Bluebells?

On my drive into the country on Sunday I just had to pull the car to the side of the road and run back with the camera to capture this scene.

The light across one of the most common wild flowers known as "Bluetop" and the majesty of the large Eucalypt trees reminded me so much of a walk into the Forest of Dean with my sister in the UK when the ground under the mighty oak and beech trees was covered with the sky blue glow of bluebells. From the roadside this small paddock looked as if it too was covered with bluebells.

I couldn't help myself, I must have taken a dozen different shots of the display from every which way These two are the ones that I feel make the best of the display. The sun was high in the sky and the temperature in the low twenties - perfect in every way.

AJ

Green and Gold

The one plant that has given Australia its "National Colours" is the wattle. Elsewhere in the world this plant is cultivated in nurseries and is known as the Acacia - which is the plant's correct name. Early Australians gave the yellow fluffy flowered shrub the name "Wattle" when they used the thin sticks mixed with mud for their "Wattle and daub" dwellings. I read that there are more than 700 different species of Wattle that range from ground cover to medium sized trees. They give a joyful bright yellow display in winter and early spring - and the pollen in the air is responsible for hayfever in lots of unfortunates! Colin included!

f/10 1/125 sec  ISO 100

Many wattle have tiny little yellow flower balls but the wattle I stopped to photograph has long flowers and blue grey leaves.
The sun on the flowers enhances the brilliance of the "green and gold" - wattle colours are usually described in this way even though the colours vary from very pale yellow to a deep gold and the leaves vary between emerald green and slate grey.

f/8  1/125sec  ISO 100

In this area where I was using the camera there were wattles in the open and wattles scattered among eucalypts - this is an area that has been cleared for development and regrowth has been allowed.

f/8  1/125sec  ISO 100

In an area that was maintained as a park for walking with areas of mown lawn, the trees (eucalypts and wattles) were in small clumps and had beautiful form.

f/5  1/125sec  ISO 100

Bordering this area the scrub seemed to be quite dense but not very tall. This area was bright with the colour of the wattle too. This area I have photographed is in the Subtropics where there is a good average rainfall and a fair amount of humidity in the summer months.

The colour of the wattle seems richer in some areas of arid Australia - maybe to compensate for the cruel landscape!

AJ

New lens for the Nikon

For quite a while I was toying with the idea of ditching the Samsung NV3 and replacing it with something newer. It was taking me forever to analyse the pros and cons of the point and shoot cameras available - and justifying the prices of them. Cheap cameras did not offer the features I wanted - such as a reasonable zoom - up to 7x - and possibly a viewfinder. The cameras that did appeal were almost as expensive as an entry level SLR (the SLR has many more features than the expensive point and shoot). So for a fraction of the price I bought a 50mm lens that gives an aperture up to f/1.8.
These are three photographs taken with the new lens

f/3.5   1/400sec   ISO 400

f/3.5   1/640 sec ISO 400

f/3.5 1/400sec  ISO 400

The Samsung is back in my shoulder bag for those moments when the SLR is at home and now I have a camera for all occasions! The Nikon D90 is a pleasure to use and is often used or else it is pulled out and admired! It is very much loved! The three lenses I have will suit all situations. I do not have a dedicated macro lens but the Samsung copes with my rare macro needs very well

Taken with a point and shoot MACRO setting

This shot of the seeds on the core of a capsicum that was used in my evening meal was taken with the Samsung with the macro setting. For the few occasions I want macro shots I shall use this camera. It is the picture not the camera that is important.

AJ

Sugar sweet

Between the glitz and entertainment on the Gold Coast and the culture and offices of Brisbane are still acres of arable land and some of it is devoted to growing sugar cane.

f/5.3   1/125     ISO100

I noticed that the cane was in different stages of development and some of it was flowering. I had to stop the car and get closer! Fortunately the cane had not been flood irrigated lately so the ground was not too wet and boggy so I was able to walk right up to the plants.
 The sun was shining brightly overhead and being a person who enjoys the midday sun and using it to my advantage I took pleasure in allowing the flower heads to be back lit - they look so beautiful!

f/5.6  1/200   ISO 100

Finding a flower head that was low enough to the ground for me to get a close shot was a challenge. Most of the cane is about ten foot tall! Anyway my wandering brought me to one plant that had leaned over and so allowed me to get the shot I wanted. When backlit it is not possible to make out the structure of the flower so I wanted this shot so I could see more detail.

f.5.6  1/200   ISO 100

The flower reminds me of rice. I shall have to find some rice plants to confirm that! Not easy since no rice is grown in these parts!
I was pleased that the sugar cane was so accessible and that now I have a photo record of it.
AJ

Fishing champions

Where ever there is a boat ramp for fishing enthusiasts the pelicans are never too far away. And so it was when I walked down to the water's edge with not another person in sight.

  f/10  1/125   ISO 100

A wily bird assumed that I would have something tasty to share and came swimming over. Just then a small "tinny" putted around the corner in which were three weary boys who had been out all morning dangling their lines.

f/7.1  1/125  ISO 100

After asking if they had a successful trip and being told "yes" the lad in the straw had reached down in the bottom of the boat and dug out a small fish wrapped in plastic - I guess it was left over bait. "I can get the pelican over for you so that you can get a good shot of it" he offered.

f/9  1/125  ISO 100

The intention was to draw the bird over and then toss the fish to it but I persuaded him to try and get it to take the fish from his outstretched hand. "Goodness, look at that hook on the end of his beak" he yelped! I don't think he had done this before! But he waggled the fish enticingly and closer and closer came Pelly.

f/8  1/125 sec   ISO 100

The bird was as nervous as the lad with the fish! But hunger overcame fear and with a lightning quick snatch the fish was engulfed in the enormous beak. Oh dear! The shutter speed might not have been fast enough! There is a bit of blur on the head and neck but the picture is not as bad as I feared! Both bird and boy were happy. One had a feed the other did not get injured by the hook on the top beak!

