The "Photograph" Thread.

[Draco]

Rando question: do you think of Brisbane as a costal city? I mean, it's not on a harbor, but it's certainly not seaside. Then again, it's not an interior city.

I've never thought of it as a coastal city 'per se' and it doesn't really have that reputation either. One common term that the media/people use is "river city". There are suburbs that are located by the coast line/bay area though, however some of them aren't a part of "Brisbane City" rather they're under their own council and thus fall under the metropolitan area term. Actually I don't even know of any decent beaches along the bay area where those suburbs are, everyone just goes to the Gold Coast which is 50 minutes south, now that's a coastal city. I think it comes down to where the CBD is located and for Brisbane, it's some 20km inland.

I realize you may be biased, but if I ever visit Australia again should I visit Brisbane or Melbourne? Or neither?

Not biased at all which is why I'd suggest Melbourne. I've never been but I've only ever heard good things about it, such as it being more 'European' (where as Brisbane has more of an English/British presence, then Asian and other minorities), architecture is nicer, more variety in terms of restaurants/cafes and the likes, more to see, do etc. My sister was there last year and she loved it.

Actually here's a really good commercial promoting Melbourne tourism, it was popular a few years ago, I thought it was nicely done


As for Brisbane, it definitely has stuff to do and see, but it's the type of city where you'd be better off with a local to show you the nice places that you wouldn't usually find on your own. The CBD isn't all that great either, there's one long shopping mall (Queen Street Mall) that's lined with any type of shop that you can imagine (along with a few massive shopping centres), along with your usual cafes/restaurants, then there's a few streets around it with similar stuff and that's it. The inner city suburbs are where you'd wanna go coz that's where there's a lot more 'cultural stuff', along with 'South Bank' which is across the river from the CBD. It's a nice city still, and it's definitely changed a lot in the past 10 years, and it's heading in the right direction but I think it has a bit to go until it can compare to the likes of Sydney and Melbourne.

Went into a lengthy post but I like talking about this type of stuff

[termite]

Gold Coast if you like theme parks, beaches and night-life.
Melbourne if you like live entertainment and sporting events.

[earthJoker]

I've been 5 weeks in Melbourne. I liked it. It is not that big, so of course if you only go for holidays you wouldn't stay 5 weeks. Melbourne is also more on a rive than at the sea, but you can go to the beach by tram or train easily.

Melbourne is from it's structure and architecture as (US-)American as it get's. But they have made an efford creating European style streetlife at some spots in the CBD, cafes, pedestrian streets and I really liked the southern quai along the Yarra. Also they actually have a good train and tram network, so you can get around without a car. And they have the Australian Open

[earthJoker]

Power lines and mountain.

Zoom out:

Mountains and clouds.


A little later, towards the hills.


The needle and the lonesome farm.

[earthJoker]

Sunsets (from the balcony)

[Marby]

Some nice pictures you got there earthJoker! I assume it's Switzerland. The scene with ''the needle and the lonesome farm''... I don't know, it looks familiar... Switzerland has a lot of mountains ''with needles'' on them but I don't know, it still looks familiar. Care to tell me where that is?

[earthJoker]

These are all pictures from my home town: http://maps.google.ch/maps?q=pf%C3%A...urich&t=h&z=13

They are just into different directions.

The needle picture is a zoom photo to the east. The mountain is called Säntis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A4ntis
It dominates the whole region of north-eastern Switzerland. (St.Gallen, Appenzell, Thurgau)

[termite]

Please take a look these three old folks - they don't look remarkable do they? Sure, they have had long rewarding lives, but each of these close friends have an incredible story of survival against the odds that is known only to a few close friends and family (until now ). I choose to share a little of their story at this late stage and I am concerned for my Pop as he is laid up in Hospital.
The fellow in the middle is my Step-Grandfather (Pop) and the folks either side are his closest friends Rube and Lotti - they are husband and wife.

This photo was taken at Pops 85th birthday party last year and it was a very happy occasion with old stories rarely told being shared with a few generations that would have little knowledge of what the world could be like when war ravages your home.

