Ghosts of the past /  by Mario Mirabile

Old and abandoned buildings have an endless fascination about them. They are often full of character and intrigue, and they often feel haunted by their past and the ghosts of former residents. The textures, colors and light are so different from the buildings we normally inhabit that these decaying shells often have an eerie other-worldly feel about them.

Wandering through a building in such an advanced state of decrepitude is not without its risks. This old shop - located by the roadside near Castlemaine - was littered with broken glass, pieces of wood with large projecting rusty nails, and what was left of the shingle roof appeared likely to collapse at any moment. However it seemed worth the risks involved to get these shots - the images of the building's exterior are mundane by comparison.

It helped having an ultra-wide lens. My beautiful Olympus 7-14mm zoom is one of my favourite lenses and perfect for this type of task. I took 3 bracketed shots of each of these scenes intending to try creating HDR images, but I was unable to produce one to my liking. I did end up blending two exposures manually for the first image, but the second is a single exposure.

Mist again /  by Mario Mirabile

Photographers love mist and fog. Potentially drab photos are immediately transformed into moody and atmospheric masterpieces by a bit of suspended water vapour. Unfortunately, it's not something you can just turn on, but if you're in the right place at the right time, the results can be stunning.

The still days of autumn and early winter provide the atmospheric conditions and necessary chill. The best light will be found during the blue hour of early morning and evening (often with the added bonus of sunrise/sunset colours), although night-time can be very good for cityscapes. Mornings are generally better if you can drag yourself out of bed in the pre-dawn chill. You're more likely to find still conditions with less dust haze to mar the beautiful pastel hues the sky takes on as the sun emerges.

That's enough. I'm getting all misty-eyed.

Vroom, vroom /  by Mario Mirabile

I'm not much of a rev-head. I like the convenience of owning a car, but I get frustrated by the increasing congestion on the roads. I have little time for motor sport and I certainly wouldn't be upset if Melbourne lost its Formula One Grand Prix. I do, however, have a certain fondness for the curvaceous design aesthetic of many 50's European cars.

I'm also not a big fan of high dynamic range photographic processing, a technique which aims to get as much detail as possible in both shadows and highlights. It often produces images which have a cartoonish look with garish and unrealistic colors. I think it can work in stylized images such as these though.

These shots (all from the Fox Classic Car Museum) are not true HDR - that would require several exposures to allow for extremes of shadows and highlights, which are then blended into a single image. These are all single exposures processed using the Detail Extractor pre-set of the Nik Color Efex filter in Photoshop. It produces an HDR-like look which I rather like on these classic beauties.

Face off /  by Mario Mirabile

It's unusual for a portrait not to show the subject's face. The traditional approach is a full or three quarter view, with the occasional profile thrown in for good measure. Obscuring part or all of the subject's face can be an effective way of emphasizing aspects of a person's features or character.

In the first image, I like the way Ernie's hand seems to lead your attention in toward his eyes. The steely gaze is the main feature of the picture for me. The lack of any visible face in the second makes it almost an abstract study in form. All the attention - both the artist and ours - focuses on his work. The strong vertical highlights of hair and hoodie drawstrings also focus attention on his hands, reminding us this is a man and not just an abstract composition.

Work in progress /  by Mario Mirabile

Summit Cafe and Bar is located on the ground floor of the building I work in. I pass it every day when I catch the train to work, but it's only in the last couple weeks that I've really noticed the intriguing pattern formed by the booths along the front window. The bright orange lighting has started to stand out distinctly as the mornings get darker, and that's what catches the eye. But it's the organic flow of the booths that really makes this such a fascinating subject.

I congratulate both the architect and the owner who decided to forego a couple of tables to make space for a work of art. The owner saw me taking these shots through the window and chased me up to find out what I was up to. We had a chat and he kindly invited me in to take some more photos. I'll certainly take him up on that because there are lots of possibilities in this marvelous design. but I might wait for outside light to drop a little more.

Not just a gallery, it's also a great place for coffee or a meal. It's at 700 Collins Street, so drop in if you're passing.

Early to bed and early to rise... /  by Mario Mirabile

Photography is nothing more than the art and craft of capturing light. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? But there's light, and then there's LIGHT. Midday light, with its deep shadows and harsh highlights, can create dramatic images but is generally regarded by photographers as poor light to work in. Generally, the closer to the horizon the sun is, the better the quality of the light. We're all familiar with the glorious colors that sunrise and sunset can bring, but usually the sweetest light occurs in the blue hour.

The blue hour is the twilight period immediately before sunrise and after sunset. It's a bit of a misnomer in that it doesn't last anything close to an hour - at least in these latitudes. The best light can last as little as 10 to 15 minutes, so you need to be prepared and work fast. The morning blue hour tends to be clearer and more still and lends itself to stunning images, but unfortunately it also means you have to get up early. If you're sensible you won't try this in the middle of summer when the blue hour occurs at very a very unsociable time. Autumn is a great time to experience it - temperatures are crisp but not yet frigid, the air is clear and on this occasion the sun rose at a reasonable 7:15 AM.

I arrived at Shallow Inlet near Wilson's Promontory shortly after 6:30 AM and waited to see what would happen. I took a few shots, but I unfortunately the most interesting feature on the beach - the beached boats further up the inlet - were pretty much invisible until the best light had passed. I'm still happy with the two boat images, but the light was past its stunning best.

Even though it's hard work, dragging yourself out of bed well before sunrise has its rewards.

