Robert's Ramblings

There is plenty of free entertainment on the streets these days.

With the 'Fringe' being such an unstructured free for all there are plenty of artists setting up on street corners and performing their art.

This guy was part of a Spanish group who set themselves up just outside the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Judging by the crowd that gather around I'd say they were a huge hit.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 425, Fringe Street Gigging' 1/13s f/3.5 ISO3200 130mm

Ben Mellor's performance of Anthropoetry at the Fringe was a real delight.

I must confess I am not into reading poetry but when someone else is performing it to me, and they do it well, I really love it!

We are not talking about a tame recital here but a lively spoken word performance. Polished and raw at the same time Ben's performance was engaging and entertaining and was well complimented by Dan Steele's various music and theatrical accompaniments.

Anyone who says Adelaide is boring needs to get out more!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 424, Ben Mellor's Anthropoetry' 1/80s f/2.8 ISO640 200mm

The Adelaide Fringe festival is an amazing experience that is worth coming to Adelaide to be involved with.

The other night we decided to take a stroll through the Garden of Unearthly Delights, have a bit of a look around, grab something to eat and plan our next show experience. Of course I had my camera with me and could not help take peek at one of the shows!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 423, Sneaking a Peek' 1/50s f/2.8 ISO1600 200mm

Even though we have had a good supply of water this summer our Torrens river has stopped flowing.

Even the recent good summer rains we have experienced were not able to bring the water level up to where is would resume its flow out to sea.

This image taken from the outgoing spillway looks out towards the Seaview Road and the ocean beyond.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 422, No Flow Here' 1/100s f/11 ISO100 17mm

Brittle stars are nocturnal and very timid and although very common are almost never seen during the day.

This brittle star, Clarkcoma canaliculata is out hunting on sponge and was very sensitive to torch light. Unlike other starfish these guys are fast and agile and can move very quickly if they choose to. To make this image I had to use stealth mode with torch light off to avoid disturbing it.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 421, Clarkcoma canaliculata' 1/60s f/16 ISO640 100mm + 2x strobes

Friday night's dive with Alexius, Ken, Damian and Alistair was sensational!

More than two hours underwater down at Rapid Bay presented so many photo opportunities. The only problem was being stuck with one lens configuration, a 100mm macro. During this dive I could have used a wide angle 15mm fish eye or perhaps a 24mm prime on any number of subjects from eagle rays to congregating spider crabs.

We only found the leafy seadragons near the very end of our time underwater, three all together in fact. At that stage we were all getting rather cold but it is amazing how getting excited over a new photo opportunity can warm you up again, at least for a while. Having a macro lens I took the opportunity to go for the head shot!

I love diving at night. It's great to see so much life down there and I am looking forward to the next one already.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 420, Leafy Seadragon Up Close and Personal' 1/100s f/8.0 ISO320 100mm + 2x strobes

So why does such a beautiful creature so common to our local jetties have such a hard to produce name such as Ceratosoma brevicaudatum?

You could just call it a nudibranch or even a seaslug but these are as vague as calling all dogs, dogs. There are of course many answers to a question like this. The obvious answer is that it needs a scientific name to accurately describe the species but why no common name? As it turns out the vast majority of animal species have no common name and the poor nudibranch falls into this category. Quite simply it comes down to this, if you can't eat it or it has no significant commercial value then nobody bothers to give it one.

This guy on a pylon at Port Hughes posed perfectly for the camera and is portraying in the close-focus - wide-angle style which gives a real sense of habitat.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 419, Ceratosoma brevicaudatum' 1/200s f/11 ISO320 15mm

Port Hughes jetty was a welcome respite to a blown out Edithburgh.

Shallow, gentle, plenty of fish action and then there were the jellies! Hundreds of them floating past in the gentle current. Fortunately these guys had no sting, at least none I was aware of even as several of them brushed past my exposed face during the dive.

