Public Address | Cafe | Capture: Got the blues

Robert Urquhart

Sun, 26 May 2013 20:24:39 +1200

And one from my autumn morning photoshoot – I <3 my camera's zoom

Jos

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:58:11 +1200

There is still blue to be had

Chris Waugh

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:26:05 +1200

Thanks, Chris. That wikipedia article gives a Chinese name 雪松/xuěsōng – "snow pine" – and the trees often have little name tags. I must go and check.

I was curious to read:

General cultivation is limited to areas with mild winters, with trees frequently killed by temperatures below about -25°C…

ChrisW

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:09:25 +1200

Don't know what kind of tree this is, but it seems to be trying to imitate those Norfolk pines and their crosses.
The foliage detail isn't very clear, but still it seems very likely they are young deodar (deodar cedar, Wikipedia).
And though I've never made the comparison with Norfolk…

Chris Waugh

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:50:59 +1200

Don't know what kind of tree this is, but it seems to be trying to imitate those Norfolk pines and their crosses.

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:56:40 +1200

Vertigo warning...
here's some blue (with exploding balloons) at the edge of the atmosphere...
http://vimeo.com/60129284

ChrisW

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:23:30 +1200

in the clear light of morning
Indeed – isn't it lovely!

ChrisW

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:20:16 +1200

blue Pacific – loading logs in Gisborne today.
The bird is not your common or butcher’s shop gull, but a Caspian tern (distinctly uncommon).
Caspians are relatively common in Aotearoa-NZ – I'm not sure what that gull that is and am disinclined to check.
Morena Islander. Cropped/edited version of the…

Nora Leggs

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:06:04 +1200

Nora’s birds are not Caspians

That is true, those birds are definitely ordinary old gulls. But in the clear light of morning I see small bird in this picture of Chris's. The caspian that set off all the discussion? : )

Islander

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:46:13 +1200

I am impressed ( and have been for the past 40 years that I've lived on the West Coast/Tai Poutini) by the extraordinary salvage work the NZFS has done, still does-kia kaha! Kia toa!

ChrisW

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:32:59 +1200

Thanks for your logs, they're helping cut down erosion, flooding, desertification and sandstorms up here.
And they were doing not a bad job here when still attached to their roots. Perhaps contrary to the impression given by the photo.
This is half of the Tarndale 'Slip' (gully) two weeks ago.…

Islander

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:18:10 +1200

Chris- Nora's birds are not Caspians. I love Nora's postings – but those arnt Caspians (and Caspians arnt particularly rare-) cheers n/n Islander

ChrisW

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:08:24 +1200

Yes, Caspian terns are very distinctive in appearance and behaviour, but you had only a tiny image to assess there. This was the best photo of it I managed today – oddly against that extraordinarily messy background of (another) ship's gear and a fertiliser silo – so badly cluttered I…

Islander

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:06:23 +1200

es, the romance of the blue Pacific – loading logs in Gisborne today.
The bird is not your common or butcher’s shop gull, but a Caspian tern (distinctly uncommon).

Caspians are relatively common in Aotearoa-NZ – I'm not sure what that gull that is and am disinclined to check. Nightie…

Chris Waugh

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:59:13 +1200

?power station cooling towers?

Yes. Coal fired, though, so not too scary in the "what if it goes bang?" sense, but certainly worrying in the "what is it doing to my daughter's lungs?" sense. And it's expanding. But we've got 20 million people at least to power in this city…

Islander

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:35:30 +1200

The bird is not your common or butcher’s shop gull, but a Caspian tern (distinctly uncommon).

Caspians have blackish caps & red bills – that is emphatically not a taranui
(which is a bird common here, & I love for its hurtling yet- studied dive on its prey-)

ChrisW

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:33:16 +1200

Very summery in a blue Pacific sort of way.

More activity in the harbour and river-mouth. Even the signs are blue, though the wording is clearly ambiguous …

ChrisW

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:14:44 +1200

Yes, the romance of the blue Pacific – loading logs in Gisborne today.
The bird is not your common or butcher’s shop gull, but a Caspian tern (distinctly uncommon).

