iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

#BlueSkyArtShow ... from the archive (you can still see the film grain) #soft #clouds at #dusk in the #BlueMountains #NSW with the Belt of Venus clearly visible. #photography #landscapephotography #naturephotography #australia #sunset

A narrow line of clouds is set against a sky shading from blue, through lavender, lilac and salmon to pale pink. The pink band is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the Belt of Venus.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

#BlueSkyArtShow #cold A closeup of a #blue #iceberg in #Antarctica. I like the scalloped patterns that remind me of scales and the light dusting of snow, like icing sugar, along the edge of the ridges in the #ice. #photography #landscapephotography #naturephotography #closeup #intimatelandscape

A vertical format closeup image made in Antarctica of an iceberg, with ridges running diagonally from bottom left to top right. The ice is scalloped, like scales, and is a turquoise blue colour. There is a light dusting of snow, like icing sugar, along the edge of the ridges in the ice.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #FavoriteThings Our first #goldenretriever, the magnificent, mischievous, talkative, playful, independent minded, loving and loyal Mr Pickles #dogs #photography

A black and white image of a six month old golden retriever, lying on the grass but looking up at my wife (out of frame) with love and mischief all over his face

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #evening Now in the west the colours change, the blue with crimson blending; Behind the far Dividing Range, the sun is fast descending. - Henry Lawson #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #sunset #bluemountains #sydney #nsw #australia

Ridges layered in dark blue silhouette as the sun has dipped below the horizon. The last of the light illuminates high, wispy clouds in pink, salmon and orange.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #vertical ... one from the archive ... a #waterfall in a very steep sided valley in the #BlueMountains #NationalPark in #NSW. It was quite late in the day and I was using ISO25 Kodachrome, hence the long exposure ... #photography #landscapephotography #landscape #nature #australia

A waterfall cascades over several rock platforms from the upper left of the image to the bottom right. It is late in the day, so the shadows are deep and the water has blurred like angel hair due to the long exposure. The rock faces are covered in moss and the steep sided gully is filled with ferns and glistening dark emerald vegetation

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #relax ... a weddell #seal, dead to the world, despite the ruckus of passing chinstrap #penguins near Baily Head on Deception Island in the South Shetland #Islands #photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #antarctica

A weddell seal lies on its back on the volcanic sand beach near Baily Head on Deception Island in the South Shetlands, sound asleep despite the ruckus from chinstrap penguins passing back and forth along the beach

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #angles ... cheating a little bit, but another one from me, this time from nature ... this makes me think of the confluence of two rivers. Image made in Hillsdale Meadows, #BanffNationalPark #Canada #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #naturephotography #closeup #snow

Closeup of dried grass and snow, the dried grass forming a y-shape like two rivers joining. The dried grass is a warm golden brown colour and contrasts with the austere whiteness of the snow.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #angles ... the ceramic scales of the #SydneyOperaHouse reflecting some #bluesky and showing off the intricacy Jørn Utzon's amazing creation #photography #urban #sydney #australia #architecture #patterns

A close up image of the tiles on the exterior of the Sydney Opera House's "sails", showing a series of joins, radiating from the bottom left corner, like the ribs of a fan, and the diamond patterns of the tiles. The tiles are reflective, and the tiles in the upper right half of the image reflect blue sky, while the tiles in the lower left half of the image reflect the off-white of another of the Opera House's "sails".

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow ... the red #earth of central #Australia at Stanley Chasm, also known as Angkerle Atwatye, meaning the Gap of Water, in the West MacDonnell National Park #photogrpahy #landscape #landscapephotography #northernterritory #outback

The view through the narrow walls of Stanley Chasm, the rock wall on the left is mostly in shadow, while the wall on the right is glowing orange-red. We get a glimpse though the gap of a rocky landscape beyond, with a few gum trees clinging to the rock faces.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

#kandinsky in an alleyway ... #BlueSkyArtShow #Arch. Discovered wandering around #Vilnius after dinner on a work trip ... #photography #urban #abstract #Lithuania

An abstract image of a brick wall which is rendered and painted in an off-white colour. In the upper left, the render has been cut away in a square shape, exposing the brickwork underneath, which still bears traces of plaster. The square cutaway intersects with an arch shape that spans the bottom right two thirds of the image. Within the arch is a smaller square where the render has again been cut away, exposing the bricks, this time with no plaster remaining, so they are a darker red-brown colour compared to the bricks visible in the top left. The paint is peeling in the lower right, exposing random shapes of grey cement render.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #TheJourney From the archive: three Adelie #penguins on their way. They are far more agile on land than you expect, and climb icy or rocky slopes that look far beyond them. This trio no doubt have important business to attend to. #photography #naturephotography #antarctica #wildlife

Three Adelie penguins in single file, their flippers extended for balance, follow a path made by penguin traffic in snow atop an ice field.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow From the archive (so please forgive the film grain) ... early morning #sunlight flooding through Gabe's Gap in the #Kanangra Boyd #nationalpark in #NSW. One of those mornings when you could really feel the magic of the new day #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #australia

