Entries by Robert

Of all the places to find a Monarch Butterfly chrysalis I never expected it to be in my parent's kitchen.

My father used to be a keen butterfly collector and collected butterflies from all over the world. Sadly his collection was lost but his love and fascination have always remained. On learning of his old passion, my father's friend Michael brought him this beautiful Monarch chrysalis he found in his own garden.

It now sits in the kitchen window while my father waits for his beautiful Monarch Butterfly to emerge.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 44 - Metamorphosis'. 1/60 sec at 105mm f/10, ISO 100

Is it really supposed to be this shrivelled? I ask myself as we look at the produce at Die Barossa Wurst Haus & Bakery.

This little store is a new addition to the Tanunda landscape and plays on the tourist theme now well entrenched in my former stomping ground.

So back to the mettwurst and its wrinkles. Yes, it is traditional to hang mettwurst and allow it to shrivel and get hard over time. Nothing like the vacuum-bagged mettwurst you see at Coles or Woolworths. This is the real deal, wrinkles and all!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 43 - Meat The Wurst'. 1/15 secs at 58mm f/4.0, ISO 500

My parent's tree was covered in fruit. Apples everywhere, the way nature intended with creases and blemishes and wormholes. And then I spied 'them apples'.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 42 - Them Apples'. 1/30 secs at 105mm f/5.6, ISO 800

Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 41 - Skycecream'. 1/5000 sec at 70mm f/4.0, ISO 100

If you met this guy down a dark alley on a moonless night you'd walk right on past. In fact if he was right in front of your eyes you'd still be pressed to notice him. This little creature is tiny, tiny, tiny at a mere 2mm across.

I first noticed this little fellow after I plucked some leaves from one of our trees to try and identify the tree species. I then noticed a white salty looking patch with a little grey blob in the middle. On close inspection it appears to be an insect in its pupal stage of development. The white powdery substance covering the pupa and surrounding leaf is most likely some toxic secretion for protection.

For now I have no idea what this guy is but will do my best to find out.

... Newsflash: It's a Yellow Shouldered Ladybird Apolinus lividigaster (synonym Scymnodes lividigaster) FAMILY COCCINELLIDAE


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 40 - Little Creature'. 13 secs at 100mm+Ext20mm (macro) f/22, ISO 400

For a couple of weeks now we have been entertained by little scratching noises coming through the wall. For even longer there had been a lead-up of diligent nest building. I had hoped to get a photo of these two new additions to our local wildlife while they were newborns but the parents would not have a bar of it!

Finally mum's out doing the shopping leaving the little ones home alone. The Spotted Dove, Streptopelia chinensis was introduced into Australia early into its history, originating from Asia.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 39 - Home Alone'. 1/100 sec at 182mm f/2.8, ISO 1600

There is something quite erotic about lilies!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 38 - Six Husbands'. 8 sec at 100mm (macro) f/16, ISO 100

No words today; just farewell ...

Today the South Australia Kite Surfing Association held its annual Freestyle Title here at Grange Beach.

The fact that the competition was being held was great for kite surfing action but bad for photos as I was not allowed in the water with the competitors in case I interfered or came to some demise under their jurisdiction. So I went out close by and took a few shots.

After learning that this kind of photography requires me to learn a few new tricks and after eating a lot of saltwater I came to the conclusion that I'll be back out there again soon!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 36 - Eating it off Grange'. 1/6400 sec at 20mm f/5.6, ISO 800

I love to stare at shiny things; things made of crystal will always attract my attention. When it comes to crystal I love Austrian Swarovski! As I look at a piece and marvel at the way it captures the light and colours around me it's only natural that I want to capture its beauty in a photograph. ... Easier said than done!

My initial attempts were a little dull, with little distinction between the the edges of the crystal and the faces. It really looked just like a fractured reflection of the room around me. I realised that part of the problem is that much of a crystal's beauty comes from movement. Either you move the object or you move around it. In any case it is movement that accentuates a crystal ornament and brings it to life as the light and colours play on the facets.

With that idea in mind I really wanted the light to come from inside the crystal to light up the facets without lighting the edges. Here is my result with strobe backlighting, taken in full daylight with the strobe a few cm behind and diffused through tissue. I hope you like our crystal crab!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 35 - Crystal Crab'. 1/200 sec at 100mm (macro) f/11, ISO 50, Strobe Backlit

It's just a wall so how hard could that be to photograph! Well perhaps not just any wall but the side of the public conveniences building in the little town of Murrayville. Waiting for the light to be 'just' right while walking around public toilets with a camera is likely to get one arrested in the city but out here I think people just thought it a little odd.

It was a beautiful and unexpected flash of colour to a dusty mute landscape and was as much a relief to the eyes as to other needs! Perhaps this cheerful mosaic will never be compared with the Mesopotamian masters but I am pretty sure the people who live in Murrayville and passers through in need of some relief all think it's grand!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 34 - Toilet Block Mosaic'. 1/800 sec at 70mm f/3.5, ISO 400

I have enjoyed many sunsets with friends who tell me hand-on-heart that they have seen that famous green flash on at the last moment of a setting sun. I have also enjoyed many sunsets looking for that green flash which still eludes me. Not surprisingly, last night down at West Beach was no exception.

I spent time time researching on the web. The theory is sound, the observations authoritative and the images seem authentic. For the moment, however, I remain a skeptic.