My Pop is a hard working Aussie, albeit with a strong accent despite living here over 60 years and in that time he has achieved much including raising a family and will certainly be laid to rest here - but his life began in Estonia in 1925 and according to Pop it was a good place to grow up (cold as buggery though he says). Of course as with the rest of Europe WW2 changed everything, Estonia became a part of the Soviet Bloc and nothing could be done about it, as the German–Soviet Non-aggression Pact had made Estonia just another piece on the board.

Through a series of events that are too long to reasonably post here, my Pop ended up as an 18 year old being conscripted into NOT the Soviet Army but the German Army. As fate would have it, by the time he was to be sent to fight it was the Russian front he was going to but as he waited at the train station the platform, train and buildings were bombed by Soviet aircraft and as a result my Pop quite literally had the top of his skull blown off.

He was among hundreds of dead (his wounds so grisly nobody checked if he lived) being prepared for transportation when a group of Nazi medical "researchers" picked over the bodies for suitable "subjects". As unreal as this may sound, my Pop says he was conscious and acutely aware of what was happening the entire time but was unable to do anything - he was waiting to die. When they finally got to operate on him it was with no anaesthetic, just a leather "bit" and some tightly adjusted straps on the slab. The doctors set about cutting away the dead tissue and cleaned the wound (this was incredibly painful, causing Pop to convulse and shudder but cruelly he did not pass out). Then slowly they hammered, cut and cleaned a piece of stainless steel to fit the gaping wound and replace his missing piece of skull. Despite the slim chances of the patient surviving they eventually did save his life using these experimental procedures and Pop then convalesced for a long time as the war raged on throughout the world.

At the end of the war he was officially a "Stateless Refugee", he had no country, what was his homeland was now part of the USSR and would stay that way for half a century but for the time being he was part of an unimaginable human herd that was being shipped as far from Europe as possible. He tells me that he was given 3 names Canada, South Africa and Australia. He new Canada was cold and he'd had enough of cold, he new Africa was looking just as unstable as Europe had and he knew nothing of Australia other than it was warm, dry and had strange animals with pouches. He chose Australia, bad lack had it that he lost the few possessions he had when boarding the cattle ship and would travel with just the clothes on his back.

He still has the plate in his head to this day but that is just a small part of the story of this man that after arriving here with literally the shirt on his back and nothing else he worked hard to prove he was worthy of his second chance at life, he endured more hardships along the way but nothing would ever compare to biting down on that leather bit while he was being operated on.

It has taken me most of my 40 years to eke the details of his life from Pop (Rube was an ally in this, supplying the Vodka and saying "tell them about..." ). Pop had learned very quickly that nobody here would be quick to befriend him if they new he was a German Soldier (though he never fired a shot) so he never spoke of it except in private with his two close friends until decades later when us grandkids starting insisting he not take this story to the grave. On those few occasions where he did speak we would sit in stunned silence and he was/is someone awe inspiring when he talks in his strong accent with Aussie swear words peppered amongst the tale. He is a living example of how even the most terrible situations have unintended results that bring out the best in people and two generations later there is a respect that cannot easily be described in words.

As for Pops two close friends, It would take another 10000 words to begin to tell their tales but this will have to suffice - Lotti was a German woman in her teens trying to survive under horrendous circumstances in a small village besieged by war. They had heard fighting and shelling in the distance for days and then heard nothing for a day, however that night their small village was over run by the Soviet War Machine. Everyone found in the village would be made to give their details before being loaded onto trucks. After a short journey everyone was unloaded from the truck, forced to march away from the truck and all were gunned down - Lotti included. She was shot twice by the machine guns but the Soviets had learned from the Germans the previous winter that people survive in the snow so they went from body to body with the bayonet and finished the task.

