Entries by Robert

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

/a>

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

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