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.

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.

Forgotten Flowers

Once again, I'm cheating and prescheduling. My day intends to include a trip into the city for the Craft & Quilt Fair, which I am quite excited about. I have plans to buy beads and scrapbooking things. None of which I need... ;)

Ah well, on with the post!

Plastic flowers in a decaying cage:

On a trip to the Toowong Cemetery, I spotted these plastic flowers inside a long-forgotten and unkept 'cage'. There was something so sad and yet beautiful about this arrangement that I knew I wanted to capture it on camera. It's just such a bittersweet realisation - this person was once so loved that someone added "forever" flowers to her grave, and it has been so long now that even the forever flowers are fading and drooping inside their broken prison.

Shot in black & white mode with semi-automatic settings, I most likely used Macro and zoom to grab this image.

No Leeway

So far this morning the sun is out and shining. I hope this continues as I want to wash my bedding today, and while it dries on the line I'm planning to make healthy breakfast muffins and pumpkin scones. Mmmm.

Pink flowers (Chrysanthemums?) butting up against a garden wall:

Out on a walk one afternoon I spotted these flowers in someboddy's garden. To me it looks almost like they're headbutting the wall, struggling to make progress in their world; held back by a force greater than themselves. There's a kind of sad beauty in that -- but the most wonderful part comes from the fact that even while confined, these flowers are flourishing. They're taking what they've got and working with it instead of fighting against it... and that, my friends, is truly beautiful.

I haven't a clue what settings my camera were on when I took this photograph, except that I'm fairly certain "macro" was involved somewhere. (Isn't it nearly always with me?) Too, this is another one of those photographs where I got down to the subject's level - so crouched outside somebody's front yard, camera balanced just above the edge of their brick fence.

Little Weed

Some days are hard, others aren't. I'm keeping an eye on the floods, they're rising and they're getting closer to me, but I'm still safe. My nieces are being affected, but they're also safe at the moment.

Another one I snapped outside the Mental Health clinic, I know I edited this a little to make the black and white effect more pronounced, but I can't remember exactly how. This is one of my favourites, but unfortunately I made the mistake of resizing it when I saved it and that makes it completely useless for printing in any form. Sad.

Rain rain, if you're going to stick around, make it good! The local roads are beginning to be affected by the flooding, the water in my swan pond is now up as high as the gazebo, and my front yard resembled a swimming pool. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to have a small play in the mud; if the waters continue to rise the creek near me may flood over the road.

Tiny little blossoms:

While at Alma Park Zoo one day with my family, I managed to snap this shot using mum's friend's Canon PowerShot S3 IS; pretty sure I used the super macro to get this one.

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!

Little Flowers

White flowers overhanging a little waterfall at DreamWorld:

These were taken with my macro lens on zoom, from an elevated walkway above a tiny creek-waterfall. I know the name is rather lacking, but I was running out of time to post it before it was tomorrow! ;) Any suggestions are welcome and encouraged!

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. ;)

Flowers In The Dust

Good morning! I've just spent the better part of two hours looking for a photo for you all today. I think it might be time to head out for some photo taking one day soon, somehow. Unfortunately, many of my 'best' shots are of some of the children who have been (or are) in my life.

Pink flowers in a dust storm:

In 2009, Brisbane was hit by a rather impressive dust storm. It was a Wednesday and I was at my therapy group at the time; we took a break and when I stepped outside, the world was dust-coloured! I had my camera, though, so I snapped off a few quick shots. This is a full colour photo, though you can hardly tell with the dust-haze!

Fresh

Another quick one as I've spent my morning tidying up ready to make Christmas cards with my nieces and nephew, and they're on their way now.

A pink rose in bloom:

As usual, I snagged this using general settings on macro, but this time I used a family friend's Canon Powershot. I am pretty sure I took this in our front yard, just experimenting with the camera's capabilities.

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.

Dichotomy

Well, I feel bad, but at least I did give warning that I might not be able to post on time this morning. I've spent my afternoon and evening either writing my novel, or procrastinating the writing of my novel! However I did make my daily word count in the end, so hooray for that at least!

Daisies in a Logan garden:

This is a black & white version of some daisies in a little garden outside a community service building in Logan. I took this photo on the macro setting, with everything else fairly standard. This is part of my Nature series and is one of the ones I entered in a recent exhibition with/for CASV. The print is now up at Karakan.

Emergence

Sorry I missed yesterday's posting! I did begin one (which I'm posting now), but I was so exhausted last night I couldn't finish it in order to post it.

Goodness me! I have been "on the go" since 8 this morning when Erica picked me up. I've scrambled along the edge of a slope, chased some ducklings, had a wander through my local area and walked the streets of my city in a Reclaim The Night march. I'm beat!

A floral cocoon releases the budding blossom within:

On a wander about my local streets, I spotted these beautiful flowers and couldn't resist stopping to take a photo. Taken on macro setting, this is one of the shots I've made small edits to. Because the original is a lot more blue, I applied a filter (to change the colour of the lighting) using Paint Shop Pro to snazzy this one up a little.

Tropical Pink

Morning! Well, actually it's almost afternoon, but anyhow. It's a lazy Saturday and I shall revel in my ability to get on with doing nothing.

A pink frangipani on a Summer afternoon:

Although I'm not a giant fan of their scent, I love the way frangipani flowers look, and the pink ones are just that little bit extra special (in comparison to the white). This was taken on Macro setting.

Feather Grass

Apologies on the lateness - I'm very distractible today!

Feather grass waving in the air on a spring day:

This is an older shot, taken with my previous camera (a Kodak DX6440) on macro setting. I liked this one enough that when I created my icon site, I used this photo as the basis for the layout.

Summer In Bloom

Last night I was so exhausted I zoned out at the laptop and then went to bed before posting anything. Technically I did post my first post on Wednesday, though, so it still counts.

Jacaranda blossoms hanging from a tree:

Jacarandas have long been my favourite tree, and when I found out a Swedish friend who loves the colour purple didn't even know what they are... well, I just had to go get a few photographs. This is one of my favourites. To take this, my camera was set to macro.