Curiosity

I bet you thought I forgot about FAA again, didn't you? I didn't, I was just waiting for the right day to come along and it's here! Welcome to Photo Friday!

It was just too much to come up with photos I liked enough to post *every* day of the week, so instead I've decided to compromise it to once a week. That seems more doable. :)



I can see this one taking on a cat and winning, can't you?:

My partner and I took some bread to the park to feed the ducks, and we were joined by a crow and several magpies. Though the crow was quite tame, the magpies were even more so - deigning to take a morsel of bread right out of my partner's hand!

To be honest, since we shared the camera, I can't tell you whether this photo was taken by my partner or not. Despite the small amount of blur to his head, I really want to claim it, but I can't definitively do so in good conscience. It may be my work or it might be Bumface's! ;)

A Wiggly Pole

Good morning! Today is an exciting day for me! For ages now, one of my favourite things has been the British show "QI" which is hosted by Stephen Fry and, even more importantly, always has the adorable Alan Davies on it. Well, QI has come out to Australia and I've scored myself tickets to see them live *tonight*! So, since I'm in a celebratory kind of mood, I've decided you can all have a funky cheerful picture for the day.

Shiny:

I saw this pole in Wiggles World at DreamWorld on the Gold Coast and it was just so cheerful and zany I knew I wanted to photograph it. It took a little bit of physical wrangling (of myself!) and my camera's zoom & macro functions, but I'm really pleased with how bright and cheery it came out - exactly the mood I was hoping for.

Budding

Phew, I've been on the go all day today! I did manage to get a few things accomplished though: several loads of washing done and already put away properly, gym and a walk (despite managing to somehow crunch my hip and put it out a bit at the gym), banana bread baked and the bathroom cupboard totally cleaned out and sorted! (This last one took several *hours* of work.)

Budding pink flowers on a clear day:

Now that's what I call a clear day - not a single cloud in sight. I don't remember much about the taking of this particular photograph - not even what day it was taken or where, unfortunately. I do know that I had to use my camera's zoom rather than the macro setting, and that I played around with the focal length a fair bit.

I like the way the colours pop on this one; the blue of the sky manages to accentuate the pink and the green.

Lights: Ferris Wheel

Welcome to another Monday! It's early morning and the birds have beaten me up again - Summer is definitely on its way over here, despite the chill still in the air overnight.

Ekka Ferris Wheel at night:

I love Brisbane's Exhibition - from the quiet arts competition entries to the busy-ness and bustle of the Sideshow Pavillion, and all the things in between, and I love that there are so many opportunities for photographs of all kinds. As evening turned into full dark on my '09 visit, I stole down into Sideshow Alley and found myself a quiet spot to photograph the beautifully lit up rides and attractions.

This Ferris Wheel shot was taken on the 'night' setting, quite zoomed in, while I braced myself and my camera against a pole. I love the way the night sky makes the colours really 'pop'.

"Lights: Ferris Wheel" is part of my Ekka series.

Jacaranda Blossoms

Good morning! Today my mother and I are going for a picnic in ithe park with my older brother and the three children. It should be a lot of fun, and there may be the opportunity for some nice photography.

Jacaranda blossoms on a clear day:

Ahh, I love Jacaranda trees so much, and of course now that it's proper Springtime, they're all starting to bloom, and the grass around each tree is gradually becoming a sort of lilac purple as it is covered in fallen blossoms. The original reason for taking this photo, back in 2008, was to show my purple-loving friend how gorgeous the Jacarandas are since she had never seen one.

A definite with the macro, I would also have fiddled slightly with the aperture and shutter settings on this one.

Fireworks Light Trail

Apologies for not posting this this morning, we had a man out to install some insulation, and while he was here he touched one of our lights and blew a fuse - which of course meant no internet.

Fireworks on 2010's RiverFire:

I haven't much to say about today's photograph, so I'll just get on with it.

This is one of the photographs I snapped at 2010's RiverFire using the Fireworks setting and my beloved tripod. I just love the way the beams of light splay out and up, and the clarity of the lines. This is of course part of my Fireworks series.

Little Storm

I'm so glad I don't work, just now; I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things I need to do as it is! If I had to add a job to the mix, I think I'd fall over.

