Carnival of Flowers - by proxy

I was invited to H & R's house this morning to have a look at their photos from the Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba on the weekend.

Their camera is a tiny 'point and shoot', but they were really hoping that I could do something with their photos.  The best I can do is share them with you.

Most of the photos were taken in the harsh midday light ... and worst of all, it was a Nikon camera!!  (chuckling quietly to myself, knowing that I have a couple of Nikon using readers)

So here are a few select photos, with compliments of R & H ...

The lovely R&H

I have seen enough photos on facebook and flickr from this beautiful carnival, that I have put it on my bucket list to attend one year.

Today was a quiet day for me.

Nature has gone into hiding during the school holidays, so there are no birds, lizards, kangaroos or other wildlife to be seen in the area.

I remember, last year, almost putting my camera away during the September holidays because there just was NOTHING to photograph ... except noisy, boisterous kids.

Twelve days and counting down til the end of the school holidays!

Twelve days and counting down til my town gets back to 'normal'!

But who's counting?

Nite all

Storming

Check this out!

4.25pm

4.35pm

This was the first storm which kind of scuttled over the top of us and disappeared out to sea.  The second one came about an hour or more later.  It was loud and heavy and brief.  It made the house shudder and scared the dogs into submission.

I saw my baby today.  They leave town tomorrow for two and a half weeks.  That's a long time - especially when they will be out of the country for most of it.  I already miss them and am worrying about them

Serious learning business on the iphone.

Serious exploring business through the restaurant.

Fun singing/music business on the iphone.

Be safe my baby.  Be safe all three of you.  I love you and I hope that you have fun!!  Come back refreshed and rejuvenated ready for your next big adventure!

Submitted my photo for the 'Spring is in the Air' challenge ...

Now for the Photo5 competition.  Sheesh, it's never ending!

Nite all.

Writer's Block/Foto Funk

Now that all the hype is over and done with for the exhibit, I'm in a foto funk and have writer's block.

I have my Photo5 box laid open on the lounge chair beside me, hoping that it will trigger some kind of inspirational epiphany.

I pedalled around town for two hours this morning hoping that I could find some kind of Spring-like moment to shoot.

Nothing.

No nests.

No flowers.

No baby birds or animals.

No lizards or snakes.

Plenty of Rainbow Bee Eaters, but I used a Bee Eater shot for last month's challenge, so I can't use them again.  It's not like they have a repertoire of spectacular moves.

The roundabouts in The Bay are pretty special at the moment with flowers and manicured shrubbery, but I don't think that I want to risk my life for the sake of a 'boost to the ego' prize!

So I'm stumped.

There are only three days left for the challenge ... I DO do my best work under pressure, but I'm not feeling too confident.

Somebody told me about a flock of swans and their cygnets about twenty minutes from here, so perhaps we can go searching for them tomorrow on the way into town.

Soon, it will be 'desperate situations call for desperate measures'.

Here are my failed Spring shots so far ...

Nite all.

For your viewing pleasure

Thought that I would share some of the exhibit photos here, for those of you who are too far away to come see them.

Fifteen of the sixty six on display and they are most likely the photos that you haven't seen before on here.

Nite all.

The Box

Here is the Canon Photo5 Box!!  It arrived today and I am excited!!

Watch this space!!

Nite all.

Fraser Island

Mrs Bucket, Woman of Many Talents and I took a day trip to Fraser Island today for Mrs Bucket's birthday.

Woman of Many Talent's other half took us into The Bay where we caught a bus from the Marina, at 8am,  to River Heads to catch the Ferry at 9am.

Unfortunately, one of the buses forgot to pick up 60 odd kids from a school, so we had to wait almost an hour for them to get the kids, before we took off.

This of course meant that we got an hour less on the island for the day.

When we finally arrived on the island, we were directed to catch the bus or walk to Kingfisher Resort to get our 'passes' which would give us morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.  So we chose to walk there - about ten minutes walk up a slight incline.

