Robert's Ramblings

When I watch a gull in flight above some beautiful landscape my eye is drawn to the movement and for a moment I feel I share in its effortless freedom.

Thinking about it some more I muse the gull has no concept freedom so in that moment the freedom was completely mine.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Freedom', 1/2500s f5.6 ISO100 200mm

One of the most idyllic ports in Ireland might very well be the old fishing town of Kinsale on the southern coastline of Ireland.

I have been fortunate enough to visit Kinsale a few times now but each visit has been fleeting, not really creating an opportunity to photographically explore in any meaning way.

Until next time here's just a glimpse of this idyllic town.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Kinsale', 1/640s f9 ISO100 90mm

Shultzy's a mechanical engineer and product designer who I have worked along side of for a few years now.

Last week over a few beers at the Little Bang Brewing Company a few of us got together to wish him all the best as he leaves us for new challenges in his career.

All the best Shultzy.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Shultzy', 1/125s f3.2 ISO100 100mm

The first time I came across locks as icons of commitment was many years ago while travelling. On a bridge over the River Seine were hundreds of padlocks locked to the structure. Some were engraved, some were very old, some but not many had tags and all were resolutely locked in place assuming their keys had been thrown into the river and lost for all time.

Here in Hutt street a similar idea combining commitment and charity by the Heart Foundation means that every lock is carrying a message of love or commitment. Apart from the messages and the colour of the tags though they all look identical.

The tags are all heart shaped and the locks are all red. The messages are in ink and at a distance they all blend into a one homogeneous texture. I'd even go so far as to suggest that none of the keys have been lost but kept as as some token or retained by the organisation just in case they need to dismantle this installation in the future.

So the the romantic in me will always be taken back to that bridge over the River Seine where each and every symbol of love and commitment had no end or no undoing. Where every small key is lost for all time.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Small Key Is Lost', 1/250s f5.6 ISO100 50mm

Looking down from observation level into the Céide Fields visitor centre is like looking into an old well somehow both shiny new and steeped in history.

From the bottom the ancient tree from the bog rises from gnarled roots like some old rusty needle ready to impale any poor soul unfortunate enough to slip and fall.

Time to stop staring down should vertigo get the better of me and make my way down safely by the stairs.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Down To The Roots', 1/400s f8 ISO640 14mm

Ducks rock!

Nothing more to say.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Because Ducks Rock', 1/25s f4 ISO320 200mm

Perhaps there was a time when a bright zinc plated watering can tended lovingly to someone's seaside garden.

Perhaps it served faithfully until the handle broke and its owner discarded it for a new one.

How it came to rest for a time in Galway Bay, be rescued and then set upon the rocks will remain a mystery however if not for its curious past I would never have captured this image.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Once Was Watering Can', 1/50s f3.2 ISO320 135mm

I was photographing amusement machine riders at a recent event and noticed their various emotional states immediately on disembarking.

So I readied myself for the next group of disembarking riders, raised my camera, then this happened!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Hands In The Air Like You Just Don't Care', 1/80s f/8 ISO100 70mm

The University of Adelaide Coat of Arms emblazoned with the universe motto 'Sub Cruce Lumen', meaning 'The light (of learning) under the (Southern) Cross', might indeed carry a hidden message.

Perhaps the symbolic text represented on the feature book is nothing more than artistic scrawl. Or perhaps there is more to it.

Look close and you will see repeating pattern of symbols and form. Perhaps the artist was commissioned to present a deeper message in these mysterious runes. Or going way out on a limb, perhaps some mystical enchantment willed there form into creation

It's probably just artistic scrawl after-all but it sure looks convincing.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Sub Cruce Lumen', 1/20s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

It's ironic how such dainty little white and yellow flowers have taken on the omen of death.

Still, here they are all congregated in a suspiciously defined patch of open grass amid the old graves of Greyfriar's Kirkyard, Edinburgh.

You can of course look at those little white and yellow daisies see them for what they really are, ... new life.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Pushing Up Daisies', 1/80s f/8 ISO100 70mm

I've always wondered about that famous harp symbol used by Guinness.

Was there a link to the 13th century 'Arms of the King of Ireland'?

Guinness used the harp logo in 1862 on their very first bottled Guinness but never actually used the word until 1960 when they called their first lager 'Harp'.

If there is a link to Ireland's national emblem then perhaps they mirrored it to avoid a trademark challenge by the state. You'd never get away with a simple mirroring today.

Fortunately they did and harps will always remind me of Ireland and Guinness.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Of Harps and Kings and Lager', 1/80s f3.5 ISO1600 110mm

When I was a child there was a fence at my parents home covered in lantana. Memories of this lantana fence are so very vivid for one reason; butterflies.

The lantana always seemed to be flowering and always seemed to attract butterflies, lots of butterflies. I can distinctly remember at least 5 different unique species which frequented this fragrant fence however none compare for shear majesty as the beautiful monarch.

Since growing our own lantana the monarch and the memories have returned.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Lantana Lover', 1/400s f11 ISO400 100mm

A friend of mine told me that as children they used to play a game where they would stand bared feet on the edge of this 200m precipice and see who had the courage to step out the farthest with only their toes on solid rock. Fortunately for them none of them came to grief but that's not the case for all who have played this insane game of dare.

Aillte an Mhothair (The Cliffs of Moher) is a prominent coastal feature on the south west coast of Ireland between Lahinch and Dingle and has become one of Ireland most important natural attractions. Once this was a wild place where a gravel road and a rough dirt car park were all the amenities needed. Now there is a visitor's centre, large pay-for car parks for both cars and coaches and a seemingly never ending ant-like trail of people coming and going between car park and clifftop.

In 1987 the story of 'The Princess Bride' used the Cliffs of Moher as the site of its 'Cliffs of Insanity' and made more poignant just how crazy my friend's childhood adventures on the very same cliffs were.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Cliffs of Insanity', 1/32s f9 ISO320 70mm x4 Panorama

As summer leaves us with a last hurrah I thought I'd bring a little bit of sunshine and colour back into my photos.

There is almost no other flower which feels as happy as a sunflower; better still a garden full of them.

I am already looking forward to summer and sunflowers again.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Remembering Summer', 1/40s f16 ISO200 50mm