She believes it was the next day but is not sure, Lotti woke to find herself buried in snow in a pile bodies - all were people from her village including her family. They were all dead, every last one of them - except Lotti. She was in very bad shape, 2 bullet wounds through the torso and 3 bayonet wounds also to the torso. How did she not die? She doesn't know but it wasn't something you question, she managed to drag herself some distance before resting, then dragged herself some more. She did this until she heard voices - German voices and then she sobbed and sobbed until the voices came and found her. They were just a few farm boys that had evaded the Russians and were causing some "mischief" for the Soviets. These lads carried her to their hut in the forest and began tending her wounds. One of those farm boys was Rube, it turns out that this farm boy had talents he had never needed (or known about) that only became apparent when the Russians arrived. He was a natural guerrilla fighter, it may sound unbelievable but this little German guy named Rube was able to regularly infiltrate (sneak up he calls it) Soviet camps to steal weapons, ammo, food and kill Russians. He killed a lot of Russians, when I sat at the table and looked at this little tiny frail old man and I saw the look in his eye - I know he wasn't bullshitting me. He says the Russians were easy to find and easy to avoid because they stank of tobacco and vodka and they were so loud it was like they wanted you to "sneak up" and cut their throats. They craved hot meals but instead relied on the stolen Vodka to warm them and when you hear how this little bloke talks about the way they could survive days on a shared block of chocolate it make me feel like an obese pig for the way I eat.

Lotti and Rube survived the war, managed to stay together and got married but Europe was no place for these two, they wanted out and managed to come to Australia around the same time as my Pop. They met not long after and have shared a lifetime as friends, Rube never stole or killed again and instead became a brilliant salesman making a respectable living selling farm machinery. Lotti was not able to have children because of her wounds but she wasn't letting that stop her and they adopted children and raised a lovely family that has made them very proud, happy people. Rube still has a twinkle in his eye and a cutting wit but Lotti is getting very frail now and cannot stand to be without Rube for even a few minutes - so he stays by her side day and night.

I hope my Pop gets out of the hospital soon and we can share Christmas with him but I know this less likely every day.

Its been an honour.

[Nessus]

Thank you for sharing

[Ominous Gamer]

Brandy spent most of the day practicing with the new Canon DSL Rebel I got her. Pictures are turning out pretty good, or at least a gazillion fucking times better than her old camera.

[Marby]

These are all pictures from my home town: http://maps.google.ch/maps?q=pfäffi...urich&t=h&z=13

They are just into different directions.

The needle picture is a zoom photo to the east. The mountain is called Säntis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Säntis
It dominates the whole region of north-eastern Switzerland. (St.Gallen, Appenzell, Thurgau)

That's pretty cool. I had a dog from Appenzell (Appenzeller Sennenhund) so I've been there and sort of know it a bit. Thanks for sharing!

Here is a nightshot of the town of Skellefteå in Sweden where I am currently. My first try at making a picture of a city in the night. I am pleased with the result. Enjoy.

[Dattu]

It finally started raining again in Austin last month.


Googly eyes make everything better.


Peekaboo, now gimme da bawl.


Cute and you know it.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Thanks for that story Termite.

We sure live an easy life and complain and bitch far too much.

[Dattu]

Thanks for that story Termite.

We sure live an easy life and complain and bitch far too much.

Just read that. Very remarkable. I'm glad they were able to tell you these things, termite.

[termite]

Thanks for that story Termite.

We sure live an easy life and complain and bitch far too much.

Sometimes the experiences of others really can have a powerful effect on you (me) and I have learned not only to be grateful for what I have and who I share it with, but more importantly not to take it for granted.

Just read that. Very remarkable. I'm glad they were able to tell you these things, termite.

Me too.

[Nessus]

[earthJoker]

Back from the Ticcino. Not really photo weather down there this time
So only two pictures from the Cimetta/Cardada above Locarno.


Lago Maggiore


Valle Maggia

[Ominous Gamer]

I have this bulb plant, I can't kill it. Its moved with me everytime I've moved. I barely water it, sometimes its in a pot, sometimes its outside in the ground. Each year it either spilts into 2 plants, or it flowers. All of its "leaves" had fallen off/died this year and I figured that was finally the end of the thing. Except a random stalk appeared and within a week it bloomed with 2 flowers.

Brandy likes taking pictures of flowers...

[termite]

OK, so I've just returned from a fantastic holiday where I took a few photo's, as did my wife, my daughter, her friend and my friend.

