dots, chalk, celophane and a red balloon

I took these for a Canon competition recently. You were sent these four hings in little boxes an you had to take a photo that in some way used each thing (including the boxes, but I couldn't think of one for that). So here are my entries. I didn't even make the finals or anything, but I was pretty happy with them. You can check out the finalists on www.canon.com.au/photo5/

How can something this pretty be a weed?

Down by the river these Pelargoniums are growing wild. I know they are a weed and should probably be removed, but they sure do look pretty.

Changes

Well as you can see I have made a few changes. Now I just have to fix my header photo. I have been so slack up-dating this blog. I have been taking photos, I just haven't had a chance to edit them and up load them. Here's a photo from yesterday. Now daylight saving has started here, it doesn't get dark til after 8:30 pm so we have been going out for walks after dinner. The kids love it and it gives me a chance to take sunset photos, now I just need some spectacular sunsets (and a new tripod and some graduated ND filters).

Portraits

Portraits really aren't my thing, but I have been trying to get better. There are some from last week. In the first two i was trying for the character portrait look. I used my wide angle lens to give the distortion (usually this is the bane of my life, but I thought I would run with it on these shots). The last one is my DD- I was trying to work on catch lights and getting her eyes sharp. All CC welcome and appreciated.

Wild weather

Just a couple of quick pics I took yesterday. The weather here was so bad - gale force winds, rain, hail, thunder. The sea was incredibly rough. I was nearly getting blown over taking these. Thankfully it has been better today - we are off camping on Monday, so fingers crossed for fine weather.

somedays the light is just perfect

iso 100, f 16, ss 1/50

A couple from this weekend

iso 100, f 22, ss 1/2 sec

I took this one tonight with my 17-85 lens. I was aiming for a long shutter speed (misty water), but I don't think it really works as the water is too far away. I think it is probably a bit over processed looking - hummm. I was hoping for a nice sunset, but this is the only colour we got.

iso 100, f 2.8, ss 1/3200

This one was taken yesterday with my new Canon 100mm f2.8 macro. It is interesting using it for portraits - so far i really like it but so different from my 50mm - you have to be so far away. This is my DD - I have know idea where she got those beautiful full lips from - certainly wasn't my side of the family.

iso 100, f 16, ss 1/60

Another one with the macro - I was out stalking bees yesterday. Not sure if I have the patience for this kinda stuff though.