I'm the Guest Photographer of the Month over at "A String of Pearls"!

Yes, that's right - the lovely @JaneofAustralia asked me to be Photographer of the Month over at "A String of Pearls". Click on the above image to go and check out my first post :)

Autumn colour in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

autumn colour I, originally uploaded by Adriana Glackin.

Autumn in the Blue Mountains is the best place to be to see amazing deciduous colour that changes with each passing day. Depending on where in the Blue Mountains you visit, this riot of autumn-toned colour can start as early as April, in the upper mountains and extend through to June in the lower mountains. There’s a wide variety of deciduous trees, from liquid ambers, Chinese Tallowood, Japanese maple, crepe myrtle, all have their own rich autumn tones. If you’re a fan of autumn colour and you enjoy a certain briskness in the air, then come along to the Blue Mountains – or your favourite autumn location – and marvel at the spectacle that is what makes autumn so awesome!

Sunrise at Echo Point, Katoomba

Sunrise at Echo Point, Katoomba, originally uploaded by Adriana Glackin.

It's not very often that I find myself witnessing a sunrise with a camera in hand. Not very often, as in, ummm, never. So it was with a little apprehension that I tagged along to a sunrise shoot at Echo Point this past weekend.
Now, I'm not one to be anal or superstitious about things, but as soon as I put on my shoes and socks in the incorrect order, I knew this was going to be one of those days. Sure enough, I wasn’t 200m from my door when I realised that I had forgotten my jacket, beanie and gloves. Although it’s October, these items are essential for the upper mountains, especially since the sunrise shoot would be one of two locations that day. In the process of performing a U-turn, I managed to spill most of my espresso into my centre console (why don’t they make travel mugs to fit centre consoles I’ll never know...). So with jacket, gloves and beanie now in hand I hurried, as best as the speed limits allow, up the mountains before the sun rose over the horizon. Did I mention there are major road works being carried out in various locations up the mountains, which I hadn’t factored into the time required to get from one end of the mountains to the other?
I could see the sky was getting increasingly lighter with each passing kilometre and I was possibly not going to make it in time. Not only that, but there were no clouds or mist to be seen. I was also 10 minutes behind schedule, and I was meeting two other photographers, lets simply call them P1 and P2, and I certainly didn’t want to keep them waiting. Taking advantage of a red traffic light, I took the opportunity to call P1 and P2 to ascertain their whereabouts. Imagine my surprise (read horror, shock, astonishment) to find they were actually about 25 minutes behind me and would certainly not make it in time...P1 and P2 are dedicated and passionate photographers who think it quite normal to get up at stupid o’clock, drive countless kilometres simply to shoot a stunning sunrise – had they put their shoes and socks on incorrectly that morning as well?
Needless to say, it’s just as well P1 and P2 didn’t make it in time. The sunrise, while pink and pretty, was also very plain, very quick and very ordinary. This wasn’t going to be one of those Kodak moments. There was no cloud. There was no magical Katoomba mist rolling through the valley. And it was over in a matter of minutes.
Remind me again why Cosy Bed Syndrome as mentioned in a previous blog posting is a bad thing?

Feature Monday - Ripples Art Exhibition

I'm grinning from ear to ear at the moment and have to keep pinching myself! There is an art exhibition being held, starting tomorrow and I'm exhibiting 6 of my photographic images! There are 10 artists in total, including other photographers, as well as textile artists, painters, wood turners, jewellery makers and potters! All these years I envied the creative types, and the shows they do, and now here I am taking part in my first show! I can certainly tick that off my list of things to do before I die!!

As part of my Feature Monday, I've included images that will be included in the exhibition, one from Cordelia and the other by rsmac. So if anyone here in the virtual world is going to be down Kiama NSW way this week, then pop over to the Old Fire Station and have a look at the Ripples Creative Splashes Exhibition!

"Just Pretty" by Cordelia

"Adventurer" by rsmac

"even when you're gone" by me