Robert's Ramblings

Today I stumbled upon a rare find, Porcelainus aquaticus or more commonly the Neptune Fish Trap.

Although Porcelainus aquaticus begins its life on dry land it needs to remain wet in order to feed and mature.
Many never make it to adulthood, ending up dry and abandoned in tips or deserted buildings but enough however do make to the ocean floor where they begin their adult life.

Unlike other ascidians the adult Neptune Fish Trap does not filter feed but waits in the ambush position, mouth agape, waiting for an unsuspecting fish to venture just a little too close.
In just a moment or too one of the fish traps will be having goatfish for dinner.

The complete lifecycle of Porcelainus aquaticus and how its young return to land remains a mystery to this day.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 773, Neptune Fish Trap' 4s f/7.1 ISO400 15mm

Tim never anticipated that two angels would appear at the completion of his creation and bless the young yaccas flanking his work.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 772, Tim's Angels' 4s f/7.1 ISO400 15mm

Hot on the heels of some of our hottest 45 degC days of summer has come torrential rains and flooding.

A symptom of climate change or just plain local extreme weather luck? In either case the real question remains unchanged. Are we really prepared to gamble with our climate.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 771, The Change' 1/3200s f/4 ISO320 200mm

There are many reasons why Rapid Bay jetty is one of the best jetty dives in Australia. One of those things is depth.

At its deepest around 11m, it is one of our deepest recreational jetties being rivaled by only a few active commercial loading facilities.

With all that depth it is just a wonderful place to lay on the bottom and watch the world above me.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 770, The World Above Me' 1/100s f/14 ISO320 15mm

This little cuttlefish was not joking with body all bumpy and tentacles flaring.

Avast, cease, desist, come no closer or else!!

Well that message did not last long before it took off in a rear guard retreat.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 769, Avast' 1/100s f/4 ISO320 15mm

There is something wonderful when a school of big pelagics comes to visit you on a dive.

These Yellowtail Kingfish were part of a larger school which followed me around for a large part of my dive at Rapid Bay.

Seeing these fish up close I am struck at just how beautifully streamlined and powerful they are, unlike me, perfectly suited for their environment.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 768, Yellowtail Kingfish' 1/100s f/8 ISO320 15mm

I spied a small city perilously close to a rising tide.

I sat for a while and imagined life within its fortifications, the rough hewn battlements with vigilant sentinel gaurds, the busy keep and a simpler time.

I was broken from my reverie when a small child ran up to me all excited that I should want to photograph her sand castle.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 767, Sand Castle' 1/6s f/16 ISO320 15mm

Two balls with very different stories but both very much in play.

One ball's players are obvious. I wonder who's playing with the other?


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 766, Balls In Play' 1/4000s f/22 ISO160 200mm

Tin Tin's just been through another significant operation and looking great despite his recent trauma.

There is an irony in this image with Jennifer at out local beach in that Tin Tin has never really liked the ocean. Beach and sand are fine, Seagulls are fun, penguins even better (a story for another time) but that water gives him the hebe gee bees.

For now he has to keep dry which suits him just fine. When he is healed again I am looking forward to swimming him out into deep water again and watching him beat Ian Thorpe back to the shore!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 765, Scary Scary Ocean' 1/320s f/2.8 ISO640 200mm

Those last moments before the sun descends beneath the waves have a special magic.

Eyes drawn to the horizon, staring into that distant fire, lost in contemplation.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 764, Contemplation' 1/1600s f/8 ISO100 200mm

The last thing Owen Hammond is interested in when he is at work are sunsets.

I'm sure if you asked of him the attraction here it would be to capture the amazing athleticism of beach volleyball.

Some office jobs are definitely more attractive than others. Just saying!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 763, Owen Hammond At The Office' 1/500s f/2.8 ISO640 142mm

The sunsets of late have been a little disappointing if you where seeking something extraordinary.

It's evenings like these when I am reminded just how extraordinary the light is this time of day and refocus my ideas for an image, something all too easy to forget when you are desperately seeking sunset.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 762, Desperately Seeking Sunset' 1/125s f/2.8 ISO640 200mm

There are colours in quartz, there are colours from quartz and there are colours through quartz.

The colours in quartz come from included and lattice bound elements such as iron, aluminium or phosphorous.
The colours from quartz come from optical effects such as refraction and scattering.
The colours though quartz come the object and light around it.

This particular crystal, full of inclusions and chips and other flaws is for the most part colourless, it's apparent colours coming from optical effects and the light around it.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 761, Quartz Colour' 1/50s f/11 ISO100 100mm

This once functional device had provided years of service pumping water through our air-conditioning system. Despite its corroded state it was still faithfully doing its job, at least until yesterday.

Along came a 44 degC day and it finally jammed up and that was then end of our cooling.

All my attempts to remove the corrosion were in vain, the pump motor had jammed, the bolts had sheared and I no longer trusted the integrity of the insulation.

By all accounts it was beyond repair.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 760, Beyond Repair' 1/13s f/4 ISO160 100mm

A sandy river valley disappears through the dunes into the distance. Very soon even this landscape will have disappeared completely to be replaced with another.