A ridge line is silhouetted against golden morning light flooding in below a low deck of clouds. The sun is just out of the left side of the image. The ridge itself steps down from the right to a saddle known as Gabe's Gap, and through the gap we can see the outline of the Blue Mountains escarpment in the distance.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #windows ... not normally my thing, but I was drawn to the facade of the Harpa concert hall in #reykjavik, inspired as they are by the columnar basalt so prominent throughout #iceland #photography #urban #geometric

Detail of the facade of the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, comprised of three dimensional multi sided hexagonal 12 foot high glass bricks stacked in columns, which are inspired by the columnar basalt found throughout Iceland. The varied angles and use of coloured glass create a range of colours from dark blue to pale cyan.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #Abandoned ... Memories of Migration ... Short-tailed shearwaters annually migrate over 30,000km past Japan and Kamchatka, to the Aleutian Islands, then down the North American coast, before crossing the Pacific back to #Tasmania. Amazing! #photography #naturephotography #birds

Looking straight down at a short-tailed shearwater feather embedded in the sand of Ocean Beach at Strahan in Tasmania. The feather is a darker brown colour against the sand, and individual filaments can be seen with grains of sand interspersed along the length of the feather's shaft.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

#BlueSkyArtShow #reflections ... good morning from Melbourne ... one from the archive, smoke reflected in the calm waters of the Great Sandy Straight between Maryborough and K'gari (Fraser Island) #queensland #australia #sunset #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #minimalism

A ribbon of smoke is reflected in the waters of Great Sandy Strait, the sky above it a pale blue, while below it the gold of late afternoon sun lights up the horizon. It is low tide, and a triangular point of land juts out into the water, with a channel marker just visible where it meets the water, and a yacht can be seen on the horizon with its sails furled.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

After 3 days of blizzard and rain on the Overland Track, the sun finally made an appearance once we got to Pelion Plains, lighting up the button grass and providing a wonderful contrast to the brooding Mt Oakleigh in the background. #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #Tasmania

A lichen covered boulder in the foreground is surrounded by button grass tussocks lit by the afternoon sun. The middle ground is in shadow, the ground rising gently to the dark and brooding grey dolerite columns of flat topped Mount Oakleigh at the horizon.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

More #Tasmania - the Western Arthur #mountain range on the horizon, seen here from the southern end of Lake Pedder. The Western Arthurs traverse is a fabled (and incredibly demanding) multi-day hike in the middle of Tassie's southwest #wilderness. #photography #landscapephotography #landscape

A range of mountains spans the horizon, blue in the distance. In the foreground is a lichen covered boulder, its sharp outline reminiscent of the mountains. In between are expanses of button grass, green-gold in the late afternoon sun.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Solomon's Throne in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park in the #Tasmania #wilderness world heritage area. #photography #landscapephotography #landscape #wilderness

Looking across small glacial tarns fringed by cushion plants toward a stand of pencil pines with the flat topped dolerite columnar peak known as Solomon's Throne behind. Patches of blue sky can be seen through the clouds and reflected in the water.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

This is Singlebend on the Styx River in #Tasmania. The Styx Valley is home to some of the largest hardwood #trees on earth. #Eucalyptus regnans, known as mountain ash or swamp gum, can grow to over 100m tall and live up to 400 years. #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #wilderness

Image of a slow flowing river, the water stained a dark tea colour by tannins, with a large fallen tree trunk projecting out into the flow across a coarse shingle shore. The far bank of the river is a wall of tree ferns and dense vegetation.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Back to #Tasmania, trying for a different perspective on Cradle #Mountain, this is Weindorfer's Tower receding into the #mist as seen from from Lake Wilks #photography #landscape #landscapephotography #texture

The image shows a rockface composed of dolerite columns at Weindorfer's Tower in the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania, the lichen, jointing and sparse vegetation creating a sense of texture, while behind the main rockface the ridge line and further craggy peaks recede into the mist.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Wishing everyone peaceful and restorative holiday break and may we carry beauty and calmness with us in 2025. #photography #landscapephotography #landscape #sunset #trees #serenity

A mangrove tree is silhouetted against the afterglow following sunset, the sky shading from deep blue, through mauve, lilac and salmon to a fiery orange at the horizon, with the colours reflected in the mirror still water.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Study in #Blue. A different #lake - this time Lake Pedder from Scott's Peak Dam in Southwest National Park, #Tasmania. #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #reflections

A blue sky with wisps of cloud, along with a series of ridges, blue in the distance, are reflected in a mostly still Lake Pedder.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

The shadow of Coromandel slowly creeps across #lake #wanaka with Fog Peak in the background. #newzealand #photography #landscape #landscapephotography

A peninsula jutting out into Lake Wanaka in New Zealand sits in shadow, while behind it, mountain peaks fade into the haze of late afternoon light.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

