Cactus Macro

Dante resting

Here is a recent picture of my cat Dante (aka The most difficult feline to photo). I know the foreground is a bit washed out but him being black it is the best I have managed to do in ages.

Yachts - Watsons Bay Sydney

Went for an excursion yesterday to Watsons Bay. Very beautiful spot in Sydney. Unfortunately the weather was not very condusive to photography though. The skies were too overcast and very very bright so every thing turned out a bit washed out. Very disappointing. Here is one of the very few photos I was half happy with.

Abstract - Garden Litter

This morning I did some gardening. As I have said before we have been having some really hot days in Sydney and many of the plants in the back yard have been burned by the sun. So even if this photo may look like it was taken in Autumn it was only today, in the middle of the Australian summer. I guess the rose petals sort of give you a bit of a clue. While I was pruning and sweeping I collected the litter in a box and when I was finished and was on my way to throw it in the garbage it caught my eye and thought it might make an interesting photo. Maybe it was an excuse to test the capabilities of my new lens in the macro range. Anyway here it is. As usual make sure you let me know what you think.

Summer Fruit Series (3/3)

Pumpkin - Golden Nugget (Cucurbita maxima) - Fruit

A New Addition - 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 SWD Standard Wide Zoom Lens

This is my latest lens, only had it for two days.
Here are some details...

Product Name 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 SWD Standard Wide Zoom Lens

Model EZ-1260 SWD

Focal Length 12-60mm
35mm Equivalent Focal Length 24-120mm
Lens 14 Elements in 10 Groups, Super ED lens, 2 ED lenses, Aspherical ED lens and 2 Aspherical lenses
Angle of View 84 - 20 degrees
Maximum Image Magnification 0.28x
35mm Equivalent Magnification 0.56x
Number of Blades 7 (Circular Aperture Diaphragm)
Maximum Aperture f2.8 (12mm) - f4.0 (60mm)
Minimum Aperture f22
Filter Size Diameter 72mm
Dimensions 79.5 x 98.5mm
Weight 575g

If you would like more information go to www.olympus.com.au

Summer Fruit Series (2/3)

Muscat Grape Vine - (Vitis Vinifera) - Fruit

Summer Fruit Series (1/3)

Cactus - Prickly Pear (Opuntia Littoralis) - Fruit


Cactus - Prickly Pear (Opuntia Littoralis) - Fruit ripe

Summer Fruit Series

Over the next few days I will be posting a series of three photographs featuring seasonal fruit. In Sydney we are in the middle of some seriously hot summer days. Temperatures have reached the low forties, especially in Western Sydney where these photographs were taken. As usual I hope you enjoy the images and please feel free to comment and give your opinions.

:)

Candle

Just trying my hand at some still life photography. As much depth of field as I can get my hands on and sharp were it counts. The subject was waiting to be photographed in my opinion. Lots of stuff happening with the gold design and the purple glass.

Hope you like it. :)Here is another bonus shot. I call it Forbidden Fruit. If you look closely you may know what I mean.

Still More Close Encounters

This small/medium sized lizard (Skink) is a permanent feature in the front yard. He loves baking in the sun on the pavers. Dante and him have had several battles and most of the time the lizard is fast enough. Find out more about Skinks here.
Here are a couple more of the same lizard from a different angle. The third photograph is just a closer crop of the second one.

More Close Encounters

Another creature that inhabits the back yard is this St Andrew's Cross spider. Apparently they are quite harmless to humans. For more information about this spider go here.

Medibank International - Sydney

Had the opportunity to go to the Tennis today and of course I took the SLR. What an opportunity. Elena Dimentieva won the Women's singles title for 2009. Here she is in action.

Close Encounter

Was not planning on doing any photography today, however as I went outside to take the rubbish out to the bin I literally stepped on this guy. Lucky for him he was a fairly big guy and I wasn't too heavy on my feet.

Boat HDR

Sydney Center Point Tower HDR

Sydney Opera House HDR

So today I got the chance to go out and take some HDR photos. Here are some results.


This first image was compiled using jpg images:For this one Raw images were used:

Teddy bear HDR

Didn't get to go out to take some outdoor photos today so instead I had another go at the HDR experiment. This was taken under very low light conditions and again three shots were taken at +/- 2 stops and one at regular exposure. Tried to keep the colours fairly toned down. Don't really want it to look too unnatural.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

This is a process that I have heard a lot about but never tried before, until now that is. Interesting effect and supposedly there are no areas which are underexposed or overexposed. Hmm not sure yet, the pros do a terrific job as you can see here.

This is my first time effort. It was taken under available light using a tripod.

Can't wait to try a proper landscape.

Abstract

This was just a little experiment I did this morning. I was playing around with aperture and the like and I thought that the result was interesting. It would be good to know what you think.

Frangipani

This picture was taken this morning. It isn't the most original composition I know, however when I walked past this Frangipani and took in its sweet fragrance I couldn't resist taking the camera out and snapping a few shots.

The Vine

Here are three more images. These were taken in spring as the vine in the back yard started shooting again. The sheen on the new leaves and the colours were quite intereesting, so I decided to take a few snaps.