Robert's Ramblings

I don't often give away too much about what I do but even my 'day job' does not escape my lens.

Today is a very special day marking the 'for sale' release of a new product we've called 'Equinox'. For the past 18 months it has been a privilege working with an extraordinary and dedicated team of people bringing this exciting idea to life.

If you are just a little curious you can discover more at Equinox 800

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Equinox ', 1/50s f/3.2 ISO1000 50mm

Fist it was billed as the lunar astronomical event of the year, a full super-moon, blood-moon lunar eclipse. Then the forecasters told of doom and gloom as all of Southern Australia was to be covered by spectacle smothering wet blanket of high altitude cloud.

We canceled our planned trip to a favorite dark sky lookout and settled in for an unseasonably cold summer evening.

For most of the evening I looked outside for a peek only to see a white smoldering glow behind the clouds. Then just before midnight and just before the zenith of the eclipse I caught a glimpse. To cut a short story even shorter I raced to get my camera setup and watched the few glimpses of the moon through the high level cloud until the sun caught the upper right edge leaving a blood-moon underbelly.

Then it was all back behind cloud again.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'As The Blood Drains Away ', 10s f11.8 ISO640 600mm

A while back I wrote about pipes but there were strings attached after all. Well sort of. There was one solitary harp. Thanks Jack for the beautiful counter to the reedy sound of those pipes.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Strings Attached ', 1/320s f/2.8 ISO1600 200mm

If this really were a cage then is the man in it the keeper?

He may as well be as he locked the door and made sure I descended back down into the Céide Fields Visitor Centre below.

The centre provides a rich interpretive experience of a Stone Age farmed landscape which dates around five thousand years ago. Here you get the chance to learn more about Ireland's ancient history.

Unfortunately we arrived 15 minutes before closing so there was only time for a few photos. ... We'll be back!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Above The Cage', 1/5000s f/4 ISO320 8mm

Almost every morning we get to be serenaded by the most beautiful and complex birdsong of Australian Magpies.

Our local front garden tenants have not always been here. Over the years we have had other birds take up residency.

From miners to pigeons to parrots and even crows nothing beats the beautiful sounds of magpies.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Morning Songbird', 1/160s f/6.3 ISO320 321mm

The Longest Twenty Seconds

We watched as the base of the setting sun touched the horizon. In two minutes It will be gone.

You can't measure the diameter of the sun as it appears in the sky but you can measure the angle it makes with your point of view, about one half a degree. So with a little simple maths, 24 hours divided by 0.5 degrees in 360, you'd calculate that the sun will move its own diameter through the sky every 2 minutes.

We watched as the body of the sun dropped half way, then two thirds, then three quarters then something unexpected happened. With only one sixth of the sun remaining it just hung there.

It should have disappeared in those last twenty seconds. A minute later it had hardly changed. Finally another minute later the remaining sun seemingly being squashed onto the horizon disappeared as if reluctant to go. That was the longest twenty seconds ever.

So what was really going on as the sun was being squashed down onto that distant horizon? All the while as the world turned
turning day to night a trick of the Earth's atmosphere was bending the distant sunlight around its curved surface like a distant mirage.

Perhaps the sun just didn't what to go ...


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Longest Twenty Seconds', 1/1000s f/8 ISO100 200mm

It's All 'Bout the Pipes, 'Bout the Pipes, No Strings

Thanks to two wonderful friends Gavin and Kate I have been introduced to the world of pipes and piping and will never look at or listen to a piper or a pipe band in the same way ever again.
I've watched the two of them develop from clumsy novices to performing in last year's Edinburgh Tatto.

My awareness of what I once just thought of as 'bagpipes' has expanded into, thanks to Wikipedia, a list over over a hundred!

