Robert's Ramblings

We could have missed this not so babbling brook as we crossed the River Sneem on the way from Kenmare to Portmagee.

It might have been the need for a snack or a comfort break or some such mundane travel stop. Regardless of the reason, once here the roar of the water tumbling over rocks eventually drew us to discover this gorgeous scene in the middle of the quaint little village of Sneem.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Hiding in Plain Sneem', 1/800s f8 ISO100 70mm

Prickles just lay there on the pavement and did not mind at all when I lay down in front with my big (relatively) lens.

It only too a few moments to realise why this Prickly Gecko(Heteronotia binoei) was not in any hurry. The pavement was freezing. Not exactly what a cold blooded reptile needs for being mobile.

How Prickles came to be stranded I don't know but we took it inside for a while to warm up before letting it go in the garden.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Prickles ', 1/10s f7.1 ISO800 100mm

While driving tonight around sunset we were treated to yet another amazing sky where the clouds were lit with oranges and yellows and the vineyards glowed red in the sunset drenched Barossa Valley landscape. With no opportunity to stop we simply enjoyed the show as we headed on to our destination.

Later that evening I looked up into the evening sky and caught sight of the moon peeking through rent in the clouds. Well that was all it took to send me straight back to the car, grab my camera and capture this image.

This kind of image presents an interesting technical challenge where our eyes trick us into believing we can see the the moon's detail as well as the moonlit highlights in the clouds.

What our eyes and brain are really doing here is switching back and forth between the elements of the image. One moment we capture the details in the moon's brightly lit surface while the sky around is black. The next moment our attention picks out the dim highlights in the clouds while the moon, now just a bright white blob at the periphery of our attentions is ignored.

Just like the HDR processing in a modern camera phone, our brain captures all these elements and combines them into a single seamless image full of detail.

This image on the other hand relied on the moon being partially obscured by cloud to compress the dynamic range and let me capture it in a single handheld shot. A few moments later the moon was hidden again and I when back inside.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Hide and Peek', 1/32s f2.8 ISO1000 200mm

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

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Looking out from our apartment window there was a wonderful view of the Danube river as it made its way through the little Austrian town of Aschach.

Taking a step back and recomposing, the water and passing river barges melted away into some dreamy reminder of our time staying in my cousin's family home.

When I first framed this image I wanted to place the ovals perfectly in the center keeping the geometry a mirrored both horizontally and vertically. Somehow trying to perfect just felt wrong with those dreamy half shapes beyond so I just accepted the triple visioned view as is.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Tripple Vision', 1/50s f1.4 ISO400 50mm

Grey skies and green mountains might typify the beautiful country Ireland is but this place, Delphi Doolough, hides a grim story of human tragedy behind its stark beauty.

In March of 1849 during the Irish Potato famine Irish people were instructed to present themselves to officials in the town of Louisburgh to have their claims for food relief validated. For some reason the officials instead traveled down to Delphi Lodge nearly 20 kilometers south leaving instructions that anyone claiming food relief should instead present themselves there at 7am the following morning.

That night hundreds of already starving people were forced to travel south in inclement weather up over the Doolough pass to reach Delphi Lodge on the other side. Many Irish died that night, their bodies left where they fell on the shores of Doolough.

The only sign today for passers by is a lone monument, the Doolough Valley Famine Memorial, inscribed with the following words by Mahatma Gandhi; "How can men feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings?"

It's hard to imagine such a human tragedy in such a beautiful place. Perhaps it makes Delphi Doolough all the more humbling to pass through.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Grey Green & Grim', 1/60s f13 ISO160 14mm

We are so blessed to be living on a droplet in space where this scene could almost be anywhere.

Look more closely and you will find grasses, ferns, mosses, shrubberies and trees that hint towards Northern Europe. This beautiful green place just happens to be in Ireland at a place called Craggaunowen.

Although this place has been transformed into a medieval tourist attraction it was the old forest which captured my imagination. It made me want to explore this rich green landscape and leave the castles and medieval dwelling to the the tourists.

Let's hope we never need to rely on tourism to keep our beautiful planet green.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Droplet of Green Beautiful', 1/5s f13 ISO320 8mm

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We don't pillage, plunder, nor rifle or loot.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We chase off thoses whalers and don't give a hoot.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We spray 'em 'with water 'till they're blue in the face.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We play 'em then ram 'em, run them out of the race.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We stalk our fell prey in the pitch black of night.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We scare them off running at first break of light.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're angles and mentors the salt of the sea.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We keep a honed ship, she's as tight as she be.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're loved by the people who cherish our call.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Our passion's the ocean, to save it for all.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'A Pirate's Life for Me.', 1/125s f16 ISO320 200mm

Or perhaps now you don't ...

This bizarre looking device has seen to seeing that unseeing people get to see again. It probably has done so for decades.

The Bausch and Lomb Green's Genothalmic Refractor was introduced in 1934 following a long design gestation from the original Clyde L. Hunsicker invention, the 'optometer'. It went on to enjoy four decades of unrivaled use as the 'gold standard' of professional eye care equipment. Even today they are still being used to good effect.

This old specimen has however been retired to live out its days as a store front prop in a Hutt Street photography studio. I find the link a bit tenuous but it sure looks good in the shop window.

I'd wager a small bet that most of you of a similar age have been seen to and seen through one of these beauties sometime in your life,

... so maybe you do after all.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Lessons Learned', 1/125s f1.8 ISO100 50mm

For thousands of years this tree lay buried deep in an Irish bog high upon a clifftop looking out over the Northern Atlantic ocean.

How easily it could have lay there undisturbed for thousands of years more. Or just easily it may have become some peat cutter's winter firewood giving up its physical existence to new forms of matter and energy.

