Robert’s Ramblings

I have been resisting the temptation for quite some time now to play with High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging. Tonight in a moment of weakness I finally succumbed, found a nice quiet dark location and captured multiple exposures.

For the uninitiated, the naive and the innocent, HDR is a technique where a set of identical frames are captured over a wide exposure range. The underexposed images capture bright objects such as streetlights, lit windows and reflections. The overexposed images capture the the detail in the shadows. The images in between help to reconstruct the relationship between them all and enhance the details in the mid tones.

Now armed with my set of exposures ranging from 2 seconds to 2 minutes I can use software to reconstruct a single image by getting the best detail from each one. Trey Ratcliff has a great tutorial here ‘hdr tutorial’.

As with most things, good things in moderation and so it applies to HDR. I can see how it could get out of hand so for now I’ll just dabble a little and see where this goes.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 121 – The Square’. 2+8+30+120 secs at 17mm f/11.0, ISO 1000 hdr

I am a bit disturbed at the size of this cow relative to the chicken. Well at least I from this point of view anyway.

Small realistic figurines placed in an environment normally associated with the full size object create some really odd perspectives. This pair of stall mascots at our local weekend market make it all the more strange with the dramatic scale difference between themselves.

Shots like this one are easy when you are prepared to physically change your perspective through position. Don’t be shy to lie flat on the ground to see things from an unusual angle though I don’t recommend doing it in the middle of a busy highway without taking the necessary precautions!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 120 – Market Mascots’. 1/8000 sec at 21mm f/4.0, ISO 400 Crop

How many of us remember the old ‘Oils Ain’t Oils’ advertisements ‘back in the day’. Well, we won’t be pouring this lovely golden oil into our cars but it will sure go well in our bodies!

Today we tasted this beautiful and fruity ‘Extra Virgin’ first press olive oil from Sorrells Vineyard and Winery down in Currency Creek, SA. I learned a little about the different varieties of olive which can be used to make olive oil and discovered that this oil was blended from Koroeniki, Mediterreanean, Kalamata and Moraki varieties.

It’s obvious in hindsight that different varieties of olives do exist and of course will have different flavours and colours. Walk down any supermarket aisle in the oils section and you will see labels such as ‘cold pressed’, ‘extra virgin’, ‘light’ and a plethora of brand names but I have no recollection of ever having noticed a variety.

Remember how once all red wine was called ‘claret’? Yet now we absolutely must know what’s in the bottle! Let’s hope that we see more of this in other foods. The more you know about something, the more you will enjoy it.

Sol was so right those many years ago as he preached that ‘Oils Ain’t Oils’.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 119 – Oils Ain’t Oils’. 1/1000 sec at 40mm f/4.0, ISO 400 Crop

Munch, munch, munch … Somthing was having a go at my Chili bush which now proudly displays it’s first baby chili.

This thief clearly knows the dangers and was keeping clear of my Bhut Jolokia (see my earlier post, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 93 – The Bhut Jolokia‘) so instead sough to denude it, much by much, leaf by leaf.

Having been discovered and mug shot taken, the thief was quickly shown the door!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 118 – Chili Thief’. 13 secs at 200mm f/32, ISO 400 + Strobe

All great construction projects begin with the best building materials. In this case they are irregularly cut, orange and mushy but still the best for the task.

As far as I am concerned nothing beats ‘Queensland Blue’ for pumpkin soup! And my, was it tasty!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 117 – Soup Construction Site’. 2 secs at 105mm f/22, ISO 100

There’s a cookie thief in the house! Fresh from the oven, not even cold yet and there is a painfully obvious empty space on the tray.

Ok, I confess that it was me. Guilty as charged but I swear it was in the name of photographic composition. The tray simply did not look right with every biscuit neatly lined up in rows.

So thank you Jennifer for your wonderfully yummy Anzac Biscuits on this day we take to remember Australia’s Anzacs.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 116 – Anzac Biscuit Mystery’. 5 secs at 105mm f/20, ISO 100

When it doesn’t rain, it pours and when it doesn’t pour it drips …


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 115 – H to Zero’. 1/200 sec at 100mm f/22, ISO 100, + strobe

I finally found a dry and cosy place to take photos on this cold, rainy, wintry evening: under the new King Street bridge.

For most of 2011 many locals lamented the closure of the old King Street bridge. So it was a wonderful relief back in January when the new bridge restored normality. A few weeks ago I was surprised and delighted to discover that the bridge had changing colour feature lighting. I knew then that I’d be back with my camera sooner or later!

As it turned out it was ‘later’ but no longer risks being never!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 114 – Cosy Under King Street’. 30 secs at 24mm f/22, ISO 400

Goodbye to our wonderful Indian summer and greet in its place the wintery wet weather for cormorants (much more elegant than ducks) that has descended on us this weekend.

This Little Black Cormorant ,Phalacrocorax sulcirostris seems quite at home here at West Beach. Clearly the photographer is more the concern than the rain!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 113 – Weather for Cormorants’. 1/1000 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 400

Humanity has spent centuries trying to turn coffee beans into the perfect cup of coffee. What could be more perfect than this!


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 112 – Beanz Meanz Caffeine’. 10 secs at 105mm f/22, ISO 400