Altona beach

This afternoon I took a meandering drive down to Altona Beach. I hadn't planned on going there, but that's where I ended up. I can't believe I've not found this place sooner.

The section I was at is part of the Hobson's Bay walk, a trail that follows the bay for several kilometres and terminates in a wetland reserve. I've not yet done the walk, but that is on my to do list, and our 'things to do' list for when Em is here.

I wasn't alone on the beach, but neither was it crowded. People walked their dogs, rode bikes along the path, walked arm in arm and played with children in the sand. I made small talk with a few strangers who admired Paddy, but he wouldn't let any of them touch him or get too close. One little girl, a cute pre-schooler with pigtails, tottered up holding a flower out as a gift to Paddy. He took one look at her and barked, then made a fake lunge at her. The poor kid bolted in terror while her mother laughed. She hadn't gotten close and neither did Paddy get close to her, but what's with his sudden aggression? It worries me.

He did happily sniff and greet dogs though, but then went all aloof when formalities were over. He's such a strange dog, so introverted and so much like his mum. ;-)

I walked halfway along the jetty until I remembered the recent newstory about a dog being blown off a pier and rescued by a handsome, brief clad student. There were none of those potential rescuers around today so I opted for caution and Paddy and I left the pier without going all the way down.

I did get some photos from beside and beneath it though.

While windblown Paddy waited patiently.

Further along the beach, I sat in the sand and snapped off photos of seagulls. Don't ask me why, I say it's the challenge of photographing birds in flight... but I don't think that's a good reason for photographing flying rats. ;-)

This is lifeguard-Paddy. Doesn't he look super official.

Then, of course, the obligatory self-portrait. Paddy decided he'd lick my nose to make the shot work better. I think he was right.

And that was our outing to Altona beach. It was a lovely way to spend part of Sunday afternoon, even if it was a bit windy. Paddy appreciated it so much that he's now flaked out asleep. Ah, a quiet evening!

One day in Pyramid

One day on the train to Pyramid, and return. On the way up I worked on my novel and then while there I hunted around for photographs. The better ones made it to Flickr, and here are some of the rest.

I loaned mum my little Olympus digital camera and she rattled off some shots, including the next few. What lovely pansies in a bowl. Mum has such green fingers!And the cutest little concrete duck collection. I love the pelican best, but I screwed up the exposure on the photo so I can't show you all how adorable he is.

I found this ant hill in the backyard. I didn't put my fingers in though.Steven, the son of a friend of my brother, enjoyed showing off his three wheeler skills. Just check out the amazing bay window mum has. It's wide and sunny and she's going to fill it with plants and herbs and... and... I'm SOOOO jealous!! Making a cuppa. Next time, mum, no sugar in my peppermint tea please. ;-)
I've realised that I love photographing benches. Whether they're in parks, or gardens, or on the street, or outside country town pharmacies like this one is, I love snapping their recognisable shape and distinct ordinariness. Maybe one day I'll make a coffee table book with photos of park benches of Australia (or the world). Hmmm....

Time to catch the train. If you squint, you can see the tiny pinprick of light that is the headlights from the train. No, now the white light off to the side. The train isn't an alien spacecraft! :-)
And here we are riding first class and feeling very special. Em, see the coat I'm wearing! I've not worn that since I left the US. It's not been cold enough up until now.

After half an hour at Southern Cross where we waited for a connecting train, we made it home just before ten. A long day, but a great one. It was one of those days that feels like two days in one. And tomorrow is a public holiday! Yay!!

Fitzroy Gardens

Though overcast, cold and wet underfoot, I started my workday with a walk through the Fitzroy Gardens. Des joined me, of course.

This photo of the fern frond was taken with the Sigma lens at 300mm with the camera braced on a rock wall and shutter speed of 1/30 sec. With more patience, a steadier surface so I could have increased the aperture, and a better angle it would have come out a lot better.

Just a grab shot while I was sitting on the ground.

For these two droplet photos, I used manual flash on 1/16th setting, and a shutter speed suitable for hand holding the lens (between 80-250). Depth of field was no more than 5.6 or 8. Somehow I need to be able to get more light in so that I can have greater depth of field. I'm not sure that the in-built flash is the answer.

Also, these are not 1:1 macro. They were around the 1:2 or 1:3 mark.

I love those big old trees. One day I'll figure out how to capture their magnificence without having the city street in frame.

I tried flash on these flowers and they burned out. Going back to natural lighting reduced my shutter speed and depth of field. These two shots aren't in perfect focus. Keeping the view small hides many flaws. :-)

I like the exposure on this one, though I'd have preferred to have the stem in focus as well. A better angle and more patience would have netted a better shot.

In summary, all photos were taken with a manual lens, either the 90mm macro (Elicar) or 70-300mm zoom (Sigma). I'm finding it easier to judge near correct exposure and am used to checking the histogram. Correct exposure is also, I'm learning, a matter of personal choice.

For instance, in the photo above the background is slightly washed out. Another image of the same location, same angle and composition, is darker. I prefer the lighter one because I feel is has greater depth, but really a better image would have been somewhere in between these two. These nuances are harder to judge in the field even with the benefit of the histogram and the image viewer, and I refuse to photoshop or 'fix' when I get back home.On what made the difference between these two images, I can't recall whether I changed shutter speed or aperture or both. The top image let in more light which means either the shutter speed was slower or the aperture smaller -- or both.

I've not yet tried exposure compensation, where incremental changes are made to change the exposure, nor have I explored much of what Des can do, for instance changing white balance, or flash compensation, or all those other little buttons on his back that I've not read up about. And he's a simple camera in comparison to some of the modern DSLRs. That is another reason I'm glad I got him and not the more expensive (and complicated) D90. I fear my brain might explode with a more complex camera.

This is so much fun though! I wonder where I can take Des tomorrow. :-)

Royal Botanic Gardens

Des, Paddy and I spent several hours in the Royal Botanic Gardens this morning, snapping off photo after photo. Out of close on 300 shots there are few that can be shared and even fewer that are Flickr-worthy.

All the Flickr-worthy shots ended up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/codeedar/

Of the Flickr-worthy shots, there are a few that are Bubble-worthy, and they're here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/CodeeDar

A few of the remaining shots are at this blog so I can use them as a measure to guage progress. I am intending (hoping) to get better. :-)

Des, Paddy and I started at the Shrine where a Willy Wagtail took great interest in us.


This photo would have been fantastic... had it been in focus. Damn that wind and my shaky hands.

Again, another would have... if only shot.And yet another. Seeing a pattern yet?

While I was gnashing my teeth trying to get droplets in focus and correctly exposed, Paddy was minding my backpack. He's a good boy!

Tired of out of focus droplet photos yet?

Nah.....

This one was almost Flickr-worthy, but the focus isn't great and the exposure is iffy.

Progress... albiet minor. At least some droplets are in focus here.

Here's an over-exposed Paddy. Kinda freaky, huh?

Yes, I have a thing for droplets....

At one garden bed was a signboard warning of bees in the area. Above the sign was this.

Here's a tiny spider -- out of focus, of course. Goddamnit, macro photography is hard! Which is why I love it so. :-)

And a semi-in focus flower ends the day. :-)