Watch the birdie /  by Mario Mirabile

Birds in the wild are very hard to get close enough to in order to get a frame-filling shot. Small birds in particular are very skittish and will tend retreat from any close approach. My usual method when I see a likely specimen is to advance slowly with the camera raised and avoid any sudden movement. Even so, I can rarely get within 10 meters, and they won't return to the same spot as long as I'm there. I've tried to sit and wait quietly in the hope they’ll get used to the idea of me being there, but I either haven't sat long enough or perhaps I need to devise a camouflage suit and work on my patience.

I was therefore quite surprised when this male Superb Fairywren (one of my favourite birds to photograph) allowed me to approach as close as I've ever been to one. He was foraging on the ground and would move away from me, but didn't fly off, staying about three to four meters ahead of me. He finally popped into a bush where he posed for a minute or so before finally flying off about his business. He's not the finest specimen I've seen, with his vibrant blue breeding plumage far from its best. I suspect he's a juvenile, which may account for his relative lack of caution, which I'm sure will develop as he matures. Curiously (or perhaps not...) the far less showy females are braver than their mates and have allowed me more close approaches than the males.

I shot all these with my 50-200mm SWD zoom with the 1.4x tele-converter attached. I think it's the first time I've take photos of a superb without the zoom cranked out to its maximum length.

 

The birds and the bees /  by Mario Mirabile

We're going to have a chat about the birds and the bees. Settle down now - I'm talking about the kind with wings. For the other sort, you really need to have a heart to heart with your parents.

I've always enjoyed chasing winged beasties, but I've never been one to disappear into the wilderness for days at a time. If you have the opportunity and patience, you can be rewarded with images like this one, captured by award winning photographer David Rennie. However if you don't have the wherewithal or time to trek into the wilderness, there's plenty wildlife to be found in our own back yards, our metropolitan parks and gardens, and the areas surrounding our cities.

I've always had trouble with crimson rosellas. The ones I've seen in Melbourne parks have been extremely timid and haven't let me approach within 20 metres. This one (and his friends) had been conditioned to humans by regular feeding, and although still wary let me get close enough to nearly fill the frame. I'd rather he had been sitting on a branch for a more natural feel to the shot, but it's still the best crimson I've had to date. Bees on the other hand are everywhere. They don't mind how close you get, but being extremely busy little creatures, they're not inclined to sit and pose. They're also surprisingly quick and I've had lots of images where all I've ended up with is a blurry bee bum disappearing out of the frame. It helps if you can find them gathering on a bigger flowers as there's enough nectar to keep them on the one bloom for more than a few seconds. I like the shape and variety of textures on his everlasting daisy as well.

Interestingly, both these shots were taken with the same lens. The Olympus 50-200mm SWD zoom is fast and super sharp - a great birding lens with or without the 1.4x tele-converter used for the bird shot. Add a 25mm extension tube and it becomes a really useful not-quite macro lens with nice long working distance - great for nervous bugs.

A bit random /  by Mario Mirabile

I took a walk into the city centre today. I had some banking to do, but other than that I had no particular project or goal in mind. Nevertheless I shoved my little Olympus XZ-1 into my pocket hoping something would catch my eye.

The Oly XZ-1 is a remarkable piece of kit for something that fits comfortably into a jacket or trouser pocket. It's three or four years old (a dinosaur by digital camera standards), but there still wouldn't be much that can touch it for image quality in its size class. This in no small part due to its superb lens, possibly the best on any compact not sporting the name Zeiss or Leica. It's not without its issues though. JPEG output is soft (mainly due to the non-configurable noise reduction), so shooting RAW is a must, and it lacks any sort of built-in viewfinder leading to the usual LCD visibility issues in bright light. But once you get used to its quirks, it's a superb walk-around imaging device.

Heeding the advice that the best camera is the one that you have with you, here are few random snaps from my walk today with the XZ-1.

Quiet please..... /  by Mario Mirabile

Charles La Trobe was Administrator of the Port Philip district of New South Wales before it became the separate colony of Victoria, at which time he became Lieutenant Governor. He was, in fact, in charge of the new colony, but due to the legal niceties of the times he was subordinate to the Governor of New South Wales, hence the Lieutenancy. A scholarly man and capable administrator, his tenure saw great improvement in the streets and sanitation of the capital. He also had the foresight to put aside large tracts of land close to the city centre for parks, gardens and reserves.

His legacy is commemorated by having a university, streets and numerous geographical features named in his honor. Perhaps the most stunning architectural tribute is the La Trobe Reading Room of the State Library of Victoria. The huge domed room was opened in 1913 and designed to hold 1,000,000 volumes and 500 readers. Open daily, it is a fitting tribute to a man of scholarship and foresight

Final flight /  by Mario Mirabile

A few last images from the RAAF Centenary of Military Aviation Airshow. Nimble Harvard trainers, the tail rotor of an Apache gunship, the engine of a C-17 Globemaster transport and the brooding menace of an F-111.

Australian Roulette /  by Mario Mirabile

The Roulettes are the Royal Australian Air Force aerobatic display team. After briefly operating two other aerobatic teams during the 1960s, the Roulettes were formed in 1970 as part of the RAAF's 50th anniversary and have been in continuous operation ever since. They tour Australia and overseas putting on around 150 flying displays per year showcasing Air Force flying skills. Originally flying Aermacchi MB 326H jet trainers, their current aircraft is the Pilatus PC-9/A trainer.