Last week I read an article with suggestions on how to produce abstract photographs. One technique mentioned was to set a long shutter speed (around 1/30s) and deliberately introduce movement, either by moving the camera while the shutter is open, or zooming in or out during this time. This I had to try out. The Botanical Gardens seemed a good bet, with lots of colours and textures available.

It sounded really quite simple, just move the camera. It turns out that the resulting pictures look pretty much indistinguishable from camera shake. So, out came the tripod, and, after experimentation, the best results were obtained using a smooth zooming motion while gently pressing the shutter button. (Possibly even better results could be obtained using a cable release.)

Regarding composition, the images benefitted from having a fixed point at their exact centre. I experimented with a duck that snoozed conveniently just in front of a clutch of bamboo.

But the winner of the day, in my opinion, these beautiful giant bamboo stalks in streaming sunlight.

More abstract shots can be seen in this gallery.

I don’t really trust Facebook et al that currently hold many of my images. So, in the future, more of my pictures will be displayed here, in albums accessible from the new “Galleries” menu at the top, or directly via the links in the sidebar. Or just click here.

This is the same photo, taken using Camera+, uploaded multiple times.

1) Directly from iPhone using the WordPress app. Inserted as ‘large’, which is around 1024px per side. Clicking on the photo still does not show it full size.

2) This photo was exported from Aperture at 2048px each side, i.e. nearly the original iPhone resolution. I uploaded it via WordPress using the standard web interface, which didn’t offer different resolution options for upload. I then inserted it into the post as ‘large’ (i.e. 1024px per side). Despite this the image looks larger in the post, and if clicked will display at full resolution. Hmm.

3) Finally, the same photo uploaded from the iPhone WordPress app, but at ‘full size’ (about 2600px per side). It now behaves pretty much like the desktop version, at the cost of rather more data being used during the upload.

Moral of the story: The WordPress web interface does not ask for desired picture size; it uploads what it is given. Its question on display size refers to the size of the uploaded image to be displayed in the post. Clicking the image will show it at full resolution. The iPhone app also asks for the desired size to display the picture in the post, but compresses the image to be uploaded to that size prior to upload. Hence clicking the image will not make any difference. This is reasonable considering the WordPress app is likely used on the move with limited data allowance. Still, it’s worth keeping this in mind.

This year’s solar eclipse so close to us (i.e., only a two-hour flight away and in the same state and country) provided an excellent excuse for a week-long holiday in tropical North Queensland. Best of all, the weather played ball and let us see totality, the black disk of the moon with the sun’s corona around it. That experience really can’t be beaten, and can’t be photographed either, not without special equipment. Even just the sun’s corona is completely beyond the dynamic range of what even good amateur equipment can handle. Nevertheless, we had a great holiday and took many, many photos — believe it or not, the selection below has been pared down to the essentials. Enjoy!

Monster hail storm. The noise is deafening. Satellite TV in the pub has just failed.

Since we loved the rainforest so much yesterday, we decided on a second dose today. Having gone North yesterday, today South was the order of the day. Problem: there is nothing much South of Cairns – the rainforest bits of the Atherton Tablelands are more like SW, and 150km+ over windy, though pretty, roads. Enter the town of Babinda, around 50km South of Cairns, marked on the map as having a tourist information centre, and an attraction called The Boulders. Good enough, we thought.

On arrival at Babinda, marketed as the rainiest town in the country, it turns out that it’s a time machine, ca. 1950:

However, The Boulders turned out fantastic, and well worth the journey. Apparently so many people died there that the council closed the creek on pain of fines. Viewing only permitted from designated lookouts – and the views are gorgeous:

On the way, we found a monster spider, even by Australian standards:

It was really hot and humid, and eventually the permitted bathing area proved too much of a temptation: