24th October 2010, my place

I named this a classic study, because flowers are something that many aspiring photographers initially work with.

I’m not as enthusiastic as I used to be with things that I’ve previously photographed. There is a lot of scope for creativity: depth of field, focus point, light, composition. It is all interpretation.

Popularity: 4% [?]

8th August 2010 my place

It was a rare occasion – me doing house work. I was shaking out a sarong / table cloth when I noticed this little bloke. He is tiny, smaller than 5mm. That yellow thing near him is wattle pollen.

I put him on the side tray of my barbecue and waited for him to walk into the strip of light.

Popularity: 2% [?]

4th July 2010 Coles Bay

I feel for this fellow. He was struggling along with two of his legs tangled in seaweed. He waited patiently and trustingly while I removed it. Not long after this he started doing the soldier crab thing of spiralling into the sand on some sort of universal soldier crab signal. They all disappear within 15 minutes or so.

It wasn’t till looking at these pictures that I saw he has a bung eye.

They are so tiny that people walk on them, often indifferently or without even knowing.

Popularity: 3% [?]

25th July 2010 Geeveston

Another fungi from the track to Kermandi falls.

I’ve been reading a book during my breaks at work. I don’t read that often unless I’m on holiday. I’m really enjoying this book, so I’d like to recommend it.

It is Creatures that once were men, by Maxim Gorky. I downloaded it from the Australian Gutenberg site.

Another great book I have read, also downloaded from Gutenberg, is Last of the Mohicans. It is an old book – 1826. English of the day, although understandable, is different to what we speak now.

Popularity: 3% [?]

25th July 2010 Geeveston.

This photo is to celebrate the arrival of my new neice, born to Joanne and her partner Jason.

It is a young fern. The stalk is about 50cm high, but the first leaves are just starting to unwrap. The ferns probably grow so tall because there is minimal light.

It is beside the track to Kermandi falls.

The track used to be fairly faint, with a lot of climbing over and under fallen trees. Someone has cleaned the track up with a chainsaw and brushcutter. The track itself is just not as interesting now.

Popularity: 3% [?]

3rd July 2010 Coles Bay

These shots fascinate me. Water suspended in mid air by a fine spider web. The web itself was only about 5cm square, and hanging horizontally just off the ground. I’ve always thought water a strange medium especially when swimming through it beneath the surface. To see it like this, encapsulated and surrounded by air, seems weird.

These are probably the first shots I’ve enjoyed taking with a frustrating macro lens that cost me more than the camera and lens combined. The lens is frustrating because it is rarely able to focus for macro shots – isn’t that stupid for a $1,000 lens made just for macro? So, what I do is manually focus to the closest focus point – not easy, then move the camera till the subject looks in focus. One millimeter too near or far and the subject is out of focus. There is a lot to be said for compact digital cameras; they are so much easier for macro photography.

I was exploring on my mountain bike some of the tracks around Coles Bay. It is an adventurous and scenic place to ride. Some of the downhills are really steep and rocky; the sort of descents that you have to commit too because trying to stop part way down will somersault the bike. And there lots of sandy patches where you move your weight back, try not to control the steering too much, and try to keep the speed up.

Popularity: 17% [?]

18th October 2009, between Adamsons and Creekton falls.

This is the only time and place that I’ve seen pink mushrooms. There was one more within 100 metres of this one.

Popularity: 24% [?]