Is anyone watching yet?:

I snapped this one of my niece, J, while she was in the middle of a tantrum. I got a few shots of her, but I love the timing on this one best: she's just peeking out to check if anyone's paying attention to her little strop! No idea what the crying was even about, but this moment is now forever immortalised. One for her 21st birthday, I think... ;)

I had to crouch down to her level to grab it, but unfortunately I was in too much of a hurry to take note of what settings I was using.

Jurassic Memories

Goodness, has it really been almost a year since I last posted here? Hard to believe, but apparently true! Anyway, I'd like to give this a shot at actually going back to updating this daily again. I'm going to try doing the post between 7 & 9 each day as I think having a concrete time will make it easier to incorporate it into my daily routine.
Anyhow, already running behind, so onto today's!

Mossy rocks at Lyme Regis:

Set in Dorset, England, along what is known as the Jurassic Coast, Lyme Regis is famous for its fossil hunting. I can't think of a more appropriate photograph for a 'come back', with its physical link to the past. Plus, the mossy rocks are just how I imagine (probably incorrectly, it's true) most rocks from that era to have looked.

No fancy tricks were involved in taking this shot, I just sorted my camera settings out, stood, aimed and clicked. Well, alright, I may have crouched slightly. I'm not positive, but I think the camera was set on its automatic setting with a slight zoom. No tripod as I was there to fossil-hunt more than photo shoot!

Twice As Innocent

Woah, there's a fair bit of rain around again. I was supposed to make it out to the shops but one look at the weather and I decided I'd stay put. Ah well. Tomorrow!

The sweetness of children:

I saw these two cuties at the Ekka a few years ago and not only were they adorable, but look at those backpacks! I got permission from their parents (who thought I was a little odd, but consented anyway) to take this picture.

This is another for the This Way Of Life series; as well, of course, as the general 'People' series!

Life And Death

It's been warm and sunny today, and I have new shoes! Plus I managed to convince the bank that I am me, even though I gave the wrong access code when I called to get my authentication code reset (because I had no idea what it was) so my crafting supplies are on their way as of tomorrow! Once they arrive, I'll finally be able to use the new dies I got for my Cuttlebug.

Little purple flowers at the bus stop:

After hitting the shops, the weather had cleared up again a tiny bit so I walked to the bus stop, and just before it, in the garden, were these little purple flowers. There was a mixture of healthy flowers and dying ones, and I was lucky enough to capture this photo (for today's Project 365 photo) with one of each!

To get this one I once again had to lie down in the middle of Logan Central, and I experimented with my camera on various settings. I angled the camera up to the flower in the crazy-bright daylight. I was actually aiming for a lot more off-centre than I got - turns out the traffic going past on the main road really knocks these little guys around a lot!

Unfortunately this is one of the photographs I've had to edit - first I had to remove a lamp post from the edge, and then I had to do a small crop to trim off a bit of road that made it onto the shot. Still, I'm fairly happy for it, especially considering the sun was so bright I could barely see what I was doing.

Dusk Bloom

I've spent the better part of the last three hours trying to work out which photo to post for Monday's. I have a billion things un-done and a billion more half-done, but oh well. Too late now!

A yellow flower after some rain, as dusk settled in:

When I stayed in Sydney, my friends took me to a few different places. One of those was an outdoors shopping complex that had some lovely big flowers in the garden there, and this is one of the photos I got of them. As always, any hints on what type of flower this is are welcome!

Pink Flower

Went to the oral surgeon today and got my two remaining wisdom teeth removed. One was fairly quick and simple, like the first removal, the other was rather nasty - he even had to use the drill! That's probably because that little jerk was coming in almost directly sideways, but still. Oh well, it's over and done with now, so here's some pretty!

Pretty pink flower reaching up to the sun:

I do believe I found this pretty pink flower on a walk with my camera one day. It's shot, of course, on macro, but as usual, no clue on any of the other settings I might have used.

I've no idea what kind of flower this is, but if you know, feel free to give me a shout and let me know!

City Slant #1

Ack, slacker. Had to post this backdated so I could get one for Tuesday. Guess I was too busy enjoying some silliness!

*ETA: If you're looking for something else to read, I've actually updated Little Bloo Creativity tonight, too. Go ahead and check out the shiny ornaments I've been making.

