little red planet » australia

Storytelling With Images, An Experiment

dale — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:19:34 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I took a little bush walk in Sherbrooke Forest near my home. I came back with a number of fantastic photos however, viewed individually or one after the other, they lost some of their appeal and magic. Last week I experimented with uploading an image a day with a one sentence caption that told a simple story. The photos and captions helped to tie the images together and allowed me to highlight aspects of the photo. This worked out really well so I’ve placed them together into a little movie complete with a Ry Cooder audio track. I’ll continue to explore and experiment with this as another media. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

A Little Walk … from dale rogers on Vimeo.

Photographs taken in Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges, Australia. All images were taken on a little walk about a half mile from my house. Hope you enjoy the serenity and majesty of this great mountain forest.

7 January 2010 – A Perfect Day

dale — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:48:37 +0000

What can I say, this year is looking good. Another perfect day on my favorite beach. This is Juniper enjoying the crystal clear waters.

Where’s that pot ‘o gold?

dale — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:40:06 +0000

Willow and I were getting into the car to run down to the store when we spotted this rainbow. I love how rainbows dip right down into our valley. You can really see the end of a rainbow!

Kanga Crossing

dale — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:49:27 +0000

Willow and I went to a local park on Sunday and met up with a Kanga family. This is the Mom of an older Joey. I think she was expecting a hand out from us cause she began hopping straight for us and veered to the side once she realised we were san goodies. I took this photo as she was approaching Willow.

Do We Stay or Do We Go?

dale — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:23:57 +0000

We were called back home because of a serious bushfire threat. All the way home on the drive from the city, a large smoke plume was visible. Luckily the plume indicated the fire was headed south, the opposite direction from our home.

At last, we made it home and sat on the ridge watching the fire burn the tranquil valley below. As we watched in horror, news swept through the small crowd gathered with us on the ridge. A change was rapidly approaching and the wind would soon change direction.

We waited and watched. Suddenly, it happened. The wind swung around from the south bringing swift cool Antarctic gusts. We watched as the fire changed direction and began heading towards us. It surrounded a home on the other side of the valley. Water bombing helicopters swooped in. The Southerly wind change swung the massive smoke plume around and into our faces. What was once clearly visible became obscure.

We could hear a number of massive helicopters overhead and in the valley below but could not see their efforts or targets. Sirens wailed in the distance.

A light fall of soot and ash started to descend like a snowstorm from hell. We dispersed and patrolled our properties, looking for sign of ember attack, hoses at the ready.

Under a soot and ash choked sky we wait. A eerie silence has fallen. No longer able to see the approaching firestorm front. We must decide now, do we stay and fight or do we leave our properties in the hands of fate and the sheer determination and effort of volunteer fire fighters? Stay or go?

Fish Goes Here!

dale — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:10:47 +0000

Pelican feeding, The Entrance, NSW Australia

Creative Photography submission.

I’ve Been Everywhere, Mate

dale — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:35:35 +0000

Recently my niece sent my daughter Flat Stanley for a project at her school. Flat Stanley spent a few weeks with our family traveling around Australia. I came across the original version of the I’ve Been Everywhere song and thought It’d be great to include it in Flat Stanley’s adventures because of the strange sounding Aussi place names. While researching the song, I ran across a Texan version. So, for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too), I’ve embedded versions of I’ve Been Everywhere from my two homes – Australia & Texas.

Now, did you catch the name where I spent each summer and school holiday as a kid? – Telephone, TX

And what about where I work each day? – Dandenong, AU

Reconciliation

dale — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:04:44 +0000

“The true essence of reconciliation is more than making friends with nonindigenous people. Our motto is united Australia, one that respects the land and the heritage of its indigenous peoples and provides justice and equity for all. I think reconciliation is about changing the structures that govern us and trying to influence opinion leaders in whatever way we can.”
Jackie Huggins

Bunjil Aboriginal Dance Group

dale — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:51:35 +0000

...

On the weekend I had the pleasure of taking some promo shots of the Bunjil Aboriginal Dance Group. Grandad, the patriarch of the group mentioned to me in passing several months ago that he had very few good photos of the dancers even though the group is over 17 years old. I volunteered to attend the next function and take some photos.

Bunjil opened the Doveton Show on Sunday with a Welcome to Country ceremony consisting of several traditional and a contemporary dance. The dance troupe are composed of children as young as 2 through young adults and features several women. Most of the time Aboriginal dance troupes are all male affairs so it is enlightening to see the female dances in traditional costumes.

I took 335 photos that I need to have developed for Grandad and the gang. Have a look at my flickr set to see a few choice ones I have picked out.

G’Day from Oz

dale — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:25:02 +0000

G’Day from Oz. I hope you’ve had a great weekend … I did