I find it incredibly satisfying when you set yourself a challenge, that the ideas just seem to come; when least expected.
As you found out yesterday I will be experimenting with back lighting for a while to see what I can learn.
I was about to sit down for tea and have a beer when the idea for the image below, out of no where just came to me.
The Bear from Down-Under
What do you think about stepping out of our comfort zone every now and then, trying something different so we can learn and grow.
This simple image of reed grass in our creek you may notice is back lit, not something I normally do.
I going to give back-lighting a go for a while a see what happens.
So who likes spiders?
This little fella, or Lady is a female 'Saint Andrews Cross' spider, about 16 mm big.
An interesting fact about this spider is when threatened, the St Andrew's Cross Spider responds by shaking it's web so vigorously that both spider and web become a blur, confusing its attacker.
Saint Andrews Cross Spider
... and this was only a tropical low. If you have the choice to leave when any Category Cyclone is heading your way, make your home safe and leave.
Thank you to these two Energex workers who made our streets safe again.
Thank you Energex
The joys of growing and enjoying your own produce is very rewarding.
This wonderful native we also saw on Day 128, the 'Native Hibiscus'. Having flowered, the pods are harvested and turned into the best jam.
The best fruit for jam, 'The Native Hibiscus'
When I worked in Kuwait, there were bill board posters that said 'Water is Life, Preserve it'. Now living off what mother nature sends to our two water tanks, this is so true for us.
Australia like most countries can be a land of extremes, for those communities hit by cyclones Marcia and Lam, good luck getting back on your feet.
For those that have full water tanks and no damage spare a thought for those less fortunate.
Below, little worlds of how beautiful water can be.
Little worlds of water
You can rest easy now, knowing that the name of this machine is a Phoropter
The Phoropter
The apple of many seeds, the "pomegranate" is native to Persia (now Iran) and It was cultivated in Egypt around the time of Moses and existed very early in India.
The apple of many seeds
Nearly 140 km from Queenstown and 971 meters above sea level Lindis Pass is worth the trip. For many months of the year, you can expect to see snow in this mountainous area - often down to the roadside. This image taken September 2014 shows just a few patches of snow left.
On his arrival in Auckland in February 1856 on the Ashmore, John Turnbull Thomson found that his reputation in Singapore had preceded him and he was offered the position of chief surveyor of Otago. He explored the Waitaki River to its source at the head of Lake Pukaki, and crossed and named the Lindis Pass, called after Lindisfarne Island near his home.
On the technical side this was an extremely challenging file. The image was made up from 16, 645DF P65+ files. That's nearly 1 TB of raw fills, when converted to 16 bits I ended up with a 2.1 GB file, even before I started to play with it.
I ended up making five files before finishing on the the sixth final image as I had to keep flattening the file when I got to 8 to 11 GB so I could work on it, and I have 24GB Ram on my Mac Pro.
I think the image is an amazing example of what a Mega-Pan can achieve. The image shown below is 1% of the original, yes it is a very big image at full resolution. Look for my car parked in the foreground to the left.
As a photographer it's pretty normal to wake up and love what you do. The bonus is when you get the opportunity to visit beautiful places.
Lake Wanaka in the Otago region New Zealand is no exception.
Ok, it was a little cold, but this tree with so much character, the peaceful lake and beautiful reflection, topped of by snow covered mountains as the back drop, well I was a pretty happy camper.
Lake Wanaka in the Otago region New Zealand
When you think of paradise what image to you see. There are some woods in a rural locality in the Otago region, not too far from Queenstown in New Zealand called, yes you guessed it 'Paradise'.
What a beautiful, quite and relaxed place to capture nature.
One lasting memory I have is of a little black bird that decided to see how a photo was taken. It was like it had never been around humans. It was so trusting, perching no more than a couple of feet away at times.
Paradise is a rural locality in the Otago region, New Zealand
Consider taking a different perspective when taking your photos, or maybe even how you tackle each day. You might be surprised by the result. Good I hope.
A new perspective always helps add a bit of interest, to anything.
We all love and have a soft spot for our pets. This is D'Arcy, one of two of our Australian Mist's. Just like kids D'Arcy has his personality, stirer, lover and chilled out cat.
Mr. D'Arcy
While I have never been into the "Coffer Shop" ride scene, but I must say it looks like fun, and something to really look forward to at the end of a long hard ride and a great opportunity to catch up with all the gossip, sorry news.
.... and don't they all look so colourful.
The Coffee Shop Riders
Put a little colour in your life with the 'Native Hibiscus', as an added bonus make some stunning yummy jam, or why not some tea, jelly, cordial or cakes. Yes a versatile and don't forget colour native plant.
Looking forward to when it flowers.
The Native Hibiscus
1965, I am 6 and off to Glenelg, South Australia for Christmas Holidays with my mum, dad and two sisters. It seemed we did this every year for quite a while, I loved it.
It's these memories that I feel when ever I come across a Norfolk Pine tree, as the street we used to stay in every year was lined with them.
The Great Norfolk Pine, what memories
My little mate on our pool fence never looked so good. With a long lens and a wide aperture I just started to shoot and get closer and closer. This is about three metres away, I did get to within 1.2 metres. With just seven Photoshop layers I think he looks pretty good.
Australian Laughing Kookaburra
My camera took this one with out me knowing, I liked it so here it is :-)
The detail of the beautiful 'Lacewing Antlion' was taken with my trustworthy Fujifilm X100S, what an amazing camera.
The antwing measuring 45 mm long was resting on an internal house wall.