After several attempts to photograph them in mid-water and the havoc they play with my auto-focus I decided to try a sun shot! In addition to the main jellyfish I just happened to capture a column of them leading up to the surface.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 418, The Jellies' 1/4000s f/16 ISO320 15mm

Edithburgh is not always a pretty dive!

This night dive with Ken, Damian, Alistair and Alexius was more like swimming through breakfast cereal in a washing machine than the pleasant gentle experiences I normally associated with Edithburgh Jetty. Still we all took down our macro gear in the hope we would pull something out.

In keeping with the spirit of a 'not so pretty' dive I did manage to capture the grumpy expression of a 'not so pretty' gurnard perch.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 417, Not So Pretty' 1/60s f/16 ISO640 100mm + twin strobes

There's a bit of action down at Rapid Bay at the moment.

It seems that spider crabs are pairing off to do their thing. This pair of majid spider crabs ,Leptomithrax gaimadii seem happy enough to make a spectacle of themselves though I am not sure that the smaller female has any say in things the way he has her in his pincer like grasp!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 416, She's Mine so Back Off' 1/200s f/10 ISO640 15mm

The worst way to try and photograph fish underwater is by chasing them!

How would you feel if a huge black one eyed monster 10 times larger than you started chasing you in the street for a photograph or perhaps lunch!

To capture these beautiful zebra fish I simply sat under the this collapsed structure and waited. Five minuted of being still rewarded me with this image and no zebra fish were harmed in the making.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 415, Waiting for the Shot' 1/320s f/6.3 ISO640 15mm

Sunday was hot, very hot and at 39 degrees C in the shade being underwater was one of the best places to escape.

The visibility was not too bad and the warm 23 degree C water was like being in the bath, I could have stayed under all day if I could have made my air last. Here my dive buddy Alexius captures my lens in his down at Rapid Bay.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 414, Underwater Respite' 1/400s f/10 ISO320 15mm

This river is all meant to be underwater but the very low river level has created this stark contrast between the running stream and its dry bed. I desaturated the colours in the rocks to create a further contrast with the rich brown tannins of the river.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 413, Wet and Dry' 1/1000s f/6.3 ISO640 70mm

Friday evening's parade heralded the opening of the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2013.

I captured this burning effegy, a celebration of the Chinese year of the snake, just moments before the stormy wind all but blew out the flames. Fortunately they were able to relight it again.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 412, The Year of the Snake' 1/1000s f/2.8 ISO3200 200mm

A dark Valentine rose to remember...

Last year on Valentine day I posted an image of a rose. The 14th of February 2012 was the last day I got to spend with my dad, the next morning he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

This year I am posting a rose again but with dark muted tones. It is still a symbol of love for me and my family but it will now always be a reminder of that last day a year ago.

We all miss you Dad.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 411, A Valentine Rose for Dad' 1/5s f/32 ISO250 100mm

One of the things I love about 'the golden hour' are the unexpected surprises.

While waiting to catch a bus around sunset I was struck with the soft yellow glow of everything around. Then I looked up.

The normally boring alloy silver street lamp above shone with the most beautiful orange gold colour I am sure I have ever seen and then framed by a magnificent sky it was a sight I needed to share.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 410, The Golden Hour in Turmoil' 1/1250s f/9.0 ISO640 200mm

This cheeking little Adelaide Football Club mascot wannabe was all smiles and squawks for the camera;

... that is until I got too close for comfort and let the poor little raven know in no uncertain terms he could never be a crow!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 409, AFC Mascot Impersonator' 1/640s f/2.8 ISO800 155mm

There is something creepy about shop mannequins.

Dressed in the latest styles, flawless bodies, chiseled features and perfectly lit for effect. In a busy shop they blend into the surrounds, ever present and watching behind your back. But come night time window shopping on a lonely street you can easily convince yourself they are conspiring something uncomfortable.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 408, Did I See Them Move' 1/200s f/2.8 ISO1000 135mm

I'd thought the sunset was over when I looked into the sky above. The glint of reflected sunlight and a golden ice trail tell of another sunset moments into the future.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 407, Last Rays of Sunset II' 1/250s f/3.5 ISO320 200mm

Here is a building I would have walked past or driven past hundreds of times and oddly never noticed.

