Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

This Is A Bushfire Sun - At Lunchtime

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

If you saw the post Bushfires On Our Doorstep which I published on Tuesday and the follow-up post titled C Is For Courage on Wednesday, you'd be aware that we were in a bushfire zone recently.

While we discussed the need to decide rapidly what we needed to pack if we had to evacuate the house, Mrs Authorblog noticed that high above us, something else was burning.

No, there was no need to panic. It was just the sun. But as in any bad bushfire, it looked very different from what you'd expect at lunchtime.

It was only 1.36 in the afternoon, but the sun was a danger beacon.

While the fires were raging near us, I received an email from US-based blogger Jenera Healy who asked if we were all right. She said the bushfires had been reported on their local bulletins and concluded, "You know it’s a big story if they’re reporting Australian fires here in Idaho".

Just for the record, if you want to check out some other photographs of bushfire sunscapes, I did a post in December 2006 called Bushfire Sunrise and one in January 2008 called Smoke On The Water - which will show you the unusual aspects of a familiar celestial object.

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

Smoke On The Water

Fire In The Sky

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

During a bushfire, the sky is always endowed with vivid colours. Last summer, when fires ringed Victoria, I took these shots from Princes Bridge here in Melbourne. There was a brooding sky that looked as if someone had dropped a can of Chrome Yellow paint all across its expanse.

As the sun rose through the heavy cloud and the thick smoke that choked the city, it seemed devoid of any recognisable shape. I shot half a dozen frames very quickly, moving from the St Kilda Road end of the bridge to the other side, near Flinders Street Station.

The timing was perfect because I was able to compose several shots of the dramatic sunrise against the tall trees that fringe the Alexandra Gardens. Then, when I was halfway across the bridge, I realised I could shoot a vertical frame to include the historic boatsheds and the glow of the sky reflected in the surface of the Yarra River.