Springing

Spring is springing into action!

I arrived home from the Seat of Knowledge this morning to find these two guys sitting on my fence.

Wattle Bird

Rainbow Bee Eater

There was a bit of a battle for territory going on, but they didn't fight too hard.

Our Grass Tree has grown a new spike too, which is pretty cool.

You can see the fog in the background - taken at 7am today.

My head has been extremely fuzzy all day.  Going to bed at 9.30pm was not a good idea.  Waking up at 3.30am was an even worse idea!

Midnight til 6am suits me fine.

9.30pm til 3.30am does NOT suit me at all!

So Spring may be springing, but I certainly was not springing anywhere today.  It was a rest day for me and I ate chocolate.  Lots of it.

Tomorrow, I hope my brain will be fresh again.  It will be a better day.

Nite all.

Dozing

It's 9.15pm.

I've had three glasses of wine since 5pm and am now sitting on the couch watching my footy team get creamed by the team most hated in the league.

I am dozing.

The wine has done me in!  I am going to bed.

Thought that I would generously share one of my favourite pics for the exhibit before I go.  This will be blown up to a large size.

Nite all.

A Quickie

Is this the biggest dog you've ever seen in your life?  The dog's owner is not a short woman either!

Stopped in for a quick coffee with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet today ... and then got a quick shot of the pier at exactly midday.

 
I wonder if the fog lifted after this?  There was no fog at the other end of town!

We did some printing today, but we have to go back on Saturday to see the girl in charge, so that we can get a good price on the larger prints.

I submitted my entry into the "Wind" brief for the EOS Photo5 competition today.

I felt a bit pressured, with so much going on at the moment, but I really want to enter all five briefs this year so that I qualify automatically next year and NOT have to be under any pressure in 2013.

Anyway, as I the title says, just a quickie tonight.  My pillow beckons.

Nite all.

Making Music

What a full day today has been!

Of course, the Seat of Knowledge was the first stop this morning and it was great to see The Little Gnome back from his trip to Rubyvale, where he spent a little over two weeks with his grandson and family.

We missed him while he was gone!

Afterwards we had a date with some acquaintances to help them with their camera, computer, electronic photo frame and TV/DVD.

That took three hours.  It was a pleasant three hours because they are lovely people, and Adoring Husband did most of the work.  Ok, Adoring Husband did ALL of the work!

They were most appreciative and we got a big bag of fresh veggies from their garden as well as the offer of some plants from their bromeliad garden and a dinner invitation for some time in the future.

These people will be at the exhibit opening night and will be serving nibblies to the patrons as well, to help out, so that's a lovely gesture.

We drove home from there to have a quick lunch and then I pedalled up my street, for the musical instrument photo shoot, at BP's place.

The moment B took the instruments out of their velvet lined cases, I fell in love with them.

They were so shiny and smooth and sleek with beautiful lines and the light danced off them as B moved them around on the black sheet to suit my requirements.

I took 90 photos.  Some of them I aimed and fired, but most I just held the camera up high and at different angles shooting blind.  I really enjoy that kind of photography and I am almost always pleasantly surprised by the shots I get that way.

I have selected five of the best and I think I will use them on a panel for a series of shots.  There is one in particular that I will enlarge.

I have three photos that I am enlarging as features.

So far, all is going to plan.  Fingers crossed, it will continue to do so!

Tomorrow is the opening day for submissions to the EOS Photo5 competition and I still haven't decided on my 'Wind' photo.

I wanted to submit one of my musical instruments photos, because they are 'wind' instruments, but having read the brief again, I don't think it would be acceptable.

So now I have a wee dilemma and I'm not sure what to do.  I do my best work under pressure!

This is the photo that I have rejected for the brief ...

I have four other wind shots set aside, that are possibilities.  Need to ponder for a little while.

Got another busy day ahead tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Good Business

So yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from an acquaintance who lives next door to a friend of mine.

She was very unhappy with the shots taken by the photographer that her employer used, so she asked if I would take a photo that she could use on her business cards and stationery for her new job.

I said that I'd 'have a go'.  She said that she would be here after work at about 4.30pm.

The way she said it, made me think that she believed I had a studio here.

An hour before she arrived, I pegged a white sheet up over a wall on the Eastern side of our house, which at that time of the day, is in shade, and I took a couple of practise shots.

When she arrived, I led her through the house and outside to my makeshift 'set' and explained to her that portrait shots were not my forte, so I couldn't guarantee that the shots would be any good, but that I would do my best.

She did seem a little surprised to be standing in front of a pegged sheet in my back yard!

Surprisingly, it only took about a dozen shots to get one that we agreed on.

The tricky part was then finding my way around photoshop to make the crinkly white sheet in the background look like a solid colour behind her.

I suffered my way through for a while, becoming very frustrated.  I even found a site called Elements Ten for Dummies.

I'm obviously dumber than a dummy, because I couldn't understand it at all.

Finally, in desperation, I sent my friend 'The Nikonian' a private message in facebook and asked her to explain in simple photoshop terms how to perform this task.

One paragraph later (thank you! thank you!) and WHALAH!!

Not too bad for my first business card photo!  Even if I do say so myself!

She offered to pay me for the pleasure, but I told her it was my 'congratulations on your new job' gift from me.  When I emailed it to her later, she replied with a very pleased message, thanking me.  Thank goodness!

Very nerve racking these shoots.  All good experience, and each time I push myself a bit out of my comfort zone, that just improves my photography.

Tomorrow, Adoring Husband and I are helping a couple learn how to download photos from their camera to their computer and then how to create an email with a photo attached.  They also want to learn how to put information from their computer to a memory stick.

Then another photo shoot for me!  This time with musical instruments.  What I thought would be one musical instrument, has turned into almost an orchestra of instruments, so I am very excited at what I might find when I arrive!

So it's a big day ahead for me.  Best get some sleep!

Nite all.

Almost Famous

Well, my fifteen minutes of fame commences as of tomorrow.

The town Newsletter was published and issued today, with our photos and story on page three.  Woot Woot!

My photos arrived from the Sunshine Coast after being printed by my friend down there and they look so much better than I expected.  I am very pleased and it's a weight lifted from my shoulders.  Now I only have 50 more to print, which we'll do this week.

Will take a couple of the odd sized ones to the gallery this week to make sure they have frames to fit them.

I still have to organise the postcards eep!

Need to write a blurb about myself so that the patrons can read about me.

Falling into place nicely now I think.

Played in photoshop a bit this afternoon.

I can't imagine ever knowing all there is to know about it.  Every time I open it, I find something new.  I need to sit with someone 'in the know' (you know who you are! lol).

That's all I'm sharing for today.  Off to bed for yet another early night.

Nite all.

Excellent Show!

Jon English - Rock Revolution.

If you get a chance, go see it!  You won't regret it.  More talent on one stage than you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams.  Breathtaking Brilliant Bravo.

The mini challenge in the 104 group this weekend was 'From a Low Angle'.  Here are my photos that I have just posted onto Fb.

I think I might go to bed early (11.30 is early for me!).

Nite all.