Lotsa blues, varied with assorted rust etc. The signal station shed looks like it’s being rammed, or perhaps hammered?

ChrisW

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:59:29 +1200

Tree planting, China style. But look at that sky!
Indeed, nice sky for a backdrop to the crane. Meanwhile, a quarter of the way around the Pacific, another crane against a blue sky in Gisborne this very afternoon was handlng a bundle of trees at the inverse end of the…

Nora Leggs

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:04:03 +1200

Something about the colouring on the wall makes it seem to my eyes like there are ghosts standing in front of it.

Couldn’t see that at first glance, but then…… spooky.

OK, so this isn’t just about blueness either, but more about this group of gulls hanging round the back…

Chris Waugh

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:05:58 +1200

Tree planting, China style. But look at that sky!

Great light and vivid colours thanks to the spring winds. And a high of 27, too.

Guanyin enjoying the sun. Something about the colouring on the wall makes it seem to my eyes like there are ghosts standing in front of…

ChrisW

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:47:44 +1200

I like this stack of blue ridges, smoothly curved to match the powerlines, that I often see when looking northwest up one of my neighbourhood streets. This at x12 zoom – the far ridge is almost 1000 m high and 49 km away – on a warm day earlier in…

ChrisW

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:38:30 +1200

Further to my earlier post on this Blue thread on Norfolk pine crosses – here’s a fine set against a blue sky in Gisborne’s Taruheru cemetery. The headstone is a tall one backing onto my maternal grandfather’s grave. This was on Anzac Day, with a fresh breeze blowing such that…

JacksonP

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:34:30 +1200

Sky stencil, Te Atatu.

"chris"

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:13:31 +1200

Castles made of sand

Nora Leggs

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:38:35 +1200

Still a bit of room for blue – and parched gold

ChrisW

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:53:20 +1200

Yesterday
interestingly dull
greys prevailed here

Until late afternoon
textured blues emerged
in the northern sky

And in the west
a bolt of blue lightning
sundered favourite trees.
Or is it land and sea
Pelorus Sound-like
through forested hills?

ChrisW

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:49:52 +1200

Yesterday blue sky was glimpsed through a hole in the cloud...
It took me a while to sort this out –
That’s it – looks like the product of a damaged hole-puncher at work on the grey clouds, complete with hanging chad highlighted.

Nora Leggs

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 08:38:49 +1200

Must've been quite some wind to clear up your sky like that!

Yesterday blue sky was glimpsed through a hole in the cloud...

Chris Waugh

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:26:12 +1200

Nevermind the streetscape, check out that sky, thanks to the spring winds.

Jackie Clark

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 06:53:14 +1200

I thought this would be particularly apt for this thread. It's not my photo – it comes from this website. – but I do like it, very much.

Geoff Lealand

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:08:47 +1200

More blue skies in California, this time from Hearst Castle in San Simeon –truly a monument to hubris. Note the cabbage tree! I also spotted a manuka in flower.

Sofie Bribiesca

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:56:55 +1200

Couple of old shots.

Sofie Bribiesca

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:32:04 +1200

Blue lagoon. This lil’ piggy ran away…

from lucy's Birthday.
Blue sky

Islander

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:25:25 +1200

characterful face to something quintessentially of here, emerging from the dark.
And, a beautiful tree that is food both to us – and the birds-

ChrisW

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:08:32 +1200

Even when spiky-looking in silhouette, cabbage trees/ti kouka have never seemed fierce to me. Though I can imagine thinking this one perhaps just a little spooky.

This an unexpected appearance of a ti kouka next door, emerging in longish exposure photograph of early dawn in November, over my woodshed roof.…

"chris"

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:54:21 +1200

I love those days that can't quite make up their mind, those ti kouka look fierce enough to scare even the most belligerent weather away.

