Sunset And Moonrise

A Double Blessing On The First Day Of Summer

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I just happened to look towards the western horizon at precisely the right time on Monday. Luckily, I always have my camera close at hand, so I was able to get these quick shots of the clearly-defined rays of the setting sun.

Monday was an interesting day for a Sky Watch participant, especially one who lives in Australia. You see, December 1 is the official start of our summer, so spring is behind us and the weather is getting hotter as the days get longer.


These two shots of the sunset were taken through a window, because I needed the elevation in order to get the best effect of the rays - and I had to act extremely swiftly because I knew the span of the rays would only last a couple of minutes.

The clouds had me worried, though. We were looking forward to nightfall because I knew that a clear sky would enable us to see the extremely rare right of the moon, Venus and Jupiter aligned to look like a smiling face. For most of you, the sight would have been the other way around, but we're the Land Down Under, where everything is topsy-turvy, including the seasons and the orientation of the sky!

But as I told the Authorbloglets, the clouds were building up quickly and we probably wouldn't even get a glimpse of the "face in the sky".

Then, about an hour later, the clouds went scudding through fairly rapidly because of the strong breeze and we were able to feast our eyes on this sight. We were in a hurry as we were going out - so I took this shot without a tripod. There is actually a slight shimmer on the image of the stars, but it's not a bad result for a shot taken with the camera held freehand.

I guess it was a real blessing, by Jupiter.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.

Is The Sky Afire?

Melbourne's Gearing Up For A Hot, Dry Summer

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes it's hard to predict what the evening sky will be like. Actually, let me amend that sentence. Most of the time, it is utterly impossible to work out what the sunset will be like.

But on Tuesday evening, when I took this sequence of shots, I knew we were in for something quite extraordinary. There was a clear horizon. There was a flaming sun. And there was a smattering of cloud. That's generally when you get some great colours, after the sun has sunk below the horizon.


Still, nothing can prepare you for the swiftness with which the colours ebb and flow - or how dramatically they appear. Nor can anything prepare you for how swiftly they vanish, leaving just grey streaks.

You have to be quick, you have to be decisive - and most of all, you have to be lucky. In this case, I was able to use the nearby plane trees as silhouettes, to highlight the sulphurous yellow that flickered across the wide expanse of Australian sky.


When I took this sequence of shots, there were several people on their evening walk. They were all concentrating on negotiating the hills, or lost in the music of their iPods, or simply engrossed in thought.

Not one of them was looking at the sky. Truly, I think they missed the best part of the day.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.

Dying Embers Of The Day

Only One More Sunset Until Summer

Photograph copyight: DAVID McMAHON

I shot this a few hours ago, at dusk yesterday. Let me explain. I live in Australia, where it's Friday morning, while it's still Thursday in the United States, Canada and Europe. And while the rest of the world is gearing up for winter, we celebrate the first day of summer on Saturday.

Confused? Yep, I thought you might be. And just to prove that we are a happily topsy-turvy race, we have a special name for blokes with red hair. They're called "Bluey". No, I'm not kidding you. That's why Sir Richard Branson's Australian airline is called Virgin Blue, even though its planes are red. You can't get more Aussie than that, mate!

Five O'Clock Shadow

No Room For Shady Characters

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

While the rest of the world gets colder, the weather is getting hotter here as we move closer to summer. As the mercury rises and the days get longer, there are great shadows just waiting to be photographed. This sight stopped me in my tracks, because the triangular shadow on this metallic wall was a perfect foil for the horizontal lines which cast miniature shadows of their own.

Warm And Fuzzy

No, Make That TOO Warm and TOO Fuzzy

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This is the fourth week of autumn, but the weather is still scorching, as if summer still has a magnetic grip on us. This time of year is normally marked by milder weather, but we've had no respite from the heat. It's 35 Celsius today, with a hot northerly blowing. The funny thing is, when I lived in India, a northerly was a cool breeze, but here it's got distinct desert qualities. In case you haven't guessed by now, I'm not a fan (pun unintentional) of hot weather.