This holiday took in such places as Coral Bay, Exmouth, Monkey Mia, Kalbarri and quite a few other interesting places which I may get to later and the driving force behind this trip was experiencing the natural wonders found in, on and around Ningaloo Reef.

So, to the photographs...


Above is me in a thing called a "Boom Net" which is simply a rope net lowered to the water level and towed behind a large catamaran (in this case the Aristocrat 2). However I chose to rename this lovely piece of equipment the "Boob Net" due to the wonderful and quite predictable results which can be observed when a bikini clad beauty (see above) has her bikini top (or bottom, or both) unceremoniously removed by the resulting wake created by the fast moving vessel. I cleverly made sure my boardies were done up as tight as a "nuns nasty" and my top was pulled down over them to help prevent an "Aquatic Faux Pas" or "Revealis Genitalis".... hence the look on our respective faces.



So just to square the ledger with the lovely Dutch backpacker in the previous photo I willingly submit the above photo of a rather lovable camel clearly unable to resist my charms. My wife is the one being shoved out of the way by my humped admirer and I confess I forgot she was even there....

Above is an Emu chick that spends its days following its father around the grounds of the Dolphin Resort at Monkey Mia, I nick-named this guy Fuzzball for obvious reasons. Now its important to understand that Emu's are large flightless birds found all over this wide brown land and the majority of the poor buggers spend their lives in arid landscapes battling the elements to survive and are lucky to reach adulthood. But at Monkey Mia, specifically at the Resort there is a very lucky family group that arrived a while ago and managed to stay (and thrive) in these lush grounds with plentiful supplies of food (palm tree seeds, grass etc), water and the stolen tid-bits of the amused (and bemused) tourists (that just lost their food to these large, sneaky and fast moving critters).

Of course the vast majority of people found the mischievous behaviour of these birds amusing and just another delightful experience that could not be had anywhere else in the world, but unfortunately I (and many others) did observe a group of middle eastern men deliberately feeding the birds (despite clear warnings not to) and unbelievably they then set about whipping one of the chicks with a beach towel for their pathetic and disgraceful amusement. I was tempted to set upon these ignorant fools with more than a wet towel but thankfully a DEC officer had observed their actions and expelled them from the National Park immediately (despite their hysterical protestations and claims that the emu "snatched" the food that we all saw them offer the chicks). To my relief everyone that witnessed this behaviour was unanimous in backing the DEC officers actions and most made it clear they would assist with the extrication of the perpetrators if they didn't "Fuck right off" immediately (as stated by a slightly built but hard looking gentleman of what I guess was Northern English origin). Too often we fence in animals for their or our "protection" when it is often the behaviour of humans that warrants them being placed within fenced accommodation. Still after all the fellow patrons jumping up to support the wildlife officer and his actions I did feel quite optimistic about the majority of mankind.


Above is a stunning blue starfish "draping" itself over the coral reef at the aptly named Coral Bay - this is a World Heritage listed marine sanctuary that is so incredible you can literally walk from your accommodation, across the road onto the beach and within a few feet of entering the water I snapped this photo. The fish and the reef have been protected for long enough that all the species found here are not in the slightest bit threatened by our entering their environment - incredibly they seem to welcome it. In the first few steps I took into the water I was approached and inspected by a school of at least a dozen large Spangled Emperor Fish (North West Snapper) that if spotted anywhere else would have been speared, netted, hooked or simply scooped up, taken home and proudly served for dinner! In the marine park however, they are truly and justifiably living within their own Empire (geddit? Emperor...). But seriously folks I was mesmerised by these guys, they actually have personality like behaviours, some behaved like chilled out Rastafarian types, others are more aggressive and some just follow their leaders but all were supremely confident in their environment despite me being the top of the food chain and centimetres away from them. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to experience this - I shit you not.

These coral above and below (I am no marine biologist so I don't know or care what type they are) were also within a few metres of the beach.... fucking mind blowing shit to a noob to snorkelling like me and I will elaborate on just how noob below...