Southbank & the Brisbane River as viewed from the far end near the Cultural Centre:

There's a spot in Southbank that I like to go and sit and just watch the river. On one such occasion I leaned over and snapped this. I know it's recommended that you make certain your camera is flat in order to take a scenery shot, but this sort of angled shot is perfect for my Edges & Angles series.

Snow Slide

Damn, missed yesterday's post, sorry. I got distracted with some craft-work.

Maxie enjoyed the snow in Canberra as well:

Until this year, when I took a trip down to Canberra and visited Selwyn Snowfields, I had never in my life seen snow. While I was there I got to experience sledding, making a snow angel and I saw my first snowman; but I was so busy doing these things that most of my snow pictures are taken out the car windows. I did, however, get a couple of pictures of Maxie enjoying herself on the embankment afterwards.

I zoomed the camera in and got down nice and low to grab this particular shot.

Flower Child

Managed to procrastinate my morning away today, then needed to rush for an appointment, so you're getting today's image tonight instead. Fingers crossed tomorrow goes better, but as I need to be out of the house by half 6 (just over 3 hours earlier than today) or 7, I don't like the chances. ;)

Kids and flowers are a combo made for cute-dom:

For those who don't know, this shot is of my nephew, L. I love my little monkey dearly, but he can be a right cheeky thing when the camera comes out! This particular day I was trying to get a decent photo of him - any decent photo of him - and all he was interested in doing was playing hidey from the camera... at high speed. I managed to snap this one when he threw himself onto the couch to avoid being photographed. ;)

On Duty

Apologies for my sudden and unintended hiatus. I went through quite a rough patch with a lot going on in my off-line life, and I also took a short holiday with an overseas friend. In fact, today's photo is actually from that holiday.

A Surf Life Saver busy patrolling the beach at Noosa:

On our last day up the coast, Kate and I spent a little bit of time relaxing on the beach. I was busy trying to take a photo of a scrub turkey without getting too close, but I managed to look up and snap this Surf Life Saver as he walked past. No idea what my settings were, but I can at least tell you it wasn't on macro and it wasn't on night or fireworks. ;)

This one is part of my People series for now, with possible view to include it in a series called This (or maybe My) Way Of Life.

Photos for the next little while may be in the same couple of themes as I'm really needing to get out there and take something decent!

Mine!

Another Friday has come along!

Seagull pair at Brisbane's Southbank:

I'm not generally a fan of birds, and seagulls aren't exactly the prettiest ones there are, but I caught this pair of seagulls by chance, using my old Kodak DX6440, zoomed in and presumably on general settings.

Allerton

Not much to say this morning, so have at it!

Allerton in Southbank:

On a visit to Brisbane's Southbank, sitting down at our favourite area, I snagged this photo of my friend's bear, Allerton. Macro (big surprise, I know!) on general settings, on a lovely clear day and voilà!

Beauty

The sky is grey, the clouds are heavy, and it's a day for curling up in bed with a movie and your comfort food. Not an option for me, but you should totally go and do it on my behalf!

My beautiful Rhi, at her favourite place in the world:

For a while now, I've wanted to try my hand at more portraiture. I'm not generally that good at telling people what to do, or where to be, so there's a pretty big barrier to that style of photography. However, when Rhi asked me if I would try and get some photos for a project she was doing at the time, it was the perfect opportunity to both help out a friend, and to get some practice. I warned her ahead of time that I could not guarantee I would get anything decent, but with a bit of luck and a lot of photographs taken, there were quite a few she was very happy with. This is one of my favourites of the day, and it is part of several series'.

I took this on general settings but in colour, and when I got home I edited it into black & white with coloured sections.

A Child's Rose

Morning, world! The birds are chirping and the sun is... well, hiding behind a bunch of clouds, but don't let that stop you.

A weed-flower posed on the coffee table:

My niece picked this 'flower' from outside on the grass and brought it in for me. After a few experimental photos of it in hands and the like, I was getting myself sorted to take another of it on the coffee table (increase the chance of me getting at least one that wasn't blurry), and just as I took the photo, my brother dropped a towel. This just goes to show that sometimes accidents make for great photographs. ;) Part of my 'Composure' series, I took this one using the macro setting.