Flights of Fancy

Storm Clouds Building

2010-12-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

The sky ahead of the storm was patchy with clouds. It's finally started raining now, but don't think there'll be much of a storm.

Japanese Gardens

2010-12-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

One of the creeks/falls at the Japanese Gardens, Toowoomba, part of the University of Southern Queensland campus.

Kookaburra at the Gardens

2010-12-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

Scenes from Mum's Garden

2010-10-14T03:42:00.000-07:00

Christmas Table

2010-01-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

A belated Merry Christmas! My aunt bought some LED lights that she ran over the table for a decoration, and I wanted to catch how they looked before the ravening horde descended.

On a side note, I discussed our Christmas present, along with some program recommendations on my other blog.

Spring Flowers

2010-01-04T03:04:00.000-08:00

I took this photo some time ago - back in Septembar, but with one thing and another, didn't do anything about it. I have no idea what kind of flower it is, just that it was pretty, and caught my eye with it's delicate petals.

Not-a-Camellia

2010-01-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

There is a bush beside our front steps. When we first moved in, I decided it was a Camellia - reasonable bushy shape, with nice, glossy leaves. Well, it doesn't have the standard camellia-type flowers, so I'm not so sure, now, what it is.

Beautiful Buildings

2010-01-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

I was at Queen's Park (Toowoomba) in October/November last year, and a building opposite the park caught my attention. I love the older styles of buildings, and Toowoomba has a lot of Federation and older style buildings. My daughter often comments about how pretty the city is, with its older, more aesthetic buildings still around, and in use.

I Want My Cookie!

2009-09-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

With apologies to Hammy ;)

New Growth

2009-08-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung, and delicate little leaves are coming out all over. The trees along South Street, that have been grey and stark all Winter now have a coat of light green. I was at Lake Annand, yesterday, and took saw one of the trees covered with new growth.

EXIF Data

Shutter Speed - 0.007 second (1/150)
Aperture - f/5.0
Focal Length - 70.8mm
ISO Speed - 100
Exposure Bias - 0 EV
Flash - off, did not fire

Night Lit Building

2009-08-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to photograph this building for a little while, since I saw it onw evening, but it was very difficult with my old camera. Tonight, while driving home, I decided to try out my new camera. I rested my arms on the car door, and managed this shot. I haven't really done anything at all to it - maybe hit the auto contast, but didn't see any difference.
And because I have just received a brand new copy of Creative Memories Memory Manager 3.0, I decide to play with it, and create a sepia-toned version of the original. Pretty.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers - Final Three

2009-08-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I have made my decision, and have made the disc to send in for the competition. Only one is truly specific to the Toowoomba area, and that is the third photo, of the memorial from the Botanical Gardens in Queens Park. I had two options, and chose the one that showed the whole memorial.
The second photo was taken at Laurel Bank Park, shot into the sun which is what gives it the sparkly effect. The top photo is of the bottlebrushes in the front of my house, which have just come into bloom. Yes, I know its still technically Winter here, but you wouldn't know it from the temperatures we've had recently. Sunday and Monday were disgustingly hot at 30C - down in the Lockyer Valley, where my mother lives, and it was a good 3-4 degrees above that! For those who better understand Farenheit, that's 86F - 92F during what is supposed to be Winter! Today is a lot cooler, but still, not Winter temperatures. sigh... On the upside, I have seen some lovely flowers all month.
So, these are my choices. What do you think?

Bottlebrushes

2009-08-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well, the bottlebrushes in front of our house have come into bloom, and so I tried out my new camera with its Macro setting, and got this.

And now, because I've just found out that I can do this, I present my EXIF data:

Exposure - 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture - f/4.4
Focal Length - 61.5mm
ISO Speed - 64
Exposure Bias - 0 EV
Flash - off, did not fire

I have a new camera!

2009-08-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

I was at the shops the other day, and noticed a camera. It looked nice, and was a reasonable price. So it wasn't an SLR - I've come to think that, at this time, an SLR really isn't for me. After all, once you get the camera, you then start 'needing' all the toys, and it really begins to add up. This camera, however, has (way!) more features than my old camera (optical zoom, for one thing) and yet there is no really temptation to get anything more. There's no way to attach more lenses, or anything like that. I might get a tripod, but I could use that with my old camera, as well. And, as it turned out, I ended up getting the camera at a different store, and got it, the bag, and a 2Gb memory card for less than the price of just the camera at the original store. Yes, I'm very happy :D
Now I just need to learn how to use it ;)

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Take 5

2009-08-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

This entry would be based on the concept of colour, but I'm not so sure.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Take 4

2009-08-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

I'm actually trying to decide between these two images. I'm thinking that the second might be a little too arty - you know, up close, too much of an angle... Anyway, these would come under 'Community'.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Take 3

2009-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Another picture I'm considering for the contest. I have to narrow it down to 3 photos, and the three themes are Colour, Community, and Character. This would come under Colour.

