Happy Christmas!!

Happy Christmas!!


Often at this time of year we think of "Peace".  I came across this Ancient Chinese proverb that you might like to ponder ...


If there is to be peace in the world, 
There must be peace in the nations. 
If there is to be peace in the nations, 
There must be peace in the cities. 
If there is to be peace in the cities, 
There must be peace between neighbors. 
If there is to be peace between neighbors, 
There must be peace in the home. 
If there is to be peace in the home, 
There must be peace in the heart.
Lao Tzu


Question now is, from where does that peace in your heart come?  Perhaps by thinking of the true meaning of Christmas the answer may become a little clearer?


Happy Christmas ... stay safe, and all the best for 2012!!

Out in the garden ...

Time to have a bit of fun with camera and my new tripod.  I went out in the back yard with my son.  I've only got my shots in this post ... I did ask for some of the closeup shots my son did with his Nikon P500, but nothing has been forthcoming yet!!

First shot is of a "Hen and Chickens" fern.  I like the idea of isolating the fern from its background especially as there was so much colour in the background that contrasted with the green of the fern.

Second shot is a weed!  I was quite taken with shape of the flower ... and again, isolating the bloom from its background.


The last three shots are of the agapanthus that are just coming into bloom along my driveway.  We'll get about two months of blooms out of these plants then its the boring green foliage.  Right now they're rather pretty.  Perhaps let me know what you think.

Yellow flowers!

Yellow flowers!

Just got back from work and really keen to start the holidays I took my tripod and headed into the garden to try some shots.  These bright yellow flowers caught my eye, but the image seemed just too saturated.  A bit of a play in Lightroom ... desaturating, reducing contrast and adding a bit of a vignette resulted in the shot you see above.  I quite like it.  Certainly give a better impression of the texture and form of the flower which I believe was lost in the colour version of the shot.  It also has a somewhat "dreamy" look to the shot that I quite like.  Anyway, what do you think?

A bit of music ... for Christmas

Rosa.

Carols, a few other songs and a reminder of what Christmas is all about.  We had a great time.  Quite a few folks came along to help the music team sing the carols and then we had a few songs by some of my music friends.

I think everyone had a good time.  A chance to meet old friends and make new ones.  Best of all, a chance to relax and have some fun. It really was a good night.

The light wasn't the best so ISOs were quite high and there were some interesting shadows.  Most shots have been converted to monochrome to hide issues with noise.

First shot is of Rosa, out talented drummer.  next we have the band that played at the end of the concert.  I liked the somewhat 'retro' look to the shot.  the remaining shots are of  the individual band members.  Each is hugely talented!

Anyway, have a look and let me know what you think.  Perhaps next year you might like to come along as well :-)

L to R: Ross Devereux, Malcolm Lakatani, Demetrius Savai'inaea, Grace Ikenasio, Semi Leo.

Demetrius Savai'inaea

Grace Ikenasio

Malcolm Lakatani

Ross Devereux

Semi Leo

In the garden ...

Backlit flax just coming into flower

Well, it wasn't my garden, but a friend's place a little further south from my home.  A stroll around the garden gave me a chance to see some quite lovely blooms.  Perhaps the most significant thing for me was the way in which weeds had been blended and accepted as part of the garden.  Many weeds have pleasing flowers, but, due to their invasive nature, are often avoided and ripped out of the garden.  The second shot in this post shows a blend of chives and daisies.  I really wanted a shallow depth of field to focus your eyes on a specific bloom, but which one?  Do I pick the daisy, to the chives?  Perhaps let me know what you think?  In the third shot I changed focus to concentrate on the chives ... so which do you prefer?

Daisy and chives.  

Chives and daisies

Besides weeds and chives there was a huge range of other blooms including some King Protea.  Quite different to daisies!!  I showed the fourth shot in this post to some friends in the States and was surprised to learn they'd never heard of proteaceae before.  The King Protea has large blooms ... in excess of 8inches or 20cms across ... these really are quite stunning flowers that really make an impression.

King Protea

A rather pleasing doorway

The last shot in this post is a monochrome interpretation of one of the outbuilding's doorways.  As soon as I saw this scene I thought of an "Olde Worlde" scene.  A quick twiddle in Silver Efex for a sepia effect with a light vignette helped produce the scene you see.

I had a great time.  A lovely rambling garden with flowers that will bloom at different times through the year.  I'll take my camera next time I visit along with a tripod.  Shots from this visit were all hand held and I was a little disappointed with the sharpness in some of my images.  I thought I'd take some extra light and diffusers to try and even out the light too.  Quite a few harsh shadows and deep contrasts in many of my shots from this last visit I'll try to rectify next time.  Perhaps I should show a before and after set of shots and get you to let me know which you prefer and why.

787 visits Auckland

Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner has arrived in Auckland.  After a direct flight from Seattle to Auckland the 787 landed at about 9am on Saturday morning.  It's now at the engineering department, no doubt being examined by the staff who will be maintaining the aircraft once Air New Zealand takes delivery of its aeroplanes in a couple of years time.

Fences were in the way which prevented us getting a closer shot, but depending on the time the aircraft leaves on Tuesday we make get chance of some closer shots as it takes off.  The last shot is a tigherter crop of the second shot and clearly shows an Air New Zealand name tag above the doors.  Perhaps this 'plane is Air New Zealand's after all?

The Winter Gardens

Single shot HDR image of one of Auckland's Winter Garden hot houses.  Well worth a visit.

After dropping off my daughter in the city yesterday ... the trains were all cancelled again, total confusion ruled regarding which bus went where and when, so the only option was to use the car to get to the city.  Anyway, I was saying, after dropping off my daughter in the city, I headed to the Winter Gardens.  I've not been here for ages and they really are well worth a visit.  They have some glorious blooms and specialist plants on display, parking is free and the Fern Garden is here too!  Looking at the shot above, the Fern Garden would be just off to the right, opposite the fish pond.

Gorgeous poppies.  These blooms caught my eye due to their colour and size ... but take a look at their seed pods!

Poppy seed pods.  Wonderful shapes, textures and colour.  Just as beautiful as the blooms!

The first plants to catch my eye were the poppies.  Stunning colour and huge blooms.  Composing the shot I couldn't help but notice the seed pods.  The second shot has a more detailed view of these strange creations.  I must admit to being equally entranced with the seed pods as I was with the blooms.

I didn't have as much time as I'd have liked, and I should really have taken a tripod.  Nevertheless it was a worthwhile visit.  I'll close this post with a few more shots that you might enjoy.  Perhaps let me know what you think.

I have no idea what this is ... but it seemed so delicate and pretty!

I loved these colours.  I have Anthurium at home, but not in these colours!

Gorgeous water lilies.