October 1st, 2006

Boats anchored along Arlie Beach.

Every once in a while you experience something that lives up to the cliche ‘once in a lifetime’. This past week I had several. I spent my mid-semester break at the Whitsunday Coast in northern Australia. The Whitsundays, a series of islands with pristine sand beaches, are a prime gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. After asking for vacation advice from every Aussie I knew I settled on the Whitsunday Coast; not a single person who had been there had anything but rave reviews. After a similar search, my Norwegian friend Milosz decided he would join me. Despite very high expectation, we were not disappointed.

In this entry I document my trip in great detail. Likely only my girlfriend, and my family will find this of much interest. If you get bored, just skip ahead to the next several entries which center on the photos I took.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 1st, 2006

These are a few infrared images I took while at the Whitsunday Coast.

Infrared photography relies on light outside the visible spectrum. Just as a red flower is red because it strongly reflects red light, an object is brighter (or darker) in infrared photography based on how much infrared light it reflects. Foliage containing chlorophyll, which strongly reflects infrared light, is bright, while open sky, which reflects blue light but very little infrared light, is very dark. This creates an interesting reversal of tones; instead of a light sky and dark foliage, the sky is very dark and foliage glows brightly. Photographers can take advantage of this tone reversal to create an eerie or ethereal feeling.

October 1st, 2006

The Whitsunday Coast is home to a large tract of rain forest. I found it remarkably similar to every forest I’ve ever been in, but it did have some really big trees which are thought to be around 1000 years old. The only wildlife I saw was a scrub turkey, a few birds, and a lizard or two.

October 1st, 2006

To rest after chasing fish around, I tried to document the amazing variety of plants (and plant-like animals) that lay along the ocean floor.