I have entered this for Skywatch Friday - visit th Skywatch Friday blog to see other contributions.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Take 2

2009-08-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

This is another photo I'm considering entering into the competition. I'm not sure if I should, as some may consider this a mistake, but I enjoy playing with the light, shooting into, or nearly into, the light. Not all the time, obviously, but sometimes it's fun.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

2009-08-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is coming up, and they have a photography competition - the Shutterbug competition. I will be entering as many photos as I can, and am currently cosidering this for one of my entries. I will post other possible entries over the month.

Not mine!

2009-07-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't take this photo, neither is it from my camera. My youngest got a camera for her birthday from her grandparents, and this is one that she took. I saw it as I was uploading her photos, and liked it, so here it is. If anyone is interested, it is one of those Disney lable cameras - VGA camera only.

Merry, Merry King of the Bush is He!

2009-07-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

You can only get so close, and only zoom so far on a camera like mine. Still, you can get something reasonable, while not brilliant, with persistance.

Typical Aussie Bowler

2009-07-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

I think I blogged about this elsewhere some months ago, but I thought about it tonight, and just wanted to share it with the world (or the one or two of you who happend to fall onto this site ;) ) This is my brother, a proud, and rather typical Aussie. He has just bowled to one of my children (who received a cricket set for Christmas) and did so while holding his stubby. He's wearing thongs - how Aussie is that! You'll have to excuse his white skin - he lives in Melbourne, not exactly the sunshine capital of the country, and has to dress reasonably nicely for his job.

Flying Fox

2009-06-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

Taken on the same day, and at the same place as the header photo. The blue thing had been wrapped around her head as a blindfold, because launching out into space, blindfolded, is just the bees' knees, don't you know! And without shoes!

Fascination

2009-06-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

We finally have a working heater, and the two younger children are utterly fascinated by it. They like to sit in front of it and watch the flames.

Lake Annand

2009-06-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

Lake Annand is part of East Creek, which runs through the eastern part of Toowoomba, before joining up with West Creek to form Gowrie Creek, which flows into the Condamine River, which will forms part of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Lake Annand Park is a rather pretty park, with trees, bridges, play areas, and an actual barbeque area (complete with covered eating area - yay!) I'm going to try having a picnic there, when the weather is less cold/windy/wet.

Tent City

2009-06-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yep. They decided to make a tent. Make that A Tent!

Rose Red and Snow White

2009-05-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I had a book of fairy tales from various European countries. There were some very interesting ones, including one which featured a grown son being fed by flesh cut from an underarm (huh?) Also included was the tale of Rose Red and Snow White and the Bear. I thought of the girls when I saw the bushes across the road. I think they are camellias, but I haven't gone to take a look.

View from the Top

2009-05-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

I took the girls box sliding last weekend. The theory was that there would be a thick layer of leaves for them to slide down the hill on, but reality involved caked dirt on my daughter's jeans. To get this photo, I went to the top, where the children started. Yikes!

Red Sky at Night

2009-05-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Taken at my Mum's place, early January this year. There's so much wide-open sky where she lives, while my skyline here is more cluttered. I like the skyline here., but this is one of my favourite sunset pictures.

Baby had a boo-boo

2009-05-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I got too busy changing my blog template, and forgot to post a photo. Here's Friday's photo, even though it is technically Saturday where I am. Still, I always say it isn't tomorrow until I've woken up.

Isn't that just too pathetic?

And this would be me!

2009-05-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

It was windy, it was late (-ish) and yes, that is gray hair you see. (And, as my daughter loves to point out, yes, there is quite a lot of it!) Well, this is my experiment with a photo blog, and I will endeavour to upload at least one photo a day. I currently use a Kodak C530 5mp point-and-shoot (doesn't even have any optical zoom!) I use Picasa (usually) to tidy up my shots, and I also have a Flickr account so you can see all my wonderful(!) other stuff.
I like to take photos of my children, of my new home town, and general stuff. Sometimes I might even post photos of stuff I have cooked/made. Rhyme and Reason won't apply, just my Flights of Fancy.