Robert's Ramblings

An unusual perspective of St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 243 - Church of Perspective'. 1/5s f/2.8 ISO-640 15mm

This is the very first lily in the garden for Spring.

I've heard it suggested that photographs of flowers are not a good idea and certainly not something you'd put into your portfolio unless they are truly awesome images. This image does not fall into that category but it does have a great form I want ed to show off here.

I am looking forward to having plenty spring flowers including lilies at hand to keep our home feeling bright and cheerful. I might even photograph a few more of them.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 242 - Lily'. 1/500s f/4.5 ISO-640 100mm

In the last 10 minutes of light before the sun dips below the horizon every looks fantastic.

We have plenty of trees at our home and in this light the textures of the bark looked amazing. I took several images and finally settled on this one being the most unusual. It is the husky base of one of my large palm trees.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 241 - Husky Texture'. 1/15s f/13 ISO-1600 105mm

Every time I drive along the Port Adelaide expressway I see images that I want to capture and share the way I see them.

Metropolitan waste dumps, commodities silos, building materials manufacturing, swampy grasslands and the Torrens Island power station all work together to create this apocalyptic scene with the sun setting on this industrial sprawl.

I was lucky with this image as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds just before vanishing into the West.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 240 - Urban Badlands'. 1/(8000/3200/1600) f/5.0 ISO-640 110mm hdr

Today we had a guided tour of my Mum's garden and all the beautiful spring flowers now coming into bloom.

There were daffodils, jonquils, birds-of-paradise, plum blossom and a host of others she described that I could not hope to remember.

A closer look at this busy, busy bee reveals hind legs laden with pollen as it makes its rounds.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 239 - Spring At Last'. 1/1000s f/4.5 ISO-640 100mm

I am still not very comfortable at this street photography thing.

I hear and read conflicting ideas about asking permission, or not; about using a discrete camera or bringing out the bazooka; about legal, moral and ethical issues; about model releases and personal brand. I'm not surprised that many other photographers find street photography difficult as well.

Imagine if you could walk through an urban landscape in 'bullet time'. Imagine walking through a frozen-in-time world and being able to compose and photograph the images that you see unencumbered.

I'm not sure I have enough experience yet to offer any advice but for now my strategy is to use a big lens, keep moving and look completely disinterested in the images I capture. Oh, and to smile politely when I'm sneered at!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 238 - A Private Moment'. 1/100s f/2.8 ISO-3200 200mm

I only saw one other photographer on the beach tonight. I hope there were others up and down the Adelaide coastline who shared in a sunset a photograph could never hope to capture.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 237 - One Perfect Sunset'. 1/250s f/13 ISO-100 15mm

Today we all got hammered!

First it rained, then it hailed, then it blew a gale, it hailed some more, it blew some more and most were content to be huddled in a warm cosy place and not out in this late Winter storm.

Then as if by magic the sun came out, the sky turned blue and I grabbed the opportunity to photograph some of the surf action at our local beach. For about an hour the sun shone, the surfers played in the storm chop and I came to realize that I'm not as fit as I'd like to be for this kind of thing!

As quickly as the break came, it disappeared again. The sun vanished, the grey clouds returned, the rain started lashing and we were back in our stormy Winter again.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 236 - Storm Surge'. 1/1000s f/10 ISO-640 17mm

Getting our and taking photos does not have to be a solitary affair.

Tonight we had the pleasure of sharing company with good friends out to dinner at a local Adelaide Pub, 'Benjamin on Franklin'.

The beef & Guinness pie was divine, the beverages excellent and the company for the evening sensational. It was great to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.

Past closing time were not pressured to leave but this quick glance at the bar made it clear we were well beyond last drinks!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 235 - Beyond Last Drinks'. 1/25s f/4.0 ISO-1600 105mm

One of the challenges of taking photos everyday when you have a 'day job' is finding the time.

Bring on the night! Taking photos outside of normal 'day job' hours means night photos at least it does during our Winters where the days are still quite short.
Night photography can be challenging but also very rewarding with some quite spectacular views of daylight ordinary subjects.

This image is taken from the beach just a short walk from where I live. A long time exposure of 30 seconds has captured the arrival of an aircraft into Adelaide Airport.
I like this photo for quite a few different reasons. It's were I live, its visually pretty, it feels like our cold winter evenings and that incoming light trail has left an interesting little tell-tail about getting sharp images.

