A Long Walk

The weather was looking way too ominous to risk our trip to 1770 today, so it was cancelled.

***sad face***

We decided instead, to wait for low tide and go walking out along the sand flats with all of our camera gear.  By 'we', I refer to Adoring Husband and I.

Surprisingly, the rain held off for the couple of hours that we were out there.  A brief light shower passed over us late in the day, but we just shoved our cameras up our shirts to protect them for about five minutes and then continued on.

We both took hundreds of photos and we have both already deleted hundreds of photos (as you do) and kept the best ones.

Sea Art - there is beauty everywhere, if you look closely enough.

Tough Crab - one of these little guys chased Adoring Husband across the sand trying to bite his feet!

Escape Crab - these buggers burrow into the ground so quickly!  Got him just in the nick of time!

Three Amigos - the colours are amazing

Wet Kiss - So many seagulls!

It was a hive of activity out there!

I have a few more photos to post tomorrow.  A big turtle hiding under a rock, a dog playing with a sting ray in the shallows, more seagulls, Adoring Husband etc etc.

It was a really nice day, although, I must say that my back wasn't impressed with carrying so much heavy equipment for such a long period of time AND getting up and down from bended knee so often.

Hopefully, if we do this often enough, it will gradually strengthen all of those muscles and it won't be a problem.

Ah the joys of getting older :o)

It's Super Saturday!

Three games of NRL football tonight, so Adoring Husband and I are parked on the couch enjoying the penultimate (big word for the day) round of the season.

His team is currently winning and I am going to sign off here quickly, so that I don't have to announce that the score has changed.  That tends to happen with his team **insert cheeky grin here**.

Adoring Husband might be annoyed with that comment and he might just advise me to take another long walk!

Nite all.

PS  Just as I typed the closing line, the opposition scored and Adoring Husband is not happy!

Macro Magic

Adoring Husband and I have just returned from the Neil Diamond Super Hits Show.

The entertainer, Steve Cummins, was brilliant and if you closed your eyes and just listened, you would swear that it was the real Neil Diamond!

A good night was had by all.

In the meantime ... I spent a little time in our front and back gardens this morning, attempting to take photos with the macro lens in very windy conditions.  Always a tricky undertaking.

It had been raining all morning, so when there was break in the rain, there were lots of water droplets over everything, which are always fun to photograph.

Considering the conditions, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Depending on the weather conditions tomorrow, Adoring Husband and I hope to be heading north for our weekend in 1770.

If the weather hasn't improved by morning, we will have to save it for another weekend.  Disappointing.

I'll just have to wait for a break in the rain again and step out into the garden to take some more macro magic.

Nite all.

Weekend Travel

Adoring Husband and I are going on a photography trek this weekend to a little place called 1770.

http://www.breakloose.com.au/html/adventure_articles/regional/qld/town_1770.php

So here I am at 10.30pm trying to get some washing done, even though the weather forecast predicts rain until Monday.

I have golf at 6.30am tomorrow and then in the evening we have a show and dinner.  Somewhere in between I hope to get the washing dry, some ironing done, bags packed and house tidied.

A message for the weather .... **Please be kind to me**

I had a phone call from my brother this evening.  Our Dad used to call him 'The Convenient Greenie', (which was a much nicer nickname than mine, which was 'Lardguts'.).

Until last week, The Convenient Greenie and I hadn't had contact for six years, which was when our Mum passed away.  Not because of any family feud or anything like that,  we just live very different lives at different ends of the country and life just gets in the way sometimes.

The Convenient Greenie and his 'Soul Mate', are currently struggling through some major unexpected medical problems and it was because of this that communications opened up between us again.

On one hand, it's unfortunate that it takes major traumas in our lives to bring us together, but on the other hand, it's great that we are 'there' for each other in times of need.

It was lovely catching up with him tonight. Now that they are home, away from the stressful hospital environment and can concentrate on recovery, we can have a friendly, relaxed chat, about 'stuff'.

We discussed catching up some time soon, and if all goes well, they may come down this way for a visit before Christmas.  That would be nice.

I hope that things turn around for them and that their future begins to look brighter very soon.  Let this be a hurdle that can be overcome and then they can live happily ever after.  Let life be so good to them that I don't hear from them for another 26 years (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).

Nite all.



  

Submitted!

Here is my entry into the photography challenge!

I tried a few different things.

It was suggested that I photograph Adoring Husband bathed in candle light (I don't know if they wanted him naked or not!).

I loved the idea of photographing Chicklet sleeping in candle light, but she is such a light sleeper, it just wouldn't work.

I tried getting the candle light reflecting in my sunglasses, but it didn't look as effective as I expected.