ChrisW

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:35:47 +1200

Thanks chris – turns out after another 5 mm of rain this afternoon I could meet the challenge here, after your musical interlude – bitsa blue sky above with cabbage tree/ti kouka

and lotsa blue sky low in the northwest with Norfolk pine.

"chris"

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:29:19 +1200

Blue thread doesn’t deserve to die – but here’s a challenge, where are the blue skies today?

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:31:05 +1200

Bluebins...

ChrisW

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:09:42 +1200

Blue thread doesn’t deserve to die – but here’s a challenge, where are the blue skies today?

Don’t think we’ve had any like this traditional one, blue sky incidental but multiple blue ridges off into the distance.
Northeast from the Gisborne backcountry on Sunday. Arowhana the bold peak at left,…

Jos

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:19:11 +1200

Hell yes, i love my silly fifty with tubes!

Here's some soft blue

Nora Leggs

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:02:26 +1200

Nice tui (s)

Here’s a pair of monarch pairs….

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:58:04 +1200

Still got this one stuck up on the wall since 2007, it's a bit faded now. I love how when you see them do stuff like this you realise how lightweight birds are – that's a very thin twig of bottlebrush its clinging too.

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:53:38 +1200

Cheap Canon EF-50mm f1.8 lens and extension tubes with handheld flash – surprisingly good for macros.

JacksonP

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:49:22 +1200

Royal Blue.

Shot Bruce. That's a stunner.

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:39:15 +1200

Royal Blue.

Michael Bodle

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:09:15 +1200

Thanks Nora.

I love the masts at Westhaven. It's my favourite spot to take photos at the moment.

Michael Bodle

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:04:50 +1200

Some blue, some gold, and a bird (not in flight though).

Sofie Bribiesca

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:00:39 +1200

Just blue

Sofie Bribiesca

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:43:57 +1200

Old Blue
New Blue

Sofie Bribiesca

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:40:33 +1200

Sky blue

Sofie Bribiesca

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:33:56 +1200

Kinda blue.

Nora Leggs

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:01:39 +1200

They are a great bunch of photos… they do kind of bring on the feeling of the lonely droning of flying though. Especially like the scratchy window shots, and the propeller shot too.

Here’s dusk on the ground in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
And Greenland from the sky some years…

Michael Lakeman

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:26:42 +1200

or is that the little window bubble?A couple in there with the full moon – one of dawn over Taranaki, and one at dusk over the Sierra Nevada in California – just like yours from Westhaven :)

Nora Leggs

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:58:54 +1200

And two more from wintery Westhaven

Nora Leggs

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:58:20 +1200

catching the “belt of venus” at sunrise

nice.... I like the plane shot with the tiny moon in it too....or is that the little window bubble?

cool blue and gold from nearer the ground

Nora Leggs

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:19:58 +1200

Bumble-bee blue.

One of the big bumbles. They don't like being stalked with a camera very much.

Bruce Buckman

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:55:23 +1200

One for the accidental images file; the tui took off just as I shot. Tui, blue skies and flame tree, Russell Bay of Islands, 2006.

Nora Leggs

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:56:23 +1200

It is indeed side of the building all tiny tiled.

Kyle Matthews

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:14:47 +1200

Blue buildings, blue sky

What's that second one of Nora? I can't tell if it's the side of the building or a tiled floor or something else.

Michael Lakeman

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:11:13 +1200

I spend an inordinate amount of time in airplanes and one way I try to keep sane while flying is to document the view out the window. I put it all up on my tumblr, http://theviewfromthewindowseat.tumblr.com/. Lots of blue, with some crimson, peach and generous smatterings of white too. This…

RaggedJoe

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:35:42 +1200

Aldermans again, in the faaar distance, playing with panorama mode on iphone

RaggedJoe

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:33:13 +1200

Alderman Islands, Jan 2013

Nora Leggs

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:23:03 +1200

a frigid norwester, but a beautiful sky

nice... magnolias look so good against blue sky...

Chris Waugh

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:42:46 +1200

One of those China moments... smog-blue sky, massive hole where a row of restaurants was not so long ago, cement still damp on that new fence.