As history now tells those peat cutters recognised the value in their boggy discovery and recovered this relic from the past for all passers by to see here in the Céide Fields Visitor Centre.

The Céide Fields Visitor Centre. provides a rich interpretive experience of a Stone Age Ireland and a chance to learn more about Ireland's ancient history. In that context this tree, as old as it may be, is just a baby but I'm glad it made its way here as a tangible reminder of other times.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Resurrection', 1/50s f/4 ISO320 13mm

Left behind in minute concrete detail on the wall of the Havelock Hotel are a set hand prints left behind by New Zealand V8 SuperCar driver Greg Murphy. As I wandered further down Hutt street I also noticed drivers from the world of Formula One however his caught my attention.

Any high level motor sports competitor who has been winning events for more than twenty years deserves a special kind of respect. Not the least of which is either an innate sense of safety or some personal demon guardian angel. To still be alive, competing and smiling suggests an awareness of being safe above all risks.

I'm not really a motor sports fan by the way. I just like hand prints in walls.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'In Safe Hands', 1/200s f3.2 ISO100 50mm

There is a story in any image and always lessons to be learned. The trick is to tell that story and learn the lessons. Sadly I feel I need to go back to Ireland and try again. And of course that's just an excuse for going back to one of the most photogenic inspirational parts of the world I have been.

I captured this idyllic Irish streamscape on the road from Kinsale to Kenmare. Crossing this narrow, jagged rock bridge was enough to warrant an attempt at pulling over and exploring what might lie beneath.

Attempting exploring under bridges is very often unsuccessful on the main roads in built up areas. Usually access is thwarted by buildings, stone walls or simply impenetrable thicket, that all assumes there was actually a place to park. On this occasion I got lucky.

The scene had everything going for it under a dramatic brooding sky. The sun had just appeared through a rent in the clouds to silhouette an old lamp post reflected in still waters amid the the polished stones of the exposed riverbed. The clear water flowing beneath the green of thicket and tree provided a calm juxtaposed against the tension of human stonework and habitat.

That was the end of my imagined masterpiece as bit by bit the unfolding story unraveled opportunity and began creating a lessons learned list for next time.

Lesson 1. Sunshine through rents in dramatic skies last seconds. If you are still scrambling to the site it's too late.
Lesson 2. When there is very low light use a tripod.
Lesson 3. To capture both deep shadow and highlights take multiple exposures using your tripod.
Lesson 4. Never leave the car without your tripod.
Lesson 5. Make sure when driving with a camera that your tripod is also quickly accessible. See lesson 1.
Lesson 6. Remember to take note of when and where you were both for the story and for next time.
Lesson 7. Use a tripod! (Just in case you've forgotten already.)

There it all is. An average image, lessons learned and the story behind it all,
... now if only I could remember where this was!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Lessons Learned', 1/60s f13 ISO100 17mm

I once thought the Irish tin whistle was nothing more than a child's toy. I really could not take seriously that a simple metal tube and mouthpiece, costing less than $10 from a store could produce such a magical sound.

Over the last few years I have been spending more and more time with and listening to traditional Celtic musicians and have come to realise how just how beautiful whistle music can be.

Here celtic musician Ray Smith makes that litte Irish tin whistle sing like a bird during the recent Paddy's Day festivities.

I first met Ray on New Year's day at a piper's afternoon where I listened to and enjoyed first hand some of the most beautiful playing of pipes and whistles I have ever heard.

I think I'm hooked.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Whistle Master', 1/100s f4.0 ISO800 200mm

This pirate symbol caught my eye recently during the Adelaide Fringe Festival. It was no place special, just a little food stall in the Garden of Unearthly Delights, or maybe it was.

It was in fact that place I was first introduced to an amazing vegetarian food called seitan. Actually there is a good chance I had eaten it before but now I know for sure.

Really though I just liked the way they decorated their stall.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Pirate's of Seitan', 1/13s f3.5 ISO320 70mm

The Sea Shepherd vessel, the 'MV Steve Irwin' has been in in our local waters during March surveying some of the most beautiful waters and diverse marine life on the planet (humbly offered in my opinion).

She spent Easter in port at Port Adelaide where we got the chance to tour the vessel, meet the crew, listen to stories and talk about the important work they all do as volunteers. It is no coincidence the MV Steve Irwin being here now as both our local and federal governments actively promote oil and gas exploration in these pristine waters.

The message for us this Easter was a very different one and I am so grateful for organisations like Sea Shepherd and the selfless volunteers who make our beautiful planet matter.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Easter Message', 1/200s f16 ISO100 8mm

Going back over some old underwater images I saw an opportunity to re-edit an old favourite of four seahorses taken under Edithburgh Jetty. I at the time I was all precious about maintaining aspect ratio in all my images. Since then I have let that go and now crop and proportion as I see fit.

Looking again at The Four Musketeers, actually they are short-head seahorses, Hippocampus breviceps, reminded me just how cute they are and how I am so much looking forward to diving and photographing them again.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Four Musketeers', 1/250s f18 ISO640 100mm

In the early evening sky tonight, while the sky was still blue and devoid of stars, a waning crescent moon sank towards the western horizon.

I was not even sure I could set up the camera due to a recent injury I am recovering from but with a little perseverance and not too much pain I was able to setup and capture sequence before the moon disappeared behind my neighbour's roof.

From a technical perspective the sequence was a failure. Even though I captured more than 180 images it was impossible to register and stack them due to the low angle in the sky and the visual distortion of the atmosphere. In the end I gave up and selected a single image.

So now another new challenge on my list for the future is now how to get a really good capture of a thin crescent moon. ... Until next time ...


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Going, Going ...', 1/100s f10 ISO160 600mm