Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Eight

I went for a walk today and of course my camera cam with me. It's always amazing to see the beauty that can be just outside your front door. These beautiful flowers were planted near my local train station.

Image taken 28 September 2011

Much to the amusement of passers-by I sat down on asphalt at the edge of the car park to get the photograph I was looking for. A recent book I've been reading (about photography of course) suggested to take great photos of flowers do not point the camera straight down with you towering above the flowers. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Seven

It's been well established in this blog that I'm a fan of food, photography, family, friends and books. Not necessarily in that order. A few days ago I ventured to my favorite fruit and veg shop to pick myself up these tasty treats:

Image taken 27 September 2011

Strawberries are perfect for my sweet tooth! I get that wonderful sweet, sticky sugar hit the healthy way. This coming from someone who used to almost completely demolish a 1kg bag of lollies in one sitting. Fresh strawberries are obviously the better choice. So tell me: do you have a mega sweet tooth like I do?

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Six

I've shared many times about how I'm a natural night owl. There's something about the night that just feels cozy and complete. I tend to do most of my photo editing (and blogging for that matter) during the nigh-time hours. In fact I was busy editing my photos from yesterday (click here) when I saw an interesting idea for a photo...

Image taken 26 September 2011

I how the glow of the laptop screen lights the entire scene. It gives it a slightly dreamy quality. This is how I spend a lot of my nights comforted by the beautiful glow of my laptop screen, listening to some amazing music while I complete all my computer work. It's a glorious way to while away the hours in my opinion!

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Five

Remember when I shared those photos from Riverfire? Well that was the start of a month of festivities appropriately named Brisbane Festival (no points for originality). Anyway one part of this festival was the construction of a giant ball of mirrors called the Golden Casket Light Sphere.

Image taken 25 September 2011
(Otherwise titled: Mirror, mirror on the ball why is the bridge called 'Goodwill'?)

Now about every photographer/enthusiast (plus a multitude of happy snappers) have taken a plethora of photographs of this artist installation. But I just couldn't pass up the chance to take a couple (okay more than a couple) of photos of my own. I first saw this beautiful ball of mirrors on my friend's flickr. (Check her out!). So all credit to Miss E for alerting me to and telling me about this stunning artwork.


It was very difficult to get the photos I was looking for. The combination of it being a Sunday, school holidays, and the novelty of the mirror ball meant there were people everywhere! Sometimes I had a beautiful picture filling my viewfinder... except for the people milling around. I got very good at quickly snapping 'the shot' when people stepped out of my lens view for just a second.

I adore how the mirror ball puts a different spin on the world around you. In some photos I have the stunning blue sky with beautifully fluffy clouds reflected back at me. Then as night fell it turned into a beautiful reflection of the the wonderful city lights that were surrounding me. I could have sat there forever watching the world spin by on that big, beautiful mirror ball. Here's hoping that the powers that be decide to make it a permanent monument instead of a fleeting exhibition.

So if you live in Brisbane and you haven't seen the magnificent mirror ball I suggest you go for a visit in case it gets taken down forever. Brisbanites: have you visited the mirror ball? Are you in love with it like I am?

Whatever the case and wherever you live I hope you have had a wonderful weekend!

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Four

This photo just squeaks into day three hundred and four as I was still awake from the preceding day. But I do this by date so it's allowed. You see on day three hundred and three I was running another photobooth and I didn't get home until 12:30am the next morning. I decided the take the photo of the day then and there so I wouldn't have to worry about it when I finally made it out of bed. Lucky for me my cute new birthday gift was sitting there waiting for its photo to be taken.

Image taken 24 September 2011

A friend of mine recently gave me this beautiful necklace as a birthday gift and I absolutely adore it! It even has my initials on the front cover. I have been eyeing off these tiny books for some time now but I've never actually hit the 'buy' button. An awesome gift to be sure!

Until next time I hope you're having a fabulous weekend.

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Three

I love trying to explore and inject a sense of movement into some of my photos. When I was down by the beach on day three hundred and thee killing some time because I got there a little early I saw the perfect opportunity to try and capture some movement into a static image. This is what I came up with.