Perhaps there is nothing really odd about this as all too often we are preoccupied with one one thing or another and don't really get to see what is around us with any more attention than the briefest of glimpses.

The Grand Lodge building of the Freemasons on North Terrace was constructed over the thee years 1925-1927 and stands as one of many beautiful examples of grand Adelaide architecture from the early 20th century.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 406, Home of the Freemasons' 25s f/7.1 ISO500 15mm

The Grand Lodge. What more can I say.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 405, The Grand Lodge' 15s f/20 ISO500 15mm

The first time I tried to photograph this tree I was foiled.

I had just setup the camera on a tripod for a long evening exposure when the sprinkler system burst into action. Both camera and tripod were retrieved with no water damage other than wet clothes.

This time I got a perfect evening, the last of the evening's twilight and not more than the gentlest breeze.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 404, Trees Are Complicated' 2.5s f/7.5 ISO500 15mm

There is so much carry on how government at all level seeks to put in place rules and measures to protect ourselves from ourselves.

The truth is they do not care for our safety at all, just their own skins from being sued. This make all the more amazing the paradox of skate parks. These floodlit constructions of steel, wood and concrete pack a wonderful mix of play and danger, almost like being the in the real world again!

Here is a place our safely conscious, litigation averse, mother state government authorities have given responsibly for well being back to us. Letting us decide on what risks we are prepared to make and giving us the chance to literally fly by our own endeavors.

I love skate parks. I love watching the tricks and the stacks, hearing the yelps and the woots, seeing the courage and the guts; ... from my relatively safe little spot on the side!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 403, BMX Erosion' 1/5s f/8 ISO2500 40mm

The wee hours between midnight and sunrise used to be when Adelaide slept.

It seems now that Adelaide is starting to come alive during these hours. Not with party revelers and late night clubbing but with road crews and construction workers.

It makes sense to keep this kind of work out mind, sight and inconvenience by bringing in the night crews. Just drive around the city after midnight and you will be dazzled by bright floodlights, slowed down by 25km/h limits, corralled into single lanes by traffic cones and crew in high visibility vests and have to wait for trucks completing impossible turns in tight places. It's all little surreal actually.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 402, The Night Crew' 1/20s f/2.8 ISO1600 200mm

Adelaide is full of interesting architecture. Some of it obvious, some of it hidden and some of it lost in familiarity.

The Adelaide Railway Station was built in the 1920's and was a grand building by all measures at the time. In the 1980's most of the building was redeveloped into Adelaide first and only casino. As a child I remember the beautiful dome above the great hall but now it is enmeshed in the glitz and carry on of a gambling house.

There are still parts of the original building just as they were 80 years ago. They are in plain sight and all you have to do is see them.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 401, Above The Trains' 1/30s f/22 ISO1600 200mm

The night's not yet over and the bar is still open but the canned music which now permeates the venue has no comparison to night that was.

Some instruments are still standing, waiting for their pilots to take them home. Others have since left the building. Soon we will do it all again and I can't wait!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 400, Five Strings To Heaven' 1/100s f/2.8 ISO3200 15mm

Chino and Flex doing their thing on stage at the Metro tonight.

Liquified grooves debut appearance went off!!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 399, Liquified Grooves' 1/80s f/2.8 ISO3200 200mm

The Lodge on King William road is an aged care facility and as such is well lit all night creating a dramatic presence not so noticeable during the day.

While taking this image I was approached by security, advised I was on private property and ask what I was doing. Being private property I understood the image was in the balance and how I responded would mean the difference between being able to show this image or not. I simply stated that I was creating a private collection of images depicting important local architecture. Without waiting to be challenged further I went on to describe the technical difficulties in creating an image like this. I guess my earnestness and enthusiasm paid off. Convinced I was doing not harm I was allowed to finish taking this image without further protest.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 398, The Lodge' 6s f/7.1 ISO800 15mm