So you might be thinking that we are all snorkel happy, marine creature loving water-babies that spend all our time marvelling at the creatures in our oceans and have a fearless approach to all things aquatic - not even close. Regrettably I was taken to the drive in to see that cinematic funkiller Jaws by my uncle when I was a kid and despite having a dad that was a mariner (He worked his way up from deckhand at 14 years old to become Captain of several vessels and eventually a Harbour Master) and also despite growing up in a country where around 90% of us live on the coast I have long been terrified of swimming in the ocean beyond my own depth because of a learned irrational fear of sharks (specifically them eating me). My wife has similar, if not more hysterical and irrational fears of being eaten by a shark than I do and we probably passed this onto our kids unintentionally by not allowing them to swim out past the breakers. So why this holiday? What the fuck were we thinking?

Why not? I am 40 years old and my heart still beats and I finally understood the (para) phrase "You can run from life, but you cannot escape from death." - so what does that even mean? For me, I had been terrified of being eaten alive by a shark since I was 7 or 8 years old because of some fucking B grade Hollywood flick about a "Rogue" (rubber) shark that had become a "man-eater" and I had subconsciously been running away from that ever since. So I said to my wife 12 months ago that I wanted to confront this fear and she promptly said "Well you can do it on your own, I'm not going with you."

Obviously I wore her down and she agreed to go on this journey... she is now raving about it to her friends as enthusiastically and lamely as I am here. Sorry about that by the way.

So in a vain attempt to put this whole vacation into some sort of perspective: We drove a total of just over 3500km and I personally spent over 40 hours behind the wheel and we only got home a few hours ago - yet I want to go back already! I've never had such a rewarding and enriching holiday that I really didn't want to end and this is despite the considerable effort required to reach the part of the world we visited. I shouldn't complain though because by comparison to others I met on this trip I was in my own back yard.

I honestly have to tip my hat at the many people I met that had come from as far away as the UK, Europe, the USA, South America, China, Japan and Gawd only knows how many other places. Realising as I did (from my long hours driving) how far away this wonderful place is gave me cause to admire these foreign tourists that first had to travel to the most isolated capital city in the world (As stated by Bill Bryson) during an uncertain global climate that has (somewhat ironically) seen the value Australia's currency surge well beyond parity with the USD and therefore made the cost of such a journey for most close to double the cost of just a few years ago.

Good on them for making the effort and among the many other creatures found in abundance at Ningaloo (Turtles were everywhere) for many there is one overriding reason for the journey and why it is so worth while...


...swimming with sharks, yes sharks, not just any sharks mind you, but the largest sharks in the world - the largest fish in the world for that matter! The rather poorly named Whale shark is no whale at all, it is a filter feeding shark with the proportions of a whale but seemingly with the accommodating disposition of a laid back ocean cruiser that is willing to (and even seems to enjoy) being accompanied by curious and (mostly) enchanted human beings swimming with goggles, snorkels and flippers in an effort to not only observe but to keep up with the sharks long enough to soak up the experience.

This was my first whale shark encounter below...









You can see the particles floating in the water that the sharks had come to feed on, this is an annual feast brought about by the many species of Ningaloo Reef Coral spawning which occurs on the March full moon and releases massive amounts of what are essentially eggs and sperm. This in turn brings countless numbers of tiny critters to feed on the spawn (plankton and the like) and predictably the food chain builds and brings all sorts of other feeders including the biggest fish of all - whale shark (also the manta ray.)

Of course all this gives us puny humans a predictable time and place to be able to share a short time (and it feels like sharing a part of ourselves) with these majestic creatures that cruise just below the surface while feeding but actually spend around 95% of the rest of their lives down in the deep dark places of the ocean (they have been recorded at depths of 1500 metres - close to a mile down). And despite considerable efforts being made to research these animals we still know very little about them, particularly what they do at these incredible depths and where they go.