They gave us our instructions for the day, as well as a bus timetable, issued resort towels for our swimming experience in the resort pool and sent us right back to where we started (near the ferry drop off point) for morning tea.  We chose to walk ... again.

We arrived to discover the cafe was closed.  We waited for five minutes for it to open, but then they advised us that morning tea was over - because our ferry was late, we missed morning tea.

They pointed us in the direction of another cafe where we could get morning tea - which was back up the slight incline, opposite the resort that we had just left.

We chose to walk ... again.

We also chose to buy a decent coffee, rather than use the free coffee that they were offering and I bought a gluten free jaffa cake as well.

When that was done, we wandered back over to the resort and found ourselves some banana lounges around the pool.

Mrs Bucket bought us a round of 'cocktails of the day', which were Bacardi, Vodka, Pineapple and Passionfruit juice with ice.  Presented in a tall glass with cubed ice and a straw.  No pretty fruit on the side, or a little paper umbrella or brightly coloured plastic animal sitting on the side of the glass.

Before we'd even finished half of our cocktail, we realised that it was already time for lunch, so we gathered our goods and this time caught a bus to the restaurant near the ferry drop off point.

We ordered lunch and by the time we received it and ate it, we had twenty minutes left to laze around the pool.  A fast change back into regular clothes and a shuffle down to the ferry quick smart, just in time to climb aboard for the trip home.

The day went so fast, but having that one less hour that we'd lost earlier in the day, didn't do us any favours.  Next time we will stay overnight :D

We then spent an hour at the Boat Club and later phoned Adoring Husband to come pick us up.

Despite the minor problems along the way, we had a really great day.

So a big Happy Birthday to Mrs Bucket!!  Even though it's not til Saturday.

Photos to come tomorrow, because I am just too tired to do anything else tonight.

My brother is staying the night tonight, after leaving his beloved non-girlfriend today.  We've had a good chat tonight and I suspect that he will be spending a number of hours on the phone with Non Girlfriend tonight before he goes to bed.

I will post some Fraser Island photos tomorrow.

Nite all.

Sold!

I sold another three photos today.  One to a lady in NZ who wants to have the image painted onto a piece of corrugated iron and two to a lady in town here.

It feels weird having people come to my house to buy my photos.  I find myself searching for reasons why they want my photos, other than the fact that my photos are good and these people genuinely want to own something that I've created.

I am such an interesting subject to study!

I wonder why I spend so much time trying to undermine my successes??

Constantly reading between the lines and trying to convince myself that people are buying my photos just because they are kind and generous and feel sorry for me because I went to all this trouble for an exhibit, so 'somebody' should buy 'something'.

I am not writing all of this as a 'call out' to receive encouragement or affirmations of my talent.

I am writing this because I really struggle to simply say 'thank you' to people.  I have to work hard at 'accepting' the accolades without adding a 'but'.  I don't understand what it was, precisely, in my life, that made me this way!

But it is VERY noticeable to me now, and I am trying hard to figure it out.

Why do I keep trying to convince myself that I'm not that good?  The second that I have a positive thought about how good my photography is, there is an IMMEDIATE thought that goes with it and it always starts with 'BUT'

For example, here are some of my thought processes:

• I really am a talented photographer ... but my shots don't even come close to National Geographic.
• My photos are beautiful, but they will never be as beautiful as those that have been photoshopped.
• It's a great photo, but it should be when I'm using such a great camera.
• It was a lucky shot.
• It's a great shot but I had to take 100 shots to get that one good shot.
• Anybody could have done that.

It's constant and exhausting!

I've always been like this, but right now, it is glaringly obvious and it feels like I'm slapping myself in the face with every negative thought.

I'm just not sure how to get out of this mindset.  There have been a few times when I've been able to tell myself in mid thought STOP THINKING THAT WAY!!

But a lifetime habit is very difficult to break!

I must remember the power of positive thinking!!

I must stop slapping myself in the face!!

I'm going to bed.  Big day tomorrow, and I hope to have some great shots to share at the end of it.

