Lilly Billabong for Evelynn

Photo Information

(18906)

Genre: Landscapes

Medium: Color

Date Taken: 2002-09

Categories: Water Plants, Savannah

Camera: Canon EOS 1vHS, Canon 24-70 mm f 2,8 L-USM, Fuji Provia 100

Photo Version: Original Version

Theme(s): jmp *2, Earth from Above, Geological Wonders, TN Favourites [view contributor(s)]

Date Submitted: 2007-09-04 5:39

Viewed: 14754

Favorites: 1 [view]

Points: 74

[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note

Evelynn has commented on my aerial shots - so this one is for her - enjoy!

This is a view of an unusual circular billabong in Kakadu National Park. It is locally known as Lilly Bilabong because of the lotus plants that grow there (the circle of green).

Billabong is an Australian English word used to refer to an oxbow lake, a stagnant pool of water attached to a waterway. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. The word is derived from two Indigenous Australian words: "billa" meaning "creek" and "bong" meaning "dead".

Billabongs appear relatively often in Australian literature. One of the most well-known references is in the opening line of Banjo Paterson's famous poem "Waltzing Matilda".

Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km east of Darwin.

Kakadu National Park is located within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It covers an area of 19,804 square kilometres, extending nearly 200 kilometres from north to south and over 100 kilometres from east to west. It is the size of Israel, about one-third the size of Tasmania, or nearly half the size of Switzerland.

Kakadu's flora is among the richest in northern Australia with more than 1600 plant species recorded which is a result of the Park's geological, landform and habitat diversity. Kakadu is also considered to be one of the most weed free national parks in the world.

The distinctly different geographical areas of Kakadu have their own specialised flora. The environment referred to as �the Stone Country� features �resurrection grasses� that are able to cope with extreme heat and long dry spells followed by periods of torrential rain. Monsoon forests often develop in the cool moist gorges dissecting the stone country. The southern hills and basins support several endemic plants that are only found in Kakadu such as the Eucalyptus koolpinensis found near Jarrangbarnmi (Koolpin Gorge). Lowland areas form a large proportion of Kakadu National Park and are mainly covered in eucalypt dominated open woodland with the ground layer consisting of a large range of grasses including spear grass, sedges and wildflowers.

The floodplains, which are inundated for several months each year feature sedges such as spike rush as well patches of freshwater mangroves (itchy tree), pandanus and paper bark trees (Melaleuca). Varieties of waterlily, such as the blue, yellow and white snowflake, are commonly found in these areas. Estuaries and tidal flats are populated with varieties of mangroves (39 of the 47 Northern Territory species of mangrove occur in Kakadu) that are important for stabilising the coastline. Mangroves serve as feeding and breeding grounds for many fish species including the barramundi.

On the tidal flats behind the mangroves, hardy succulents (samphire), grasses and sedges grow. Isolated pockets of monsoon forest grow along the coast and river banks. These forests contain several impressive trees, among them the banyan fig, which can be recognised by its large, spreading aerial roots, and the kapok tree, which has a spiny trunk, large, waxy red flowers and pods full of cotton-like material.

This is a scanned slide - NB The colours are fairly true (believe it of not) - it was about 4pm (sunset approx 6pm).

haraprasan, bobcat08, angybone, SelenE, ralfsworld, Aramok, Alex99, Argus, rousettus, nglen, kuhufu, JORAPAVI, Evelynn, anel, marhowie, gannu, uleko, SunToucher, XOTAELE, alguazul, marioana, pilonm, hester, cicindela, jmp, lensaleksander, Heaven, elizabeth, sranjan, devildoc has marked this note useful
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Discussions
Thread	Thread Starter	Messages	Updated
To Evelynn: Oxbow	Jamesp	1	09-04 21:37
To Bufo: Blue	Jamesp	1	09-04 08:59
To ralfsworld: Limestone solution holes	Jamesp	1	09-04 06:48
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Critiques [Translate]

bobcat08 (1431)
[2007-09-04 5:53]

Hi James,

What happens here !!!. What an incredible colour has this lake. I have more seen that kind of colored lakes (Rotorua in NZ) but this is amazing. What a color. And James, I have no comments. Very interesting notes. My compliments. Regards and TFS Bob

angybone (7684)
[2007-09-04 5:57]

What an unusual place! Beautiful place - beautiful shot. That blue is remarkably brilliant!!! WOW!

