Gang Gang Cockatoo...

I went for a walk in the sunshine today and saw a small group of Gang Gang Cockatoos eating the flowers in a large gum tree. They were way up at the top of the tree and I watched them for a short while and kept walking. About 20 metres away, in another tree, there was a pair of rainbow lorikeets sitting outside a hole in the trunk. As I watched one of the pair went into the hole and didn't come out...

So, now that I know where their nest is I will try to get some shots as things progress.

The Gang Gangs were kind enough to wait for me to go home and get my camera. The lorikeets were taking the opportunity for some sun and were not to be seen when I got back.

These guys were probably 10 - 20 metres above the ground and seemed to have the "hide behind a branch or leaf and look the other way" skills honed to perfection.

This is the only sharp image (and even then it's not that sharp) I managed of the male.

Introducing Sarah & Leigh...

Last weekend I shot a wedding for the friendliest couple ever. Congratulations Sarah & Leigh.

Sarah & Leigh were a pleasure to work with and they picked the most amazing venue to hold their wedding. Kilmany Park Mansion near Sale in Victoria is an old farm homestead in only the loosest of terms. It was built in the 1800's and is still a working farm. Today, however, the mansion is a B&B with lovely gardens, serenity and just the right amount of space to hold an intimate wedding for up to a couple of hundred guests...

The manager told me of a couple of weddings where people had arrived by helicopter!

The main building is huge and old and quite dark inside with wood panelling everywhere. This provided me with some lighting challenges and I'm still working my way through the images.

The photo was taken in the gardens as the sun set and the weather threatened. At one stage a turned and saw a guest totally rim lit by sunlight and we rushed over to take advantage...

This is the result...

Frangipani...

The frangipani is still trying to flower. I think it may be getting a little cold for the poor thing now. There are still a number of buds and the flowers smell divine.

A short walk from home...

I live in Richmond, Victoria, Australia and it has an interesting history.

Richmond used to be quite an industrial area and this shows in the old buildings in the area. Not to mention the small terrace "workers" houses that are now trendy and very close to the city (read: expensive). There are also numerous pubs (to cater for all of the "workers") and one of them was frequented by a notorious gangster from the early 1900's, Squizzy Taylor. I just can't remember which one...

I have been meaning to take some photos around home for quite a while and went for a short walk this morning and these are a couple of the results...

This building has been coverted into residential units but they kept the old frontage...

And not far from there is a large painted sign letting people know that their orders for wood, coal and coke from T. W. Blundy will be attended to next to the hotel...

The last one a shot of the autumn colours I found on the way...

Project Saxophone...

There are numerous shiny things out there in the world. One of the challenges of photography is photographing them. Whole books have been written on the "science" of lighting and when you get it right things just look magnificent.

I have a saxophone and I've been meaning to learn to play it since I bought it just on 12 months ago. Last night I had my first real lesson and I had a great time. I hit some really dodgy notes but I can see that, with a little practice, I could really get into it...

I spoke to the owner of the business David Temby (and the designer of his own range of very nice instruments) about how to go about photographing instruments that are not only shiny but also have so many reflective surfaces. So today I borrowed some gear to see what I could come up with. It will require a bit more practice but these are just a couple of images.

There are faults in these images that are more to do with composition and lighting but I think that as a project to photograph very shiny things it has turned out ok...

Aarrgghh! I need help...

I woke up this morning and went for a walk. I came home, did the morning things (shower, dressed & breakfast) then got my camera stuff out and laid out some pencils...

Took some photos, cleaned them up and posted them here... Maybe a pencil company will snap up my photos for their marketing... Maybe I need to speak to a stock agency???

I need to take photos of something else! So I'm out today seeking out items of interest. Seeking out those interesting things that people either don't or can't see...

Stay tuned...

I can't help it... I'm addicted...

One of my earliest memories of primary school was of a new kid (I still remember his name) sitting next to me and breaking all of the leads off his coloured pencils and poking them into his ear. I have absolutely not a single clue as to why he did this but there you go...

There is just something about the colour, the smell, the "potential" of pencils that gets me going... So to speak...

I really do need to get out more...!

Lotus images...

I saw some lotus pods at the florist last week and went back today to get some because they look absolutely fascinating. There were a couple of different sizes and the smaller ones had a full compliment of seeds.

When I went back they also had flowers so I'm hoping that over the next couple of days they will open and I can get more images...

Walk around Melbourne...

I went into the city this morning with my camera. The plan was to see what I could find that was of interest to photograph with my 50mm lens.


On the technical side the 50mm lens on my D200 camera gives a cropped view similar to a 75mm lens would on a full frame sensor or 35mm film. The lens has a largest aperture of f1.4 but I didn't really play much with depth of field today...


One of the really cool things about Melbourne is the variety of architecture (look up once in a while) and the array of interesting alleys and laneways.

There are some very gifted graffiti artists out there and some that aren't so talented...

And there are some things that make you go "Hmmm???"

If only we had scratch & smell...

The frangipani out the back is flowering. The poor plant has had a bit of difficulty this year what with the three hottest days in a row on record. Being moved to make way for works on the building and so on.

There are quite a few flower buds yet to open so hopefully I'll get more (and better) images.

The things you see...

I was walking home tonight and saw this...


There are coat hanger aerials and there are works of miniature art... All of these items were a couple of inches high and knitted from wool...