Show us your photos
GuySmiley wrote:
Good morning @AW, mmm, comment dire cela en français à propos des messages d'hier ? when in France I visited Monet's garden and the gardens and parterres of Versailles Palace. Give me Claude's garden and its wild unkempt shrubbery any day ....... although I left a little bit of my heart in Ravello (below), have a good one
GuySmiley & @Hiccups.
Agree Guy, I do like the Monet garden at Versailles Palace, I like gardens that are not under restraint and constraint. Agree, with non Australian gardens globally I like those that ramble.
In Europe I have two areas in particular that take my fancy.
In Spain, the Gardens of Alhambra, totally influenced by the Moors across the Mediterranean to the south.
The other, gardens along the Mediterranean from say Gibraltar all the way NE to Monaco. I have a particular interest in xeriphytic gardens, plants that survive without watering intervention, plants that survive rain to rain and are fully adapted to surviving and reproducing in very hot climates.
The gardens of houses along the Amalfi coastline in Italy are also a joy, I was there a long time ago but remember how great it appeared.
Similarly, I love Southern Californian gardens adapted to the same type of climate as just mentioned.
A visit to Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens way up the back of town in the foothills, is a must when you visit California. You can see and feel why certain types of plants have evolved in the manner that’s in front of you.
One of the best dry Botanic Gardens I’ve visited.
Throughout all my years as a landscape designer and contractor, we built a lot of xeriphytic gardens, sometimes at the clients request, other times I’d design them and the client was none the wiser.
The plant palette for these types of gardens was amazing.
Apart from building a lot of Australian native gardens, I designed and built gardens containing a mix of Mediterranean, Californian and Australian plants, always with the eye on low water regimes, particularly pertinent when we had years of drought.
No plant biases, just the right plant for the correct situation.
All the best. AW
After 4 days of rain we finally get to see the sun again, tomorrow’s looking good before the rain returns . 
. 
Supafreak wrote:
After 4 days of rain we finally get to see the sun again, tomorrow’s looking good before the rain returns .
Supafreak. Hi mate.
All the best over there. Beautiful shots you’ve taken, I hope you score waves tomorrow. Can’t wait to visit soon in 2025.
Surf is dismal and appalling here. Go well and hope your wound is coming good. AW
I've discovered a beautiful family of Tawny Frogmouths around the corner. Usually three are grouped together with a fourth spotted at times.
Nice Craig. That first pic is great when zoomed in.
Do you think it’s the parents and two offspring almost ready to fly the coop? Get some here occasionally but they don’t seem to hang around. I wonder if they’re territorial.
Paging Dr Doolittle AW.
Fantastic photos Craig. Well camouflaged little things. Love the direct stare in pics 1 & 3, and the stink eye in pic 2. They are territorial.
We have a solitary bird, male I am guessing, in our neighbourhood, would be great if he partnered up and we got baby froglets like yours.
^^^ you have captured the moment perfectly seeds , brilliant colours.
Cheers. There was a storm cell to the right that produces those blue hues with a descending sun to the left.
Yes TBB, there could be some good photo ops tonight and tomorrow. Full is about 8.30am in the morning.
Funny these names they get.
Better send the Gromz to bed when the Wolf starts eating Mars...
Please no boffin webcast that gory intergalactic feast...e harmony envoy will lose her shit!
https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/full-wolf-moon-mars-20026874.p…
Yeah colours are so bright and crisp.
Must get a decent rain fall where you are, fields in our area aren't that green anymore.
Thanks everyone. Nearly a double rainbow there. Second one didn’t quite appear.
Blackers, you’re good at those black and whites. Love that second one.
I was admiring the beautiful garden at a local friend’s house where I’m currently camped and this guy turned up . I got up pretty close before he started playing peekaboo around the palm tree . 
basesix wrote:
^ didn't take, Supa.
Sorry I’m not sure what you mean .
seeds wrote:
Supa any idea of what type of lizard it is.
Mate said it was a chameleon , pretty sure it’s this guy . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonocephalus_chamaeleontinus
Defo chameleon-like. Maybe Bronchocela jubata.
https://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/maned-forest-lizard.htm
Nice photos btw.
blackers wrote:
Defo chameleon-like. Maybe Bronchocela jubata.
https://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/maned-forest-lizard.htm
Nice photos btw.
Yes I think you’re right blackers , looks more like the one in the photo I took . Difference appears to be the spikes on the back . AW were no doubt confirm when he’s back from the desert .
Love the peak a boo pic. Looks a tad similar to our water dragons. (Other than colour) Or maybe I’m tripping.
Great pics Supafreak. The last pic i reckon it could be related to a ''Doyouthinkhesaurus''. 555
Went for a troll this morning , jagged 3 pieces of plastic, plenty of fishermen about but didn’t see any action . Some guys got lucky yesterday with mahi mahi , wahoo & GTs , try again this afternoon but the rubbish makes it very disheartening . The view was pretty spectacular though , being able to see both Agung on Bali & Rinjani on Lombok doesn’t happen that often . Bottom 2 photos are yesterday’s sunset . 
Craig wrote:
I've discovered a beautiful family of Tawny Frogmouths around the corner. Usually three are grouped together with a fourth spotted at times.
