Shadow of a gum tree…

At last (at least for us) it has cooled 🙂  I took this yesterday early morning, is of a gum tree shadow on long grass (some may have seen this on my Facebook page).  I had to fit myself behind the tree and barbed wire fence so my shadow wasn’t visible….

gum shadow
Click for larger view

Before the sun came….

Anyone who has watched the tennis will know that Melbourne and hence Victoria has endured a week long heat wave.  It has been truly disgusting weather, as I post this blog, am waiting for the cool change due in a few hours and hoping for no fires.  I think I have chosen these as the heat is so claustrophobic and these are cool and open spaces.  Metered for the sky and handheld, taken about 30 minutes before sunrise.

sunrise 16.1.14 south

1st Blogiversary!

Whilst I missed the festive postings as was so busy (grapevines don’t know it’s Christmas!), I realised that January 12th would be a year since I first started the blog.  I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to the people that follow the blog and to those that have taken the time to write comments and liked posts.  I enjoy the blogging community and love reading others’ posts.  A lot has changed in the past year – one of the biggest was shooting in RAW (I started in film) and look forward to another year of learning!

Here we are psyching up for a week long heat wave while others are freezing – stay safe!

butterfly grass
About 30 minutes after sunrise. The butterfly was warming itself in the early sun

 

 

Curves

A belated Happy New Year!  It has been a busy time.  I took this a few weeks ago just after the field of hay had been cut and I was struck by the dark curve of uncut grass.  Closer inspection revealed it was a creek that has now dried out – the green strip has now vanished completely.

newham a

Hip hip hareray!!

As some of you will know I have tried many attempts to photograph the hares I see at work – I find them beautiful but very elusive creatures and have probably hundreds of images of them running away!  Yesterday I was a little luckier!….

hare hare side hare a

Dawn

The sky was spectacular a couple of days ago just before the sunrise.  The wind was already picking up causing the ripples on the dam on what turned out to be another really hot day.

dawn

Seeds at sunrise

The last two days have been very hot – yesterday was 38 C and so early morning is a pleasant time when it is still relatively cool.  I took this at sunrise today – the grass seeds lit up by the first rays of the day.

grass seed sunrise
Click for more detail

 

 

Stark…

Final couple of images from the Pyalong area for the time being. These images were taken with the sky a deep cobalt blue and a very unforgiving light….beautiful 🙂

hill & fence a
A hill of long dried grass
burnt trees1
The tops of the trees are actually burnt hence why they are so dark

 

 

Between a rock and a harsh place….

Another outing to the Pyalong area in north central Victoria.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have a deep appreciation of this landscape.  This is only the start of summer, but the grasses have already started to dry and its stark beauty has begun – hence taken in harsh afternoon light.

tree and rock