I attempted to blow the flame so that it lay horizontal from the wick, but the flame just danced around as if it was in a nightclub listening to Vanilla Ice (showing my age lol).

I also lured the dogs to the candle and tried to take a photo of one of their faces illuminated by the flame, but the low light left the dogs a little blurred in the background ...

Vegan Chickie suggested the sparklers so I took a few snaps tonight and was pretty happy with the outcome.

Tomorrow is the final day for submissions and there are two photos submitted that I think are amazing.

The same guy who won the last challenge will probably win this challenge as well.

As I commented under his submission - he thinks outside the square, is creative, imaginative, emotive and artistic and I envy all of those qualities in his work.  Aside from all of that, he is an excellent photographer!

Anyway, I'll let you know next week, the results of this challenge, but for now, it's submitted and I can rest my weary brain!

Nite all.

Candle Light

This month's photography challenge is 'Candle Light'.

We were given this challenge on 12th August and have until 25th August to complete it.

My brain is tired from trying to come up with something original.

I need to think outside the square but my brain is planted firmly dead centre of the square!

So far, of the 108 possible entries, only ten members have taken on the challenge.  Last month, there were 17 entries out of a possible 90.

Most of the members are infrequent contributors to the group and there are about fifteen people who go into flickr every day and either post photos or comment on other's photos.

Although I've only met a couple of the members face to face, there are a few, with whom I've built a good rapport online, and whom I hope to meet in October at the group weekend in the Bunya Mountains.

Some of them are very good photographers and I very much value their critique of my photos when I post them onto flickr.

This is why I feel very intimidated when these challenges are set.

I feel like my photographic skills have improved beyond my expectations, and every day, I learn more, from my new friends and just from practising the different forms of photography.

I also feel like I have a long way to go and that I can't compete with their experience and skill level.  I know that I HAVE to compete, to improve my own skill level and learn as I go along.

Simple and obvious.

My competitive nature gets the better of me and sometimes scrambles my brain.

I do my best work under pressure, so maybe tomorrow or the next day, I will come up with something genius ... in the meantime ... if there is anybody out there who would like to share a genius idea with me, I would gladly take it on and attempt to make the most of it.

Nite all.

Rainy Windy Grey Day

I missed a rainbow opportunity by **this** (insert Maxwell Smart voice here) much this morning.

It was raining lightly when I left home on the trike.

There was a beautiful rainbow in the distance and I knew that one end of it was up river, and if I could get to my 'seat of knowledge' quickly enough, there was a photo opportunity in the offing.

I jumped on my trike and pedalled as hard and as fast as my little legs would take me - which was hard work into a strong, wet headwind!!

I passed some friends who were on their morning walk and they stopped, expecting me to stop too, but I yelled "I'm hoping to catch the rainbow before it disappears!' as I sped past them.

They called back "Oh yes!  It's just beautiful down there!"

By the time I reached my spot, the rainbow was fading fast.

I jumped off my trike, unwrapped my camera (wrapped in a towel and plastic for protection in the back of my trike) and ran to the 'position' and raised the camera to my eye...

... nothing ...

My rainbow had faded to almost non-existence.  I could barely see it and the camera lens could not pick it up at all.

Such disappointment.

This is the second time that I've missed a perfect rainbow opportunity!

At least I know the signs now.  I know which direction to look and I know the weather pattern that could possibly provide me with this opportunity.

I just have to bide my time.

So I pedalled to the bakery to get my coffee and returned to my morning spot.

The weather was looking ominous but every so often there were some lovely magic moments.

The sun's rays poking through the rain clouds.

Just keep snapping away and surely some beauty will appear!

So, it's a rainy, windy, grey day with no more photo opportunities.

Just a day for wearing slippers, sitting on the couch, working on the laptop, being relaxed and sharing some quiet time with Adoring Husband.

Nite all.

Everyone We Meet.

"We are a part of everyone we meet."

I follow the blog of a photographer, Rick Sammon.

http://www.ricksammon.info/

In one of his posts back in April, he wrote about his father.  It was one year since his death.

He liked this quote, because it reminded him of the qualities of his father, that he could see in himself.  His father had died at the ripe old age of 91 and they had a good relationship.

I really like the quote too and if you think about it, it's not just the important relationships in our lives that shape us, but even brief meetings can have an affect that ranges from minimal to profound.

I guess that's why it's important to make every meeting a happy and positive experience, so that people take away a little piece of joy!

.... Speaking of little pieces of joy ....

Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet had a family outing today and had lunch in Maryborough where they took this photo.

She loves going out.  So much to see and do!  She is always happy and smiling.

In the meantime,  if we are a part of everyone we meet, it means that there is a part of me in everyone who has met me too!  That's kind of scary and amazing all at the same time!

Nite all.