Small things /  by Mario Mirabile

I'm taking a week off next week and heading down the west coast. I'm looking forward to beautiful light and broad vistas, but whatever the weather brings it will be good to get away for a few days. I've been very busy trying to wrap up some things at work before heading off, so I haven't been out and about much at lunchtime. Perhaps its just over-familiarity with the places I've been able to get to, but my attention has been caught mainly by small details rather than large on the few short outings I've managed.

I'm not really looking for anything in particular, and sometimes it's the strangest things that catch my eye. Mundane objects like a rusty old lock poking out from a seemingly plain background take on new dimensions as I play with angle and focus. It really doesn't take much to keep me entertained. 

Hot stuff /  by Mario Mirabile

Summer has finally arrived in Melbourne. This week has seen temperature consistently climb into the high 30s, and the nights remain sultry and uncomfortable. The accompanying dry northerlies have helped make things even more unpleasant. As such, it's easier to just stay in the air-conditioned comfort of the office rather than go wandering looking for photographic gems at lunchtime. But today I decided enough was enough, so I braved the heat and went for a walk.

To be honest, I didn't get very far. Even so, it's possible turn up new and interesting bits and pieces, even on well trodden trails. Abstract bits of steel in building signage, the  wacky geometry of reflected buildings and shadowy breezeways all take on a new perspective if you look hard enough. And all found within a couple of hundred metres of the office front entrance and air-conditioned relief.

Everybody's got to work /  by Mario Mirabile

January  has come to an end, and with it the summer holiday period. The post-Christmas lull when things are a bit more relaxed seems to be getting shorter each year. Now, everything seems to get into full swing almost from Boxing Day, when the stores clear out their excess inventory and try to pretend that you're getting a bargain. I can remember when absolutely nothing seemed to happen through the whole of January, and the Australia Day holiday marked the point when thing started ramping up.

But now Christmas is a distant memory, so there's no excused for slacking off. Even the school year has started and once again students are hogging the best seats on the commuter trains. As the title of this post (taken from an 80s Uncanny X-Men song) proclaims, it's time to get to work. Whether that entails peering into holes, strenuously propping up a sign while having a smoke, or looking cool while making coffee doesn't really matter. Just get the job done and look forward to your next holiday.

To market, to market.... /  by Mario Mirabile

The Queen Victoria Market has been operating on the same site on the northern fringe of the Melbourne CBD since 1878. It's the largest open air market in the southern hemisphere, and a popular shopping destination. But it seems that providing a huge selection of food and variety goods isn't enough of a rationale for its existence any more, and the operators keep looking for ways to increase the number of visitors, and no doubt the income it generates.

One such way is a series of night markets, with both winter and a summer seasons. While some of the variety stalls operate during these sessions, the fruit & veg, meat, fish and deli operators are all absent. The main focus seems to be yet another excuse to set up an almost endless series of food stalls, together with a scattering of entertainers. While this attracts large crowds eager to sample authentic (perhaps...) ethnic delicacies, it's not the reason I make the trip occasionally. I'm much more interested in the visitors and the traders. They're much less fattening, as well.

The year that was /  by Mario Mirabile

2016 has been interesting year for me in photography. No doubt the highlight was our trip to Italy and Ireland in the middle of the year, the results of which I'll probably be picking through for years to come. Otherwise, inspiration has waxed and waned as usual. I find myself shooting as much as ever, but processing far fewer images. I think I've become far more critical of myself. Images I would have been very happy with just a couple of years ago now just don't do it for me. Still, I have produced many images I'm quite happy with. It's been very much a case of making my way through the valleys to reach a few bright peaks

To start the year I'll post few images selected from a quick review of my pictures from 2016. Not necessarily the best - whatever that might be - just ones that appeal to me. None have been posted here before, so hopefully you enjoy seeing something new. I'll also be going through my portfolio pages over the next few days as I don't think I've freshened them since this time last year, and I plan to post a couple of galleries from our trip.

Here's hoping that 2017 is a good year for you. 

Rise and shine /  by Mario Mirabile

I spent Christmas with family in South Gippsland. It's a very pretty part of Victoria, with rolling hills running down to pristine beaches, and of course the spectacular Wilsons Promontory National Park. Christmas Day was very pleasant, and by the end I was glad to collapse into bed exhausted. Not due to the celebrations of the day in particular, but by the cumulative fatigue of weeks of festivities leading up to Christmas. I would have been happy to sleep all day, but was woken at some ungodly hour with instructions to look out the window, which has panoramic views of the Prom. The light show was spectacular enough to get me up and shooting, but at least the sun finally came up and dispelled the colour, so I was able to go back to bed. At least it was more entertaining than waiting in a queue for the stores to open in order to snare the best Boxing Day sales bargains.

