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My Australia Down Under

Name: My Australia Down Under
Address: Allora, QLD, AU
Telephone: 0411494804
Rating: 5

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Allora, QLD
My Australia Down Under

My Australia Down Under Photos and stories from my travels showcasing Australia’s beauty and uniqueness. All recomendations are personal opinion not paid content.

24/01/2025

If you happen to be in the region and have a love for things of old then Allora is your destination this weekend

Here it is. Our program for the weekend. We are expecting a fine weekend but a bit warm.

Looking forward to celebrating 30 years of the festival. Please share around and also tell us what is your number for attendance. There will be a fair few patrons that wouldn't have missed one but I also reckon there are a fair few kids that can tally up some good numbers too. Feel free to Share.

23/01/2025

RUOK ?
Not always, so make sure you check on your mates.

22/01/2025

Yesterday was a day of contrast, with the sunflower season in full swing I did a big drive around the area to see who had crops up. Sadly I only found one farm who has a crop in this year as opposed to other years where there has been several. Fortunately I spoke to the farmer and sort permission to go onto the farm in coming days to see what sort of shots I could come up with. It’s important to remember not to enter private property and to respect the farmers. I have heard that many stopped growing sunflowers due to tourists just appearing out of nowhere into the middle of their farms without permission. Do the right thing. The last couple of photos were from dusk after I got back from Killarney with this cell forming around the Toowoomba region. According to the BOM there are more storms due today.

22/01/2025

Chased a storm this afternoon around Freestone/Killarney just east of Warwick. I scored a couple of strikes but this was the pick.
22/1/25

20/01/2025

First time in a while checking out the locals but as always they never fail to deliver.

17/01/2025

Skies looking nice this afternoon, not likely at this point to see much if any rain at this stage

12/01/2025

The coverage of the LA fires reminded me of the devastation on Kangaroo Island back in 2020 I will never forget the skies and the devastation in our own backyard

It felt like a scene from Apocalypse Now this afternoon in Adelaide with 2 Chinook Helicopters flying back and forth in front of our place. I believe they were flying in and out of Kangaroo Island providing support for the bushfires

12/01/2025

Just a solitary bolt from yesterday’s afternoon as I watched it pass by about 30 kms west of us

12/01/2025

I’m not a weather expert just a photographer who loves the challenge of shooting lightning so I rely on a free tool on my phone and iPad called My Lightning Tracker. It’s a free download from the App Store. Once you have it you can set the tracker to alert you to lightning coming your way. The app will alert you when strikes appear in your set radius. Personally I have mine set to around 50kms away, this gives me time to check which direction the storm is moving and if it’s worth getting out my gear or jumping in the car. You can view a radar image of the storm and direction. The difference between this app and the BOM is that you can see the lightning strikes vs where it is currently raining. As you may be aware there is dry lightning so that will never show on the BOM. Below are a couple of screenshots of the app and what you can expect to see. During the day you generally can capture bolts about 30-40 kms away and at night around 70kms
Happy to answer any questions.
NB this is not a paid promotion simply my own preference

10/01/2025

Just as a break away from storms and lightning I thought I would share these Red Tailed Black Cockatoos we came across on Yeeda Station not far out of Derby in WA. Around 100 cockatoos would come in morning and night to drink from the cattle troughs.

09/01/2025

Sorry about the storm spam but it just keeps coming. This afternoon I headed out around 3.30 to see what I could capture, some great cloud formations but only 1 lightning strike.
9th Jan 25

08/01/2025

After 4 non event Severe Thunderstorm Warnings this one might be the real deal
Edit. A small amount of rain and nothing more.

08/01/2025

The early bird gets the worm they say, got woken by loads of rumbles and flashes and managed to get a couple of bolts. Our third severe thunderstorm warning in about 12 hours but still nothing of note.
This front coming through from SW of Allora
4am 9/1/25

08/01/2025

You guessed it, I’m out chasing that elusive shot. Little fronts building and moving on and rebuilding so 🤞🏻it might be an interesting evening. This shot taken on the backroad between Allora and Clifton 8/1/25

07/01/2025

Well what an interesting night of storms over the Southern Downs, after a late afternoon light show I got home just in time for the heavens to open. Rain was coming in sideways but once things settled down a little I got the cameras out again.
These shots looking north from Allora as the front moved from a south westerly direction around to the north towards Toowoomba.
8th Jan 25
NB the different colours are simply because I ran two cameras with slightly different set ups.

07/01/2025

I got lucky and scored a couple of nice strikes
7th Jan 25

07/01/2025

A couple of shots looking in a southerly direction from Hendon at the front thats moving NE from Stanthorpe and Warwick. Hoping for a couple of strikes while I’m here.

06/01/2025

Just because I had nothing else to share, Brighton Jetty Adelaide

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After 4 non event Severe Thunderstorm Warnings this one might be the real deal Edit. A small amount of rain and nothing more.

G’day everyone I thought I would share a little of how I shoot lightning during the daylight hours as it is considerably more difficult than at night. As described in the video I have 2 lightning triggers a Strike Finder 2 $139 USD and a MIOPS Flex Bolt for around $170 USD however they are on special for about half that price at the moment. Now this is my experience with both. Strike Finder 2 works well and captures a large percentage of visible strikes and is so simple. MIOPS Flex Bolt is more expensive, fires multiple times but has only captured about 2 strikes vs hundreds on the SF2 set up side by side. The MIOPS also has an app for the phone but very very little information as to how it should be set up and so far I have failed to settle on a setting that works for me. I have searched for more info including YouTube clips and forums but to no avail and if you read the feedback I am not alone. I will post a couple of photos from today’s efforts in the comments along with a couple of still shots of the units so you can see exactly what they look like as well as a couple of screen shots of the MIOPS app. I am often asked about camera settings but that isn’t always a simple reply as light plays a huge role in how you set up a camera for any photos and storm conditions are no different. Probably my best advise is to under expose your shot a little and without going into too much of the technical side of things it simply means make your set up a little darker than you would normally do as the lightning will quickly fill in that shot. Try doing a few test shots before you start just so you are comfortable before you set up for the lightning. You may need to adjust as you go depending on how the storm plays out. I will post my settings with each photo in the comments. Have a safe New Year and I look forward to seeing you in 2025. Chris

I’m no videographer but I placed my GoPro on a stick on the bird bath to see who might come in. I think I got a splash of water on the lens but I am happy to see a couple of birds enjoying the bath.

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My Australia Down Under

I created this page so I could share my love of this great country with like minded people. I am fortunate to be able to take my passion of photography along with my love of travelling to places many people never get to go and call it my job. I often travel with my wife Kim.

A big part of what I do involves photographing an amazing event each year known as the Great Endeavour Rally raising funds for people with an intellectual disability. Each year we head to amazing destinations, often places that the general public are not allowed to travel. We spend time on private properties, travels roads only the brave would challenge and enjoy the company of some amazing people.

I also have the opportunity to photograph some pretty cool events from V8 Supercars , Rally Australia , World Surf League events like the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast and Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in Victoria and The Australian Schools Sailing Titles at Lake Macquarie NSW.

In 2019 we are planning a five week long road trip , destination unknown other than picking up Kim from Perth airport after I drive across from Adelaide and dropping her back to Perth on the way back ( this will allow Kim to save 6 days of leave just getting to and from our start point ). Our only criteria are our start and finish dates . We hope to catch up with good friends who will be on road somewhere at sometime. In the past we have decided the direction of our trips by simply choosing left or right at the front gate a but with no plans other than a direction.