Author: Vincent

August 19, 2021

Pic of the Day – Red-backed Fairywren

The venerable Red-backed Fairywren, a common bird around eastern and northern Australia.

It has been a long time between updates on this website, life has a habit of getting in the way, as does Covid. Hopefully moving forward, I can get some regular content happening.

Today I managed to get to my favorite birding spot Oxley Commons Creek.

The red-backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus) is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern coastlines from the Kimberley in the northwest to the Hunter Region in New South Wales. The male adopts a striking breeding plumage, with a black head, upperparts and tail, and a brightly coloured red back and brown wings. The female has brownish upperparts and paler underparts.
Wikipedia
May 31, 2021

Pic of the Day – Striated pardalote

A trip to Eagleby Wetlands today yielded one of the pardalote family of birds. I went back a couple of times, and this little fellow was there both times.

The striated pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) is the least colourful and most common of the four pardalote species. Other common names include pickwick, wittachew and chip-chip.^[2] It is a very small, short-tailed bird that is more often heard than seen, foraging noisily for lerps and other small creatures in the treetops.

Wikipedia
April 14, 2021

Pic of the Day – Forest kingfisher

Another birding day today. I am pleased to add to my collection this bird which has lovely colors.

My collection stands at 25.

The forest kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii), also known as the Macleay’s or blue kingfisher, is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae, also known as tree kingfishers. It is a predominantly blue and white bird. It is found in Indonesia, New Guinea and coastal eastern and Northern Australia. Like many other kingfishers, it hunts invertebrates, small frogs, and lizards.
Wikipedia

Fujifilm XT-4, 1/1000sec at f8, ISO3200, 560mm (XF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR + 1.4TC)
April 11, 2021

Pic of the Day – Brahminy kite

Morning walk at Oxley Creek Common, not much in the way of bird activity, but did manage to capture a new bird for my collection.

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), formerly known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands, where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown body plumage contrasting with their white head and breast which make them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.
Wikipedia

1/1000 sec at f /8 ISO 640, 560mm (XF100-400mm f4.5 – 5.6 R LM OIS WR + 1.4TC)
April 4, 2021

Olive-Backed Oriole

It’s been a while since I have gotten active with my camera.

Now that the home reno is done, Covid and the lockdowns are hopefully going away I’ll be able to get out a bit more.
January 21, 2021

Fujifilm Dynamic Range Explained

Pal2tech made an excellent video explaining how Fujifilm Dynamic Range options work, and when best to use them. Also, the pros and cons, cause like with everything in life there is a tradeoff.
December 7, 2020

Fujifilm Simulation KODAK TRI-X 400
When I was on vacation up in Townsville a few months ago I decided to try out some film simulations. Below is few examples of the KODAK TRI-X 400.
Surprisingly good for straight of the camera. The settings are below.

Acros (+Y, +R, +G)
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: 0
Shadow: +3
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +1
Clarity: +4
Grain Effect: Strong, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight,+9 Red & -9 Blue
ISO: ISO 1600 – 12800
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)
November 9, 2020

Holiday 2020 – Carnarvon Gorge

Some pics from our time in Carnarvon Gorge, which is located about 720km north west of Brisbane. Carnarvon Gorge features towering sandstone cliffs, vibrantly colored side gorges, diverse flora and fauna and Aboriginal rock art.

Our plan for the day was to walk to the end of the main walking track and on the way back do all the sidetracks.

This was a major undertaking for us since we are not the fittest people around. According to my gps tracker we covered 30km. We nearly had to be carried back to our car we were that sore.

Even though we struggled towards the end of the day we felt it was a worthwhile effort with plenty to see along the way, lots of river crossings, Aboriginal art, and beautiful scenery it’s obvious why this is a popular destination for the tourists.
November 2, 2020

Deep Dive into Fujifilms Film Simulations

Fujifilm film simulations is one of the features that attracted me to the camera system last year.

Here is a very in-depth article about everything you wanted to know about the subject of film simulations.

Imaging-resource.com
October 22, 2020

Pic of the Day – Mango Man

Had a short holiday to Townsville over the weekend.

One of the things that drew me to the Fujifilm camera system is the film simulations you can get straight out of the camera.

This is a JPG straight out of the camera, just with some minor adjustments and a small crop. The film simulation is called Rockwell (velvia).

The settings are below, I have changed the color to +2, I found the recommended setting a bit too much.

Velvia
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -1
Color: +4 (changed to +2)
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +4
Clarity: +5
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
White Balance: Auto, +1 Red & -1 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
September 21, 2020

Holiday 2020 – Surat

Surat 7 September.

We stayed in Surat for one complete day, just so we could have a look around. It was Sunday so not much open, not that there was a lot around anyway. This is a town that has seen busier days, after saying that we found the locals friendly and helpful, the town clean and tidy.

Below are some pictures from an antique car museum, at Glenmorgan, called Montys Garage. It’s right on the main road so you can’t miss it. Unfortunately, it’s closed as it appears the original owner has died, and the estate is in dispute. This is what we heard from a Surat local.

We also decided to drive back to Myall Park Botanical Gardens which we passed yesterday on our way to Surat. Now when you say Botanical Gardens, I think flowers, bees, birds, lots of color. Well this place is not like that. It’s all about trees, Australian trees. With only one volunteer on site, he’s done an excellent job considering how big the place is. You don’t walk around the gardens here, you drive around. Catherine & I don’t really know much about tree species, we found this place to be of limited appeal.

One idea to keep in mind is that you can stay there overnight or longer, they have cabins, camping facilities at a very reasonable cost.

On our way out of the Botanical Gardens we came across a water hole/dam, which to us looked more promising than the Botanical Gardens themselves. Lush and green with wildlife.

Back to our campsite in Surat, Fisherman’s Park. where we enjoyed a nice sunset with a few beers.

Tomorrow onto Carnarvon Gorge.

P.S Sorry for the photos being out of order. I tried to do this on the road, but with an unreliable internet connection it proved to be next to impossible.
September 6, 2020

Holiday – Brisbane to Surat

Part one

With a 5 hour drive ahead if us, we set off from Brisbane at 8.30am, hoping to get to our destination by 2pm Google says allow about 5 hours for the drive. As is usual for us, a few stops along the way happened, with some pleasant surprises.

Our first pit stop was at Toowoomba, where we stretched our legs and swapped driving duties.

Second pit stop was at Tara where we purchased gas and toilet stop in some dodgy old falling apart loos. Swapped drivers where our next stop was Glenmorgan where there was an old car museum. We later found out that the owner had died a year earlier and the family is fighting over the estate. Apparently the museum has been closed for a year, but since it is on the side of the road you can just walk though it.

We then drove past a Botanical garden sign, and since we where running behind time, we pushed on to Surat. We planned on going back the next day to have a look. How can a Botanical garden exist in a place with next to no water? We were curious..

After that we saw some Emu’s on the side of the road, stopped to take some pics, not the easies as the are very shy.

we managed to get to Surat at about 3.30pm, time enough to set up and have a beer or two.