Cyclone season

[Tom dinning]

Its that time of the year again. Get your cyclone kits ready (torch, radio, water, baked beans, pets and kids) and head for the shelters.
Unless you're a photographer, in which case you don your wet weather gear and find the most water proof camera you have and head for the coast.
This is last years effort.
Carlos was its given name. MAybe it had some hot Mediterranian blood in it.
On first impressions it looks pretty calm out there.


_D3S3836 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

So a few of the locals dusted off their boards and tried out the slop.


_D3S3771 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

Kids will play in anything wet. A cyclone doesn't seem to bother them as it should. Of course, if one were to be swept off the rocks I would have dived in after them - NOT!


_D3S3831 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

Getting the shot can be risky. There were a few spectators waiting for me to be washed away. I disappointed them.


_D3S3750 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

There always seems to be a certain peace at the end of the day when cyclones are about. Its as if someone is saying: ' all over for the day. Go home, have a good nights sleep, 'cause tomorrow I'm going to blow the **** out of this place.


_D3S3850 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

This years effort is about to happen as I type. Tomorrow, a new one crosses the coast close by. If I live through it I'll post something.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Tom dinning

This years effort is about to happen as I type. Tomorrow, a new one crosses the coast close by. If I live through it I'll post something.

Hi Tom,

As someone living in a much quieter climate (on average) it is for me always fascinating to see these types of weather. You've caught the situation(s), and composed them, very well.

What type of weather proofing did you use (for your camera ;-))?

Well done, cheers,
Bart

[Tom dinning]

Originally Posted by Bart_van_der_Wolf

Hi Tom,

As someone living in a much quieter climate (on average) it is for me always fascinating to see these types of weather. You've caught the situation(s), and composed them very well.

What type of weather proofing did yo use (for your camera ;-))?

Well done, cheers,
Bart

Usually anything I can find in the car, which, today, turned out to be a plastic shopping bag.

I turned up at the wharf and was quite disappointed. Business as usual, it seemed, although the sky showed signs of activity elsewhere.


_D3S9576 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

A short drive across the peninsula (about 5km) and the scenario is more to my liking.
I sat in the car wondering how I could get my camera out of the boot. A gray moment, no less. I own a hatch back and can, with some contortionist moves reminiscent of my younger courting days, I pulled the back seat down and accessed the gear. I still get my foot caught in the glove box after all these years.
The wind was strong enough to blow a dog of a chain so i stayed within the confines of the car until, at the very least, I could guarentee not being blown to Indonesia.



_D300765 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

I finally got the door open and grabbed a few shots. Its always comforting to know the Nikon can take a drenching from time to time. I really should take care of my cameras more.


_D300801 by tom.dinning, on Flickr


_D300836 by tom.dinning, on Flickr


_D300825 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

It will all be back to normal in a day or 2. There might be one more before the season is out. Meanwhile, keep dry.

[Andy brown]

G'day Tom.

Are we talking Cylone Lua?

Where the bloody hell are you?
Which Peninsular?
I think Lua has turned out to sea, is that right?

[Sam Hames]

Floods and cyclones - we just need some photos of snakes and other local wildlife and noone will want to visit Australia!

Your photos definitely make me want to stay inside - I like a nice thunderstorm, makes everything feel clearer but this is definitely more ominous.

[Andy brown]

Yeah Sam,

I'm a few thousand kilometres away from the cyclone but the last storm we had dropped 300mm of rain and yes, I'm looking at a spider the size of my hand on the wall as I write. It's OK, it's only a huntsman.

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by Tom dinning

Its that time of the year again. Get your cyclone kits ready (torch, radio, water, baked beans, pets and kids) and head for the shelters.
Unless you're a photographer, in which case you don your wet weather gear and find the most water proof camera you have and head for the coast.
This is last years effort.
Carlos was its given name. MAybe it had some hot Mediterranian blood in it.
On first impressions it looks pretty calm out there.

_D3S3836

by tom.dinning, on Flickr

Originally Posted by Tom dinning

So a few of the locals dusted off their boards and tried out the slop.

_D3S3771

by tom.dinning, on Flickr

Tom,

I'm impressed. Again you order the images well to tell a story. I especially like these. Each, in itself, tells a story. That second guy seems to be thinking about the risks of it all.

Asher

[Tom dinning]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

G'day Tom.

Are we talking Cylone Lua?

