“We are in the cosmos, and the cosmos is in us.” M Fox
The Milky Way
When I was on Bruny Island( off the coast of South-Eastern Tasmania) I took the opportunity – with its low population and thus low light pollution, the dark of the moon and a black-out- to take a photo of the awesome Milky Way! I stood in awe of its majesty and beauty; it is so humbling, and so wonderful to be part of it.
“We are stardust, we are golden,
We’ve got to get ourselves,back to the garden.” Joni Mitchell
Crescent Moon/Earthshine, Venus and Regulus in Leo 4th August 2016
I had a wonderful time photographing the moon, planets and stars, on evenings and nights that weren’t overcast or raining, as this was an exceptional month!
August had a fantastic line-up of all bright planets in the evening and at night. The next time all five bright planets line-up is October 2018.
As well as seeing all the bright planets, there were several beautiful encounters between the Moon and bright planets, the planets themselves and the planets and bright stars which made August exquisite.
Also on the the 27/28th August was a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, the closest it will be until November 2065. Wow! Weren’t we lucky! 🙂
Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Crescent Moon/Earthshine 6th August 2016
RAINBOW CLOUD: Wow! I feel most blessed, as I’ve seen a rainbow cloud! I never seen one before, and it was wonderful watching the amorphous colours morph as the cloud slowly drifted by 🙂
“A mind that is calm, without hesitation and anticipation is meditation. Sri Sri
Much life exists on our planet because of the sun. Worshipping the sun has been a daily practice in many cultures, for thousands of years. Sun salutations is very auspicious and good for the body and the mind. The sages and preceptors have advised us to meditate during the morning and evening.
I’ve been trying to capture the image of one of these beautiful birds for such a long time, almost as long as my memory serves me. They are quite rare and to catch the fleeting aqua/blue as they fly past is quite extraordinary. It is only the male fairy wrens that have the bright blue aqua plumage, and only when they are breeding. When they are not breeding, they take on the brown colours of the female wren, although parading a blue/purple tail. Males are usually found with females, as they are socially monogamous. The females brown plumage support a blue tail and they have red feathers around the eyes.
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED that crafty fairy-wrens can understand and respond to the danger calls of other birds, suggesting that they have an advanced level of awareness about the world around them. For more information about this, please read this article at Australian Geographic.
p.s. Most images of superb fairy wrens have been enhanced to a more cyan/blue colour, yet their plumage in reality is closer to the photograph that I have taken above. I hope you enjoy his image! I most certainly do… :).
This is a picture from my children’s picture book, Tickle me Pink. This book introduces colour, tickles and rhymes to young children. I just love the image of this child, so carefree and happy. Such unbridled joy! 🙂
Last night, I had the great fortune of experiencing Tori Amos, live at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, as part of her Unrepentant Geraldines Tour; which started May 5, 2014, with over 80 stops across Europe, North America, South Africa and now, Australia.
Tori’s spell binding performance, kept people silent for most of the concert, emotionally connected to the ‘soul’ of her experience.
She felt at home in Adelaide, saying, ‘It’s Sam’s home, so I kind of feel like it’s my home in a way,” referring to Samuel Adamson (collaborator on the London National Theatre production The Light Princess); which I think made her feel emotionally connected, adding richness to her performance, and our enjoyment of it :).
For 2 solid hours she performed a wonderful selection of composition and songs, such as Parasol,Bliss off To Venus And Back (1999) China and Little Earthquakes off her debut album of the same name. She also sang Oysters off Unrepentant Geraldines before diving into Pandora’s Aquarium and Father Lucifer, She’s addicted to Nicotine Patches, Lovesong, her heart warming rendition of Somewhere over the rainbow, Cornflake Girl and Bliss came with the firm thumping close of the piano lid! It was terrific, and the stage lighting set her off brilliantly, bathed as she was in a light show of multiple changing rainbow hues and stars.
With her distinctive and unique singing, song- writing and piano playing, just Tori Amos alternating between her Bösendorfer piano and her keyboard and rocking and straddling her piano stool. We were transported on a roller-coaster of emotions and experience.