And this morning, a frigid norwester, but a beautiful sky.

Lilith __

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:45:14 +1200

A mirage to call one's own, why thank you Ben! :-)
And thanks, Nora.
What varied and unexpected delights in this thread!

BenWilson

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:49:12 +1200

A bit of blue, but a lot of mirage, just for Lilith. From Cheltenham Beach. Tamaki Drive can't be seen at all, the whole cliffline disappears into the sea. And check out the left-most yacht. It was a scorching hot, humid day, hence the sad lack of blue in the…

Nora Leggs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:47:06 +1200

Blue-tiful Brighton

Blue-tiful indeed! The sky looks painted in the top picture : )

Lilith __

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:45:25 +1200

[redacted, must have been a transient glitch]

Lilith __

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:39:51 +1200

Blue-tiful Brighton, this afternoon.

Nora Leggs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:57:54 +1200

What – the bottoms of the barrels??!

Enjoying ChrisW and Bruce Buckman's Mediterranean diversion and thinking must pull the scanner out.

Jos

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:30:13 +1200

Those are amazing Nora!

Bruce Buckman

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:21:26 +1200

This is fun. Discovering all these pics I never did much with from years ago. I've now done a panorama of Valletta harbour, with the combined blues of sky and sea.

Hilary Stace

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:20:19 +1200

This morning I drove past a deep blue and very still Lake Taupo contrasting with a dramatic blue sky and purpley distant mountains, all strikingly juxtaposed with the bleached out lake surrounds (it is very, very dry in central NZ). But sadly no camera.

Bruce Buckman

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:34:14 +1200

And here's a bit of Valletta harbour on Malta with both blue sky and blue Mediterranean

Bruce Buckman

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:12:27 +1200

At the entrance to the citadel of Victoria, known by its old name Rabat by islanders, on the island of Gozo, Malta, in 2008.

Nora Leggs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:07:03 +1200

Blue buildings, blue sky

Nora Leggs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:05:31 +1200

False alarm

Blue pond in strange surround

Nora Leggs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:51:53 +1200

Seems like I’m scraping the bottom of the blue barrel now…

ChrisW

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:15:30 +1200

Visualising young Norfolk pine tops as crosses really ‘struck home’ to me a few years ago. First this three-dimensional cross on a church dome at an active 1600-year-old Syriac Christian monastery in southeastern Turkey, where crosses and churches are rather uncommon. (But there’s something of a match to the cross-star…

JacksonP

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:35:36 +1200

Duck blue.

JacksonP

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:34:37 +1200

Enjoying all these blues.

We went for an over-nighter at Orere Pt camping ground. Sunset swim for the last day of daylight saving, then up at sparrow fart for first light.

ChrisW

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:29:51 +1200

Seeing stars: I noticed the stars in the Norfolk pines for the first time not long ago
As well as stars when seen from that angle, young ones are topped by a cross when seen more side-on or from a distance. This one from my doorstep though 300 m away,…

Jos

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:15:40 +1200

Nice blues, the stilt shot especially

I played with a glass vase today

Nora Leggs

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:23:08 +1200

what a lovely calming image!

Michael Bodle

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:04:55 +1200

I managed to catch some blue sky this morning.

Chris Waugh

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:33:29 +1300

Another couple of international shots, then. Beijing, about 9am today.

Hebe

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:43:18 +1300

Basilica in better days

Nora Leggs

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:24:54 +1300

Gate to the playground, Villa de Leyva

Brilliant – international blue skies....... Chile! Colombia

Seattle California China.....

ktktk8

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:05:58 +1300

Sunset over someones train collection, Lago de Tota, Colombia

ktktk8

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:04:35 +1300

Gate to the playground, Villa de Leyva

ktktk8

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:03:51 +1300

Church at nightfall in Villa de Leyva, Colombia

ktktk8

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:02:29 +1300

Atacama Desert stretching away from the monument above

ktktk8

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:01:33 +1300

Tropic of Capricorn, North of Chile

Nora Leggs

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:59:21 +1300

AK Domain….. this morning, after the rain...

gremlins, this post had disappeared, and so.... i reposted.....

