Robert’s Ramblings

The problem with capturing birds in flight is that; well they’re in flight! Unless of course they can hover under joystick control. Jokes aside it took me a while before I was convinced that this bird was worth capturing.

It will never compete with a full size DSLR hanging under a five figure professional drone, nevertheless it does an incredible job for what it is. Even that gimmicky telephoto second camera has made possible some shots I’d not have been able to capture any other way.

Drone photography creates opportunities for unique vantages and perspectives. Often it’s not even about height, but attaining an otherwise impossible vantage point.

Obviously it will never compete with a DSLR for image quality but might just be the most fun camera I will ever use!


#drone #mavic3 #dji #bokeh #dof #flight #wildlife #portrait

It might look like the Gotham City fictional superhero’s ride but rest assured this stealthy piece of French hardware would have the batmobile for dinner and spit out the bones.

The Ligier JS P320 is a Le Mans Prototype class (LM) racing car that – believe it or not – is pitched at ‘entry level’ drivers! Clearly we are not talking graduates from the local driving instructor. Anyone even thinking about getting into the cockpit of this bombshell is already in a completely different league to the average road car driver.

Despite having only 460 brake horsepower from a Nissan 5.6 litre V8, there are people on my street who claim to have more grunt under their own bonnets, it’s how you use those horses that counts.

I’d rather this French beauty than the local street muscle any day but sadly there’s no chance for a ride here as it’s a single seater.

For now I’m just happy to watch!


#Ligier #lmp3 #motorsports #thebend #cars #Onroak
#Batmobile #nissan #jsp320

I’m not referring to the baby shark in the foreground. That’s a Port Jackson Shark of course and there are plenty of them around at the moment. Recent reports from divers at Port Noarlunga often cite up to 10 of these beautiful creatures either resting on the sand or nestled under ledges of the reef.

Lurking in the background, a silhouette of diver holds something that almost looks like a speargun. No need to be concerned for the fish or the sharks. That’s a Minelab Manticore metal detector.


#Scuba #diving #metaldetector #minelab #manticore #portnoarlunga #detectoring #portjackson #shark #silhouette

A few weeks ago I was asked to do some waterproof testing on a new product about to be released, Minelab’s new coin and relic metal detector called Manticore.

The brief was simple, stay down at depth for an ‘extended’ amount of time and work the detector hard. Twist it, flex it, shove it hard into the sand and generally use it with the enthusiasm of a ‘detectorist’. So a grabbed my work colleague Saxon and we took Manticore on a treasure hunting dive adventure.

Many beach goers will be familiar with detectorists as they comb the sand searching for coins, rings, watches and other jewellery that may have become estranged from their owners. Often you will see them in the beach surf where it’s almost a lost cause trying to find anything you may have lost.

Manticore is a detector that can leave the surf behind and go scuba diving giving access to sites of a more archaeological significance such wrecks and long abandoned marine structures. In other parts of the world rivers and lakes hide relics of old civil and national conflict. Even though South Australia is not known for historic conflict or pirates with treasure, any detecorist will tell you, ‘you never now what you might find’.

Though Manticore performed flawlessly we didn’t find any buried treasure, just lost fishing tackle, but we’ll be back and next time it will be for the gold!


#Scuba #diving #metaldetector #minelab #manticore #portnoarlunga #treasure #coin #relic #detectoring

As the wind and salt spray wear away the eastern sandstone cliffs of Bare Island an ancient pattern has been brought to the surface.

Oblivious to its origin or meaning, fishers cast from the nearby rocks, children search for crabs in tidal pools and couples take selfies. Above the wall and hidden from view the iconic Bare Island Fort stands testament to a Sydney fearful of a Russian invasion more than 137 years ago.

Here on this cliff wall these patterns would have been wrought tens of thousands of year ago. Perhaps they were part of the chaotic labyrinth of an ancient worm. Perhaps an ancient root system built the precursors of this intricate pattern.

What ever created these patterns, they will only be with us for a short while as time wears all things down. A hundred years from now who can saw what will remain.

This ancient braille being nothing more than a brief moment in time.

#Bareisland #laperouse #sydney #botanybay #sandstone #textures #sydney #botanybay #sandstone #textures

Djesse, JC or Jacob Collier. By any other name he would sound just as amazing.

Thursday night we were privileged to have Jacob here performing within the intimacy of the Thebarton Theatre.

For more than two hours Jacob and his band had us all spellbound and singing in harmonies from the floor, seats and balcony. It would be no exaggeration to say that I have never experienced any performer combining so much on stage presence, energy and audience intimacy as Jacob.

Thank you for coming back to Australia, coming to Adelaide, and making us all sing out loud.

#Jacobcollier #adelaide #thebartontheatre #jazz #musician #concert #djesse #performingarts #2022

It’s been a long wait, 21 years in fact, since the Corrs last performed in Australia.
Here on the grassy reserve of Hope Estate we wait patiently for their return.

#Hopeestate #thecorrs #corrs #concert #huntervalley #2022

Twenty five years ago this young Irish band came out of nowhere to capture the hearts and minds of young and old around the world, mine included.

Their music was addictively catchy. They were all young and beautiful with fantastic stage presence and wonderfully produced video-clips. Along with my friends we loved the music of the Corrs and would sing along with abandon to our favourites. At the time though I did not make going to concerts a priority and had spent years regretting never seeing them live.

This weekend we all put right what went awry! Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim along with their long-time guitarist Anthony Drennan and bassist Keith Duffy came back to Australia after a 21-year hiatus for a one-off concert in the Hunter Valley. We made it our mission to be there too this time!

#Hopevalleyestate #thecorrs #corrs #concert #huntervalley #2022

It’s been more than six months since I have been submerged. So many reasons, priorities and excuses, but finally the surface tension’s been broken an I’ve slipped under the waves again.

Despite years and years of diving I still experience a little trepidation when I’ve been dry a little too long and am about to get back into the water again. The moment I drop below the surface and take my first breath underwater that apprehension vanishes and I feel like I’ve been welcomes back again.

It feels like meeting old friends again, the leatherjackets, sweep, silver dummer and old wives. On this dive we had a rare daytime buzz by a large wobbygong shark who cruised nonchalantly past within inches.

One of my favourite Port Noarlunga critters when they are around are juvenile Port Jackson Sharks. It was a great delight to come across this little critter resting on the sand taking in the salty world around her and reminding me how privileged it is to join her down here.

#scuba #diving #juvenile #portjacksonshark #portnoarlunga #shark #underwaterphotography #fisheye

Last Tuesday night over five hours we watched our moon transition from moon-rise in partial shadow, through full lunar eclipse to shining fully bright.

As the moon rose above the horizon it glowed red due to light scattering both ways through the Earth’s atmosphere atmosphere. As it rose, the dark umbra crept across a lunar face transitioning from red to white. At totality the last of the moon disappeared in a blinding white crescent leaving a muddy red faintly glowing orb in its wake and a dazzling sky full of stars and galaxies.

For the next hour that muddy red glow shifted around the face until finally the base began to grow light again. Emergence had begun and this image was taken during the last moments of umbral shadow.

As the earth’s shadow moved further away a dazzling white crescent reappeared and the remainder of the moon was plunged into darkness. As shadow receded, the lunar face came back into view banishing all but the brightest stars from the sky. At midnight a white shining moon had returned to the night sky even though still in the Earth’s penumbral shadow.

It was not until we got home well after 1 am that the full moon had been restored to it’s full brightness again.


#astrophotography #bloodmoon #celestial #fullmoon #landscape #moon #penumbra #shadow #southaustralia #palmer