Actually, I cheated with these – all of the images are single exposures that were then modified in GIMP to simulate over and underexposure.

I then applied tone maps to the dark/light exposures and then composited back into a single one.

Results varied, and these were the four ‘best’ – I particularly like the Melbourne nightscape, as it produces a pretty good glow. I also like the long exposure one of my Dad, as it creates an even more ethereal feel to it…

[Show as slideshow]

One note – these are all tone mapped HDR images. This creates the rather vivid and strong glow you see in the images above.

Brightness mapped HDR images offer a more subtle effect – and can be quite useful in reducing the washout you can get with bright skies over shadowed subjects, for example. I’ll have go at knocking some of them up at a later time to show the difference.

Last month I heard about a festival celebrated in Moonta, a town about 175 km north of Adelaide where the majority of the population is descended from Cornish mining families who settled in the middle of the 19th Century.

While the mines are now all closed, and the local population turned to agriculture, they are still proud of their heritage. The Kernewek Lowender, though, is relatively new. It started in the 1970s as a tourist attraction, and is still a popular biennial event.

The festival is actually celebrated all around the region known as the Copper Coast, although the main event – the Fer Kernewek – is held in the town of Moonta.

I drove up with my camera to get some pictures of the parade.

I also took some pictures around one of the abandoned enginehouses which provided steam power for lifts and water-pumps out of the mines.

Unfortunately, the weather was pretty grotty for most of the day, and while I did manage to get some photos, it wasn’t the best day for a camera and I didn’t hang around too long after the parade.

Photos of the Kernewek Lowender parade in Moonta

Photos from an abandoned enginehouse near Moonta

I’d been here in Australia for almost two years, and barring a couple of weekend trips down the Fleurieu Peninsula, I had not yet had a proper holiday. Granted, I didn’t quite need one while I was waiting for my resident’s visa, but then I had a very busy Christmas, and cleared a week off with my boss.

I chose Melbourne, not because it is the closest state capital from Adelaide, but because of a radio ad I’d heard offering discounted rail tickets on The Overland – the only passenger rail service between the two cities. Because of it’s location, Adelaide is actually a bit of a rail hub for Australia, with the main east-west and north-south lines passing through the city.

So, I booked myself a ticket there, four nights in a hotel in the Melbourne CBD, and a plane ticket back. I didn’t have a real plan, just that I wanted to see as much of the city as possible and get some photographs. I can always go back for special events and shows down there in the future.

After posting a couple of comparison images of the River Murray back in January, one of my friends pointed out that the two sets of images were from different times of the year – so there could have been some seasonal effect on the river levels.

I was not so sure – January and February promised exactly 0 mm of rain, and indeed, we have had a total of 8mm since the new year (and all of it in March).

March 2002

March 2009

I tried to find some other comparison images on the internet – there have been a lot of them printed in the local press. Unfortunately, I couldn’t readily find the dramatic images that are printed.

On the other hand, I found some more interesting reading on the Murray River, its river levels over time, and also the problems in maintaining those levels.