Trip to Bluff Knoll

My friend and I had a trip to Bluff Knoll a couple of weeks ago.

This time, I had my luck with a good weather, so I woke up early to climb up the mountain. It took me nearly 4 hours to go up to the top and come back to the car park.

It is only 1,099 meter high, but the view was great.

 

 

Trip to Stirling Range

I had a photo trip to the Stirling Range last week.

I arrived at a caravan park around 6:00 PM. I quickly set up my tent and went out to take photos of the Bluff Knoll as the sun was going down.

Next morning, I drove to Albany to see their wind power turbines. 

I have been thinking that it will be interesting to bring a group of Japanese students along with ours to Albany on a camp trip when they are visiting our school in July. 

It is a long road ahead for Japan to clean up a big mess at the Fukushima nuclear power station, and  I think it will be a good experience for the students to visit the wind power station here. It might give them something to think about possibilities of alternative energy sources for Japan's future.

On the way back to the Bluff Knoll, I stopped at the Porongurup Range to go up on a hill to do some bush walking.

I wake up at 4:30AM next morning to go up on the Bluff Knoll, but I gave it up as it was too windy and too dangerous to walk on the ridge, I thought. 

I was looking at the mountain from the car park, and my car was shaking left and right violently in the wind. I got out of the car to see what it was like, and I wasn't able to stand straight let alone holding my camera steady.

So I left the Bluff Knoll, and went up the Mount Trio instead before jumping back on the car to drive home.

Tower Hill

I went to see a strange giant rock called Tower Hill at William Bay National Park which is found on our south coast. It took about 5 hours to get there, but driving was rather enjoyable with my new Prius-C Hybrid. 

After about 30min climb on a part of a walking track, I was able to see the rock with a triangle peak at the top of a hill as the sun was coming up.  It is a custom for Japanese people to make prayers for the first sunrise of the new year, and although it was four weeks after the new year's day, it was my first sunrise of the year, so I wished our good life for another year.

The walk trail runs over the hill and there is another group of giant rocks, but I left them for the next visit.

新しく我が家に来たトヨタのPrius-C（アクアのオセアニア仕様です）で 初の遠出です。

パースから南に４３０キロの所にあるウィリアムベイという所に行って来ました。綺麗なビーチが人気の場所ですが、そのビーチを見渡す丘の上には三角形の大きな岩が立っています。

海沿いを行くトレッキングのコースの途中で丘の上に出る事ができて、そこから三角岩を近くで見る事が出来ます。岩の手前をそれると大きな一枚岩の展望台があり、綺麗な景色が一望できます。

日の出に合わせて丘の上まで行き、四週間も遅い初日の出を拝んで帰ってきました。

 

night river combing

I was on the river last night, and I found these shrimps / river prawns swimming around a shallow water.

There were lots of bait fish ranging from 2cm to 8cm.  I was looking for crabs too, but didn't see any.

Garden Frog

We found a frog in our garden today. The frog looked like not being happy by our wake up call on a cold winter morning.

寒い冬の日に寝ている所を掘り起こされたカエル。それにしても、上手く落ち葉の中に隠れているものです。魚釣りの時に、こんなに上手く隠れられたらもっと魚が釣れるだろうなあ。


EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro @ f/5.6

Heartbeat of the rainbow

I like holding trout in the water.

To trout, it must be a lousy experience, but for me, it is a time when I can feel I am being a part of the world. Fish, me, water, rocks, trees, the sky, and the light. All become connected.

When trout is resting in my hand, I can feel his heartbeat through my fingers. It is strange that the water is too cold to keep my hands in it, yet the sign of life I feel through my fingers is strong and warm.

Trout gently breathes through gills, and the strength gradually comes back to his fins. It is a time for him to swim away.

Trout are such a beautiful creatures, and I sometime feel sorry for catching them.


鱒をリーリスする時の感覚が僕は好きです。

魚にとってはとても嫌な経験でしょうが、僕にとっては、魚とか森とか岩とか水とか、自然の中に存在する物達とつながる事ができる瞬間です。

川の水はとても冷たいのに、指先にいる鱒の存在は確かなもので、不思議と温かささえも感じさせます。

僕の手の中で、鱒はゆっくりと呼吸し、尾びれには力が戻り、やがて流れに向かった泳ぎだします。

鱒はとてもきれいです。そのきれいさ故、時に釣るのが忍びなく感じます。

EF 50mm f/2.5 macro

Garden flowers part III

EF 50mm f/2.5 macro

Mushrooms and Super Mario

I found these on a river bank.

Mushrooms somehow remind me of Super Mario. I was at a primary school when it came out, and I remember the whole Japanese nation went through "Mario Craze" for sometime.

The other day, I asked kids in our school if they have played "Super Mario Bros" before. Their answer was "No".

Super Mario, Pac-Man, Yoda on the planet Dagobah, etc. They have no idea about what they've missed.

川で見つけたキノコです。ファミコン世代にとってキノコで思い出すのは、なんと言ってもスーパーマリオのクリボーです。




EF 24mm f/2.8

Test shots in the twilight

I had a chance to try Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM last week, so I went down to a local river to take a few shots just after the sunset.

The lens was showing a dark patch on the top right hand corner. I don't know if this was vignetting, or the light was just too dark on the right side when I took shots.


前から気になっていた Canon EF-S 10-22mm を借りたので、夕暮れの川で試し取りをしました。

広角レンズならではの視野の広さに感動しましたが、実際に写真を撮ってみるとレンズに余計な物が入って来るので、構図が難しいと感じました。

それと写真の右上に影が出ているのが分かると思います。　これがケラレによる物なのか、撮った時間帯による物なのかいまいち分かりませんでした。昼間に撮った写真には影は無かったと思います。

欲しいと思っていたレンズなのですが、やっぱり今まで使ってきた24mmの単焦点でより良い写真を撮れる様に努力するとします。

EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 10mm f/3.5, ISO400


EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 10mm f/3.5, ISO400


EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 22mm f/4.5, ISO400


Canon EF 24mm f/2.8, at f/3.2, ISO400 on a tripod, cropped

Garden flowers part II

Some shots of flowers again.

今日も暑い夜なので、涼しげな花の写真をアップロードしました。








EF 24mm f/2.8 & EF 50mm f/2.5 macro