DJM Images: Photography by David Metcalf

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DJM Images: Photography by David Metcalf

D Metcalf

Photog
https://djmimages.wordpress.com/

Strm ch
www.facebook.com/illawarrastormchasers

Engineer, and part time photographer from the South Coast of NSW. Grew up in the lovely town of Batemans Bay, currently living in Wollongong. Prints of all the photos you see and/or shoots are available on request.

05/07/2025

A few brief frames from recent days - East Coast Low - 2nd to 4th July 2025

Illawarra Stormchasers
Illawarra Mercury

02/06/2025

A special night under the stars in Gerringong!

This was one of the brightest in a long time. Vivid naked eye beams moving from west to east, dancing their way slowly across the sky. At one point I was yelling at teh top of my lungs at a paddock of noone.

So good to see my long time chasing friends Ash and Moh out and about too!

If you would like to learn a little bit more about the aurora and how to forecast them and what to look out for, you can join our fantastic aurora page over at Aurora Australis NSW / ACT / SA

I have also done some podcasts with the fantastic Storm Chaser Justin Noonan links below.

Podcast Episode Links:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00wp1IoDztWvWvaCTRow4Y
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0frQdKJlBmefQ0xCdHwyh5

Not For Media Use, Licensing Available

ABC Australia
WIN News Illawarra
Shellharbour City Council
i98 FM

28/01/2025

27 January 2025

Another storm day, another stunning sunset following the storm!

Did you know that summer often gives us a better chance at good sunsets as the sun sets to the south-west. This gives the sun a better chance to get up underneath those NW to SE cloud bands and a better chance at a nice clear edge to the SW when the cold fronts push through.

The colours and light were insane on Monday night. I had to drop the saturation on this one a few stops. Sadly no storm photos.

Illawarra Stormchasers Visit Wollongong

22/01/2025

Sunset tonight from Dix's Wharf Lake Illawarra! What a stunner, extremely hard to do it justice.

22 Jan 2024 8pm

Dix's Wharf

Stanley Holmes and F***y Dix operated the wharf in the area from 1940 until around 1972. Stand Dix was an accomplished boat builder and sailor. Dix's jetty was a popular place to hang out, fish and swim.

The Illawarra Yacht Club was also formed at a meeting at Dix's whaft in 1946.

13/01/2025

14 Jan 2025

Woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep. Checked radar Saw a sneaky little cell moving through the highlands. Decided to hightail it to Bellambi to watch it come off the escarpment. Alas, a swift coastal death by escarpment interference saw it strengthen on the western edge and die on the eastern edge so I jetted up Bulli Pass to Maddens Plains for a little barrage.

Didn't think I would have made it to Appin in time, but as it turns out if I took the Appin option instead of Maddens Plains I would have been treated to these bolts within 1km instead of 15km.

Topped it off with a lovely sunrise at MM Beach 🙂

15/10/2024

Super stoked to announce I've been selected to represent the Bureau of Meteorology in next years weather Calendar!

If you would like a Calendar I will have a few copies to share and can also purchase them with a slight discount.

Some incredible entries this year, I'm just stoked to be selected!

13/08/2024

The wonderful Aurora Australis in the early hours of this morning (13 August) from Yass and surrounds NSW

16/05/2024

Not quite the shots I wanted from a 1 in 20 year solar event last Saturday night (11 May 2024) however, I consider myself lucky to have even caught anything at all!

My nearest clear sky was some 6 to 7 hours drive away (12 to 14 hour round trip) thanks to two weeks of onshore flow in NSW and not even a hint of a cold front to assist (which would typically be around this time of year).

Once upon a time I would have done the 14 hour drive, but the risk of cloud still reaching my target (Griffith / towards the Vic border) was still far too high and also with Mothers Day Sunday it was a quick jet to the local headland to see if there were any clear gaps.

Well, for 5 minutes the sky opened up just enough for me to see the vivid naked eye reds lighting up the edges of the clouds. At one point I took a photo straight up to the zenith and the sky was still vividly red!

Then 5 minutes later, it was pouring down rain and all the photographers rapidly scattered to their cars to head for home.

See you for the next 1 in 20 year solar storm (*buys a plane ticket to the nearest clear sky next time*).

P.S. Facebook compression absolutely destroys the image quality on these, on a desktop there is minimal noise :(

10/05/2024

For anyone not in our Aurora Group

Aurora Australis NSW / ACT / SA

⚠️ 📢 🚨 AURORA WATCH ⚠️ 📢 🚨

"Four halo CMEs are expected to arrive at Earth within the next 48 hours, possibly resulting in significant geomagnetic activity and visible auroras during local nighttime hours. Aurora alerts will follow if significant geomagnetic activity actually occurs."

🌌 🟢 🔴 EVENT:

This is the first Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Kp 8.33 (G4 to G5) forecast since 2003

This was the great Halloween Solar Storm of 2003 where aurora was visible well beyond the Queensland border.

⏰ ️🕑 TIMING:

The peak of activity is expected to arrive Saturday afternoon, with storming continuing into the evening. As there are another 2 potential trailing eruptions, we expect this storming to continue into Sunday evening and perhaps some additional storming on Monday evening.

The best time to shoot/search is usually when the initial shock hits, so most likely Saturday night, as soon as it gets dark.

Timing may vary by up to 6 to 10 hours with events like this with lots of eruptions coming at different speeds. We will give you at least 1 hour notice to get out! :) When the shock front hits the spacecraft in earths orbit.

🌙 🌚 🌔 MOON:

Fantastic. Hardly any moon. Moon is small and is setting around 7.30pm to 8.30 pm at present.

☁️ 🌞 🌧 WEATHER (SAT 11 May Night):

*shakes fist*

☆ ACT (Evenings)

Sat: Cloudy and Raining. Zero chance of aurora unless you drive a long way.

Sun: Partly Cloudy with a fair bit of clear sky around.

Mon: Mostly Clear

☆ NSW (Evenings)

Sat: Cloudy and Raining in the Eastern half of the state. If you really want to chase this thing you will need to drive to potentially Urana / Griffith. May be some clear windows on the mid north coast also. Sat images are you friend.

Sun: Better but still a lot of rain around the Sydney Wollongong and South Coast areas. A drive to Yass or Narooma or Canberra should get you out of the rain / cloud. Sat images are your friend.

Mon: Mostly Clear, entire state.

☆ SA (Evenings)

Sat: Mostly Clear with some low cloud around the peninsulas and KI / Adelaide. Satview is your friend to escape it.

Sun: Mostly Clear in the east except for near the Vic border and the peninsulas. High cloud moving in from the west (western half of the state) depending on cold front timing.

Monday: lots of broken high cloud around. Should still be shooting opportunities. Around 30 to 50% whispy high cloud.

(Midnight Sat EC Windy Forecast in images)

LINKS:

Current Satellite Image:
Satview.bom.gov.au
Infra-red layer works best at night

Glendale:
https://aurora-alerts.uk

Solarham Dashboard
www.solarham.com

Real Time Solar Wind
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/real-time-solar-wind

BOM Aurora Conditions
https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora

Good Luck!!!! HAPPY CHASING!!

P.s. Yes it could arrive early. Aka tonight / tomorrow morning. We'll let you know if this happens.

05/04/2024

Golf's cancelled today, sorry guys :/

I really hope everyone along Darkes Road is OK! Over 100mm in rain in under 1 hour between 5am and 6am this morning.

NOT for Media Use. High Res Licensing Available.

Illawarra Mercury
ABC South East NSW
Illawarra Stormchasers
ABC Illawarra

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Kiama, NSW
2534

Website

https://djmimages.com/

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