Christmas Lights
I was driving through Eleebana on Friday evening and lo-and-behold, what did I see?
This house!
But don’t worry, all those carbon emissions are going to a good cause. This house is an entrant in the 2012 Santa’s Warehouse Christmas Lights Competition, and proceeds go to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Nobbys near Sunset
Just a few shots taken late Monday along Nobbys Breakwall.
I was playing around with a Hoya NDX400 neutral density filter….it’s almost as dark as welding glass!
The Stone Fox @ Hamilton Station
I got a few shots of The Stone Fox last night at Hamilton Station Hotel…..these guys from Brisbane play hard rock with a few stoner / psychedelic sounds thrown in the mix as well.
Fat as Buttering Again
Fat as Butter was on again this year on the foreshore, and I was able to get some shots once more. You can read about the gig elsewhere, so I’ll just leave a few of the more interesting shots….
1929 Indian
Chicks Who Love Guns
Marianas Trench
Hey Geronimo
Wheatus
Grinspoon
Pond
Good Charlotte
Winterheat in Civic Park
The third part of Winterheat 2012 was held in Civic Park tonight. What better opportunity to get some interesting shots?
The Cultural Centre-Captain Cook Fountain-City Hall axis works well at night, especially with the extra pyrotechnics. (and no Laman St. fig trees).
I tried for about an hour (without much luck) to get some decent candid people shots. It was pretty busy and hard to be inconspicuous, so most of my intended ‘candid’ shots failed, with the subject instead staring at me with a ‘why-is-he-pointing-that-camera-at-me’ face. I was going round in circles chasing shots, and eventually got fed up and instead stood in one spot and let the shots come to me.
An event like this is probably most fun for the kids.
It was cold for Newcastle, but warm enough for people to have fun with a snow machine.
As always, young kids make great subjects, especially with lighting such as this.
HMAS Newcastle
HMAS Newcastle is an Adelaide Class guided missile frigate, and is in her namesake town for a few days. I thought I’d get a few shots.
The queue was about 300 people and 1 hour long.
What you see in the next 3 shots is an RIM-67 Standard missile, which is a long-range missile that can be used in both surface-air (anti-aircraft) and surface-surface (anti-ship) modes. It’s painted blue because it’s a training round and lacks a warhead and propellant. The launcher moves insanely fast, and in the picture below, the missile is actually moving upward from below decks onto the launcher. The entire process of loading the missile from below, rotating the launcher 180 degrees, and then depressing into the firing position takes about 2 seconds. I suppose every moment counts in warfare.
The next shot was taken from the bow, and you can see the Vertical Launching System. This fires the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, which is a short range surface-air and surface-surface missile. Yes, the ship was listing a degree or two!
A typical corridor below decks. What I like about warships is that every single thing visible has a definite purpose, and that everything is labelled or has a placard next to it. There is absolutely no decoration. They’re a plumbers’ and electricians’ delight!
Visitors weren’t allowed through this doorway. From its position in the ship (basically underneath the bridge), I’m guessing it leads to the Combat Information Centre.
Onto the bridge. Still has a rather old-fashioned compass binnacle.
This is the helmsman’s seat.
Then up onto the top deck.
Newcastle has two launches: this is the larger one.
This is the Otobreda 76 mm gun. It’s located amidships on the upper deck. To give you an idea of size, the round standing on end is about 1 metre high. Hard to imagine that a gun this big can fire up to 85 rounds per minute.
The business end.
Here’s the Close-In Weapons System, located at the aft end of the upper deck. It’s the ship’s last line of defence against incoming missiles or aircraft. It’s uses the same gun as the Air Force’s F/A-18s. I asked the sailor pictured how often he gets to ‘fire’ it; he said about once a month, and sometimes they train against drones or targets towed by a LearJet. Of course he doesn’t really fire it; it’s pretty much automatic.
Looking down onto the boarding ramp.
I’m not really sure what this antenna is for.
On top of this tower is the sea search radar.
On the flight deck the crew had set up a sausage sizzle and weapon displays.
Ferny Fernleigh Track
This was taken at Whitebridge. You can see the piers of the old bridge (the White Bridge) in front the newer one, which was built in 1971.
East Coast Low
Newcastle’s just had it’s first East Coast Low of the winter, so I thought it would be a good idea to get some shots of the post storm seas this morning.
Here’s Bar Beach, taken from the new lookout at the bottom edge of the carpark.
And a couple of shots at Merewether Baths…
Steam, Steel & Grease
This weekend marked the 27th Hunter Valley Steamfest, and of course it’s a prime opportunity for photography as well, even if you’re not a trainspotter.
Given the subject matter, I have explored the use of some desaturation and high-contrast in these images. A high-pass filter magnifies the effect further.
The following 3 images were taken at Newcastle Station. This old man was the driver for excursion train to Newcastle on Saturday.
The train about to depart for Maitland.
Lots of brass and gauges in the cab.
This is the valve-gear of the excursion train to Dungog, taken at Maitland on Sunday.
This is the back face of the firebox of a traction engine, taken at Maitland on Sunday.
Just some old tools on display, taken at Maitland on Sunday.
The Photography Exhibition
Today I was sitting at the desk on behalf of Newcastle Photographic Society, at the photography exhibition at Newcastle Show.
It was pretty chilled-out, just people-watching and answering questions, but I did manage to sneak this shot in while I was doing it.
The Demise of the Laman Sreet Fig Trees: Part 4
Well, some 3 months after the chainsaws made their first appearance, it seems the Lama Street fig trees are finally on their way down. At around 4 AM on the morning of January 31st 2012, the chainsaws re-appeared, along with some 60-odd police from the riot squad.
There was a bit of a squabble, with some of the barricading coming down, but the situation soon settled with the police forming a cordon and the protesters mostly maintaining a silent vigil.
It’s predicted that the whole operation is going to take a couple of weeks.
Already, the southern vista from Civic Park is starting to take a radically new form…
New Year’s Eve 2011
Just a few shots from New Year’s Eve….
I caught the ferry over to Stockton where things are a bit more family friendly….
Night Fishing at Carrington
I went down to Carrington last night to test my new cable release and found a few people wetting a line on the beach next to the boat ramp. I think fishing upstream of Cowper St. Bridge is technically not allowed, but these people were locals and I’m guessing don’t take much notice of NSW Fisheries regulations. I think the only regular thing here is a slab of Tooheys.
Anyway, here’s a reverse angle showing the bridge.