After offering my thanks and showing the shot I managed to take I left the three young men to load their fishing boat (small metal fishing boats are always known as "tinnies" by us Aussies) onto a boat trailer and I returned happily to the car.

Looking up I spotted more winged fishermen.

f/5.6  1/125   ISO 100

The mighty pelicans look so amazing in flight. I took four different photos of this group as they passed overhead.

AJ

Red balloon

Well I knew that it would be another good day "tomorrow"! This morning our breakfast was interrupted with a drama in the sky that just had to be photographed - but I will only include three of the dozens of shots I took - they tend to look very similar in great numbers!

f/8 1/100sec ISO160 35mm

Where I live is a popular holiday location, the Gold Coast of Australia. As can be expected, there are many different activities that people can do in this vibrant place with an almost perfect climate. (We complain when we don't get enough rain and the tourists complain when it rains in their week!) One of the activities is hot air ballooning and many times we look out in a morning and see two or three in the distant sky.

f/8 1/640 ISO160 70mm

The wind must have been wrong today because the balloon we spotted was less than a kilometer away from us. This is not good because our house is on the edge of the hills that fringe the Springbrook Mountain and there would be only a few places tree-less enough for a balloon to land and collapse its fabric without it getting caught in fences and three branches if it came west.

f/5.6 1/640sec ISO 160 270mm

So I was outside watching and photographing and feeling for the pilot who was straining up and down to capture a breeze to take him back to safety. The balloon was almost down to the ground at one point and came back up again - maybe the pilot saw that there was not enough space in the park where I walk my dogs and up he went fairly high and managed to catch a tiny breeze that did take him eastwards and the last I saw of this red balloon was it coming down not far from where it took off at six thirty. Two hours of flying time and only a couple of kilometers covered!

AJ

Cooler nights and colourful skies

Winter has returned with its cool fingers - the days are glorious, warm and pleasant but by late afternoon the mercury drops and once again the heaters and fires are activated to keep the chill away.

With the contrast of temperatures the clouds have been eye catching - and when that happens the setting sun paints them with reds and gold. This evening was one of those "ooh" moments!

F/4.0 1/60 Sec ISO 160

Looking almost north the sky between our palm trees shows the colour of fire. The clouds are not large but numerous enough to give plenty for the fading sunlight to bounce off.

Looking west to where the sun disappeared (a little bit north of west) the sky is absolutely stunning. Strong reds tonight. Does that mean it is going to be a good day tomorrow? It is always a good day tomorrow!

f /5.6 1.40sec ISO 160

I wonder what will attract my eye tomorrow - you will have to wait and see!

AJ

Morning coffee with the birds

f/5.6 1/1000 ISO 160 300mm

Today the sun was so warm and beautiful that when it was time to stop for our 10.30 cup of coffee the chairs were set up in the swimming pool yard in the open fronted shade house. It has been a while since we behaved like rich people on holidays and it was great fun!
Earlier I had noticed that a greenish honey eater was flitting back and forth among the bromiliad blooms and it was not really being very timid to me standing only a few feet away. When we carried the coffees downstairs I also took my camera and tripod - just in case.

f/7.1 1/640 sec ISO 160 300mm

I didn't have long to wait. The honey eater came to the plants quite close to where we were sitting - but when I stood up to go to the camera it flew away.
Not to be out done I lowered the tripod so that I could use the camera without having to move - except to put the coffee down and switch the camera on!
I must have taken twelve shots of the bird (its a good thing I shoot digital - this hobby would be very expensive if I had to pay for film and developing!). Some were acceptable and some were to be discarded because the flowers were in the way or the bird turned his head away at the wrong moment.
I rather like the shot of the bird hovering under the flowers, it only did this for a couple of seconds before alighting on another plant. Our honey eaters are not like the humming birds, they prefer to hang upside-down from branches rather than hover and feed. They will hover briefly but they are far too heavy to keep it up for long.
AJ

Empty Bowl Luncheon

Today I attended a fund raiser organised by the local pottery society to raise much needed funds for the homeless who live here on the Gold Coast of Australia.

A beautiful handcrafted bowl could be chosen from a huge selection - arriving a few hours after the start of the event the selection was quite depleted but what was left to choose from was definitely not poor as you can see. Colin and I chose a bowl each and I was surprised to find that we had both chosen bowls created by the same potter!

After picking a bowl we made our way across to where there was a huge selection of soups and other foods to choose from. I chose minestrone soup and Colin, pea and ham. This bowl is for pumpkin soup.Out in the grounds of the Pottery Society's studios the crowd of people enjoying their soup were chatting comfortably with each other and making new friends of the public who were encouraged to come along and join in this commendable event.

Tables loaded with all kinds of edible goodies that had all been donated were displayed and if no one was hovering over them, enterprising people were carrying trays of things around the seated people and selling items as they roamed. This tactic was evidently very successful because the trays of items were being refilled as I stood and chatted to one of the potters I had recognised.

As the people were seated they were being entertained by two young and very talented musicians, Bree de Rome (with the guitar) is a singer/songwriter and has a lovely voice. She performed solo to start with and after a solo performance by violinist Sophie Mathison, she sang and played with Sophie and the sound was quite lovely.

The local businesses had got behind this event and had donated all sorts of expensive prizes to be given away as raffles.

I could not resist taking a photo of a gentleman who was arriving as I left. He looked so smart and so colourful. He didn't mind my attention at all!

AJ