If you look really closely at the initial incoming trace of the aircraft lights you you will see a vertical oscillation which lasts about 2 seconds before decaying away. This vibration had been caused by either the mirror, the sync-curtain or both. Even using auto mirror lockup on a 2 second timer the vibration is evident. I'd have to repeat this image again using a 10 second timer and if the vibration remains, then I'd know is was caused by the sync curtain and not the shutter.

In any case this reveals just how critical the issue of lack up sharpness due to mirror/sync-curtain vibrations in the exposure range of 0.1 - 4 seconds is. This will of course be affected by the lens and mounting. The only perfect solution for super sharp images in this exposure range is live-view where both the mirror and sync-curtain are both already actuated.

Enjoy your arrival into Adelaide!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 234 - Adelaide Arrival'. 30.0s f/4.0 ISO-320 75mm

Tonight I had a plan!

Moonset was all set for 8:40pm thanks to the ever reliable universe. At 8:10pm I headed out with my camera with an idea to capture the crescent dipping into the ocean. I arrived at my destination, looked out to the horizon. Nothing!

Peering into the blackness I could just make out a glimmer of light edging clouds in the distance. The moon had set behind clouds and my plans were thwarted!

Ever hopeful I set up anyway with the camera pointed in the direction I expected the moon to be. I waited a while and then it appeared. For a about 60 seconds the moon appeared through a gap in the clouds and I was able to take this image exactly half way. Once below the lower cloud bank I never saw it anymore.

If you look closely in in the dark bottom tones you can just make out the horizon which I had originally planned to capture.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 233 - Waxing Crescent Moon'. 4.0s f/4.0 ISO3200 200mm

21 years ago Intel finally lost the battle with AMD to single handedly control CPUs for the PC industry.

Introducing the Am386, the PC industry's first true alternative and the beginning of the true PC desktop performance battle.

This battle now 21 years on has swayed back and forth from Intel to AMD and back again. Eventually the diversity of offerings became so confusing that the battle changed from performance to brand recognition. Remember Intel's 'Intel Inside' campaign!

I've kept this 20 year old AMD Am386DXL-40 (modern PC CPUs now run 100-1000 times faster ) to photograph, to remember and to be grateful of a legacy where I now process my images with a modern multi-core AMD CPU very, very quickly to make my life as a digital photographer extraordinary.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 232 - AMD Gold'. 1/100s f/16 ISO160 100mm

Every time I drive under this bridge I panic!

It's an underpass and you really need to watch your speed as there is a speed camera on the far exit.
No chance of that this time as I have safely parked some distance away and am enjoying the view as a pedestrian.

One problem I faced taking this image was getting the camera into a suitable position. Simply setting up the tripod on the footpath resulted in too much railing in the scene. In the end I preset the camera to take the shots I needed and then lashed the legs of the tripod to the handrail.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 231 - Underlined'. 1.6-6-25s f/8.0 ISO320 15mm hdr

During the last week I noticed the demolition of a beach-side residence begin and thought that it might make for some interesting images.

There was only a small crew so I knew it would take a few days. When the rain finally stopped and under cover of darkness I entered the demolition site to witness the end.

Once this place was a family's pride and joy, recently a graffitied squatters camp and now a broken shell open to the night's sky. Tomorrow there will only be a pile of rubble and in a few days it will be erased to make way for imagination and creativity to fill the emptied space with something wonderful.

Alas I am dreaming to believe that it will be replaced with anything more creative than another me too twin strata. I witnessed the end and will witness a new beginning.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 230 - Witness'. 2-8-30s f/5.0 ISO3200 15mm hdr

As I drove home through the city tonight I looked up and a tiny galaxy was revealed to me.

Through the driving rain a street lamp created a ring of concentric circles of light in the branches of a nearby tree and I thought wow! Normally I'd have used a tripod for this image but it rained and rained and rained so much I refused to get out of the car!

The practical photographer in me solved the problem. Wind down the window, brace the lens against the door frame and shoot from the drivers seat while keep warm and comfortable!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 229 - Galactic Street Light'. 1/40s f/5.0 ISO2500 105mm

Wednesday night is 'beach night'. Well at least I seem to be making a habit of it.

With the winter solstice receding into the past and Spring encroaching, the days are getting longer and the evening light beginning to linger. How paradoxical it seems to create images of calmness and tranquility in those frenzied minutes when the light is 'just right'. At least with the longer days I have a little mode time to be organized.