Nice shots Craig. Male and female (russet, rufous colour), albeit there is a complete subspecies rufous form in the Top End.
A few young birds as well in the photos. Good stuff. AW
blackers wrote:
Defo chameleon-like. Maybe Bronchocela jubata.
https://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/maned-forest-lizard.htm
Nice photos btw.
Correct
Supafreak wrote:
Went for a troll this morning , jagged 3 pieces of plastic, plenty of fishermen about but didn’t see any action . Some guys got lucky yesterday with mahi mahi , wahoo & GTs , try again this afternoon but the rubbish makes it very disheartening . The view was pretty spectacular though , being able to see both Agung on Bali & Rinjani on Lombok doesn’t happen that often . Bottom 2 photos are yesterday’s sunset .
Supafreak. All great photos.
I love the perspective of the two mountains but what I love more is the tyranny of distance from Lembongan, across the first mountain, Agung and the mind travelling across one of the worlds most famous straits to Rinjani in the background.
Mind surfing three islands without getting on a board or a boat. Good stuff. AW
blackers wrote:
Nice work seeds. We had a weekend in the big smoke.
Blackers. Hi mate. Hope you and your family are well.
Beautiful moody black & white photos you’ve taken, you sure have a great eye.
Great work pal.AW
Supafreak wrote:
I was admiring the beautiful garden at a local friend’s house where I’m currently camped and this guy turned up . I got up pretty close before he started playing peekaboo around the palm tree .
So good, SF. The green is amazing.
Thought I’d join the photographic movement.
Sunrises around home. Using a crappy iPhone 8
@AW, great shots , the iPhone cameras are pretty dam good, even the shitty old 8 . I appreciate blackers & craigs photos as art , mine are just a point & click and let the iPhone do all the work .
zenagain wrote:
Nice AW. Mother Nature popping.
Zenagain. Hi mate. Hope you’re well and keeping warm.
There’s plenty to offer if us humans venture outdoors.
The photo with layer of fog I love it for a few reasons, that very large tall grand Eucalyptus is approximately 300 years old, a relictual species once widespread on the basalt plains grassland.
It’s Blue Box, Eucalyptus baueriana , box type Eucalyptus sp. have tessellated bark, a good diagnostic tool for identification.
This tree is home to Wedge-Tailed Eagles, dozens of other native birds and a few exotics, its hollows are large enough for parrots, galahs, cockatoos etc to nest in.
Australian Owlet Nightjars make home some years as well as myriad nocturnal marsupials.
All this in one tree, even a fox sleeps in the base of the hollow of the lower trunk.
You can extrapolate the devastation when we stupidly clear large swathes of native forests. AW
@guysmiley, @supafreak, @seeds, @zenagain.
Cheers for the compliments. I’m very fortunate to live where I live, it’s got the lot for someone like me, flora and fauna and all other biota.
My dog and I do a 4 km circuit every morning and a couple of times during the day, the stuff I see is remarkable.
All on the doorstep of the Brisbane Ranges National Park ( background of the photos ).
One of Victoria’s best kept secret National Parks.
All those sunrise and sunset photos are just from the rhythm of life.
The house has gable ends and a ridge line running north/south, but just a touch to the east of north to maximise passive solar energy and then direct solar energy into the photovoltaics.
My snap shots just follow my progression from the east to the west on a daily basis, I love seeing life as it does its daily rounds. AW
edit. Have I told you I’m a cloud junky also. I’ve got some good ones
Did anyone see the planet alignment last night ? Beautiful sunset here but way too many clouds on the horizon, couldn’t even see stars .
Supafreak wrote:
Did anyone see the planet alignment last night ? Beautiful sunset here but way too many clouds on the horizon, couldn’t even see stars .
Supafreak. Hi fella. I had a look last night, clear night here, binoculars in hand, it was great to be able to see so many of our familiar planets.
In Cactus, my mates and I ( I forced them to take a look) were already getting an establishing prelude, even after more than a few cans, excitement factor grew as we plucked them out of the sky.
We had the app SkyView Free, it’s very accurate and you can really get an overall picture of the night sky, especially out there, the Milky Way was radiant most nights.
No light pollution in the desert. Good stuff. AW
Nice work AW. Love a bit of a sunrise / sunset.
Regarding equipment, the best camera is the one you have with you at the time. That will be the phone in most cases, you still have to choose what to include. Walking the dogs often brings up something worth recording. Show us your clouds..
blackers wrote:
Nice work AW. Love a bit of a sunrise / sunset.
Regarding equipment, the best camera is the one you have with you at the time. That will be the phone in most cases, you still have to choose what to include. Walking the dogs often brings up something worth recording. Show us your clouds..
Blackers . Hello mate.
Agree wholeheartedly, it’s when you don’t take a phone, disappointment sets in big time when you miss an opportunity to snap something you may probably never
see again or in that context.
In semi lockdown I'm finally sorting through a lifetime of photos and inspired by what Craig and Andy recently posted I thought why not.
We travel a fair bit and there has to be some crackers in the vaults.
Good if we follow the Swellnet tradition of not naming or being too obvious.