The cannons were installed in 1879 to defend Wollongong harbour and Port Kembla against the possible Russian threat. Each 4.8 tonne cannon was capable of firing a 30 kilogram shell 1.6 kilometers out to sea, although they were fairly obsolete by the 1890’s.
They have been compleatly decomissioned, filled with a sawn off bit of wood so they’ll never fire again (not unless an incredibly sneaky person is also pretty handy with a chisel and just happens to have a few thirty kilo cannonballs lying around). But they remain as a popular tourist attraction, and a symbol of Wollongong, as well as a bloody good photo op.
the top one is 16 images taken with the 18-55mm kit lens and stitched in Autopano pro, and the bottom one is a 25” exposure so that you get that lovely blurring in the clouds.
This statue depicts one miner assisting another during the Mt. Kembla mine disaster that took place in 1902. The gas and coal dust explosion that took place on July 31st 1902 claimed the lives of ninety-four of the men and boys that were working there at that time. Two rescuers Major Henry MacCabe and night-shift-deputy William McMurray both lost their lives during the rescue operation, both in acts surpassing bravery in an attempt to save injured Kembla miners, resulting in a total death toll of ninety-six.
The sound of the explosion was so loud that it could be heard clearly in the then small town of Wollongong some seven kilometres away. The statue was erected outside Wollongong library as an important part of Wollongong’s history, commemorating the bravery and mateship of the rescuers and as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the largest mining disaster in Australia.
For those of you who are interested, this is approximately seventy seven shots taken with a 50mm F1.4 on a D3100, Stitched together in Autopano pro. It utilizes the Benzier Method of panorama to achieve an effect similar to the amazing DOF indicative of a medium or large format camera.
