If I ever get struck by lightning and killed, I imagine my religious friends might consider my parting ironic in the face of my unbelief. Let it be known therefore, that one's chances of being killed by lightning are greatly increased by standing under it for hours with a metal tripod, camera and umbrella taking frame after frame of darkness, hoping for that lucky strike. Here's one from a few moments ago, this storm is rolling around above me right now. My local email subscribers will know exactly what I'm talking about!
File size : 227153 bytes
File date : 2010:01:28 22:03:51
Date/Time : 2010:01:28 20:01:07
Resolution : 1200 x 800
Flash used : No
Focal length : 18.0mm (35mm eq.: 103mm)
CCD width : 6.26mm
Exposure time: 14.000 s
Aperture : f/8.0
ISO equiv. : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure : Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
It's a beautiful beach, with a unique bay, an iconic lighthouse and a wonderful community but my favourite feature is catching the smiles of passing strangers from anywhere. Even when they are walking alone, it's hard for them to suppress.
This is a close up photo of a long since dead starfish. This is less than 1cm in total and shows the structure and texture of the carbonate endoskeleton around the mouth. You might be surprised to learn that starfish also have microscopic eyes on the end of each arm that allows them to detect light and movement.
Not the first one that got away. One of the difficulties with lightning photography is having the exposure set dark enough so that if you get a big strike, it doesn't blow out like in this photo. That means that some of the smaller, more subtle forks get lost in darkness and you end up taking lots of dark frames. But when you get ''the money shot'' it should be crisp and well exposed, and not a vague glow like this!
Apparently there is little difference between Grasshoppers and Locusts, and their migratory / swarming nature is the only true distinction we make. I suppose the term locust is like the term "weed" in that we chose to ascribe it to the species whose success we don't enjoy. At the end of the day, weeds are still plants, and locusts are still grasshoppers. Although I suspect this little one pictured is a "Caledia captiva" grasshopper nymph, I was tempted to call it a locust since it's parents are currently decimating my basil.
The Byron Arts Classic is an art award and exhibition that began as the "Easter Arts Classic" but has not run for about 10 years. It's return this year saw over 350 entries from local artists who are only eligible to enter by virtue of their residence in and around Byron Bay, Lismore & Ballina. The community centre had it's work cut out trying to display so many works in the space, but did very well and the opening night (pictured) was an excellent community event.
byron bay blog. a rainbow flavoured monologue from byron bay, nsw australia
What an eventful week in the bay. I don’t even need to resort to pithy editorial about the lifestyle-rich, wage-poor region for your reading pleasure, instead here are 3 juicy news morsels for you.
Tragedy this week in Ballina on the South beach, just over the wall. A man jumped into the surf to rescue his wife who had been caught in a rip which ultimately claimed them both, their children helpless on the shore. The community has been left shocked, and reminded of the dangers of powerful ocean which should never be taken for granted. National news media and local collections have been set up to raise some money for the now orphaned children.
In other news, a 3m white pointer was spotted yesterday at Watego’s beach (near the lighthouse) closing the beach temporarily. Sharks are common around Julian Rocks, a popular diving spot off the bay and attacks are rare, but it’s always good to be cautious on such a popular beach!
Finally I just wanted to repost Will Anderson’s recent tweet about the sad end to Ballina’s Big Prawn. He (she?) will be missed greatly. The prawn that is, not Will Anderson.
@Wil_Anderson: News: Ballina’s Big Prawn to be demolished. As a tribute they should throw away the head and the tail first…
Ooo look at me, talking about celebrity sightings in Byron Bay! I feel like Perez Hilton, except less gay. So Twitter was all aflutter this afternoon after @sportsgirl comfirmed that Lily had been shopping at their Byron Bay store today (18th Jan 2010) and apparently buying up big. Lily Allen is in town of course before she embarks on a national circuit with the Big Day Out festival.
I put this snippet from ABC’s Mediawatch online 2 years ago, and it was removed by You Tube after a copyright complaint from “The Campaign Palace” a large Australian advertising firm responsible for the Bonds TV Ad. I didn’t think much more about it until I saw that my You Tube account was being threatened with suspension over it.
So I did what 99% of people don’t do… I wrote a counter response to You Tube arguing that in fact ABC’s Mediawatch is the copyright holder (not the Campaign Palace) and that they, and I were using the footage as part of fair use, in this case as criticism.
Again, I forgot about it until I received an email in my mailbox yesterday saying You Tube agreed with me and have re-instated the video! A great day for internet copy-fighters! Enjoy “Marina Amphetamine”.
What a wonderful christmas present for everyone in the bay who likes to get their rock on for the festive season. With little warning, the Great Northern advertised and starting selling tickets to a single show on the 23rd Dec which sold out pretty quickly.
Let’s go back a step though… before Wolfmother broke out with JJJ’s album of the year and their classic zeppelin-esqe single “Woman” they played a free show at the Great Northern to a fairly small crowd. Fast forward another crazy 18 months and the same band is playing huge outdoors festivals, stadiums and generally scorching the USA circuit. Then we come back to Byron Bay a little over a year ago where the band announces they are breaking up after a final show at the Splendor in the Grass festival.
After the original lineup fell apart, Andrew Stockdale got a new group of players together and recorded Cosmic Egg… in Federal, not far from Byron Bay. What is it with Byron Bay? Andrew hasn’t kept his enthusiasm for the town unknown, and has openly expressed his desire to buy a house here one day. It’s not uncommon to see Stockdale’s fro surfing the pass, or around town with his wife and daughter.
But I digress. The album’s out, and the new lineup are set to crank as touring begins for 2010, so the Byron show felt like a rebirth of sorts, a small local gig for an adoptive local getting his new band ready for a big year. They didn’t miss a beat, and the loud progressive guitar riffs were tight and thumping. I came out covered in sweat and smiling. If this gig is any indication of the coming year for Wolfmother, the new band have nothing to worry about.
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