Nora Leggs

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:12:41 +1300

AK domain this morning (after the rain)

Bruce Buckman

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 10:07:44 +1300

Bombs away. Stilt makes a bombing run on photographer.

Michael Lakeman

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 06:08:27 +1300

But some days, there's not a cloud in the sky, and the blue is so strong it almost hurts.

Michael Lakeman

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:32:20 +1300

Although even when some of the sky is blue, there's often clouds lurking, even directly at sea-level.

Michael Lakeman

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:31:02 +1300

...and then I realized there are at least one or two clear days each year. Last 4th of July we were lucky with the weather. "Oh say can you see....?"

Michael Lakeman

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:29:11 +1300

Great theme. Coming from Seattle, I thought I would be at a disadvantage on this subject. Generally our skies look like this. Blue, but not the clear azure of the original intent...

Jos

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:18:34 +1300

What a nice blue thread, it had escaped my notice...

Bruce Buckman

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:57:05 +1300

Blue skies, wind and cabbage trees, Hawkes Bay 2011.

JacksonP

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:44:59 +1300

This one's a bit old hat. Jan 2009.

Sorry, not blue at all. I was distracted by the volcano.

Still a great photo Carol. ;-)

JacksonP

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:43:28 +1300

More wispy blues.

Welly on a good day (today) :)

Stunning Alex. Hard to get that reflection from Welly Harbour, usually.

Robert Urquhart

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:04:18 +1300

Antonio Hall?

Indeed. I head up the volunteer team trying to put some life back into the place / slow down the decay a bit.

Nora Leggs

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:03:25 +1300

Pittosporum blue

Alex Efimoff

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:36:04 +1300

Another one: blue + green/yellow

Alex Efimoff

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:35:02 +1300

Welly on a good day (today) :)

Carol Stewart

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:02:57 +1300

Sorry, not blue at all. I was distracted by the volcano.

Carol Stewart

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:00:51 +1300

Mt Ruapehu crater lake, Dec 2006 (before the breakout lahar)

Hilary Stace

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:53:13 +1300

And on a hot summer day through the windscreen

Hilary Stace

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:52:24 +1300

Mt Ruapehu winter blue sky

Hebe

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:37:19 +1300

Antonio Hall?

JacksonP

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:35:28 +1300

Musical interlude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTWUH9ZrRy0

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:41:39 +1300

From some weeks ago when skies were still so blue —

buterflabatics

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:40:31 +1300

better post some of them…

That top one looks sort of Old Master painterly.

Robert Urquhart

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:46:44 +1300

I took some photos for this thread – better post some of them…

Geoff Lealand

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:10:38 +1300

Riverside, California skies (yesterday);

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:03:18 +1300

Well now that I've gone and had a look at a bunch of my attempts to get fantails on the wing down at Hatape last winter, I discover this shot I didn't even know I had, which appears to show a fantail just a split second away from swallowing an…

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:18:48 +1300

nice!

took this in san francisco, and didn’t even notice the hummingbird till i got home…

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:10:26 +1300

they have a certain something. If only they looked that way on purpose

I'm always happy with those shots... Jackson.... another thread "It was meant to look like that..." : )

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:10:10 +1300

... although that said, and in keeping with the theme ...

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:53:27 +1300

Some of my blurred bird pics (and yes that also includes fantails) are quite artistic. I tend not to delete them because they have a certain something. If only they looked that way on purpose I'd be quite proud of them.

Russell Brown

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:49:33 +1300

I have wasted hours trying to get a good shot of them on the wing. Haven’t done it yet. Lots of shots of wings and beaks entering or leaving frame. Ditto for Swallows.

Tried to get a fantail dancing in front of me last weekend. Hopeless. But I did get…

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:53:40 +1300

I have wasted hours trying to get a good shot of them on the wing. Haven't done it yet. Lots of shots of wings and beaks entering or leaving frame. Ditto for Swallows.