The sun dipped behind clouds well before I arrived tonight. Fortunately I had some interesting clouds and some nice reflections. As I began taking images from this position a man came into view walking along the beach. I got both the image and the title in one click.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 228 - Solitude'. 1/25s f/11 ISO640 15mm

Driving home tonight I had no agenda other than taking a photograph of something, anything.

A brief wander around Glenelg brought me to the tram station where I pondered the photogenic possibilities. I have already a tram in my collection so it needed ot be something a little different.

This image is a composite of two images taken a few seconds apart. The first before the train started moving and the second just after. Both exposures were 2.5 seconds long creating just the right amount of movement in the second image. In post I simply developed as a two frame HDR to blend into a single image. True to my word there is still no Photoshop although I did use Photomatix to merge the two images.

I think I achieved my desired effect of both clarity and movement although at the expense of having a nearby building apparently slam through the front windscreen!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 227 - Tram Slam'. 2.5s f/14 ISO640 24mm

There is something captivating about trees and light.

This tree devoid of all leaves was simply amazing as I looked up and saw how the myriad of bifurcating branches caught and reflected the ambient light.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 226 - Tree of Light'. 30 sec f/16 ISO-320 15mm

Actually this is the site of a local horse riding club, I just loved the title.

I stopped here this afternoon because I had noticed earlier an amazing field of bright yellow oxalis flowers (sour sobs). To my disappointment I found that the flowers close up as evening approaches and the beautiful yellow sea of blooms I had noticde earlier was no longer.

Oh well, there was a beautiful sunset taking place anyway so I pointed my camera in the opposite direction and captured this image.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 225 - The Agistment Bureau'. 1/50 f/18 ISO-320 50mm

I love the hustle and bustle of busy places when they are not!

Every day we visit food halls and and train stations or busy retail outlets or school grounds, lecture theaters or gyms. The thing they all have is in common is hustle and bustle and busy, busy busy.

If you get the chance to visit these very same places when there is no one there it feels really strange, surreal and peaceful.

That's how it felt looking into Funk Cafe in Adelaide CBD when no body was there. ... Peaceful, surreal and almost beautiful.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 224 - A Quiet Moment'. 1/6 f/4.0 ISO-3200 15mm

I was not sure if he was asleep or not.

I took the image, click, and up popped his head! He seemed lucid enough and we chatted briefly and then he slumped himself back into his cosy position again.

A short while later he was being chatted up by two men in blue uniforms. After a few minutes they left him in peace back in his own space again.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 223 - In His Own Space'. 1/50 f/2.8 ISO-3200 105mm

On the 5th of August a stranger opened file on peaceful humans in prayer.

I will never understand the inhumanity that we see in events like these. Tonight I witnessed how this event on the other side of the planet has been felt here in my home city of Adelaide.

A candlelight parade of both Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike, families and individuals converged this evening on Victoria Square to pay tribute to their brothers and sisters who tragically died in last week's shooting in Wisconsin, U.S.A. They also humbly request we all pray for the health of the wounded police officer who attempted to save lives during the shooting.

I was humbled this evening to observe this occasion and glimpse a little of their pain.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 222 - Candle Light Parade'. 1/200 f/2.8 ISO-3200 200mm

How many local Adelaide residents have seen this?

The West Beach Coast Park features a number of rusted steel sculpture curling up into the sky. I have often driven past these with the thought that they would make for some great images. This morning I did just that.

After a little bit of research I have discovered that this space is the creative work of GroundPlay, the collaborative team of two Adelaide artist/designers, Gregg Mitchell and Greg Healey. These steel structures depict the sea grasses so important to our coastal marine environment.

It's not such a leap from sea grass to ocean wave. Just how I saw them.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 221 - Rusty Wave'. 1/200,50,13 sec f/14 ISO-160 15mm hdr

I remember crisp chilly evenings under floodlights.

Running around like ejits in shorts and a tee-shirt in 10 degrees.
Yelling and and screaming for the ball on a running hand-pass.
The cool damp grass on my lips at the tail end of too many pushups.
Sprints and endless laps around the oval.

Tonight I got to reminisce of similar nights of football training when I was young.
Tonight I got to stay warm, take photos and go home when I was ready!

Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 220 - Football Practice'. 2,8,30 sec f/13 ISO-2500 24mm hdr

An evening stroll to the video store and unexpected outcome.