There's the Askomandoura, Baghèt, Biniou, Bock, Bodega, Boha, Border pipes, Bousine, Brian Boru bagpipes, Cabrette, Caramusa, Chabrette, Chabrette poitevine, Cimpoi, Cornemuse du Centre, Cornish bagpipes, Dankiyo, Demam, Doedelzak, Duda, Dudas, Dudelsack, Dudmaisis, Dudy, Dudy or kozol, English bagpipes, Gaida, Gaita alistana, Gaita asturiana, Gaita cabreiresa, Gaita de boto, Gaita de saco, Gaita sanabresa, Gaita-de-fole Coimbrã, Gaita-de-foles mirandesa, Gajdy or gajde, Galician gaita, Great Highland Bagpipe, Great Irish Warpipes, Guda, Gudastviri, Habban, Huemmelchen, Hungarian duda, Istarski mih, Jirba, Kaba gaida, Karkm, Koziol bialy, Koziol czarny, Kozol, Lancashire bagpipes, Lincolnshire bagpipes, Loure, Magyar duda, Marktsackpfeife, Mashak, Mizwad, Muchosa, Musette bechonnet, Musette bressane, Musette de cour, Müsa, Ney anban, Northumbrian smallpipes, Odrecillo, Parkapzuk, Pastoral pipes, Pilai, Pipasso, Piva, Puvama, Qrajna, Romanian bagpipes, Sac de gemecs, Samponha, Schweizer Sackpfeife, Scottish smallpipes, Shapar, Shyuvr, Sierszenki, Sourdeline, Sruti upanga, Surdelina, Säckpipa, Säkkipilli, Tadghtita, Titti, Torupill, Tsampouna, Tulum, Uilleann pipes, Veuze, Volynka, Vèze, Walpipe, Welsh pipes, Xeremia, Yorkshire bagpipes, Zampogna, Zaqq, Zetland pipes, Zukra, Zummarah-bi-soan and Zunnifis, just to name a few!

I am a little bit tempted to learn one of these instruments myself. If I do then the real challenge might just be which one to choose!

Photo: Robert Rath, 'It's All 'Bout the Pipes, 'Bout the Pipes, No Strings', 1/200s f/3.5 ISO1000 165mm

The strelitzia flowers in Mum's garden are old now and will soon be nothing more than cracked and withered cellulose as the summer takes its toll.

In the spring they were a beautiful blaze of orange, yellow, blue and purple crowning lush green foliage. Still though in their decay they have become even more interesting as texture replaces colour and each flower takes on its own beautiful uniqueness.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Birds of Paradise', 1/100s f/10 ISO400 200mm

Our first full moon for the new year and it just happens to be a 'supermoon'. Not that there is anything really special about a supermoon other than appearing around 10% larger due to the moon's elliptic orbit and the chance that the full moon coincides with the narrow part of its orbit. Supermoons happen regularly along with its 'minimoon' counterpart.

So what makes this moon cryptic? Not the fact that its a supermoon but the date; 2/1/2018. The day and month are prime numbers while the year is the product of two primes, one being the day. The product of primes is the cornerstone of modern cryptography though the primes used to secure your banking website are just a tad larger!

For those interested in the technical details this image was made by from 160 frames taken at 1/500s f/8 ISO100 600mm. I then used AutoStakkert3 to select the best 50 frames, perform geometric correction, stack and then drizzle 3x. The output was then processed using the wavelet filter (a kind of deconvolution) in Registax6.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Crypto Supermoon', 1/500s f/8 ISO100 600mm

Red sandstone of the Australian outback is often not what it appears to be. The red dust blasting through the interior is like a giant spray can painting our iconic landmarks like Uluru hiding other colours under that thin veneer.

Here in Kings Canyon a large section of the canyon wall has fallen away reveling the true colours of the sandstone beneath.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Colour of Sandstone', 1/640s f/2.8 ISO100 200mm

This lone sentinel upon the ancient landscape of the Burren overlooks a tomb which has remained undisturbed for more than 5600 years.

Sitting quietly here for a while, looking, listening and using just a little bit of imagination it's not hard to believe that the ancient Irish race who held this place sacred still dwell here.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'There be Ghosts in this Place', 1/160s f/8 ISO100 200mm

There is region in County Clare called the Burren which has a feel about it hard to describe, perhaps even other worldly.

Much of the region is covered with a vast landscape of cracked sandstone which in the distance gives a feel of barrenness but up close is an intricate patchwork of micro ecosystems and full of life.

Far in the distance in this other worldly view lies Poulnabrone Dolman, a 5600 year old tomb which has now become one of the most photographed megalithic monuments in Ireland. Such a fitting resting place for the ancient souls which inhabit this place.

A long time ago on a planet far far away, time and space split and the Burren has remained untouched while the world around it pursues its relentless process.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Planet Far Far Away', 1/640s f/11 ISO100 8mm

Strong and gentle this Doolin local wandered up to me as we walked down the tiny country road on our way to Gus O'Connors Pub. Whether it was for attention or for that portrait moment in the promise of the camera I'll never know why she took a liking to me.

I'm glad she did though as although we spent the evening in O'Connors no other locals came close to competing with that dreamy gaze and those amazing lashes.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Doolin Local', 1/160s f/2.8 ISO640 160mm

Nothing could be further from the traditional 'White Christmas' than basking in golden twilight on an Australian beach in 35 degrees C. Well yes I could get creative and go further however the contrast between these two worlds literally poles apart yet sharing the same festive season is profound.