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:51:42 +1300

Yeah, I went the full JJ Abrams with the lens flare.

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:30:50 +1300

Flying low and slow

I'd never have been able to catch the kingfisher if it was moving...

BenWilson

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:23:41 +1300

Nice! Love the sun's 6 prong breakup. It's almost like a star of Bethlehem.

Nora Leggs

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:22:36 +1300

I think my friend JD took this using my camera.... clear blue day Mt Eden

Bruce Buckman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:36:36 +1300

Big blue skies last winter up the side of Mt Ruapehu, looking towards Ngauruhoe and Tongariro.

Alex Efimoff

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:30:13 +1300

Inflight entertainment :) watching clouds passing by

Alex Efimoff

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:29:02 +1300

Flying low and slow

ChrisW

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:46:12 +1300

Lake at Bethells on a full moon night
Hey! I recognise those navigational stars. And the lake – Wainamu. Follow the stars just over the ridge to the right and another lake is hidden there – Kawaupaka –

so secret, it’s not shown on the map.

ChrisW

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:11:36 +1300

Yet another study in Paringa blues

Blue sky and blue shadows, the mountains as thrown fabric –
“Somewhere in a blanketfold of the land/Lies the golden strand.” (Dennis Glover, ‘Arawata Bill’)
Oddly enough as soon as I thought this, an image of Dennis Glover looked back at me…

Alex Efimoff

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:23:46 +1300

Yep, it's in Kalgoorlie, WA

Nora Leggs

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:14:14 +1300

Almost blue.

Lake at Bethells on a full moon night

Nora Leggs

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:13:35 +1300

Flaky blue

Love those flaky clouds... are they Australian?

Alex Efimoff

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:03:06 +1300

Flaky blue

Alex Efimoff

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:02:14 +1300

Cloudy blue

Geoff Lealand

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:24:04 +1300

Days of bright blue skies in San Bernandino Valley today and I will post photos when I get a chance. But we had a different sensual experience yesterday when we ventured off the freeway (8 million commuters, who all seem to be on the road at the same time), down…

Biobbs

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:47:54 +1300

Good to know the site too. Do you know Kendrick Smithyman's poem 'Tomarata'? I've been to similar places perhaps in the North, but feel I know much about (Lake) Tomarata the place as itself as well as more broadly from this great poem. Actually going there is on the list…

Nora Leggs

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:37:06 +1300

Summer night in Massey. No wind-wands here, and no wind.

Thanks for pointing out the stars on the Norfolk pine Hebe, never noticed that before either....

Chris Waugh

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:03:14 +1300

Signs of spring and a sliver of slightly smoggy blue.

Hebe

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:42:42 +1300

Seeing stars: I noticed the stars in the Norfolk pines for the first time not long ago

Hebe

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:19:33 +1300

What it says. Dunno why I took it; it's blue.

A wee spot I have loved and played in all my life, taken last spring.

A birthday party.

Nora Leggs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:35:28 +1300

look at the clouds it looks like Gillespies Pt/Kohaihai is a camouflaged rocket launcher

and here Bean Rock lighthouse produces a cloud-bump….

Nora Leggs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:00:26 +1300

There’s risk or opportunity for a falling angel there?

or opportunity for making announcements to the passing peeps

Nora Leggs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:59:01 +1300

A bit of skimping in Parnell, all the posts have these fancy-pants lamps, this one is the best though... fancy-pants lamp on the oldest scuzziest post...

Tom Ackroyd

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:23:35 +1300

Robyn – why is that angel holding a plunger?

Tom Ackroyd

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:19:02 +1300

Lower Hutt, 27 March 2012

Tom Ackroyd

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:16:35 +1300

Lower Hutt, 23 October 2012

Lilith __

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:50:46 +1300

beautiful curves

Indeed! Bit of a showoff sky, that one. ;-)

JacksonP

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:21:51 +1300

Reprising Jackson: yesterday and today.