I guess there's a reason they call it the Land of the Long White Cloud ... #newzealand #landscape #landscapephotography #clouds #mist #mountains

A few patches of blue sky peek through wisps of cloud surrounding a mountain peak which is lightly dusted with snow

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Staying with apex predators, this one from a recent trip to #africa - the Queen of the jungle ... #wildlife #photography #wildlifephotography #lioness

A lioness is sitting in long grass, partially obscured, although we can clearly see her mesmerising golden eyes looking directly at the camera

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Continuing the #wildlife theme, a youngish #polarbear near #hudsonbay, #canada. Apart from the cold, the main challenge was the wind and driving snow. Even in the lulls, there's an almost soft focus quality because of all the snow and ice in the air. #photography #wildlifephotography #arctic

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 19/10/2024

While I'm on #wildlife, thank heavens I was lucky enough to land the focus on the mesmerising eyes of this Black Currawong in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair NP in #tasmania. A gaze as piercing as that rather formidable looking beak. #photography #wildlilfephotography

An black currawong, with droplets of rain beading on its feathers, shows off the startling yellow of its eyes as it turns to stare down the barrel of the lens

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

We had a lovely, cheeky, talkative wonderful golden retriever called Pickles. Here he is posing proudly with a fish he caught …

A slightly damp golden retriever looking at you with a mischievous expression holding a fish in his mouth - proud but a little wary because it’s definitely his fish, not yours …

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 13/10/2024

While #wildlife isn't my forte, every now and then I get lucky, and this chap having a scratch while hauled up on a boulder at Ytri Tunga on the Snaefellsness Peninsula in #iceland was most obliging. #photography #wildlifephotography

A harbour seal is lying on its side on a rock in bright overcast light, scratching its lower jaw, allowing us a good view of its mottled grey fur, long whiskers and the nails on the end of its flipper

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

Something a little different - still #iceland, but a #macro from #reynisfjara beach. This is sea sandwort (Honckenya peploides). What caught my eye was the cluster roughly in the shape of a posy and the contrast of colour against the black sand. #photography #landscape #landscapephotography

A cluster of green and yellow succulents with droplets of moisture from heavy mist poking out through the black volcanic sand of Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 15/09/2024

This image was made at Hundafoss, downstream from the better known Dynjandi #waterfall in the Westfjords of #iceland. I used a ND filter because I wanted to accentuate the contrast between the flowing water and the permanence of the boulders and moss. #photography #landscape #landscapephotography

Moss and lichen covered boulders in the midst of cascades and autumn coloured heath in the background at Hundafoss waterfall in Iceland

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2024

Back to #iceland ... this is Aldeyarfoss in the northern highlands. What caught my eye was how the basal columns are all so uniform up to about the same point and then twist and turn like crazy ... #photography #landscape #waterfall

Aldeyarfoss waterfall in norther Iceland, where the river drops around 20m into an almost circular basin ringed by columnar joined basalt

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 24/08/2024

#sunburst from part way up the ascent of Stac Pollaidh, looking back over Loch Lurgainn #scotland #assynt #highlands #lochs

Sunlight bursts through the clouds above Loch Lurgain from the slope of Stac Pollaidh in Assynt on the west coast of Scotland

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 29/03/2024

Congregations of #ice ... the shape of the #iceberg to the right put me in mind of Icelandic churches, and I also had in in mind icebergs jostling, shoulder to shoulder, as they made their way out of the mouth of #jokulsarlon lagoon to the sea … #iceland #photography #landscapephotography

Icebergs in shades of grey, white and turquoise jostling against each other at the mouth of Jokulsarlon lagoon with storm clouds in the background

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 09/03/2024

#Hraunfossar is a series of #waterfalls in #Iceland where the water flows out of the porous lava rocks in multiple cascades. I was fortunate to visit in #autumn for wonderful colours, and the only crop that made sense was 16:9 to create a sense of the abundance of the spectacle.

Waterfalls flowing out of porous lava rocks in multiple cascades, framed by bushes and foliage in vibrant autumn colours.

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 02/03/2024

Staying with #Iceland, this time #DiamondBeach at #Jokulsarlon lagoon. What caught my eye was how the #ice glittered in the sun, the contrast with the volcanic sand, and how the ice itself is reminiscent of the shape of Iceland. #photography #landscape #landscapephotography

Sunlight glitters on a small, translucent chunk of ice, shaped like the island of Iceland, against a background of black volcanic sand

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 25/02/2024

Another from Iceland ... this time in the WestFjords near Dynjandi Waterfall ... and while it's understandable to long for blue skies, the advantage of overcast weather was that the colours of the autumn heath really popped against the green moss, and grey, lichen covered boulders.

Moss and lichen covered boulders in the Westfjords of Iceland surrounded by autumn coloured heath

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Michael Larkin @cloudmaker.bsky.social · 29/12/2023

While I'm on the #iceland theme, this one is from the highlands near Haifoss ... #landscape #photography

Sunshine through the clouds over the Iceland highlands like curtains of light

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