Image taken 23 September 2011

I would have liked to get the splash a bit sharper but the sun was setting at this point so I was losing light rapidly. Not exactly the perfect time to be fiddling around with my settings to get the 'perfect' image. Instead this was more a grab and go style shot. Plus I was fairly close to the water and absolutely terrified I'd get my new camera wet!

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And Two

Day three hundred and two was a completely chilled out, relaxed kind of day. In fact the only thing I really did was go to a local thrift store in search of some thrifty finds. Unfortunately I came up empty. But luckily I had some beautiful day lilies at home just waiting to be photographed.

Image taken 22 September 2011

Now I know I have taken copious amounts of photos of day lilies in the past. But this is the first time I've photographed them with the d7000 so it's almost like the first time. Right? Maybe? I'm loving the better viewfinder on the d7000. It makes composition so much easier! What's your favourite flower? Until next time I hope your week has been wonderful and that your weekend will be fantastic!

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred And One

A huge hearty welcome to my new follower (and any lurkers out there)!! Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I love writing it. I'd love to hear from you...

On day three hundred and one I went on a photography adventure with my brother. Toting my two DSLR camera's with me. It was heaps of fun! I spent most of the time trying to figure out my new camera. Luckily for me my SIL and brother have the cutest little turtles that seemed to be begging to have their photo taken. I, of course, was more than happy to oblige.

Image taken 21 September 2011

Isn't he (?) so cute!!!??!! I am so impressed with the clarity and focus of this photo given that the turtle is in water and I was shooting through the glass. It's just making me fall more and more in love with my d7000 every time I hold it. Plus I am completely smitten with this cute little turtle. I'd like one of my own but I'm more than happy to enjoy my SIL instead. Do you own a pet turtle?

Project 365 - Day Three Hundred

Day three hundred!! Woohoo!! Less than seventy days to go... The more I think about it the more I'm thinking of starting the project up again once this one ends. A rolling project of sorts if you will. But we'll see...

Anyway as you can imagine I've spent the last few days trying to get used to and getting to know my new camera. There is so much to learn about it!! I feel like I've read the manual so many times and there is still so much more to know. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Image taken 20 September 2011

This photo was taken just after the nerve racking moment when I clicked my third-party macro lens onto my beautiful new d7000. You can read some horror stories on the internet about third-party lenses ruining your camera but everything matched up and worked perfectly. Such a relief! I don't think I could have lived without my macro lens

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Nine

So here is my most exciting news (well at least it's exciting to me!). After months of hard saving (I can count how many times I've been out for coffee on my hands) and with some generous birthday gifts I have managed to get myself a brand-spanking-new Nikon d7000! Mention here and here. If you've followed this blog for a while you will know I've been lusting after this particular camera for ages and now it's finally mine!! Yahoo!!!

Image taken 19 September 2011

There is so much to learn about this camera. I feel like I need to take the manual to bed every night to try and grasp everything I need to know. It's all so exciting!! I am very glad that I put in the hard yards and paid for and saved for the majority of this camera myself. It feels like I earned it and I deserve it. Saying no to all the pretty dresses I could have brought right that second in favor of something bigger. But I am so very thankful to the people who generously helped me get the camera that much sooner. It truly means the world to me!

Even though I now have my camera I have no intention of stopping super savings mode. Especially now that I'm used to it. There's so much to do! Lenses to be brought, bags to get, vacations to be had, studio lighting to be purchased... The list goes on and on and on. Now that I have a healthy savings routine there's no need to change it! What about you? Are you a natural saver? Or like me did you have to teach yourself to save?

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Eight

I'm becoming a big believer in the idea that you can't fit a birthday into one single day. You've got your family, you've got your friends, you've got your other friend and so forth and so on. So on day two hundred and ninety-eight I had my friends birthday party. It was amazing to catch up with some truly wonderful people. I am constantly reminded of how utterly blessed and loved I am!

One of my very best friend gave me this ribbon pin (that I regrettably forgot to wear) that looked just like a first place ribbon. I love it!

Image taken 18 September 2011

It's amazing to have friends around you who can appreciate the year that has passed, can see all that you have accomplished and share your excitement for the future. If that isn't an amazing life I don't know what is. So go on - call up a friend today, ask them how they're going and share the amazing journey of life with them!