I did a double take when I saw that. 'Hang on, I'm pretty sure both mine were landscape!' Ain't the 4s with Camera+ great?

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:52:50 +1300

Stairs to...
There's risk or opportunity for a falling angel there?

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:39:40 +1300

Lines in the sky. With colourful sundog. :-)
Colourful! – never seen or captured a dog so strong.

Here's a quarter halo so pallid by comparison, but the lines have beautiful curves.
And walnut foliage, for sunscreen, and because anything walnut is beautiful too :-)
Bonus blue.

Lilith __

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:41:23 +1300

Lines in the sky. With colourful sundog. :-)

David Hood

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:15:47 +1300

Upper Otago Harbour on a non-foggy day

BenWilson

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:55:25 +1300

Kitten Kong!

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:55:20 +1300

… a counter-point to this one where if you look at the clouds it looks like Gillespies Pt/Kohaihai is a camouflaged rocket launcher.
Whereas if you look at the non-clouds, well there’s all sorts of lovely triangles and opportunities for trigonometry ;-)

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:54:39 +1300

I'm sure this is an optical illusion: Rangitoto seems to be the source of the clouds.
Looks great – beautifully cropped to bring out and enhance the low angles.
But this is supposed to be about blue! Focus on the bits between the clouds and it looks like Rangitoto as…

Russell Brown

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:33:35 +1300

Reprising Jackson: yesterday and today.

Nora Leggs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:56:24 +1300

I’m sure this is an optical illusion

This too… cat trying to counterbalance a sloping world (still a blue summer sky though)

BenWilson

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:46:08 +1300

I'm sure this is an optical illusion: Rangitoto seems to be the source of the clouds. Presumably it's because it's the vanishing point for clouds that are strangely lined up.

Nora Leggs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:40:30 +1300

Stairs to...

BenWilson

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:36:56 +1300

Copper chopper circling Herne Bay at an annoyingly low height for half an hour. I'm surprised by how slow the props actually turn.

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:29:23 +1300

Pure blue-skies research.

JacksonP

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:20:27 +1300

Lake Paringa blues again – sky, shadows and reflections thereof.

Much betterer. Great shots. ;-)

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:18:16 +1300

Lake Paringa blues again – sky, shadows and reflections thereof.

JacksonP

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:18:13 +1300

here is another blue vista with Mt Maunganui.

That's a great shot Hilary. Thanks.

JacksonP

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:13:51 +1300

Blue day.

Red dawn.

Also, geez guys, enough already!!

ChrisW

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:00:46 +1300

Trust you've had a well-earned sleep after that, Ben. I work differently – have to let someone be wrong on the internet after 10pm, and generally (really should!) even if it's myself or my own unfinished business if I want to sleep.

When beyond "terrestrial" heights, it becomes clearer your…

BenWilson

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:45:45 +1300

I wasn't keen to model the maths. I've only got so much of that in me per day, and today's is all gone on a physics assignment.

OK, that's not true. To help me sleep, I worked this one out to follow the other two derivations here. If you imagine…

ChrisW

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:12:22 +1300

Speaking of persons on another planet, curvature and all that – I was surprised this afternoon to see these curved posters neatly interpolated with those advertising exhibitions on at Tairawhiti Museum.

Coastal peoples were aware of the curvature of the earth and hence its mysterious spherical shape from the time…

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:48:43 +1300

And what planet are you on? Apparently planet Kulthea! Strange to say – you looked up fiction in the quest for truth! ;-)

Classic! Actually I looked up Yahoo answers first, and only gave that link because of a convenient tabular form, which happened to agree with other answers that…

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:46:27 +1300

And of course – yachts, ships “hull-down” on/over the horizon are absolutely normal everyday stuff, nothing surprising, whereas substantial mirages rely on strongly stratified air temperature variations close to the sea surface, which is not going to happen in the Hauraki Gulf in the middle of a mild onshore breezy…

ChrisW

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:11:08 +1300

In reply to Ben –
Truth is stranger than fiction. I looked this one up before I wrote it,
And what planet are you on? Apparently planet Kulthea! Strange to say – you looked up fiction in the quest for truth! ;-)
Fortunately, Kulthea has only a slightly larger radius…

Nora Leggs

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:40:12 +1300

Blue all over....

