As I was looking back through photos over the weekend, I cam across this one which I really like. The photo was taken on a rainy, very windy day, in country Victoria. There were about 20 galas on power lines just sitting late afternoon. This image could be part of a "what's that top bird saying to the other three" type of competition. Enjoy.

I was so pleased with myself this morning. On a public holiday, I managed to talk myself into getting out of bed by 5:30am and going to Docklands to do a photo shoot, similar to one I did previously. I was very surprised to find Docklands full of sailing boats -- or yatchs I suppose they are called. They certainly spoilt my view of the Bolte Bridge and the city. This yatch is an ocean-going yatch called Scandia. It turns out there was an "Around the Bay" regatta being held today for Australia Day. This yatch had such a tall mast that it had to be lowered to get under the Bolte Bridge. I was reliably informed that the start of the regatta was 3/4 of an hour away and that there would be in excess of 400 yatchs taking part. I raced to Williamstown (the start) and took many photos of hundreds of yatches. I will probably post some of the photos I took of all the yatches over the next few days.

The macro's continue! These two ants were having a lovely wander around the inside of a pink gladdioli flower when I was wandering around my garden looking for subjects to photograph. Unfortunately the ants aren't as sharp as I would have liked but ... I still like this image so thought I would share it.

These images are macro images showing detail of the beautiful lantern which was yesterday's image. The first and second images show the top glass section of the lantern and the last image highlights the glass detail in the body of the lantern. I found it quite difficult to photograph glass in macro and have had to adjust the histograms using computer software mainly to reduce the glare of the images. I am quite happy with the results of my work.

These images are of a candle lantern that belongs to a friend of mine. It is such a striking piece of equipment that I was quite taken with it and decided to photograph it in some detail. I hope you enjoy!

Further images from my expedition last Friday evening to the "zipper" on the Melbourne tollway at Flemington Road. These images are of the same set of 'sticks' but from very different angles which have produced extremely different feels to these images. Enjoy.

Today was a very peculiar day weather-wise in Melbourne. One moment the cloud cover was dense and black, the next moment the wind had cleared the cloud and the sun shone brilliantly! Played havoc with taking photos. However these are two images of a beautiful spider lily which came out last night after a couple of days of soaking gentle rain. YAY!!!

Last night I went on an adventure with my daughter and a friend of my son's. I've always wanted to get close to this 'freeway art' sculpture that adorns the tollway into Melbourne. The first image(1/6, f.11) is as we were approaching our target along a creek bed that has been concreted. The second image (1/6, f.13) is looking through the small red posts in the first image, looking toward the sound tunnel that the tollway goes through. This may be hard to visualise if you don't know the area. However, I will have more images to post in the coming days so hopefully you can get a better feel for the area. In the meantime, enjoy.

I thought I'd post another beautiful flower image for those of you who are experiencing very cold to freezing weather. Although we are sweltering in the heat and many flowers are dying for lack of water -- we are on VERY tight water restrictions at present -- this apricot rose bud managed to still look pretty good. Enjoy.

To continue the macro theme that I have been developing of late, this image of a Swamp Foxtail Grass stem has left me gasping. When you look at the stem with the eye only, it is a fluffy stem of grass. What you don't see until you look through the macro lens is the many flowers on the stem and the delicate but vibrant colours of the flowers. I have never before thought of grass as having flowers but here they are.

As it is another beautiful sunny day in Melbourne I thought another macro of a beautiful summer flower might be the way to go. I know the name of these flowers perfectly well but for now the name has slipped my mind.

Another macro from yesterday. I forget the name of this flower but the colours are 'true' ... that is, what I saw is reproduced ... and that is what caught my eye about this flower. Oh, and the pattern in the dark reds. Enjoy.

Late afternoon after work I decided a little macro photography was in order. The image presented here shows the growth cycle of a cherry tomato. Mummmmm that tomato sure did taste nice at the end!

Well I thought I'd explain about how the great British game of cricket is played in the Australian bush. Picture one is a great shot of the bowler in action. Picture two shows the wickets being closely guarded by the wicket keeper and his trusty companion. The bales have a red tinge to them. Picture three shows the field, sparcely populated but with a crucial placement of fieldsmen. The above trusty companion comes in handy to 'fetch' the ball back when the fieldsmen haven't got the energy to do so. However, enthusiasm for the game is never lacking.

Christmas Day 2006 was spent in Bruthen with good friends. These three images show some of the wild weather we had during the day. One moment the sun was shining beautifully and the next moment it was raining or hailing. We could actually see the clouds rolling in, up and over us so we knew when to stop the cricket game or the bocchi game and go inside for a refreshing drink ready to carry on the game in 5 or 10 minutes.

Bruthen is at one end of the Omeo Highway which lead up to where the major bush fires at the time were underway. Just days prior to Christmas we didn't know if Bruthen was still going to be standing for Christmas. At least the rain enabled many exhausted firefighters to be home for Christmas.

These images are of Christmas flowers that I made for my friend who invited myself and my family to Christmas lunch. I have always been curious to learn how people produce selective colouring in their images. A colleague from work has a very smart son who was able to make simple instructions for me to follow. So I played and these are the images I came up with. Although I'm not sure if I like the outcomes over the original colour, I did have a great time playing. And, it's so simple once someone tells you how! LOL.

I went into town late the Saturday night prior to Christmas. This is one of the better shots I managed that night. The building is the Melbourne Arts Centre which is on the Yarra River in town.

While going through some old photos today, I came across this pretty daisy-type flower (I don't know for sure it's name) the colour of which really appeals to me for some reason. Maybe I'm in a purple patch! :-)

Happy New Year to one and all. May 2007 bring you peace and happiness and lots of adventures, particularly with your photography.

These images are my first attempt at photographing fireworks... not an easy thing to do I've discovered. They were the early fireworks set off in Melbourne. I'm happy with them as a first attempt. I'll post my next attempt new year's day 2008!