I never planned to get out my camera in the video shop but there it was and I could not resist. It could even have been a 3 shot HDR sequence but did not need to be.

Click, click, click. That's what my camera does.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 219 - My Camera Does This'. 1/20 sec f/4.0 ISO-640 105mm

There's a certain kind of light I just find awesome!

Twenty five ears ago I remember seeing for the very first time that amazing light when the sun is just about to set on storm clouds in an eastern sky. I recall the incredible way every feature lit by that beautiful yellow light was so dramatically framed by the dark grey blue of the storm cloud backdrop.

Rowland Flat yesterday evening was almost surreal with the vineyards and wineries bathed in yellow and framed in grey. Then I saw these two trees lit by the setting sun and I had to stop for the photo.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 218 - Vineyard Sentinels'. 1/2000 sec f/2.8 ISO-320 200mm

I love taking detours home!

The drive to visit my home town of Tanunda in the Barossa Valley has become more convenient than ever due to the new expressway built in the last couple of years. With this convenience there comes a price. I no longer get to meander through country towns, rolling vineyards or out of the way country roads.

Every now and then I decide to take the long way home through the Barossa Ranges and the Adelaide Hills. It might take twice as long but there is so much to see and it's a lovely break from bitumen, power-lines, street lamps and traffic.

This winter calf was in a paddock on the Trial Hill road and ran along side us as we were passing. I quickly pulled over, camera at hand and he bounded right up to the fence. His bravado instantly evaporated as I got out of the car and he headed back into the paddock out of harms way. I had hoped to get closer shot but a combination of rain, fresh cow patts and an intimidating bull eying me off from a distance kept me on my side of the fence.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 217 - Winter Calf'. 1/400 sec f/2.8 ISO-320 200mm

This kind of gold has nothing to do with Olympic medals!

This entire little pile of 100 gold blocks would fit on the nail of my little finger and modern electronics is full of them. When I first started my career the equivalent parts would have been the size a 20cent piece for each one.

Their technical name is called a 'ceramic multilayer capacitor' and their job in modern electronics, like mobile phones and televisions, is to store electric charge. Think of them as tiny little batteries that you can charge and discharge.
Actually these parts are now quite large compared to version half or even a third their size.

Miniaturising electronic components is not only good for making more compact products. Smaller parts means less material means cheaper manufacturing using less raw materials and hence less impact on our environment. They are as good as gold!

To create this image I used a 200mm (100mm + 2x converter) macro setup with a very small aperture for a large depth of field (not that is seems like it), a low ISO setting and a long 20 second exposure. During the exposure I applied some strobe lighting from the left to create additional highlights and contrast.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 216 - Good as Gold'. 20 sec f/32 ISO-200 macro + off camera fill strobe

The most ordinary of things take on a new perspective in a different light!

Two different lights in this case! One way to really make an ordinary object stand out is to completely isolate it from its normal environment. There are many ways to place objects in all kinds of negative space, tight depth of field being one of the most popular. For this image I have use powerful strobe lighting.

In a studio setting it is possible to do all kings of wonderful things with lighting but not so easy for a stroll around the garden hand holding everything. Because I wanted a wide depth of field I really needed two strobes to give this image any sense of depth. With only two hands my setup was pretty basic with camera equipped with hot-shoe flash in one hand and a slave strobe in the other.

For this image I placed the slave strobe above and to the right while the hot-shoe flash provided gentle front lighting. I reckon I pegged this one!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 215 - Pegged'. 1/100 sec f/25 ISO-100 100mm + off camera strobe

Beautifully lit fountains at night are pretty and make for great photographs.

But after you have seen about 500 different version of pretty fountains the images start to grow tiring. My daughter requested that I photograph this fountain that she found because 'it's pretty!' After a bunch of typically cliched 'pretty' fountain shots (this one even cycled through the colours of the rainbow) I could not stand it any longer and started experimenting with the fountain in its environment.

Off in the background there was an interesting building with arched windows that made and interesting contrast and then I saw him; the man in the window at what appears to be a piano.

I watched him for a while and it looked like he was moving back and forth between a desk and the piano. Perhaps he was composing, perhaps he was arranging, perhaps he was doing something else altogether different. What ever he was doing it made a wonderful point of interest in yet another pretty fountain image!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 214 - Piano Man'. 30 sec f/22 ISO-50 105mm