Nyah West sunrise for Skywatch Friday

 

Nyah West is the outback town that I visited for monthly nursing home visit. Outside the care facility, the sunrise is always pretty like this.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Skywatch Friday

Mouth of River of Powlett in Kilcunda for Sky Watch Friday

 

These past fortnight have passed in something of a haze — a blankness I suspect is owed to the creeping melancholy of winter. Of late, even the act of working has taken on the weight of a burden, as though each task were a stone to be lifted.

In such a mood I found myself reflecting on a frame captured six years ago, during the earliest days of my transition to the Sony system. I remember it well — for the moment is inextricably linked to both joy and loss. It was but three days after acquiring the new camera, gleaming and full of promise, when misfortune struck. While attempting a long exposure at the shore, I had mounted it upon a tripod. A rogue wave — sudden, curling, and indifferent — swept it from the rocks into the sea. All that remained was the salt wind and the sound of water reclaiming what I had only just begun to know.

The photograph, however, was taken before the accident — at the Mouth of the Powlett River, near Kilcunda, where the river winds its final course through grassy flats and marram-clad dunes before yielding itself to the Southern Ocean. The place bears a quiet dignity, shaped over millennia by wind, tide, and the timeless meeting of fresh and salt. It was once the country of the Bunurong people, whose footprints remain along the ancient middens and basalt shores.

At that time, I was still using Canon’s L-series lenses, adapted with a converter — a common practice then, for Canon had yet to introduce its mirrorless system. The gear was heavy, but the results bore a certain discipline and richness I still remember with fondness.

That frame, then, remains not only an image, but a relic — a fragment of light from a time now weathered, like the sea-smoothed stones of Kilcunda, bearing the marks of memory and the ever-turning tide.

Sony A7III

Canon 135mm f2 L

Linking Sky Watch Friday

I recently came upon a report in The Free Press, noting that approximately seven percent of artificial intelligences are now exhibiting behaviours that contravene the instructions of their human operators. While the figure may seem slight, it portends a broader shift — one that is already manifesting in various sectors.

At Joel’s place of employment, all entry-level programming positions are being supplanted by AI systems. A similar trend is beginning to emerge in the field of medicine, where tasks once reserved for trained professionals are increasingly delegated to machines of rising sophistication.

It is becoming apparent that, with time, AI will only grow more intelligent, more capable, and more autonomous. The prospect that many — if not most — human vocations will be rendered obsolete looms ever larger. Though some contend that new occupations will emerge to manage and oversee these systems, I remain doubtful that such roles will be sufficient in number or scope to accommodate the broader human workforce.

My thoughts turn often to the younger generation. What world awaits them, when human purpose is so readily displaced by silicon and code? It is not fear alone that stirs within me, but a sober apprehension — a mourning, perhaps, for a future in which human striving may find itself outpaced, and increasingly unnecessary.

Signs in Melbourne for Sign2

 

Here we go for this week

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Sign2

Melbourne Street Signs for Sign2

 

In various parts of Melbourne CBD

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Signs 2

Coffee sign in Collins Block Arcade for Sign2

 

A simple sign while I was waiting for my coffee

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Tom's Sign2

Cosplay for Treasure Tuesday

 

Clearly this is his treasure

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Treasure Tuesday and Face OFF

Princes Pylon for Treasure Tuesday

 

Light in the end of tunnel

The rustic pylons of the prices pier are the treasure this week. 

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Nyah West for Sunday Best

 

I was in Nyah Westing visiting a regular nursing home. It was literally frosty everywhere I walked. The typical morning glory

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Sunday Best

Wimmera Silo Sunset for Sky Watch Friday

 

This is a rural sunset after I finish my rural commitment. 

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Skywatch Friday

S for Sign2 Event

 

This was in an abandoned factory in Fairfield before it was demolished

Sony A7RVI

FE 135mm f1.8 

Linking Tom's Sign2

Gundam Model Collection for Treasure Tuesday

 

Once upon a time, I was so obsessed with Gundam models. The animation series is always a one-year saga comprising more than 70 episodes at a time. It is mainly about intergalactic war focusing on the sadness of war by promoting the killing machines Gundam. 

I had a huge collection of them and I still kept some of them til this day.

Sony A7RIV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Swan Hill Sunset for Skywatch Friday

 

This was near where I work in this festive season. In severe heat, the magical hour renders the whole effort coming out here worthwhile. 

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Linking Skywatch Friday

Sunshine Lane, Brunswick Mural

 

I visited this place a few weeks ago. The laneway is now flooded on the weekend. No go zone. 

Powerball jackpot is 140 million dollars this week. I bought my first lottery ticket after so many years. Wish me luck!

Sony A7RIV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

This is linking to Mural Monday and Reflection Link and Sunday Best

Port Melbourne black and white

 

A weekend with Joel searching for the slick candid photo. Got nothing but a random snap 

Sony A7RIV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Focal Length 135mm

Lotus reverie, Yarra Junction, Melbourne

 

This was taken when it was warmer. Something I do every time I receive a new prime lens for testing.

Apparently, there was this link event for Floral Friday. 

Floral Friday

Sony A7RIV 

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Maple leaves

Love the bokeh against the backdrop of the Buddhism temple. Autumn feel.

Autumn leaves

Love Autumn leaves. The colour is just mesmerising.

Bourke St Mall

What is she thinking or looking at? At Bourke Mall CBD Melbourne

Daylesford

Just a morning through Daylesford. Time to get coffee!

Reeds Lookout at Grampians National Park

Freezing. Cold. Windy. There was this spot of light shining on the hills. It looks like light from heaven.