Into the bush

Fresh air.  Apparently this is what I need to clear my head and feel better.  To be honest, I can't say I felt much better when I got home, but it was quite pleasant in the fresh air this morning.

The first shot in this post is a 5 shot HDR image taken in Totara Park, Manukau City.  I've always felt the place seems more green when I'm there and walking about than it seems when I get home and look at the photographs.  This image, however, seems to give a better impression of the colours and light I thought I saw.

I didn't take a tripod ... well the main reason for the walk was to get some air and clear my mind rather than take photographs ... and the light levels were not that high.  ISO was at 800 and the shutter speed down to 1/4sec.  All I can say is that Photomatix does a good job of aligning the images and Nikon's VR isn't bad for reducing camera shake!  Click on the image to see an enlarged view and perhaps let me know what you think.

On the way home I came across a "Bird of Paradise" flower.  They're quite common in the gardens near where I live, but for some reason this one just stood out as something rather special.  It certainly has the look of a bird's head don't you think?  Single shot image, again processed in Photomatix Pro with a bit of a twiddle in Lightroom to produce what you see here.