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Seven

On my actual birthday I had the extreme pleasure and privilege to go to a darling girl's birthday party... And no I'm not speaking about myself in the third person. As I think I've mentioned before one of my fabulous friends had a beautiful baby girl on the 17th of September and it was her 1st birthday! Time is flying by!! I, of course, took my camera with me and spent a lot of the time snapping away. Pure bliss I tell you!

After the fun, fabulous, first birthday festivities I went home and had a relaxing night in crafting bits and pieces (more on that later). For the photo of the day for my birthday I snapped on my macro lens and focused in on some beautiful flowers my mum and step-dad gave me.

Image taken 17 September 2011

I'm pretty sure it's a native flower (but don't take my word for it. I'm no botanist!). But I just love how spindly and usual it is. Using the macro lens really allowed me to get in super duper close and focus on the tiny details rather than taken a photo of the whole flower. Macro to the rescue once again!

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Six

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, Cry if I want to..." Truth be told I have never really understood that song. You're having a PARTY!! Why on Earth are you crying? Admittedly I don't know the rest of the lyric where I'm sure it would all be explained...

But I digress on day two hundred and ninety-six my family had a party at my house! To celebrate a few things one of which being my birthday!! Okay so we were celebrating a day early but that just extended the celebrations.

Image taken 16 September 2011

These candles topped the delicious Boston Mudcake (if you're a chocoholic like me you'd love this cake). I love it that the candles are actual letters. There's my love of typography coming out again! They burnt really fast... So while I was trying to get the perfect picture the cake was being... um... decorated with splashes of wax. When I finally blew them out you could barely tell they had been letters to begin with.

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Five

Have you ever seen and image that has just stuck with you and no matter how hard you try you just can't get the same result (with your own spin on it of course)? But sometimes, somehow you get something even better than you were envisaging? This is one of those images:

Image taken 15 September 2011

I like it that if you look directly into the barrel of the lens you can see the faint outline of my head laying on the floor in an attempt to capture the picture that I'm after. This old camera makes me smile whenever I look at it...

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Four

So there I was last night ready to blog my little heart out. My photos were all edited and looking pretty and I knew exactly what I was going to say to accompany each photo. I fired up my computer poised to share my thoughts with the world... Only to find the internet was down. While most sane people would have written everything down in a word document ready to cut and paste when the internet decides to behave itself again I did not. Instead I turned off my computer and pouted muttering darkly for a while. Then, thankfully, common sense took over and I realized that if a malfunctioning internet connection is the worst of my problems then life is pretty sweet!

Anyway I have developed a bad habit of purchasing things just because I think they would be pretty to photograph. Here is one of my recent purchases:

Image taken 14 September 2011

I love typography so I just had to have this glass bottle with H2O stamped all over it! And now everyone can know the scientific name for water. That's what I call making learning fun.

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Three

I don't know about you but sometimes I just need to sit and watch the sun set. There is a steady calm in a sunset that causes me to breathe deep. The soothing tones. The glorious light. The end of a day. A time to reflect.

Image taken 13 September 2011

I waited until the sun dipped low behind the trees, set my shutter for 3 seconds, pressed my remote shutter remote and sat back to enjoy the fading light. The slow shutter turned the lake into a calm, slightly foggy mirror that repeated the light ever so softly. I was caught in the beauty, entranced by the light and forever grateful that I could see and capture such a sight.

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-Two

I have spoken before of my little Instax Mini 25. There is that joy, that novelty of holding an actual print in your hands within minuets. Photoshop doesn't exist for these little prints. It's come as you are. Point and shoot and hope for the best. I savor that small moment as I hold my breath and watch the image appear with its beautiful color tones and the perfect imperfections.

Image taken 12 September 2011

I am developing quite a stack for these beautiful prints. They are simply begging to be displayed. All the more reason for me to get on and finish a project I started long ago. I'd like to hear from you. Are you a fan of the instant print?

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety-One

Spring has sprung here in the Southern Hemisphere. Most people I know rejoice in the fact. I, however, lament it. Heat and I simply don't agree with one another. So most people's Facebook statuses were reveling in the change of season I felt like crying and begging for just a few more days of beautiful cold. Instead I journeyed outside on this bright, sunny, Spring day in search of the change of season.

