Morning Storm Clouds

Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.
Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.
Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.
Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.
Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.
Early morning storm clouds in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. 2nd January 2016.

This morning (2nd January 2016) there was a series of small storm cells that passed over the Perth Hills. The low angle of the ealry morning sun made for some nice photographs.

Roebuck Plains

I didn't imagine Australia had such large open grasslands, not natural anyhow. This is Roebuck Plains, taken on a tour with Broome Bird Observatory. Endless plains of grass you literally cannot see the end of, yet teaming with birds.
I didn’t imagine Australia had such large open grasslands, not natural anyhow. This is Roebuck Plains, taken on a tour with Broome Bird Observatory. Endless plains of grass you literally cannot see the end of, yet teaming with birds. The specks in the sky are birds.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3621

NGC 3621 Spiral Galaxy 12” SCT @ 2180mm 0.84”/pixel; ST8-XME; L=450min R=310min G=290min B=180min
NGC 3621 Spiral Galaxy 12” SCT @ 2180mm 0.84”/pixel; ST8-XME; L=450min R=310min G=290min B=180min

See this image of the galaxy NGC 3621 on AstroBin with plate-solved objects.

Fields of Gold

RG_IMG_201501_0984-HDR-Roger-Groom

 

A nice sunset with golden light on the farmland and clouds. A green grass tree in the foreground provides nice contrast to the scene beyond. A rainbow is visible in the far distance on the right horizon – a pot of gold at it’s base perhaps? Taken in Gidgegannup, Western Australia.

Dinner at Lake Leschenaultia

Lake Leschenaultia
Lake Leschenaultia. This photograph would make an absolutely beautiful large wall print. Perhaps a high gloss acrylic or aluminium print.

RG_IMG_201412_0483

The other night we took fish & chips to the local Lake Leschenaultia, to watch the sunset and enjoy the peace and quiet. It’s pure serenity at the lake late in the afternoon and evening when the crowds have gone home but the gates are still open. The wildlife is incredibly active – birds, tortoise, fish, frogs. Fascinating to watch the goings-n. The photographs above show the nice twilight colours over Lake Leschenaultia after the sun had set, together with some of the water birds. If you look closely you will see dragonfly and disturbances in the water surface from tortoise. For more Lake Leschenaultia photography (available as canvas and art prints if you wish) see a small selection of my work here.

A cooperative Dragonfly

Dragon Fly on lime tree
Dragon Fly on lime tree
Dragon Fly on lime tree
Dragon Fly on lime tree

I enjoyed the opportunity to photograph a strangely cooperative dragonfly the other night. It was nicely sitting on our lime tree.

NGC 1600 and Friends

NGC 1600 and other galaxies. 5 x 180 second exposures. 0.84"/pixel scale.
NGC 1600 and other galaxies. 5 x 180 second exposures. 0.84″/pixel scale.

I’ve had some fun reading about this galaxy NGC 1600 and annotating the above photograph with information. This image is from my standard nightly survey of galaxies and as such is only a brief 5 exposures each of 180 seconds in length. I hope you enjoy the representation with additional information about NGC 1600. Some of the information was gleaned from this interesting article on NGC 1600 by Smith. et al 2008.

Below is the plain image without annotations where you can see the galaxies more clearly perhaps:

NGC 1600 and other galaxies. 5 x 180 second exposures. 0.84"/pixel scale.
NGC 1600 and other galaxies. 5 x 180 second exposures. 0.84″/pixel scale.

Karri Forest – Tree

Karri Forest - South-west Western Australia (Pemberton).
Karri Forest – South-west Western Australia (Pemberton).

Looking through my Karri Forest gallery you will probably find very similar photographs to this from 8 odd years ago, probably taken with film! But the fact is I never tire of this kind of Karri Forest photograph, and never tire of the Karri Forest its self. The dripping wet, smell of the rich muddy dirt and composting leaf litter, sound of light rain in the canopy, and a world of amazing photographs everywhere you look.

Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect - Yornup, Western Australia. Amazing green grass, winter sunshine, water, trees, fences .... what more could a photographer want? Back in July on our short trip down south. Tack sharp and oh so crystal clear.
Picture Perfect – Yornup, Western Australia. Amazing green grass, winter sunshine, water, trees, fences …. what more could a photographer want? Back in July on our short trip down south. Tack sharp and oh so crystal clear. This was one of those times when the lighting, lens and camera just work perfectly to achieve optimum sharpness and clarity.

NGC 1532 (spiral galaxy)

NGC 1532 (galaxy in the constellation of Fornax). 22 x 300s clear + 30 x 180s blue + 30 x 180s green + 30 x 180s red. ST8-XME, 12" SCT @ ~2200mm (0.84"/pixel).
NGC 1532 (galaxy in the constellation of Fornax). 22 x 300s clear + 30 x 180s blue + 30 x 180s green + 30 x 180s red. ST8-XME, 12″ SCT @ ~2200mm (0.84″/pixel).

See this and more galaxies in my galaxy gallery. This is probably one of my better LRGB galaxies to date, not something I do very often (LRGB imaging). To view a plate-sovle of this image which shows the objects in it (when you hover your mouse over the image) see it on my astrobin accounthttp://www.astrobin.com/113009/. It will also show you where in the sky this galaxy is located.