Pawfection

So, since my last update, I've puppy-sat looking after a young staffy x bull arab -- beautiful, beautiful dog -- and now taken on a little foster dog. You can expect a photo of her next week, most likely!

Sleepy Paws-es:

These big feet belong to the staffy x bull arab pup mentioned above. He was a 'found' dog whose owners hadn't been in contact yet, so he came to stay overnight. I named him 'Captain Jack' (Harkness, of course) while I cared for him because he was such a sweetheart he's bound to be a heartbreaker, though his name actually turned out to be 'Charger'.

The photo itself I took by sprawling across the concrete on the verandah. (Do you get the feeling I do that a lot for a photo? I know I seem to write it a lot!)

Camera settings are below -
Shutter Speed: 1/79 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 4 mm
ISO Speed: 200

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.

Eastern Water Dragon

I cheated and wrote this one up on Wednesday night, thinking I was going to be out and about early on Thursday. I figured it would be better to write it early and schedule it for a 7am posting than to write it late... but as it turned out, it was unnecessary!

Anyway, my Thursday intends to involve a trip to the gym, a Lush bath, and possibly a pumpkin scone, how about yours?


Leapin' lizards, it's an Eastern Water Dragon!:

I was wandering through Southbank one day when I spotted this little poser sunning himself on the wall beneath the pink flowers. Not sure where mum and dad were, but he was quite small.

There's something about skinks and lizards that just calls to me. They're generally fairly harmless and they always seem so friendly and *smart*. I mean, look at him there, watching me! What a sweety.

I snapped this using my lovely Kodak; not sure on most of the settings as I played around with a few that day. I'm fairly certain I used the Macro option, and crept as close as I could without scaring him away. Happily he was not very timid and allowed me to get quite close indeed, as you can see!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.