Nite all.

Kookaburras

No photos yet, but WATCH THIS SPACE!

The cleaners from the waterfront caravan park stopped me today to tell me about a kookaburra nest in the park.

The amazing co-incidence about this, is that two days ago, I googled kookaburra nests, because I had no idea what to look for!  Being Spring and all, I figured there must be some active nesting going on.

Anyway, I went to the park to check it out, but I didn't have time to wait for a siting because I had a busy day planned today.

I spoke to the people in the caravans on either side of the tree and they told me that the parent kookaburras had the chick on the ground yesterday afternoon, so I'm a bit concerned that I may be too late, but I have a free day tomorrow, so I'll go and spend a couple of hours waiting waiting waiting.

I had a friend drive up from the Sunshine Coast to see my exhibit today.  I was surprised by her positive enthusiasm ... I'm not sure what I expected ... but I was relieved that she loved it and was impressed.

I expected my little brother to be passing through today, on his way home to Cooktown, but I assume, by his absence, that he has decided to extend his visit with Charlie Chuckles.  Be happy LB :D

I didn't take any photos today and my afternoon and evening has been filled with play on my new iPad that Adoring Husband bought me as a 'congratulations' gift for the success of my exhibit.  He surprised me with it today!

I miss my quiet uneventful life.  I would like a week of 'nothing'.  I would like to wind down.  Maybe next week!

Nite all.

Restorations

I was stopped in the street this morning by a local man.  He asked me if I knew where he could get an old photo scanned and printed, so I gave him my suggestion.  He then told me that the photo was ripped and warped and water damaged and might need some restoration.  He also told me that he needed it done by this weekend for his brother-in-law's 70th birthday.

I had no idea where he could get that done in our area, but straight away I thought that I could give it a go with an editing program, so I agreed to pick up the photo this afternoon.

I rode to his house, just around the corner, at 3pm and was presented with a very old photo.  An old sepia toned photo that had been painted over with colour (it was quite popular in professional photography in the 40s) and it was glued to a heavy cardboard backing.

The photo had been behind glass in an old frame for many years and then held in storage for the last 7 yrs.  It was water damaged which warped and stained the cardboard backing and it looked like it may have stuck to the frame because there were a few large patches of torn photo around the edges.

Here is the 'before' photo...

I spent about an hour touching it up with a really simple and free online editing program called Picmonkey - because I'm still not confident with photoshop.  I used cloning to fill the bottom of the photo and fill in the rounded corners.  Here is the 'after' photo ...

I'm quite pleased with the result, considering that it's my first attempt to restore an old photo.  I think the gentleman will be pleased as well.  I quite enjoyed the process too.

Got another big day tomorrow.  Morning tea with the girls, a trip into Maryborough and my brother will be dropping in here on his way back up north.

So, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

I need a nap!

This is how I updated my facebook status this evening.

This 'Boz' is exhausted (happily so) from being a grandmother for the longest stint yet. Exploring the garden, rearranging the garden ornaments, filling one watering can with dead grass, filling the other with rocks, reorganising the dvd collection, finding new homes for all the teddies, swimming and dancing with fishies on a string, reading about and hiding Ronnie the Roo, taking all the froggy (nibbit nibbit) ornaments for a swim in the dog's water dish, removing all the froggy fridge magnets, filling Wilbur Herbert's bucket with pebbles, watching a bit of 'Chicken Little' and a bit of 'Cars', playing 'upside-down' and 'faster, faster' and 'horsies' in the yard. I think that just about covers most of it. Think I'll sleep well tonight :D Thank you for listening :D

A few photos from our day ...

The band-aid on her forehead is where she picked up a tiny shard of glass when she rested her head on the ground the other day. Nothing to be concerned about.
... and now I must sleep.

Nite all.

A Quiet One

It's been a quiet afternoon at home while Adoring Husband was driving south for a big birthday bash.

I've deleted another 2,000 old photos.

I've thought about studying (procrastinating again).

