Robert’s Ramblings

Robert Rath How many people have seen this piece of art just East of the Adelaide University bridge on the River Torrens?

This piece by local sculptor Greg Johns is called ‘Fugue’ and was commissioned in in 1997. He has many pieces in similar style around Adelaide, interstate and overseas.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 141 – IRON’. 1/160 secs at f/14 ISO 200 47mm

Adelaide is known for being the ‘City of Churches’.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 140 – No Smoking on the Court’. 8 secs at f/22 ISO 50 17mm

Adelaide is known for being the ‘City of Churches’.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 139 – St Peter’s Cathedral’. 2.5 secs at f/16 ISO 2000 20mm

It’s funny how when things change slowly you can miss the obvious. All around me trees had been changing their colours from greens to yellow and crimson right in front of me and I had scarcely noticed.

When Jennifer pointed out the colours of the liquidambar tree in my parent’s front garden, suggesting how nice a photo it would be, it was like opening my eyes for the first time to the colours of autumn.

The moral of this story for me that all work and no plays makes …


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 138 – Autumn Crimson’. 1/200 sec at f/4.0 ISO 400 105mm

There is nothing supernatural about these hands by sight but over a long exposure they become but a ghostly apparition leaving behind haunting notes.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 137 – Ghostly Ivories’. 1/2 sec at f/4.0 ISO 2000 67mm

There are plenty of stories about ducks. They feature in Aesops’ famous fables, early 19th century US congress and of course our local Canberra. I am led to believe however that ducks are quite intelligent!

I’m sure these three little ducks in the Greenock Tavern are having quite a spirited debate about the state of affairs!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 136 – Duck Conversation’. 1/13 sec at 85mm f/4.0, ISO 2000

This mother’s day mum got something a little exotic, these beautiful pink tulips. Of course I had to photograph them first but I want to try something a little exotic as well!

I wanted to back light but I also wanted to show off the beautiful colour. I took many shots with strobe only with a mixed bag of results. Again this was a daylight shoot so I needed to swamp the image with light so keep the background black. In the end I got the effect I wanted by hand holding the strobe behind and using a soft reflector in front to through back a little light to bring out the colour

This image is also a little larger than before as I am experimenting with new sizes for web publishing.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 135 – Tulips for Mum’. 1/200 sec at 100mm f/22, ISO 400

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 134 – Beautiful Boats’. 8 secs at 65mm f/4.0, ISO 1000

Adelaide just sparkles when it’s all lit up! Just pick anywhere along the Torrens in Elder Park, put your camera on a sturdy tripod and take a long exposure.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 132 – Twinkly Adelaide. 13 secs at 15mm f/13, ISO 400 crop

No matter how cold, or how late or how windy you will almost alway find fishers on our local jetties.

I once heard what I was told was an ancient Polynesian saying that ‘the gods do not take from a man’s life the time spent fishing’. It would seem this old couple might just know something.

I love natural light night photography because images taken this way really draw me to the place and the occasion. They are of course quite challenging however to do well. Working with low light, long exposures and moving images is simply is all part of the fun and sometime a little luck works its magic as well.

A very sturdy tripod is mandatory for long exposures and I cannot stress how important this really is. A flimsy tripod will wobble in the slightest breeze blurring long exposure images. I have even seen some enthusiasts use tripods made of steel and concrete for extreme telephoto astronomical photography where stability really matters.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 132 – Lamp Lit Fishers’. 5 secs at 17mm f/11, ISO 800 crop