Thank you Tori Amos for coming to Adelaide and sharing your music! You gave a virtuoso performance. It was inspirational and amazing!
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: 8/10/2014 (from 7:45-11:55 pm. Adelaide Time): My photographic compilation of the lunar show! The evening started off cloudy, but fortunately the clouds dissipated and I managed to get some excellent shots!
Total lunar eclipses explained
The Moon does not have its own light, but shines because its surface reflects the Sun’s rays. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth’s shadow blocks all the Sun’s light from directly reaching the Moon’s surface.
Lunar eclipse
Eclipses of the Moon happen when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned to form an almost or exact straight line. The technical term for this is syzygy, which comes from the Greek word for being paired together.
Why does the Moon look Red?
The Earth’s atmosphere, removes or blocks parts of the sunlight’s spectrum leaving only the longer wavelengths. Because of this, a totally eclipsed Moon usually looks red.
Eclipses in different colors
A lunar eclipse can also be yellow, orange, or brown in color. This is because different types of dust particles and clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere allow different wavelengths to reach the surface of the Moon.
Stages of a total lunar eclipse
A total lunar eclipse usually happens within a few hours. Totality can range anywhere from a few seconds to about 100 minutes.
There are 7 stages of a total lunar eclipse:
Penumbral eclipse begins: This begins when the penumbral part of Earth’s shadow starts moving over the Moon. This phase is not easily seen by the naked eye.
Partial eclipse begins: The Earth’s umbra starts covering the Moon, making the eclipse more visible.
Total eclipse begins: Earth’s umbra completely covers the Moon and the Moon is red, brown or yellow in color.
Maximum eclipse: This is the middle of the total eclipse.
Total eclipse ends: At this stage, the Earth’s umbra starts moving away from the Moon’s surface.
Partial eclipse ends: The Earth’s umbra completely leaves the Moon’s surface.
Penumbral eclipse ends: At this point the eclipse ends and the Earth’s shadow completely moves away from the Moon.
I love walking through the Bush in the Spring and discovering many of nature’s beauties. This Salmon Sun Orchid Thelymitra rubra, is one such beauty, that inspires me with awe each Spring. I just love them! ❤
Winter Daphne, Daphne.odora f. Rosacea: I’ve waited all Winter for my Daphne to flower, and finally, now that spring is here, it has bloomed. Hooray!
It’s perfume is magical, with its strong lemony, rose, honeysuckle, magnolia and hints of spicy notes. It adds its fragrance to highly perfumed Spring blossoms and transports me to tropical frangipani scented breezes… 🙂 ❤
Now, that the rains have come and Winter is here, Sun Dews have emerged, much to my delight. I just love watching their sticky pink tentacles capture the morning dew and their dinner. This particular Sun Dew is Drosera pallida, otherwise known as the Pale Rainbow, and I can see why. Watching the sunlight refract from its sticky tips, creates an abundance of miniature rainbows 🙂 <3.
This compilation, is a snapshot of some of my Art. It moves between Australian Summer bushland, an Egyptian waterlilly and watery reflections, to fractal blossoms, butterflies, starry dolphins and children; to the strength of a dragon and a lion. The photo at the bottom left corner is me at one of my children’s fantasy workshops, where a small boy is being sprinkled with fairy dust… I hope you enjoy 🙂
I was walking around some Wetlands yesterday, taking in the magnificent watery views with its abundance of wildlife. It was a buzz watching ducks and water fowl swimming and having fun, whilst magpie larks, parrots and pigeons glided on high or nestled in tall branches. I decided to investigate further and began to walk through the marshes where ducks nested and dragonflies and butterflies played. It was here, that I spotted this Southern Dart, Ocybadistes walkeri hypochlora, so small, yet so intricate and lovely. Once home I could zoom in and check out all of its fine details, and now I share this lovely little butterfly with you. 🙂
Mother Nature gives so freely of her fruits so that we can enjoy her bounties. Let us be grateful for these gifts and give back to the Earth, in our own small way…. Bridget Cameron 🙂
