Experiments with HDR

For a while I've been wanting to have a try at a High Dynamic Range photo.

This technique is used where if you set the exposure right for one part of the photo it's too dark or light in another part of the photo, and there is no adjustment that makes it acceptable.  I've seen it used where there is a large range between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene, such as strong sunlight and deep shadow.  If you adjust for the bright light, then then everything in shadow is just black, but if you adjust it so you can see what's in shadow, then the sunlit parts of the image are overexposed and maybe pure white.

HDR involves merging a series of images at different exposures and using the best parts from each.

Here I took 3 images at different exposure settings and then combined them into a fourth.  I put something white in the foreground to reflect the light back.

I tried another one with more of the image in shadow.

I was going to do some more, but the cloud came over and the bright sun disappeared.  Maybe I'll try it again when there's something more exciting to photograph.

Post-Christmas & Australia Day

Things have been a tad quiet after Christmas.

We went for a cruise around the lake which was nice and relaxing,  Then cycled around the lake, which was not.  It was the first time in about 10 years that I've been on a bike, so cycling for 24km in 2 hrs created a few tired muscles that I hadn't used for a while.

Here are some pictures from the lake cruise.

The Carillion.

The small posts by the side of the lake each have the name of an Australian of the Year.  With a 50 or so spare. Interestingly, they are positioned relative to 5 lines, and if treated as musical notes, they make up the National Anthem.

I still don't know why they have put up one flagpole here and a couple of trees to ruin the symmetry.  I bet the politicians decided this.  Or they decided to skimp  on the price of the second flagpole.








Coco learnt a new trick over Christmas.  He now drops a squeaky toy into the water and jumps in after it.  But only as far as the steps.  And of course most of the time it drifts away from him.

Ooops.  Too far away.

"Will you get it for me?"   His tail wags a million times a minute, so it's always blurry in photos.

On Australia Day, Karyn and I went to a friend's place for a bbq and a games afternoon.  It seems to be popular with the neighbours and relatives.  The kids especially love it, and compete for medals, bags of lollies, and the honour of standing on the winner's podium.

 There was a football-throwing competition.

 A gum-boot throwing competition.

 A golf pitching competition.

A ball-tossing competition.

An egg-and-spoon race (with the older kids having to run backwards).

A sack race.

Winners of the senior kids egg and spoon race.

Winners of the sack race.

Karyn managed to defeat the senior kids in the ball tossing competition decider.

But she did no good in the thong-tossing competition.

Kids tug-of-war competition.

Willo, the host.  Never to be seen without a can in his hand.

Christmas Break

I've had a week off over Christmas, and I've taken the opportunity to do a few interesting things.  I went on a few dives and went up to see what's left of the Mt Stromlo observatory since it was pretty well destroyed by bushfires a few years ago.

I went on a dive trip out to Black Rock, about 20min off the coast from Bateman's Bay.  I wasn't sure what the conditions would be like because many of the nearby beaches were closed because of the high surf caused by a nearby anti-cyclone.  You can see from the photo below that the waves were still pretty large and higher than the boat itself, but fortunately there was no current to drag you away.  Under the water it was quite peaceful with pretty good visibility though a fair amount of floating sediment.

 Going up the anchor line back to the boat

 Nudibranchs

"a shell-less, marine snail of the suborder Nudibranchia, having external, often branched respiratory appendages on the back and sides"  - Dictionary.com

 Starfish

 Not a great picture of a starfish, but I was being dragged through an underwater tunnel by the current and I couldn't stop to take a better picture.

A close-up picture of a sponge.

A soft coral with a really interesting shape.












Mt Stromlo

The observatory on Mt Stromlo was pretty-well totalled by bushfires a few years ago.  But since then there has been some reconstruction.  Mt Stromlo is about half an hour's drive out from Canberra.

One of the domes looked ok, but when we peered in through the windows we noticed that everything inside had been destroyed, but still in place.  Unfortunately the observatory was closed on the day we went there, so we couldn't go inside.  It looks like they have repainted the exterior but preserved the interior.

Some of the other domes weren't so lucky.

 There used to be a telescope mounted here.

 There seem to be quite a few new small domes around.

Some of the new domes.

Kangaroos were all over the place.

The view from the top, looking over towards Canberra.  Black Mountain tower is in the distance on the left.

The new Canberra arboretum

This weekend I went for a trip to the new National Arboretum.   I drive past it every day going to work.  It's is a collection of 100 separate tree plantations, with many of these apparently threatened species from around the world.  It's not much to look at now, but I'm sure it will get better as the trees grow.  There is also a pine planted that is a descendant of the Lone Pine at Gallipoli.

I thought that I'd take some pictures now and more over the coming years.  I expect a lot of the trees to be hidden over time by those closer to the roads and paths, so the layout of the plantings may not be obvious.

I just hope we don't lose them to bushfires like the previous forests in this location.

 Himalayan Cedars that were planted in the 1920's and that survived the bush fires.

 A different view of the Himalayan cedars.

 This is the VIP area where they will get visiting Kings, Queens, Presidents, etc to plant trees.  This seems to be the last bit of landscaping.  They've spend over 5 years building hills and valleys for this arboretum.

I think that these were Californian palm trees.  With Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the shot and Woden (where I work) in the distance.

 When I approached this sculpture it looked like a jumble of rusty loops of metal.  Not even worth a photo.  It was only when I walked down the hill a bit that I saw what it really was.  In a few years you may not be able to see it because the trees will be in the way.  If the palms grow high it might be visible again in 10 years.

 It looks like there are some interesting patterns of trees.  Further back, there are is a plot of trees planted in the shape of the Forbidden City in China.

 This was reminiscent of a graveyard.  It reminded me of a visit to Arlington Cemetery many years ago.

 A sculpture made from old tools.

 Looking towards Civic in the distance with the base of Black Mountain to the left.

Giant Sequoia?  I don't think so.  I could jump over them.  Maybe in 200 years.