I've downloaded Photoshop CS5 and then looked at it with total confusion.

I've thought about the Photo5 briefs and I think I have a good idea for the one of them.

I've eaten too many fruit juice ice blocks.

I've skipped dinner.

I've watched the last 10 episodes of this season of Greys Anatomy (and sobbed).

I've watched 5 straight episodes of Sex and the City.

It's now 11.30pm and I am off to bed so that I'm refreshed and ready for my little Chicklet who will be spending the day here tomorrow.

A couple of photos from yesterday ...

Rainbow Bee Eater

Bee Eaters nest by making a tunnel into the ground. 

End Ornithological lesson for today.

Nite all.

Sharing Shots

Because it's almost midnight, I'm just going to share a few shots that I've taken in the past few days, including my challenge shot for the 'self portrait' challenge.

Self Portrait

This one was taken by my brother (he knows I've stolen it)

I went for a long ride this morning, for the first time in weeks.  It was great to be out in the sunshine, soaking up all that vitamin D.

I found so many nests, I lost count and there are Bee Eaters EVERYWHERE!

The Tawny Frogmouth who hatched the three chicks last year, is now sitting back on the nest!  I'm very excited about that :D

I even spooked a goanna down near the beach.

Spring has definitely sprung.  One of my challenge shots is themed "Spring is in the Air" (nature) and I have tried to get a couple of shots of the little chicks in the nests, but the parents keep attacking and swooping me, so I don't know whether to persist, or give up and try something else.

They make me feel like I am in an Alfred Hitchcock movie which is quite frightening (for the 8 yr old in me who watched that movie so many years ago!).

So the thinking cap is now on for an appropriate Spring shot.  Something special.  Not just the run of the mill new bud on the tree, or the bee on the flower or vegetables sprouting in the garden.  It has to be something memorable.

This means I need to take another ride tomorrow, bright and early.  Best get some sleep then!

Nite all.

Thanks

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to those of you who messaged and emailed me with well wishes leading up to the exhibit opening.

I appreciate that you took the time to do that because my confidence slipped as the date drew closer, and your messages of support boosted me and helped push me towards my goal.

Hugs to you all :D

I'm trying to catch up on all the little things that I put on hold over the last few weeks, but I haven't kept a very good record of those things.  I have bits of paper with pieces of information that don't add up.

Email addresses but no names or what I should be emailing.

Addresses, but no names or dates or reasons for having them.

Phone numbers with no names.

I also, now only have 6 weeks, to finish the Degree in Professional Photography that I started almost 18 months ago.

So my plan is to focus on all of this, tidy up the loose ends, complete the Degree and be ready for our holiday in mid November with a clean slate.

Just when Adoring Husband thought things would go back to normal :D

Here is a photo of my brother's non-girlfriend, who Adoring Husband nicknamed 'Charlie Chuckles'

Nite all.

My Baby

A photo that I've been wanting to share for about a week now - I'm tossing it on here early.

 I've seen shags try to steal fishermen's bait before, but not their catch!

I spent the day with my baby today.

This was a photo I prepared earlier.  I didn't take any photos today because we were too busy playing and counting and talking and running and giggling.

As predicted by Vegan Chickie ... I am exhausted!  Happily exhausted :D

One more thing before I go ... Happy birthday to The Nikonian with hugs xxx

Nite all.

It's All About Me!

I have been cleaning out my photo library this afternoon.

I've culled over 3,000 photos and I'm less than halfway through them all!  What a job!

I thought I would share The Master's speech with you tonight.  The speech that he made at the exhibit opening.

************

** First of all, let me say thank you to the directors of the gallery for having me here, and a personal thank you to Roz for inviting me to say a few words tonight.

I am often asked to speak at various functions and events that relate to photography, including at graduation events for photography students as they graduate from college. 

But I have never before had the chance to speak at the opening night of a photography exhibition by a person who was once one of my students, and who I can now call a friend.  So it is indeed a very special honour to be here.

