A long time between posts

Yep, that's me in lycra holding up my bike at the end of the 200km ride

Life has been very busy and I've allocated very little time to blogging. The way the end of year is shaping up, it looks like it will be a while again before my next post. I did, however, want to update you with the result of My 2013 Challenge. If you followed the link, you'll see that I was a member of Team Blue Magic. Our goal was for each rider from our team to reach the fundraising target of $2,500.00 each in order to participate in the 200km cycle. I can't tell you how proud I am to say that not only did we reach - and exceed our target - we all rode AND all completed the ride! Camping overnight, using port-a-loos and port-a-showers for the first time was a claustrophobic and eye-opening experience I don't want to repeat again in a hurry, but the weekend was amazing!! Team Blue Magic are the Best Team Ever!! Even more amazing was that our little team of 8 riders raised over $32,000 for The Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney.  I'm so very proud to have been part of that team and if you happen to be one of the many people who donated, then I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

So, for now, this blog will remain in hiatus until the merry-go-round that is life slows down so I can catch my breath and start up blogging again. I'll still be around the net, commenting, posting images, tweeting... Blogging will simply take a backseat. Ta ta for now. x

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 :)

Week 32 ~ Trees

If you've been following this blog, you'll be tapping your feet and crossing your arms as you wonder why it is I drag my feet and not post the weeks as I upload the photos. You're probably thinking, goodness me, just how hard is it to open up another tab, open up my blog, type in the heading, write up a few lines in the body and then hit "publish"? See? See how easy that was?  That's what you're thinking, isn't it. And yes, it sort of is easy to do all that, but this is the internets, and you and me both know just how easy it is to get carried away when you venture into that rectangular shaped screen you have before you. One minute you're grabbing the links you need for the post, when you spy new blog posts from blogs you follow. So you go and read a post or two, perhaps even comment and most certainly read some of the other comments; then an email comes in that needs an immediate response; then that reminds you of a photo from 2010 that needs editing right this minute; of course, that's not before you laugh at some of the tumblr blogs that have just updated their content; then you go back to flickr to grab the code for the link, but you spy on the right hand side of the screen the latest people they think you should follow, so you go and check them out and while there you click on some how-to blogs they've linked to and so you read those - well, you're here, so you may as well, it would be rude not too - and then you're sent some funnies  via email and of course you can't help it, but you then look at the other funnies on that site and then forward those back to the person who sent you to the funnies in the first place. And before you know it, you haven't updated your blog, you haven't even tweeted, you haven't facebooked, but you have seen some cute kitties and watched the most hilarious youtube clips. Yes, people, we are all developing internet induced short-attention issues... in fact, I'll be surprised if you're still here hanging around and reading this far into this post. You're probably onto your third website right now, and I bet you've just liked a clip on youtube too. If you are still here, take a look at some trees. That was the brief for week 32. Trees. In nature. Relaxing. Calming. Take a deep breathe in and hold and then release. Nature. Trees. Ahhh....

 

Oh, and if you've read this far, I'm pretty excited to announce that I'm guest Photographer of the Month over at "A String of Pearls". Look out for my posts!

Week 31 ~ Books

 

Late again in blogging about The Project and now of course my mind is formulating Week 33 (which is proving trickier than I had thought). The theme for week 31 was "books" and you would think I'd have plenty of them at home to choose from, but I wanted to include lots and lots more books - and without having to empty the shelves and stacking the books nicely in just the right position. That would involve dusting  the shelves at some point and I'm pretty sure that's not part of The Project.

So it made sense to go to a place that has oodles of books, stacked floor to ceiling and in piles on the floor. There are quite a few second hand book shops here in the Blue Mountains and they're run by people who are passionate about their books. For this particular week's photo, I chose "Blue Dragon Books" located at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Diane is the owner, and Blue Dragon has been in Glenbrook for about 4 years, it's tucked in a little arcade and you know the doors are open by the big trolley full of books stacked by the door. I've been in a few second hand bookshops over the years and I have to say that Blue Dragon is well laid out, beautifully stocked and well lit. You can also read a great review for it here.

I set up my little corner, and tried to visualise what I wanted the final image to look like. By the way, I think this is really important  - to be able to visualise what it is you're trying to create. In my case, if I didn't do this, I think I'd still be sitting, pondering in the Blue Dragon, working out how to shoot "books".... anyway, while I was setting up, customers came and went and chatted with Diane about various titles and the merits of reading. What a great way to spend the day!

The book I'm holding up, and weighs a tonne, is titled "Faces - A Narrative History of the Portrait in Photography" by Ben Maddow. What a serendipitous find! I had asked Diane if she could think of any large book she may have in stock that would have a woman's face on the cover - and she came up with this. Not only is it perfect for the shot, but I now own it, as it's just what I had been looking for. The original owner of the book was Colleen, and her parents had given it to her for Christmas back in 1982. I'm sure she pored over the pages in the same way I am.

Camera details for the shot - I used the nifty fifty lens with the 430 exII flash mounted and bounced on the ceiling. f5.6 and iso200.

The Big Catch Up ~ Weeks 13 to 23 of #Project52

I'm biting the bullet and catching up on all the weeks I've been putting off posting due to other commitments. I've come to realise, there won't be a perfect time to catch up, so I'm grabbing what time I can, and running with it.