At least I have a beautiful local beach I can enjoy sunsets on almost any night of the year. I'm grateful for that, green flash or not.

Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 33 - Gone in a Flash'. 1/500 sec at 400mm f/7.1, ISO 100

I have seen so many people on our beach sit or stand for ages and never seem to catch anything. It reminds me of an anonymous Polynesian proverb I once heard, "The Gods never take from a man's life the time he spends fishing". On the other hand I watched this beautiful Great Egret Ardea alba at the mouth of the Torrens River for about 30 minutes during which time she certainly filled her belly.

I had never seen a Great Egret on our local beach before so this was a rare treat for me. Because the light was fading and I had no tripod to steady the camera I had no choice but to bump up the ISO and shoot at 1/500 of a second.

Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 32 - Fish for Dinner'. 1/500 sec at 400mm f/5.6, ISO 800

I have a chilli seedling just a few cm tall now that looked to be an interesting subject to photograph. After various shots using my favourite natural light techniques, I decided to try something different.

I placed the camera strobe behind and to one side of one of the leaves, directed the camera face on and took this image. The strong back lighting has lit up each and every cell of the leaf creating this beautiful sandy texture that is not apparent with normal incident lighting.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 31 - Chlorophyll Dreaming'. 1/125 sec at 100mm f/22, ISO 100, Strobe Backlit

Sunsets can make for wonderful images and this evening I was on the lookout having missed the incredible one the night before. As sunsets go this one was pretty but nothing spectacular so I started looking around for a subject to make it more interesting.

I liked the idea of a silhouettes so started looking around for something bold. All I need to do was look up and there it was, our local scrap metal pelican. As there was no change of him flying off I took my time and captured this image.

Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 30 - Never to Fly'. 1/4000 sec at 140mm f/5.6, ISO 800

I followed this little seagull back forth and front to back. When I got too close he was lost in the detail of the sand, too far and the breaking water had too much detail. Too small an aperture and the background became too busy and too slow a shutter speed and I could not take a sharp hand held shot. By the time I final captured an image I liked my camera settings were so far out of sorts I did not really know where I was anymore.

Lucky for my he was as very patient as Jennifer herded him back and forth under the jetty while I got my act together!

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 29 - Patient Seagull'. 1/64000 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 640

Today we enjoyed a leisurely coffee at one of our favorite beach side cafes. The beach was buzzing with surf lifesaving competitions, with swimmers and sun-bathers and all manner of people enjoying the sand, the sunshine and the fresh ocean breeze. As we watched the world go by we became enthralled by an amazing show of shifting, roiling, exploding cumulonimbus storm clouds all around us.

I started taking shots of the dramatic and unfolding shapes above and soon realised the although the best detail could be seen in the clouds almost looking into the sun the camera lens was badly fraught with sun flare. Then the sun ducked behind some clouds for a moment and I captured this image as it was just about to re-emerge.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 28 - Cloudburst'. 1/8000 sec at 70mm f/4.0, ISO 100

What to take a photo of on our Australia day holiday?

I thought of some sort of protest image, perhaps the Aboriginal flag flying juxtaposed by some western invasion icon. Perhaps one of our native critters taken from an angle no one has ever seen before. Perhaps instead I'll just kick back and take a break today.

With that I took another sip from my beer, pointed the camera at Steve's handiwork on the barbecue took a few shots and settle back to a lazy afternoon with friends.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Food Forge'. 1/250 sec at 200mm f/4.0, ISO 1000

I think a lot of us would relate given a moment's reflection.

Photography is a great medium to play in because you can never tell where a person will be taken when they look at an image. The longer you can get a person to look at an image, through surprise, curiosity or any other emotion the more opportunity they have to be taken away somewhere.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Forgotten Friend'. 1/2000 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 400

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Hide and Seek'. 1/200 sec at 200mm f/4.0, ISO 400

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Mower Fodder'. 1/3200 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 400

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Last Train Long Gone', Murrayville VIC. 1/2500 sec at 105mm f/3.5, ISO 200

There seemed to be a correlation between the many ravens along the Mount Kosciuszko trails and the movement of walkers. As scavengers it would seem reasonable to assume they do pick up the odd morsel here and there.

In Australia we have five species of the family Corvus, two crows and three ravens. I am reasonably sure this is the 'Little Raven', Corvus mellori.

This beautiful image of the strong downward thrust during flight highlights the airfoil structure in the wings while the upturned tips hint at the intensity of the beat as the raven flies close to the ground.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'In Flight', Kosciuszko National Park. 1/2500 sec at 200mm f/8.0, ISO 500

Photo: Robert Rath, 'On Top of Australia, Mount Kosciuszko. 1/2500 sec at 15mm(FE) f/8.0, ISO 500

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Pristine Pebbles', Pappinbarra River, Hollisdale NSW. 1/160 sec at 15mm(FE) f/11, ISO 400

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Easy Being Green', Near River Farm, Hollisdale. 1/4 sec at 170mm f/2.8, ISO 800 + Flash

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Garlic', Near River Farm, Hollisdale. 1/30 sec at 80mm f/2.8, ISO 1600

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Flow Motion', Pappinbarra River, Hollisdale. 1/4 sec at 15mm(FE) f/22, ISO 50

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Vibration'. 1/50 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 1000

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Unsacred Geometry', Gold Coast QLD. 1/500 sec at 100mm f/10, ISO 400