Where the bloody hell are you?
Which Peninsular?
I think Lua has turned out to sea, is that right?

Nah, Andy. Lua is on the west coast. Love to be there shooting that one. I'm in Darwin and this one fizzled out. Didn't even get a name. We got a bit of rain thought. About 200mm in 2 days. It's still hanging about as a tropical low and could still form into a cyclone. I'll keep my cyclone kit handy. This is the only time of the year when the temperature gets below 30 deg but the humidity is at 98% and that does make life a bit sticky.
If you have a look on google earth you can see Darwin is on the end of a finger of land with water on all sides but one and only one road out of the place. It's not really a peninsula but it feels like one. We are never far from water. It dominates our life somewhat. If its not falling out of the sky it's rising under our feet. And it's full of things that kill you. Crocs, stingers, meliodosis, snakes. No one swims in it unless they are dumb or dumber.

[Andy brown]

Tom,

I was in Darwin in 1982, just a young bloke. Man what a crazy town!!
I loved it. Lived in Nightcliff, hung out at the free beach, and loved swimming there. Got a taste for green pawpaw salad. Also checked out 'the cage' at Lims, stuff like that as you do as a young free spirit.
I had some adventures, checked out Twin falls and Jim Jim, Howard springs.

I'm in the far south east corner of the country (warm and sticky here too at the mo') so I'm about a million miles away.
There are one or two other Aussies here but they're grumpy old pricks! Steer clear.

[Tom dinning]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

Tom,

I was in Darwin in 1982, just a young bloke. Man what a crazy town!!
I loved it. Lived in Nightcliff, hung out at the free beach, and loved swimming there. Got a taste for green pawpaw salad. Also checked out 'the cage' at Lims, stuff like that as you do as a young free spirit.
I had some adventures, checked out Twin falls and Jim Jim, Howard springs.

I'm in the far south east corner of the country (warm and sticky here too at the mo') so I'm about a million miles away.
There are one or two other Aussies here but they're grumpy old pricks! Steer clear.

Still a bit crazy, Andy but a lot bigger. I've been here since '89 and my wife arrived in '76. Lim's has gone but the green pawpaw salad is still here. You can still get into a good fight on Saturday night in Mitchell Street and the local rag has a croc story every other day. I lived at Howard Springs for a few years and always had issues with snakes in the house and crocs in the dam.
I'll post some photos from time to time in the travel section if you have one. You never know, you might be tempted to return.
As for grumpy Aussies. You ain't seen nothing yet. When I get fired up I've been known to take a bite out of my monitor.

[Cem_Usakligil]

Excellent pictures Tom and ditto post processing.

You grumpy Aussies can try to keep us bloody tourists at bay but it is in vain. Still we'll come.

PS: if you take a 'byte' out of your monitor, it can only display 64 K colors. That could explain your hefty pp.

[Maris Rusis]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

Tom,
There are one or two other Aussies here but they're grumpy old pricks! Steer clear.

I resemble that remark! Now if it would only stop raining so I could get out with my new 18 inch f5.6 Triplet lens and a stack of 8x10 film you could cancel the "grumpy" bit. And I plead that the rest is merely an unfortunate coincidence of history and biology.

[Michael Nagel]

Tom,

I like the series and the story it tells.

Hope the cyclones will remain (dangerous) distraction and that there will be no storm like Tracy again.

Best regards,
Michael

[Tom dinning]

Originally Posted by Michael Nagel

Tom,

I like the series and the story it tells.

Hope the cyclones will remain (dangerous) distraction and that there will be no storm like Tracy again.

Best regards,
Michael

Thanks Michael. The cyclone season is over for another year. Fine weather until Septempber then it all starts again. All part of living in the tropics.
Tracey wasn't a freak. Its just no-one was really prepared. Things are a bit different now. The house I live in is bolted to the centre of the Earth.
Anyway, they add a bit of excitement to a photographers dull life.
Cheers
tom

[Ben Rubinstein]

Originally Posted by Tom dinning

_D3S3850 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

Georgous! Would look wonderful printed big.

[Lindsey Welch]

Originally Posted by Ben Rubinstein

Georgous! Would look wonderful printed big.

Agreed! I love this one! That deep blue and the eerie calm. That's always such an exciting feeling! I do miss living somewhere where weather would get like this.

These are breathtaking! Good it turns some people away, more for me when ever I finally go!