No please don't think that by mentioning that Roz was one of my students I am trying to take credit for what she has done.  I might have planted a small seed of knowledge at the start, the the rest is all Roz.

When I first met Roz it was April last year, at my beginner's workshop.  I will repeat, Roz was at a BEGINNER'S workshop, just 18 MONTHS AGO.  At the time, Roz was really - to me - just another student (no offence Roz).

I keep in touch with a lot of my past students through an online forum, so I was able to see some of Roz's progress ... I noticed that she was taking a lot of photos and the quality of her work was getting better and better.  Then around Christmas, I got an email saying "Help!  Someone wants to buy my photos and I have no idea what to charge them!"

I sent back an email full of very sensible advice, when what my email should really have said is -

"Excuse me ... what the hell?  Less than a year ago, you were a beginner (no offence Roz) and now people are asking you to name your price?  Seriously?  That's not possible."

But of course it is possible because Roz did it.  So forget 'not possible' ... it's just 'not fair'.  Not fair on all those talented photographers out there who toil away for ten years to achieve only a fraction of what Roz has achieved.

So, how does one go from enthusiastic novice (no offence Roz) to virtual professional in less than a year?  Apart from raw natural talent, you can sum it up in one word - dedication.  OR you can sum it up in three words - TOTAL LUNATIC OBSESSION.

(No offence Roz)

I am guessing that Roz is out there 3 or 4 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year.  And I don't mean just trundling about randomly until you accidentally stumble across an opportunity.

I mean getting to know your locations inside and out, so you know where you need to be, when you need to be there, what time of the day sun shines from the best angle, what time of day the birds are active, which spots are good at high tide ... or low tide.

It all goes into the big mental calculator ... and when a moment comes along that seems just too good to be true, you don't capture it by sheer luck.  You capture it because you were the one person on earth who anticipated that moment and was there waiting - camera in hand - before it happened.

During all these hundreds of hours you are busily taking thousands of photos.  And don't think for a minute that all we do is snap away and eventually we get a few good shots by accident.  No, you look at every shot you take and you ask yourself - what did I do right, what did I do wrong, what can I do better - and you use that information to make your next shot better, and you keep on doing it until you get that shot perfect.

And here is the thing that sets the lunatic apart from the rest.  Even when you have your perfect shot - you go back the next day and see if you can get something even better.

So all in all, I guess it was only a matter of time (just 18 months as it turns out) before Roz became a featured artist in an exhibition.  What did surprise me, when I was preparing my thoughts on how far she had come as a nature photographer, was to find out - oh by the way, I will also be showing some of my new art deco work.

So I repeat - what the hell?  It's not enough that you master in six months what most people spend a lifetime trying to achieve, you have now just picked up a whole new art form and mastered that as well!

So, to sum all of this up in just a few short words.

ROZ... YOU ARE TOO GOOD - it's not fair on the rest of us.

YOU ARE A LUNATIC - No offence - I mean lunatic in the best sense of the word.

And one more thing ... congratulations. I am so proud of you, and may this be the first of many successful exhibitions **

************

Thank you to The Master :D

Finishing off with a family photo, taken before my brother left on Sunday morning.

Fancy that!  Two family photos in one weekend!  Unheard of!

Nite all.

Catching Up

My sister, Squirt, left this morning after accompanying me to the Seat of Knowledge.  It was fantastic to have her and Sparky here for my special night.   It's a long way to travel and it was great to have we three siblings together for a happy occasion.

After she left, Adoring Husband and I drove to Maryborough to meet with The Nikonian, who travelled two and a half hours just to see my exhibit (or she may have had other things to do in the area too LOL). I like to believe that it was ALL ABOUT ME!!

She said all the right things and gasped in awe and revelled in my excitement and shared my happiness and felt joy for my success.  She is such a lovely person and I really enjoyed my time with her today.

We did coffee and lunch at Photogroffee and then parted company with a hug.

Adoring Husband and I spent a quiet afternoon on the couch.  He, watching Dr Who shows that he had recorded last week and me with my laptop firmly on my lap.