SelenE (13972)
[2007-09-04 6:05]

Hi James,
Excellent POV, colors are great. TFS
Best wishes,
Selen

ralfsworld (6560)
[2007-09-04 6:24]
[+]

Hi James
Interesting presentation of this unusual place. This place is similar to the two places in Belize called Blue Hole. The first one is in the sea and another on the land. I have visited both of them :)
TFS
Ralf

joey (24909)
[2007-09-04 6:58]

Hi James,
what a beautiful lake!!
Amazing deep blue and turqoise colours!
Sharp with a good detail.
Well done,
Joe

Bufo (4247)
[2007-09-04 7:13]
[+]

Hi James,
this is an amazing and stunning picture of this phenonemum I had never heard of. It is hard to comprehend this are natural colours....what causes the intens blue colours? Is it particles in the water?
Your note is also highly informative.
In technical terms i have one remark (although I don't know under what kind of adventurous circumstances you took the image: I would personally crop out a pice of the forground and it would be great to see the horizon.
But who am I to give my opinion about this great picture....:-)
Jacob

pankajbajpai (16627)
[2007-09-04 7:29]

hello james,
nice capture , liked the pov very much, lovely colours, nice composition, evelynn must be pleased with this dedication,
tfs & regards
pankaj

Aramok (5166)
[2007-09-04 9:27]

Hi James

What a wonderful phenomena. The colours are stunning and the detail really good. your notes are excellent as usual. I guess it is used as a watering hole as well for the wildlife bcuase there seems to be an open area to the left as well...

TFS
Emma

mbasil (3320)
[2007-09-04 9:37]

Very ineresting shot. A great subject, with nice light and amazing color. Wow, an aerial shot is quite a treat, too. And that's for sharing the phenemenon and explanation with us (having lived in Hawaii I knew the name Billabong, but I had no idea what it referred to).
Mike

Argus (50626)
[2007-09-04 9:43]

Hello james,
This is an amazing sight and this areal shot of a billabong well worth posting: I can believe that the colours must have been stunning. It seems to have ended up quite a distance away from its parent river.
However, despite what you say, I can't help feeling that there is a kind of Fuji blue-green about it. The trees seem to have that kind of green.
You don't mention the make of film but it would be interesting to speculate what the colour rendition would have been with other kinds of film. An alternative would be to experiment with alternative colour options in the photo programme.
Thanks for sharing this one,
Ivan

rousettus (19818)
[2007-09-04 12:27]

Hi James,
very nice photo of this very beautiful and interesting place. great colors, nice details, nice compsoition and POV. thanks for showing it us. best wishes
Ahmet

nglen (36145)
[2007-09-04 12:43]

Hi James. What an amazing thing to have seen. the colours as you say are so rich. It looks as if it was man made , nature is a wonderful thing. thanks so much for showing use this. with the good notes to read as well. Nick..

garyfudge (1098)
[2007-09-04 12:57]

Wow!

That's quite some image. Amazing perspective.

I'm sure that you can't get the glory from the shoreline.

Gary

kuhufu (465)
[2007-09-04 13:45]

Hello James,
The photo you showed us exceptional. The subject and colors of water unique.
Thanks
ugur

Evelynn (14454)
[2007-09-04 20:13]
[+]

My goodness... and enjoy it she shall! What an interesting shot. If it is indeed formed as an oxbow, the perfectly round shape is fascinating.... not to mention the color, which is amazing. I don't really understand the concentric circles either.
Thanks for the photo. It is intriguing.

Evelynn : )

JORAPAVI (4643)
[2007-09-05 0:30]

Hola James,
Bonita y curiosa toma, preciosos contrastes de luz y color, interesante comentario, saludos
Jos� Ram�n

Alex99 (23735)
[2007-09-05 0:57]

Hi James.
What an interesting and unique place you have pictured. Your note is so interesting too. Amazing "sea" of "paints" and lights, bewitch POV and sharpness of the image. My best regards and TFS.
Alexei.

anel (40574)
[2007-09-05 1:19]

hello James,
Again something very interesting and for me new. I can learn so much on TN. Really eye-catching aerial shot. And what a funny name ,Billabong, for this big blue eye.
Thanks lot and best regards
Anne

haraprasan (20403)
[2007-09-05 1:28]