Image taken 11 September 2011

This was not the original plan for this little photoshoot. I envisioned myself lying amongst these little white flowers - a picture of peace and tranquility. But when I took a closer look at this apparent little patch of perfect it was absolutely swarming with bees!! Not exactly the sort of place where you want to rest your head for a couple of hours.


Instead I broke out my trusty macro lens and set about trying to photograph these busy little bees as they went about their days work. It took me a while to get a picture I was happy with. Those things fly fast I tell you! I would get the focus just right... But by then they were long gone. Finally I managed to get a decent image and as I packed up and headed home I realized I could see some beauty in Spring after all.

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Ninety

I had grand plans for my photo of the day for day two hundred and ninety... But with a wind so fierce that it was blowing my patio furniture around I knew I wouldn't be able to get what I was looking for. Instead I snapped on my macro lens and focused on intricacy.

Image taken 10 September 2011

This is one of my favorite bracelets... probably because it's the easiest to do up! When you look at it with your naked eye you kind of miss the stunning filigree. Looking at it through my macro lens made me appreciate its intricacy all the more.

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Eighty-Nine

Brisbane is/has been experiencing some wild weather lately. Fierce storms, gale force winds, the whole bit. I had the slightly scary experience of driving in pelting rain so think I could hardly see past my windscreen. Needless to say I was extremely happy to make it back to my warm, dry comforts of home. I darted out to my courtyard and snapped the first thing I laid eyes on.

Image taken 09 September 2011

I like it that there is life in a seemingly dead tree. Truly I had just about given up hope for this little lime tree and then I see beautiful signs of life. It kind of reminded me of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation...

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Eighty-Eight

Have I ever told you I'm part of a bookclub? Well if I haven't now I have. It is so great to be able to talk books with great friends. Day two hundred and eighty-eight was bookclub day and it seemed only right to add some typography into project 365.

Image taken 08 September 2011

One of my friends gave me this beautiful broach about a year ago and I love it! My friend knew I love all things wordy/Scrabble-y so it's kind of perfect. I love wearing it on different outfits because it's quite little (and therefore intrusive) but it gives any outfit a beautiful little twist that makes it mine. Are you a typography fan?

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Eighty-Seven

I have some amazing friends! Truly amazing! On day two hundred and eighty-seven I had the extreme pleasure of catching up with one of my dear friends and I discovered yet another gem in Brisbane. Plus I got to wear my awesome Record Jumper skirt!

Image taken 07 September 2011

I brought this beautiful skirt from Red Velvet - designed by the super talented Elsie and co. (Seriously you've probably heard of her but if you haven't click that link to her blog as soon as you finish reading this. She is simply amazing!) I L-O-V-E this skirt!! It's so much fun to wear. The high waist and suspenders suit my figure so well. I like to think of it as my traffic sign skirt. Hence the shot next to the traffic sign.

Not my best self-portrait shot but honestly I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture of me wearing this spectacular skirt next to the traffic sign. (It's surprisingly difficult to find one of those signs that doesn't have a constant stream of traffic). I'm standing in the middle of a round-a-bout with my precious camera on the opposite side of the road. I was terrified when a truck came by and almost wiped out my camera. This photography business is dangerous I tell you! he he he.

Do you own any of Elsie's designs? I'd love to see them!

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Eighty-Six

Wow! What a week!! Filled with fun times with friends and family, massive catch-ups, and exciting plans. First off I caught up with a friend to indulge in one of my favorite types of photography - wonderful night time photography!

Image taken 06 September 2011

Instead of just taking a standard photo (truth is I took a few of those too!) I decided to twist the barrel of my zoom lens with a 4 second shutter speed. I kind of like how it looks like I'm going into hyper-speed or something!

It was so much fun to go on a photography adventure with my wonderful friend! She is starting her adventure in photography and it was so great to be able to share a couple of things I know. The whole thing gave my an idea... But more on that later...

Project 365 - Day Two Hundred And Eighty-Five

It rained overnight and left lovely water drops scattered all over my handy geraniums. Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to put on my macro lens and attempt to capture these dewy drops.

Image taken 05 September 2011

My favorite part of this photo is how the rain drop acts as a fisheye lens... If you look really closely you can see the drop reflecting the sky above it. I can understand why raindrops on roses are one of Julie Andrews favorite things!