially and competition and this is an image I took in October at the Top 12 Challenge, with the top 12 Canberra players competing for prizes. Archie is the leading competition player but he did not win this challenge. Here he is gearing up for a forehand loop.

ACT Table Tennis Open.

I also took photographs at the ACT Open in November. Table Tennis is remarkable in that players of very different ages can compete equally. The far player is Faisal Pirwani and he is returning the ball with his backhand, He is one of Canberra’s leading players; I do not know the name of the youngster but from his shirt he probably comes from Melbourne. Some young players can be very good. We had a couple of players as old as 93 in the Social Seniors Group prior to COVID though they have not returned since.

(The two table tennis shots were taken with a Nikon D850 and 85mm f1.4 and 50mm f1.4 lenses respectively).

Malua Bay rock pool.

In early January we went for a trip “down the coast” (which means to the south coast of New South Wales, near Canberra). This image and the next two were taken on that trip.

Glasshouse Rocks, Narooma.

At Glasshouse Rocks looking through to Montague Island Lighthouse.

Kangaroos at an Ainslie pond.

I live backing on to a reserve and a week or so later, we had a long walk to a couple of ponds in that reserve.

Pond reflections.

Since I am mentioning equipment in this post, the Malua Bay rock pool was taken with the Fuji 80mm macro and the last four with the Fuji 100-400mm.

Antigua Monochromes

Aug29

18-22 September 2016, Antigua

Links go to posts with the colour versions of the images (where there may also be more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies. (Click on any image to see it larger).