  

Starting with Week 13 ~ Yourself with 13 Things: I had made notes of the 13 items I was going to be photographed with and if I remember rightly, I'd lost the list when the time came to actually shoot the brief. Gah! As it was Easter, I grabbed a whole stack of Easter eggs and then asked one of the Teens to stand in position while I set the camera and tripod in place, then I got him to help me with the chocolate eggs, making sure that all 13 were showing. It still took enough attempts to get it right, for me to feel the chocolate warming and melting in my arms. The best part? Having all these chocolate eggs to eat. I think I'm starting to see why I love shooting food.

Week 14 ~ Sunflare: We spent 10 glorious days on the Mid North Coast of NSW and I love the countryside in this area. The flat and lush countryside is dotted and dashed with majestic Moreton Bay Figtrees and typical country fence lines. If there's a downside to the country roads in the area, it would be their narrowness, preventing the enthusiastic photographer from stopping and setting up camera and tripod to take advantage of the Australian country scenery. However, exploring some of the back roads, I happened to stumble upon some laneways that were just what I was looking for. I had to wait for the sun to dip below the clouds so that I could catch the glare and while I waited, a neighbouring farmer came over to see what I was doing. Once I clarified that I wasn't on a secret mission from the government to photograph some super-dooper secret project, and that instead it was a weekly photographic project, I was offered a cup of tea - such is the country hospitality! I politely declined as the sun was just about to appear below those pesky clouds and I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Tick - another week done.

Week 15 ~ Hands: Other than perhaps a baby's hands, there's something just as special about old hands; the work they've done,  the letters they've written, the fatigue they've felt, the love they've embraced and perhaps even lost. Mr and Mrs K's hands were perfect for what I had in mind. Mrs K posed for me quite a while back, as her feet were just what I was after at the time. This time, her hands fitted the bill and I've told her that one day, I may even get around to photographing her portrait!

Week 16 ~ Animal: I've been wanting to do a Before and After bath time shot of our little dog for quite a while. I have to say, that's why I love projects like this, as they force you to get around to taking the shots you've had in mind but never seem to getting around to taking. Our little dog hates having a bath - as you can read from his expressions! I did make these shots even harder for myself by using the Lensbaby Composer and f2.8 aperture disk - talk about making life tricky!

Week 17 ~ Technology: So it looks as though I'm continuing the diptych/triptych thing for another week, but in this week's challenge, I wanted to show the technology from 3 cameras. The image on the left was taken with my Canon 50D looking at a Kodak duaflex camera looking at my iPhone. And the iPhone had the camera app switched on so you can see it looking at the Kodak. The image on the right was taken using my iPhone. When the Duaflex first came out in the middle of last century, I wonder who could foresee that a compact camera would also be able to make phone calls, have all sorts of information available at the tap of a couple of keystrokes, allow you to play silly games with friends from far and wide, and listen to your favourite music! Wouldn't you love to know how the camera will evolve next?!

Week 18 ~ Long Exposure: Here's another reason why I love technology and the iPhone and all those software developers who come up with all sorts of apps to keep people like me from getting anything sensible done. Now I know there's "Art" and then there's "art" and I'd like to think that the humble Slow Shutter App has managed to capture something that is closer to the former than the latter. If I remember rightly, that week was pretty hectic and with little creative time available,  I have been finding that more and more, when all else fails, I turn to the iPhone camera apps to help me out. Other than some minor colour tweaking and then mirroring and piecing the images together, the Slow Shutter App performed amazingly well. It helped create just the image I had imagined.

Week 19 ~ Shoes: Anyone who knows me knows I love shoes and when I saw these shoes a few months back, I knew I didn't need an occasion in order to buy them. I mean really. Look at them. They have silver glitter soles! I really don't think I need to go into any other explanation here. And they were on sale.

Week 20 ~ Bokeh: If ever there was a photographic match made in heaven, it would be the Lensbaby and Bokeh coupling. Adding an aperture disk I had made with an old fridge magnet and punched with a heart craft punch, the only other element needed was the obligatory fairy lights in the distance to really showcase the shaped bokeh.

Week 21 ~ Something Pink: I'm sorry, but I really don't like the colour pink and I struggled for inspiration for this theme. Many thanks to the very patient Miss M who was more than happy to pose surrounded by pink doughnuts and marshmallows and pink coloured sugar. To be honest, I have no idea what I had in mind and that is clearly reflected in this sickly pink concoction. I had flashes going off left and right and it was all very high key and yet.....never mind. Pink never was my colour.

Week 22 ~ Flowers: Back in my comfort zone of shooting flowers, I really needed to put the pink pastiche behind me! And I can tick another "To Do" off my list, as I've wanted to shoot a bunch of roses from this perspective for a while now. Some weeks are simpler than others and my constant aim is to always shoot a new image for the week.

Week 23 ~ Close-Up: Well, well, wouldn't you know it. Another flower. This time a teensy tiny tea rose. I really am pressed for time at the moment, with a hundred and one things calling for my attention and unfortunately some things have to give. The batteries for my flash gave up during this shoot and the spares were also flat. Oops, forgot to charge them. I have to say, it was quite a meditative exercise, shooting the tea roses, and I would have continued, had it not been for the flash failure. Never mind.

And with that, I think I'm caught up. Apologies it's taken so long to post and that it is now so long to read. I miss regular blogging, but you'll be pleased to know I do a lot of in-head blogging, for all that's worth ;) . And I really do need to try harder in future ;)