All through my childhood Christmas time meant sweltering 30-40 degree days, swimming with friends in local creeks, streams and rivers and an annual pilgrimage to the beach. Christmas meant holidays from school, wearing tee-shirts, shorts and sandals, spending hours in the sun, sunburn, bee-stings and grazed knees.

To me the myth of the 'White Christmas' was the stuff of books and Disney movies and Christmas cards.

As the years flew past the world got smaller, the differences grew greater and my acceptance of contradictions expanded.

No longer a myth to me having experienced several Christmases with my northern hemisphere families I now can't help but replace those famous lyrics of Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas' with my own Australian summer version.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Dreaming of a Golden Christmas', 1/25s f/11 ISO160 15mm

Funny how the man in red seems to have found his way in to every continent, culture and climate.

I have seen the man in red in driving a sleigh behind rain-dear above the arctic circle.
I have seen the man in red cruising the the beaches of Adelaide in a converted open top Ford Fairlane in forty degrees!
I have seen him at country fairs, city department stores, pageants and parades and workplace breakup days.

But until this day I can honestly say I've never been serenaded by the man in red and a piano accordion in the main street of Mallow, Ireland!

Well there will always for firsts for everything.

Wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas with family, friends or random 'men in red' and a sensational 2018.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Man in Red', 1/80s f/3.2 ISO320 50mm

With another extraordinary year racing towards the finishing line there is nothing more calming to me than looking out across the ocean to the distant horizon. Gazing out to sea washes away cares and worry and brings back to mind things that really matter.

The next few days will be fun and crazy and a little sad as well with Christmas almost upon us and loved ones gone. Still I love this time of year the way it brings focus back to family and friends.

And then there is the ocean again like some forgotten lover that in one moment I remember with nostalgic fondness and the next I want to wholeheartedly embrace.

I miss being under the water and for any resolutions I might make for the coming year the ocean will be a big part of them.

Gazing out to sea is lovely but being beneath those waves again is where I long to be.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Gazing Out To Sea', 20s f/11 ISO320 14mm

When I took this image outside of an Edinburgh pub the myths of ancient Greece could not have been further from my mind. Then I started reading the works of Homer.

A recurring theme in both Homer's 'The Iliad' and 'Odyssey' is the omen of a bird in flight. Even more powerful is where a bird of prey carries in its talons livestock or other quarry.

A bird seen on the right and the omen would be one of success but on the left such an omen would spell downfall or disaster.

In the Greek myths the bird of prey is always a great eagle carrying a sheep or pig or goat. If you squint a little and use your imagination this hawk could be that great eagle and the rat, a young pig.

Regardless, just make sure it stays on your right.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'An Omen on My Right', 1/200s f/2.8 ISO100 200mm

Another beautiful sunset unfolds casting its soft golden glow over Henley Square.

Up and down Henley Beach Jetty, on the beach and up along the foreshore most eyes were set to the west horizon as the sun dipped into sea.

As sunsets go it was beautiful but for those who thought to look behind it was extraordinary.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Remember To Look Behind You', 1/250s f/9 ISO100 14mm

Bands come and go year bye year, decade by decade. There are however some bands that live on decades later as anchors or focal points to significant periods of our lives.

They don't even have to be favorites or even liked but when we hear them we are instantly transported back years or decade as if no time had passed.

Tonight at the 'Thebby Theatre', Human League, the unmistakable voice of Phil Oakey and the rich layered synthesizer music of the 80's ticked those boxes for me.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Phil Oakey, Human League', 1/160s f/3.5 ISO800 200mm

This is a phase of the moon I rarely see and have never photographed before for reasons that will become obvious.

After an unsuccessful imaging night thwarted with intermittent high cloud and unwanted car headlights we finally gave up around 1:15am.

As we were packing up a very yellow half moon crept over the eastern horizon. It looked so odd seeing that strange inverted moon, so different from the waxing gibbous moons of sensible evening hours.

Later that morning when the moon had risen above our suburban landscape I decided to make the evening worthwhile after all.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'The Other Side of Midnight', 1/80s f/11 ISO100 600mm (best 12 of 36 frames)

Far away from the legendary Sargasso Sea this solitary clump of sargassum weed washes back and forth in the gentle surf of Henley Beach.

Unlike the huge floating rafts of the Atlantic Ocean, this form of sargassum lives a benthic life attached to the rocky reef off our local coast.

On any dive here 'bubble weed' is a sure sign there will be some interesting critters to photograph. Leafy seadragons, short head seahorses and pygmy leather jackets are just some who make this algae their home.

Here however on the sandy shore along side Henley Beach Jetty at sunset it presents a different photo opportunity.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Beached Sargassum', 2s f/20 ISO160 14mm

His last move was the first as he lept off the platform and into Galway Bay.