Just because something in nature is beautiful does not necessarily mean it should be preserved. Beach landscapes show this on a daily timescale, continents show this on a geological timescale while stars and planets show this on a cosmological timescale.

All of the world around is just a transient landscape.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 759, Transient Landscape' 1/320s f/2.8.ISO320 100mm

Inanimate objects have always carried a fascination for still life photographers.

Here however the scene is anything but! With cards flying back and forth. With actors, mimes and sculptor engaged and little plastic tokens moving around, the scene is anything but still.

Still life? It's only ever a snapshot anyway.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 758, Creative Cat' 1/500s f/2.8.ISO500 200mm

There is an unsettling mix of opinions about the 26th January, the day we officially call Australia Day.

Regardless of perspective it is an important day to remember just how fortunate we are here in Australia to live in such a wonderfully diverse and beautiful part of the planet however it is we came to be here.

Looking up in the sky at night and seeing the constellation of the Southern Cross I am happy our nation's flag acknowledges our place under a Southern Sky.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 757, Under A Southern Sky' 1/1000s f/2.8.ISO100 200mm

The illusion of perspective suggests this jetty ramps gently down to the waterline in the distance.

Our common sense knows better. Or does it?

If you can tell this is Henley Beach Jetty you'd know there is indeed a gentle ramp down to the waterline after all. If you don't believe me, go check for yourself.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 756, Down To The Waterline' 25s f/11 ISO320 15mm

I never tire of diving with Leafy Seadragons and here is another simply magic day down at Rapid Bay.

Every shade of beautiful refers to more than just the dragon.

The gorgeous turquoise blues of the ocean, the emerald greens of the seagrass and the golden yellows of the dragon all come together in this gentle seascape.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 755, Every Shade of Beautiful' 1/125 f/8.0 ISO160 8mm

There are always little things that go unnoticed that have their own unique beauty.

This piece of washed up debris would have gone unnoticed by most people who would have walked on by. Change the perspective however and it becomes a subject all unto itself.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 754, Perspective' 1/4 f/16 ISO1000 15mm

It was a grey day down at Henley Beach with the sunset buried behind an overcast sky.

Still there were no shortage of wonderful subjects with Jennifer and Tin Tin ready to take centre stage.

Tin Tin is our dog. At nearly 16 years old he is getting on okay having recovered from some major surgery last year.

We don't know how long he will be with us for but are grateful for every day.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 753, Jennifer and Tin Tin' 1/13s f/7.1 ISO1000 15mm

The glow in the western sky after sunset becomes a gorgeous backdrop for, well just about anything!

I wonder if these fishers caught anything more than a gorgeous sunset. Either way they should be just as content.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 752, Western Afterglow' 1/250s f/2.8 ISO1600 200mm

This is about as far from a commercial wine shoot as you can get.

The lighting's crazy, the glasses are dirty and the background's a mess.

What else would expect. It's a party after all!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 751, The Pie Man's Party Quaffer' 1/200s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

Bright, colourful and cheerful. The first morning light echoed by symbolic yellow suns.

I wonder who, if any, will ride this ferris wheel today?


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 750, Capsule Colour' 1/800s f/2.8 ISO100 200mm

For us viewfinder, range finder and D/SLR image makers there is something odd about preview photography.

Watch any of the aforementioned and they will seem as if camera and image creator are one.

In this current popular style of photography the camera stands apart as if some magical object to be desired. Here being held by a pair of black velvet gloves, even more so.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 749, Object of Desire' 1/20s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

I do not know who's backs I have captured in this image. I simply liked they way they strolled by as if nothing else in the world mattered at all.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 748, Nothing Else Matters' 1/25s f/2.8 ISO1600 200mm

It's not often I get to see a full moon setting on the ocean. Perhaps that has something to do with my normal daily routine but this morning I had a reason to be up really early.

Just like the sun, when the moon is close to the horizon it appears squashed. Refraction starts to bend the light through the Earth's atmosphere, dims the light and blurs the features.

The real treat this morning was 'Temptation' sitting out in the gulf in just the right spot!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 747, Temptation Moonset' 1/250s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

This sweltering heatwave of multiple days over 40 degrees C has made the beach a very special place to cool off.

The lapping calm water, and a searing breeze has made immersion in the cool salty brine more appealing than ever, unless you are too cool to get your hair wet or lose your baseball cap.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 746, Too Cool To Be Cool' 1/2500s f/14 ISO320 17mm

Head down to the beach in the early hours before the heat cranks up and you will find strange footprints in the sand.

As illusive as 'Big Foot' they will be gone again come the next high tide and leave us wondering if it they ever existed


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 745, Big Foot' 1/80s f/25 ISO100 100mm

With the 42 degC onslaught this week I thought I'd capture an image consistent with the ongoing heatwave.

Sun-spots are obvious on the blemished surface as magnetic disturbances create cold spots and hence the dark visual blotches.

The hardest part about capturing the solar disk is actually getting it in focus. Even using the live-view preview and manual focus, the sun is just so bright it's hard to discern anything on the small screen in the bright sunlight.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 744, Our Blemished Sun' 1/4000s f/16 ISO100 600mm +NDXXX