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The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has been run and won for another year (well nearly, still waiting for the outcome of a protest that is still in session at the time of writing this. This year saw a number of happy differences from last year:
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They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
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The wooden boat festival was tied in with the Royal Hobart Regatta. As is tradition, on the evening of the public holiday associated with the regatta, there is a fireworks display to mark the end of events.
Usually the best vantage points for the fireworks are by boat, anchored by the regatta grounds, or the surrounding shores opposite. This night while waiting for the fireworks to begin, I found that the iconic landmark of Hobart, Mt Wellington, was beautifully silhouetted against the fading light, so took a few snaps.
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What an incredibly busy weekend! Many events were on the go that would keep a photographer busy. the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the Royal Hobart Regatta, not to mention Valentine’s day as well!
I sort of managed to juggle all 3, and as a result now have quite a few photos to share over the next few weeks.
Above is a photo taken at the Wooden Boat festival from the main Pier.
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Indeed it has been nearly 3 months since my last post. How time flies. Truth of the matter is I have had some changes in my life that has meant I have had less time to spend on photography. This is not necessarily a bad thing 
This picture was recently taken from Natone Hill on Hobart’s Eastern shore, facing south. I was demonstrating how aperture, ISO and shutter speed interact to expose a photo. I still think the Tasman bridge is very pretty, but it is rare that all the lights appear to be working at any time, as demonstrated on the left of this photo.
This is possibly my last post before Christmas, so I wish everyone a safe holiday season and a happy new year.
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I was up with the Radio & Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania tonight, and decided to play with some long exposure photography for star trails while up there.
What you see in this image is a view looking over Hobart CBD and in the foreground is a 2.2 metre satellite receiver used by the club to receive television broadcasts that are typically unavailable to most people.
It’s not a fantastic star trail image as the ambient light from the city greatly reduces the contrast of the night sky, so I probably need to arrange an outing to Mt Pleasant Observatory to have try this in more favourable conditions.
This particular exposure was a little over 30 mins. No noise reduction was done on the camera and I have made some minor retouches to deal with the hot spots on the sensor.
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The reason for heading up to Mt Wellington was to take some photos of O’Grady falls. I had previously gone looking for them last year, however ended up on “long way round” track, which I abandoned halfway through the walk.
No problems finding the falls this time, I was well researched. The Wood’s Track albeit the shorter route was very steep though – what was an enjoyable walk down was a recipe for a heart attack back up. However with the wet day, and heavy cloud cover, it was perfect conditions to take photos of waterfalls.
The image really does not do justice to the falls – I would estimate them to be between 6 and 9 metres high. I also became re-acquainted with leeches, which seemed determined t suck me dry by dropping from overhanging trees. Thankfully only 1 managed to “get me” – the others I removed in time.
I feel there is potential to improve on this photo – this is the “tourist” shot many people get of the falls, however it does not really tell the story of the waterfall, so I plan to return when the weather isn’t so prone to leeches and spend more time trying to get the shot I want.
The Tasman Bridge will always be a prominent landmark in Hobart, so it’s no surprise that I take more than one photo of it. A couple of evenings ago saw a nice, sparse cloud formation ideal for longer exposure images, so I jumped in my car for an impromptu play with my favourite toy, my B+W110 filter.
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New Years Eve 2009 was spent at a friends place having a BBQ. What was not expected though was a spectacular electrical storm, one of which Hobart has not seen in a number of years. not having my own gear with me, I grabbed one of my friend’s cameras are started snapping away. Sadly I did not get any good images of lightning (though my friend did later). However I did get this fantastic sequence of images showing the heavens opening up over Hobart with a deluge of water.
Heavens open up - Hobart Deluge
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Here’s a photo from the vault, one of Salamanca place at night. I particularly like this one as the halogen lighting only serves to enhance the colours of the sandstone buildings. Salamanca Place is perhaps the most historic precinct in Hobart, with roots going back to the early days of the settlement of Tasmania.
