digartal

The eastern osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus) is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. They live in Oceania at the coastal regions of the Australian continent, the Indonesian islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines. It is usually sedentary and pairs breed at the same nest site, building up a substantial structure on dead trees or limbs. The subspecies inhabits habitats close to coasts and estuaries, which provide opportunities for fishing. The eastern osprey's diet consists mostly of vertebrate fish species. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. This bird had a chick in the nest just about here. They usually eat the head and gills first to ensure the fish is dead, and also because this contains the most nutrients for the parents.

Thanks, I do live in a lovely part of this planet.

From an encounter this week in Northern NSW.

Thanks, John. It is about a 20-minute walk from my home, just past the local shopping centre. I have been several times and see them regularly but often hard to capture them or I don't have my wildlife camera and lens. They are more active now up to December. There has been up to 6 of them in the stream the neighbours tell me.

Found this platypus in a creek not far from home. Been back several times to see it in the wild. The images are from a visit on Monday Sept 8.

Here is a version of a timelapse of the sun rising before dawn at a local beach. Thanks Tom

Thanks - I have used it and will post the results shortly.

Thanks Tom Make the time and persevere Tom. Practice is the best learning tool. Panoee is a great free hosting software and look for tutorials by Australian Ben Claremont. Regards Mark

I have recently discovered 360-degree dual fish-eye cameras and took one on a recent trip to Europe. This technology allows the viewer to interact with the image using specific web hosting applications. It is really quite immersive and can be used for still images as well as video. This is a series of images of the Cologne Cathedral from the trip. Admin/Igor - please delete if not allowed. Regards Mark https://tour.panoee.net/Cologne_Cathedral

Some images from a local theatre production of Spamalot. Great show using local talent.

Thanks Alex, would be quite difficult to do with my camera. My camera is converted to capture handheld infrared images only and not visible light images. You could use a normal camera with an IR filter (exposure 6 times longer, so a tripod is required) or two identical cameras (one converted to IR) and lenses but alignment is an issue. Generally an IR image is not a visibe light image as they use different lighting and contrast. These shots would have been very green with all the plants and far less contrast/tonal range. The other option is to false colour the IR image using AI in PS but often not realistic - see below. Also, Masks in PTE are a bit beyond my knowledge and skills at this point. Thanks for commenting and the suggestion. Mark

Everyone needs a secret garden in their life and you’re invited to visit Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden, a public garden and much loved oasis in the heart of Sydney. Located a short walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or a closer stroll from Milsons Point and North Sydney train stations, the Secret Garden is a haven where you can explore meandering pathways discovering sculptures as you go; enjoy a picnic basket or read a book at one of the tables or benches beneath the garden’s canopy; or you can simply enjoy the nature and serenity of your beautiful surrounds. You may even stumble across a hidden fairy house. Created over the past 20 years by artist Wendy Whiteley, wife and muse of Australian artist Brett Whiteley, the Secret Garden is nestled behind Luna Park in one of Sydney's most spectacular, and possibly smallest suburbs, Lavender Bay.

Works just like a still image and is very easy to use to adjust the time of transition and video/image, add other images/video, image in image etc. Have a go and share it here. Cheers Mark

Thanks, glad you liked it.

Thank you - it is actually 2 lenses with a 180-degree view on each side of the camera. Due to the harsh lighting conditions of sun and shade, you can see the join in places. The in-camera software removes the 4-foot selfie stick. Images from each camera are 1 inch square and when joined are an equirectangular shape. It has proprietary software for editing the video, but is very basic when it comes to other editing like transitions, audio, text, merging with still images etc. It is a bit fiddly using two software applications but reasonably happy with the result for the first AV. Thanks for commenting. Mark