Astronomy Robbo Style

The latest full moon was spectacular, as were the last few.

Crisp clean air giving clarity and definition to formations.

Although I was disappointed in the shot, I have included it as an object lesson in preparedness. Always carry a tripod.

The shot was taken, hand held, at 420mm optical zoom with 4x digital assistance.

The crescent shot illustrates the difference a tripod can make.

The distant shot, while hand held, retains definition due to the moderate zoom used.

On clear nights in Robbo you can find Chris out with his 300mm refracting telescope.

Always willing to give people a peek at the cosmos, he trained the scope on the moon the other night with great result. Jupiter and four of its moons were also visible though, as Chris would agree, finer detail in the sky can only be achieved on a moonless night.

Waterfall Shoot

After the recent rainfall it seemed that a couple of waterfall shots could be a good idea as all the streams were running at a fair rate. A hike was planned for Macquarie Pass. After a good walk, and a quite steep decent, four intrepid explorers came upon a rather nice spot.









Hidden in the gorge was the area pictured.

























A great spot for a few photos and, of course, a picnic.



How best to enjoy a great picnic spot than with a selection of fine cheeses, meats, and assorted delicacies. Thanks to Brenno for the highbrow creation pictured here.




























After hanging round for a while it was time to head back, with the following view to round off a great excursion.

Surface Tension

With the return of the rains I was pondering photo opportunities, when my gutter began to overflow again in the torrential downpour.




With the aim of capturing a better raindrop ( see June 21st post), I managed to get the following shots.

Water, being a "sticky" molecule, has properties allowing the surface tension that permits it to behave in the ways illustrated here.


These properties are vital to life on this planet, one in particular being the fact that water in its frozen state floats on its liquid state. If it didn't, ice would sink to depths not allowing a melt. This would cause a build up effect that would see our world a much different place.
















Looking like marbles, this shot is in fact a stream of water droplets.
All photos were captured, with flash, at 1/1000 sec, f8, ISO50.

A Robbo Solstice

The Winter Solstice came to Robertson with a heavy frost in the morning, the result of a thick night fog combined with low temperatures and lack of a breeze.

Ambient temperature just before sunrise was -1 C, though climbed to a balmy 5 degrees quickly with the sunrise.

These photos, with exceptional crystalline growth on a frond of a tree fern, give an idea of the amount of moisture that was present in the air.

The day turned out fine and clear, with the frost only lasting to the suns first rays.

This night shot illustrates low level mists moving in from the SW.

The camera settings were 15sec/ISO 50/ f2.2.

The streaking caused by the length of the exposure in relation to the velocity of the cloud layer.

Rain Drops

The last week has seen some heavy falls of rain in Robertson and a few other lucky areas of the state. Even so, around 80% of NSW is still under drought conditions.
The challenge, with the perpetual wet we have enjoyed here, is what to take photos of.
Denis braved the weather and got some good shots on his site peonyden.blogspot.com/ that are worth a look at.
I took the time to categorise some recently taken photos in an attempt to free hard drive space, soon got bored of that and pointed the camera at an overflowing gutter to get this shot.

It was taken with the following settings :1/1000 sec f8 50ISO with the flash enabled.



The dome on top of the drop is the section captured by the flash, while the stretching effect underneath is due to the limitations of the camera to only shoot at a max of 1/1000 with flash, and demonstrates the distance travelled over that time.


This photo of a storm approaching Robertson, though taken some months ago during the last heavy rains, gives a good idea 0f the strength of the various systems that pass our way on occasion.

Aphid Feast

As evening approached, I observed a number of Silver Eyes zipping around a Liquid Amber.

These birds would stop momentarily to collect food on the smaller branches.

On closer inspection I was able to determine that they were in fact collecting aphids.

The following photo is of an Aphid adult laying eggs, with some of the juvenile form visible next to her.

A Lewin's honey eater was also taking part in the feast. The loss of leaves providing easier pickings.

Creatures of the forest

The rain forest is full of creatures presently and no just the ones carrying cameras.

Following are a couple of shots I got with Denis the other day.

The weevil pictured was quite small and had antenna located on the sides of his proboscis.

This native snail was an unusual golden colour, and is almost transparent .

Winter forms making a show

A trip the the reserve at Robertson to observe fungi that are more prevalent in winter proved successful with a couple of interesting shots taken.

Mossy coverings on vines are doing quite well, as this photo shows, with the cooler weather and recent rainfall.

This delicate structure, a variety of Stalactite Fungus, grows in the darker recesses of the forest. It, due to the nature of its fine form, would possibly be harder to find in hotter months though is in relative profusion at the moment.

The tiny millipedes, pictured above, eat fungi and are purple in colouration. They are less than 5mm in length and can be seen on gilled fungus.

The following forms are relatively common year round, though are in profusion at the moment.

Winter off to a good start

Its always a pleasure to get a shot like this after getting out of a warm bed before sunrise on a cold day.
Taken along sheepwash road, the low ground mist enhancing the play of light amongst the trees makes the frostbite all worthwhile.













The next two shots were taken looking west, with the sunrise highlighting the trees. Also on Sheepwash road.
The last having a distinctly European feel.
It is always a gamble getting up to catch good ground mist, though it can be rewarding.




The last shot is at Kangaloon, with the early morning light giving the scene a richness of colour that is absent within moments of the sun rising fully. No enhancement was applied to any of these photos beyond an altering of the neutral balance.

End of Autumn

Snow falls in the Southern Alps have seen temperatures plummet of late, ending the unseasonably warm weather we have been experiencing recently.
Deciduous trees have at last got the message and most are now free of foliage.



















The cooler weather has also seen an increase in low level morning mists, allowing photographers willing to brave the early morning chill to get some shots with interesting lighting.
This one (above) taken up near the showground off Caalong St, Robbo.


































Even with the cold weather, some plants continue to flower, such as this Cobra Orchid.
This Bloom was one of a cluster located within a small area protected from temperature extremes.
Thanks to Denis Wilson for the chance to get this shot.

Recent trip to the Robbo forest

Recently Denis and I took a trip to the Robertson Nature Reserve to photograph the fungi.

While we were there we came across a group of retired employees of the old waterboard that were getting better acquainted with the variety of rare flora cared for in this area.

Denis didn't miss the opportunity to discuss some of the finer points of environmental conservation and it was generally agreed that much had changed in attitudes towards development versus environment.

We were told that all the engineers worth their salt from the Waterboard, now the SCA, were retired. Many of them were on this tour. It was generally agreed that things had changed there also.

Some of the interesting forms we encountered that day are pictured below.
This stalactite like formation with Denis giving an idea of scale, was most unusual.

A bracket type fungi with a closeup showing the porous nature of the organism.





































Robertson Nature Reserve, although interesting enough with its larger forms such as the canopy trees like Coachwood and Sassafras, is a domain ruled by the microcosm of smaller forms that attach themselves to these trees or inhabit the litter on the forest floor.