Hi James

A BIG WOOOW! What an aerial shot. Just beautiful. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Mana (18598)
[2007-09-05 2:10]

Hi James,
This is absolutely a fantastic view from the sky. Perfectly circuler Billabong and rich blue colours. Must be a great place to be at, surrounded by huge trees and thick vegetation. Amazing formation of water mass and you have captured it with a great POV. Very nicely composed. Kudos.
TFS.
Sumon

marhowie (486)
[2007-09-05 4:07]

Hello James,
On the strange & interesting scale, an absolute 10+
Excellent notes along with it make this one a visit to remember :)
Very well done.
Howard

gannu (14761)
[2007-09-05 4:54]

James, Simply superb shot. I love the color of blue in the middle of green. Just a class POV ganesh

uleko (10940)
[2007-09-05 7:49]

Hello James,
Wow, this is really spectacular - it looks a bit as if a UFO has landed here! Fantastic shape and colour very well captured from the air. Very interesting note too!
Many thanks, Ulla

SunToucher (11162)
[2007-09-05 10:28]

Hi James,
What a stunning view on this wondeful piece of natural art. I've never seen such a perfect round piece of water and especially with such a color. I really like the circles within the circle. The best about this photo is that no human came to mind to exploid the beauty by building a tourist trap. Love the colors and the clarity of the photo.
TFS,
Niek

XOTAELE (8)
[2007-09-05 14:15]

Curioso lugar.
Unos colores realmente hermosos, con buen contraste , luz y nitidez.
Un gran trabajo James, tfs.
Regards, JL.

arfer (0)
[2007-09-05 19:55]

Hello James

A lovely shot of this billibong.The colour is amazing ,it looks like a giant eyeball in the forest.Excellent POV.A wonderful natural history shot.TFS

Rob

alguazul (713)
[2007-09-05 23:29]

Wow! Not only the picture but the comment is really good!
A very good lesson on limnology on a superb image.

marioana (1481)
[2007-09-06 6:29]

Hello James.
Great aerial shot. Very beautiful colours and light. Good detail. You can see every tree. It really is a beautiful place. Well done.
Regards, Steve.

claudine (0)
[2007-09-06 7:12]

That must be quite an interesting place, wow! This is one of the most original place and picture I have seen so far James. This little "billabong" is something that I have never seen before. This is an excellent capture with great details and colors. What to say about this POV! Your notes are always so educative and interesting. Thanks!
Claudine

pilonm (3321)
[2007-09-06 14:15]

Hello James,

WOW! What an impressive picture!!! I never saw something like that!!! The colors looks very natural and the POV is perfect! Thank you very much also for your so well done describing note!

Great job!

TFS

Michel

stevkds (1811)
[2007-09-07 7:57]

wooow!

Hi James. This is such an amazing view. Great colour and composition.Well done. tfs. Stev

hester (11638)
[2007-09-08 13:07]

Hi James

I love the colours. I have to confess I didn't know what a billabong was. Great notes and a lovely arial shot

TFS

Karan

cicindela (9226)
[2007-09-12 7:25]

Hello James!
Simply fantastic POV showing the full beauty of this place. I like a lot contrast between deep blue colours of lake waters and green of forest. And even if this is a scanned slide tha quality is really good (maybe only it is a little to more saturated).
Best regards and TFS this intresting picture,
Radomir

jmp (8415)
[2007-09-23 7:57]

Hi James,
Incredible and beautiful type of lake!
TFS, Jos� M.

Heaven (7912)
[2007-10-05 0:11]

Hi James!

As you can see, I chose pictures of landscapes for my critiques because I'm not experienced in wildlife photography.

It's a surprising picture, very well accompanied by detailed and interesting notes! The point of view from the plane is perfect to underline this surprise. The whole looks like an extraterrestrian eye... It would not have this effect if taken from the ground. Stunning colors and shapes. You also have well managed the ligthing.

Kind regards
Markus

fragman (43778)
[2008-08-08 5:05]

this is almost unreal, so beautiful, TFS Ori

sranjan (5784)
[2009-01-05 3:43]

Hello James,
Beautiful aerial shot & excellent dedication to Evelynn. It looked like a giant crater created by meteor. TFS.
Regards-Subhash

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Photos: Earth >> Oceania >> Australia >> West >> Northern Territory >> Kakadu National Park

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Lilly Billabong for Evelynn

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