A really nice day to wind down after a hectic week.

Nite all.

The Night

Well, what a night!

Adoring Husband and I had to arrive at the gallery two hours earlier than originally planned because The Chronicle newspaper journalist wanted to take mine and The Artist's photos at 3.30pm to meet the newspaper deadline of 4pm in order to make the Saturday edition.

That was quite inconvenient because we had to leave my brother and sister at home.  It meant two hours of valuable family time taken away from us, and considering that we've only been together as a family twice in seven years, this change in plans was a touch annoying.

The advantage to it was that there were a few loose ends that I needed to tidy up with the gallery staff, who had made a couple of mistakes in my catalogue.

The Artist and her husband had spent many hours preparing finger food that could be reheated on the night, so they were busy in the kitchen from the moment they arrived at the gallery.

Friends volunteered to carry the food on platters through the crowd during the evening and they did a marvellous job.

My family all arrived quite early in the evening and they had the chance to look around at The Artist's paintings and my photographs before the crowd grew.  They hadn't seen any of my work framed before and I think they were a little surprised at the size of the gallery.

I have to say that it was nice to see the pride in their faces and to see that they were impressed.  That made me feel happy.

What made me feel even happier, was Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet making a brief appearance just before the formalities began.  It was lovely of them to come such a long way at night with Chicklet to offer their support.  I love you three :o)

Then the crowds began to arrive.  Lots of people from our community, some of whom had provided me with photo opportunities, looking forward to viewing the final product of their offerings.

People from the local community who see me riding around town every day on my trike with camera in hand, who have always been curious about what I photographed and whether I was any good.

They were all suitably impressed and all of them made the effort to greet me and offer positive feedback.  I got the impression that they weren't expecting my work to be as good as it was, so they were gasping in awe and offering me congratulations.

They were very generous with their praise and it was a huge boost to my ego, which, by that point in the process, was in desperate need of boosting!

When it was time for the speeches, my tutor, The Master, was first cab off the rank and he had written a two page speech that was funny and entertaining and full of praise for my photography.

I was surprised by the nice things that he said and by the time he'd finished, I was feeling a little overwhelmed!  Which didn't help me with my own speech.

I hadn't prepared anything because I knew who I wanted to thank and I also wanted to keep it short and sweet.  When I attended last month's exhibit opening, one of the artists babbled on and on, and I didn't want people to get bored listening to me do that.

I remembered to thank everyone except my Adoring Husband.  He was the one who had to put up with my moody, stressed and obsessive behaviour for the last 6 months (in particular, the last 2 months).

He has put up with my 'absence' while I worked at my desk for 10 hours every day.

He has done the cooking and the cleaning and the running around between The Bay for printing photos, the gallery for organising and also driving me to various locations to take photographs.

He has always been the 'organiser' in our house and he does that job extremely well.  I know how difficult it was for him to step aside and allow me to do this without him taking charge.

So he mostly stayed in the background and gave me emotional support.

Adoring Husband, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart :o)  You have been wonderful and I appreciate that you have had to cope with a weird and difficult routine over these past months, but you have coped admirably and made all of this so much easier for me.

After forgetting to thank AH, I finished my short, nervous speech abruptly and handed the mike over for the other Guest Speakers to have their turn.

One of those speakers was The Artist, and in her speech, she included some lovely words about my photography.

She has been so generous offering me this opportunity and I have learnt so much about myself in the process.  I am trying to figure out a special way to thank her - it has to be 'just right'.

Adoring Husband then handed me the camera so that I could take a few happy snaps.  He had already spent the evening walking around the gallery taking photos of the guests and patrons as they wandered around.  (another big thank you for that!)

So I have sold quite a few photographs and I have to get a quote for one of them to be framed as well.

I consider the whole experience to be a huge success.  I've had no expectations for what might happen beyond the exhibition and the biggest thrill for me is getting to share, with other people, the thing that I love to do most.

Whatever happens after this will be a bonus!

The Artist and some of her work.

Nite all.