The rest soon followed with each exploring their very own last move between sky and water.

Finally the sun made its last move as yellow light rushed up the stairs and onto the platform before leaping into the clouds.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Last Moves', 1/640s f/2.8 ISO160 200mm

I partly decided on this title because it's the first thing (yes I know, how unkind) that came to mind and I'm curious about why people love dogs so much. Especially the ugly ones.

Perhaps there's a clue in a song written by Cat Stevens over 51 years ago, 'I Love My Dog'. A quick YouTube search will reveal countless versions. Many versions are personal and heartfelt tributes to lost friends.

Those who are dog lovers will show a devotion to their canine companions to rival the very best of soulmates. Those who are not just don't get it.

I photographed this guy with his owner snoozing on a bench outside of a cafe in Kinsale. I'm not sure if the dog wanted to say hello or scare me off. Either way I stand by my title.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Ugly Mutt', 1/30s f/4.5 ISO100 200mm

In the village of Drumcliffe, County Sligo, lies the final resting place of one of the worlds most beloved modern poets, William Butler Yeats.

Not far from his grave this memorial to his work celebrates the poet, his work and my favorite poem 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven'.

This sculpture created by artist Jackie McKenna depicts a man standing on the very words written by Yeats. Here are those words.


He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Tread Softly Because You Tread On My Dreams', 1/640 f/4.0 ISO160 105mm

The other night I captured this image of the waxing moon and published a single (out of the camera) image taken at 1/160s, f/9 iso100.

On that same night I took a short sequence of 30 images at 1/160s, f/11 to try and avoid the highlight blowouts.
From these I picked the best 20, stacked them, drizzled them and performed some wavelet processing.

Here is the result. With three to four time more detail and the highlights mostly under control I think I have teased out as much detail as I can.

When the cloudy nights pass and we can see the moon again I'll try for more.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Teasing Out The Detail', 1/160 f/11 ISO100 600mm

I have noticed many strange and interesting marketing campaigns promoting being good urban citizens and binning our litter. This campaign is perhaps the oddest.

First of all I am not sure it is selling the right message. After all, is not the very thing we love about bad jokes is joking how bad they are? Is the message here, an undesired behavior brings reward in the form of entertainment?

Perhaps I am just getting too creative in my thinking and maybe Edinburgh's litter campaign is making a difference.

Regrdless, this joke's on me!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'This Joke's On Me', 1/1250 f/4 ISO320 80mm

Fixer upperer, renovator's delight, builder's hobby home. These are all common expressions for a place that needs an extra dose of something special to restore or keep it's original charm and glory.

Kylemore Abbey, county Galway, ticks all those boxes but keeping it splendid in all it's glory might just demand a little more effort that your average homemaker can muster.

Perhaps this is exactly how the wealthy industrialist Dr. Mitchell Henry felt when he abandoned the family home he built and headed back to his native England.

The Benedictine nuns nuns who purchased the residence in the early 1900's clearly have help from a higher power and to this day the abbey is being continually renewed.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Sacred Fixer Upperer', 1/125 f/8 ISO160 200mm

Below the boardwalk the sand is little bit cooler.

Below the boardwalk the sun is a little more bearable.

Below the boardwalk the shadows are a little less harsh.

Ablaze in the not so soft glow of twilight, Henley Beach Jetty is none of the above when camera turns evening into day.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Below The Boardwalk', 30s f/11 ISO160 15mm

Above Moll's Gap along the Ring of Kerry is a secret path leading up into the hills.

Certainly this way is known to the goats and sheep that roam these places but perhaps there is another race familiar with the hidden green dells and high craggy ridges.

Known as the 'Tuatha de Danan', there were once a people who were proud rulers of Eiru until they were defeated by the Milesians, banished into the hidden underground places of Ireland and henceforth called the 'Aes sidhe', 'the people of the mound'. Thus began the rule of the Celts.

To this day legend has it that 'the people of the mound' will make mischief or friendship or grief on any unsuspecting person wandering off the common path. Like little gods they rule these places and you enter and leave at their pleasure.

I guess I got lucky, ... or did I?


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Land of Small Gods', 1/125 f/18 ISO100 14mm

The only thing we generally see different from night to night when we look to the moon is its own shadow progressing across its face.

That familiar pock marked disk of craters and ridges never changes. As for the 'dark side of the moon', it is the Moon's dark side day of our tidal side's night.

So what have tides to do with the dark side of the moon? Gravitational times long ago locked the Moon and Earth into an embrace of unrequited affection with the moon forever staring at its hot and cold, day and night neighbor.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Unrequited Affection', 1/160 f/9 ISO100 600mm