The next day I was determined to sleep through the dawn, but was woken by an odd dream and was unable to get back to sleep. With nothing to lose, I roused my host and we headed out through the rolling hills looking for light. Thankfully, we found some, but as a result I'm now in sleep catch-up mode again. I guess that will have to wait till I get back to work.

Christmas greetings /  by Mario Mirabile

The year is drawing to a close and once again the Christmas season of festivities and celebration is upon us. Whether you celebrate Christmas in its original Christian sense, or merely in its modern secular incarnation, I wish you and your families all the best. May your Christmas be a peaceful and joyous one.

Drawing a blank /  by Mario Mirabile

These two images were taken under completely different circumstances a couple of days apart. Despite some obvious similarities in theme and composition, I haven't been able to construct a coherent narrative to link them. So, I'll simply present them and let you write your own narrative. Or not.

Ancient seas /  by Mario Mirabile

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock basically composed of grains of sand.  It forms in seas and deserts where sand accumulates and is compacted and cemented together with various naturally occurring materials. The cementing materials can be quite colourful, and may form interesting patterns called Liesegang rings in the resulting stone. Sandstone, being plentiful, relatively soft and easy to cut, has long been popular as a building material. And when the stone saw meets a Liesegang ring, the results can be quite decorative.

I recently visited my Alma Mater, the University of Melbourne. Melbourne is one of the "Sandstone Universities", together with the other older Australian universities, taking this name from their liberal use of sandstone as a building material.  I was intending to photograph the Law Building and its justifiably famous and beautiful cloister and quadrangle. The light wasn't right, but not far away something else caught my eye. The building blocks show here are all from a small section of the Old Arts Building, and demonstrate the natural beauty of this ancient building material. While the interior has no doubt been remodeled many time since it was built nearly 100 years ago, the exterior has lost little of its original charm.

Games people play /  by Mario Mirabile

Electronic gaming is big business. In all its forms it comprises an industry worth billions world wide. And, like any big business sector, it has it's conventions, and the biggest one is PAX - The Penny Arcade Expo. From humble beginnings in Seattle a little over 10 years ago, it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. PAX conventions attract tens of thousands of attendees, including one in Melbourne. Not too many conventions or expos can simultaneously fill both the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centres, but this one does.

People come not only to play games, check out the latest and greatest and meet like minded souls, but to cosplay. Cosplay - a contraction of costume play - is a performance art where the participants go to great lengths to play dress-ups. Devotees will spare no expense to transform themselves into characters from films , comics or their own imagination. The performance seems to consist mostly of just being seen, and there plenty to see. And to photograph, of course.

Weather watching /  by Mario Mirabile

Every year, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology produces a calendar full of meteorological information which showcases the amazing diversity of weather across Australia. To illustrate the calendar, they run an open photographic competition which attracts thousands of entries each year. Thirteen images - one for each month and one for the cover -  are chosen and reproduced in a high quality publication which sells over 100,000 copies.

I've submitted images with a meteorological bent a couple of times in past years, and did so again earlier this year, but without too much hope of success. I was quite pleased to receive an email telling me my pictures were both in the top 100, and very pleased - and more than a little bit stunned - to be informed that one had made the final cut. The image of ice crystals forming on the shore of Lake Guy, taken last year at Bogong Village in North East Victoria, will adorn the page for May. The calendars are well worth checking out, and an absolute bargain considering the quality.

Getting all misty-eyed /  by Mario Mirabile

It's three years and just over two hundred blog posts since I launched this web site.  For me, that represents quite an interesting journey. I've made a lot of pictures in that time, but sometimes it's been hard to find the motivation to sit down and string together a few words to illuminate the pictures I've been taking. At other times, I've looked at my recent photographic output and wondered whether anyone would care to look at them. But still I keep coming back and throwing a few photos and words into the ether in the hope that someone is interested. 

Those of you with keen eyes will notice that Miralight Imaging has a new look - at least I hope you do. I'm told the old look was a bit tired, so hopefully everything looks a bit fresher now. Today's offering once again shows off the benefits of dragging yourself out of bed early and braving the cold. There's always time to sleep later.