We were lucky enough (privileged) to spend close to the maximum allocated time (1 hour as determined by the DEC) with not just one, but two whale sharks - the first was a 5-6 metre long male juvenile and the second was an 8-8.5 metre long female (young lady) whale shark. Both seemed completely unconcerned about the groups (Max 10 viewers and 2 guides are allowed with sharks and cannot get closer than 3 metres) of human swimmers that swam excitedly alongside them, if they were unhappy about our presence they would either swim away with the flick of their mighty tail or would simply dive into the depths (both our encounters occurred in waters of around 50 metres deep) and leave us flopping about on the surface. However, they did neither of these things and even seemed as curious about us as we were about them (this may be my imagination but the large female seemed to be almost laughing at us).

This is the second whale shark...


More to come later, need sleep now.

[Wraith]

Suggestion: use [shot] tags with these big pictures.

Sounds like a fun vacation!

[Timbuk2]

[termite]

Suggestion: use [shot] tags with these big pictures.

Sounds like a fun vacation!

Um yeah, sorry about that - photobucket does the auto copy img thing and I forgot to go back change the tag - mind you I would have used the old [screenshot] so probably would have failed anyway!


How serene does this photo look? Calm blue ocean baby...

Oh and Tim if you're ever in the area I could put in a good word with the owner of the camel for you - of course he was batshit crazy and claimed he was a camel whisperer that spoke to his camels with pictures in his mind! When one of the camels didn't do what his brain pictures were telling it to do he diagnosed it as being Austistic.

He was one of the strangest, funniest, craziest and most interesting people I've ever met - his camels don't have nose pegs, don't need to be restrained at all in fact, they did what he told them to do.


Ok so I have this new camera and it is a fancy-pants digital SLR so I thought I'd take a look through the "big" telescopic lens at the rocky gorges on the opposite side of the ravine (Yardie Creek in the Cape Range National Park). And to my surprise what was sittiing there all bundled up on a rock ledge?


This little guy is a black-footed rock-wallaby and it was bonus to see one, they're considered a threatened species.



This elusive behemoth is a Dugong and he was very difficult to photograph - he did a lot of dummy dives and surfacings, apparently this is normal behaviour when they are "asleep". They shut down half of their brain (including shutting one eye) and they do this semi-random zig zag pattern and false dives etc to give the impression they are awake... Apparently the closest related species to the Dugong is the Elephant (some folks actually call them sea-elephants)


Dolphins, there are lots of these aquatic jesters in Shark Bay and they are the main attraction at Monkey Mia Resort... I think they're just posers.


Lining up on the "Marlin Board" getting ready to take the plunge into the whale sharks domain - I was nervous to say the least...


Can anyone see the camel shaped coral?


This Green Sea Turtle popped up right in front of me, he was happily feeding on freshly sprouted seagrass and wasted no time getting back to his lunch after taking a deep breath. I like turtles, they're just such unco looking animals - if ever there was a critter that shouldn't have survived due its inconvenient body shape the Turtle is it!


This photo speaks for itself really....

[Being]

[Steely Glint]

Ok, bitches, it's fell time.



Whiteside and Grasmoor seen from across Loweswater.



Causey Pike.



Looking east from near the summit of Causey Pike: Scar Crags, Sail and then Crag Hill and Eel Crag in the far distance.



Facing the opposite direction from the previous, and standing at the bottom of the valley to the left. Here, you can mainly see Cat Bells and High Crags, and the eastern end of the Helvelyn range in the background.



No idea. Don't remember taking this one. Nice heather, though.



Black Crag

[Bitter Jeweler]

Lined up perfectly with the City Club logo.

[GGT]

Awesome "photos". Such an interesting thread! <yes, shot tags for big pics are nice >


It occurred to me, especially since the onset of digital photo capability on cell phones, and the millions/billions of photos up/downloaded onto social websites....that the number of people "behind the camera" has increased exponentially. And I wonder how it's changed the experience, the memory, or the value of being present in the moment, vs trying to capturing it on "film"?

Sorry if this is out of place in this thread. I get a bit confused between "photos" and "pictures", if ya know what I mean.

[earthJoker]

Not really good, with mobile phone and from the plane:



Who knows what I aimed for?

[Steely Glint]

Bridge thing.

[earthJoker]

Yeah. But I would like to know the name of it (I know it). As a hint, it was on my flight back from Lisbon.

[Steely Glint]

Bridge thing.