Hilary Stace

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:15:02 +1300

If you are just above sea level eg standing in the water or sitting in a kayak, the horizon does not appear to be as far away as when you are higher up eg on a hill. Isn't that logical, as you are closer to the surface of the earth?…

David Hood

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:10:59 +1300

Arthur's Pass road 2006

I'll back up Ben's general math about horizon distance, the formula is
SquareRoot(eye height above water in cm / 6.752) = distance to horizon in km

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:01:05 +1300

I’m interested too. Feel free to take this off-line (we’ve got each other’s emails), unless anyone else is interested to hear about this.

I think I'm all out of wild speculations, actually. ;-)
Could that yacht really be beyond the horizon?

Hilary Stace

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:59:34 +1300

Sorry UFO didn't show up in that picture (I think it must be on my screen). But more beautiful summer blues.

Hilary Stace

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:55:31 +1300

Kawhia harbour blues (and UFO?) January

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:46:22 +1300

Which is not to say there isn’t mirage effect there. I’m sure there is, because it can be seen in this shot, containing Little Barrier Island, which is something like 50-80km beyond. You can see the corner is floating. But notice that this floating is also above the height of…

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:26:49 +1300

Sorry Ben, I don't mean to be a pain about this, but I'm really fascinated.

Not at all, I'm interested too. Feel free to take this off-line (we've got each other's emails), unless anyone else is interested to hear about this.

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:10:12 +1300

5km seems a pretty sort distance for you to be seeing the earth curve.

Truth is stranger than fiction. I looked this one up before I wrote it, but I did also remember that it's a lot closer than one might think, when one is down low – for instance…

Nora Leggs

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:41:37 +1300

Blue sky thread? Summer thread? Blue sky thread?

More California blue...

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:33:27 +1300

Sorry Ben, I don't mean to be a pain about this, but I'm really fascinated. Would you care to send it off to Les and see what his thoughts are? I've found him very responsive to questions.

Nora Leggs

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:18:56 +1300

Blue sky with gannet.

looks quite unreal!

Nora Leggs

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:18:02 +1300

California blue sky

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:43:59 +1300

the middle boat is all sails. They’re stretched a bit, I think, but not enough to hide the entire hull, which is quite large (it was a much larger vessel than the other two, several kilometers further away). It was below the horizon, which is only about 5km away from…

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:56:30 +1300

Extremely high flying kite over Richmond Park (in January I think). Full zoom (24x). Very hard to know how high it was, but my guess is that it was several hundred meters up. The strings were completely invisible, and other people, when I told them where it was, took quite…

Bruce Buckman

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:07:24 +1300

Blue sky with gannet.

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:04:34 +1300

OIC you're suggesting the inability to see the hulls might be exacerbated by miraging rather than that one boat is a mirage of the other.

I'll give a crop for discussion. There was some miraging on the horizon that I can clearly see in other shots, so there's some truth…

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:47:49 +1300

And since this thread is supposed to be about the sky!

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:44:21 +1300

You had me wondering for a second. All three are on exactly the same tack. But here’s one taken from higher up about 45 mins earlier (ain’t having a clock in your camera great!), of the same three sailboats, and it’s clearer that they are all distinct vessels.

You will…

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:36:35 +1300

You had me wondering for a second. All three are on exactly the same tack. But here's one taken from higher up about 45 mins earlier (ain't having a clock in your camera great!), of the same three sailboats, and it's clearer that they are all distinct vessels.

BenWilson

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:24:08 +1300

I don't usually want so much sky, but it was really quite striking yesterday.

Lilith __

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:22:02 +1300

Amazing shot. I wonder if we’re seeing a mirage, though?

ETA: this sort of thing.