Wahroonga 2011

It's been a while since I posted. Today was the perfect day for a photo outing - so Eddie and I set off to take some photos around Wahroonga park.

Update

Annoyingly I just discovered that Windows Live Writer, that i'd been using to edit my blog makes all my pictures less vibrant. No matter what I did they just weren't posting properly.
SO now i'm back to using Blogspot's editor which really doesn't give me the variety of layout options unless I know HTML coding... which you've guessed I don't. SO here i'll slowly start replacing the bottom pics with the proper coloured photos so they look half decent!

The new lens

The original plan when my gallery closed was to use the funds that I earned from selling my pictures to buy myself a better lens.
I’ve always used a stock standard 18-200 tamron lense, which has been suitable for travelling, but I began to realise that I could probably get much sharper images if I invested in a good lens.
So, I had my eye on the Canon 24-105 lens for quite some time, as it had been touted as the “best Canon general use / walk around lens.” As my main photography focus is travelling I thought this would suit my needs the most.
So the other day I bit the bullet and spent a disgusting amount of money on this lens and I am extremely happy that I did so.
Always the first to suffer when I buy new photography equipment are  my dogs… so as today was a glorious summer day I snapped a few pictures of Zoe..

Zoo Day

Thursday 30th December saw Ange, Steven and I visit Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

It’s been about 10 odd years since i’ve visited the zoo, and it was great to go back and see the changes that they’ve made over the years.

First stop… the Giraffe enclosure!

Un-fazed by the humid Sydney weather, the Giraffes were probably the highlight of the day.

Hanging out in the sun, overlooking our beautiful Sydney Harbor, the Giraffes gave me plenty of photo opportunities!

My gorgeous friend Ange, chilling out in the shade.

Father and Son watch the Giraffes.

	We also visited the children’s petting zoo…  because let’s face it, it’s cool.

The elephants were also out to play!

Monkey Business…

Did I mention it was hot….. it was hot. Pictured above, the Meerkats (And Steven) trying to keep cool and once again.. the best city in the world, on a perfect day.
It was a fantastic day and although hot and full of parents with prams….
 
(the pram line up for the seal show)
it was well worth checking out the zoo again, a place where you tend not to re-visit when you get older.

 
My advice for Zoo Day
1. Go in “in between” seasons. It was really hot today, and although it wasn’t unpleasant to walk around, many of the animals were asleep in the shade.

2. Look online for deals. Adult tickets are usually $43. Thanks to Steven’s online prowess, we managed to get a 20% discount.

3. Bring your own food. A bottle of coke was $4.30… need I say any more.

4. Put your silly face on. Lets face it – there are kids, grumpy parents and sometimes even the token stupid tourist. Bring your sense of humour, it will save you when people start to fight for the last remaining table at the only decent cafe in the whole place.

My Gallery Opening

So, quite a few of my recent posts have really been happy snaps. I did start blogging my pictures of my overseas trips earlier on in the year, but when I went back to the posts I realised i’d just thrown everything together in a mad rush and didn’t really do the pictures justice… so I removed them all to start again.

So hopefully in the next couple of months you’ll get to see some of my better work….

In October this year I had my first gallery opening at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre.

Out of work and bored in January, I decided to see if the local art gallery would have my pictures up…. they said yes…

 
It turned out to be one of the more rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.

 
Not only did people come to see my work, but I actually sold some pieces……..and some were sold to people who I didn’t even know (so my family didn’t just feel sorry for me and purchase my pics..ha ha)

Yes i’m a dork …
 
:o)

Technorati Tags: Gallery Opening

December 28th – Into the City with Min

I finally took my camera into the city to go and see Annie Leibovitz’s Exhibition.
I rarely take my camera out at home, it just seems like an excessive weight to carry around, plus I spend a lot of time being paranoid about it.
But I decided to take it with me yesterday and am glad I did.

I spent some of the day  just taking happy snaps, rather than concentrating on technique or spending too much time taking photos when I was out with a friend…

However, here a a few pics of the day

 

As I start posting a bit more, you will notice I really like food… and food that isn’t good for me. This is a chocolate mousse from the Guylian Chocolate Cafe at the Rocks…

This is when I fell into a diabetic coma…..
 
My gorgeous fashionista Min…

And I just figured out how to put pictures side by side… genius…

THE best city in the world…

The Strand Arcade at Christmas..

And, of course, you can not have a girl’s day without a purchase of some variety.

For those who don’t know me, I’ve had quite a bit of trouble with my feet for some time… long story short, I suffer from chronic pain in my feet after a rather short period of walking. This problem has unfortunately has seen me ditch high heels for nanna shoes… and gentlemen, I know this seems like something that isn’t a bit deal… but it really is.

So after months of seeing multiple doctors including a surgeon, I think I  may have FINALLY found someone who can actually help me.

The aim… to walk without inserts in my shoes… and to be able to wear high heels….

So in the spirit of Christmas and feeling better, I bought myself the first pair of high heels in about 10 years.

Please ignore my messy room, the fact that my pjs make me look a little chunky and the fact that I used the flash on a mirror… I DID do it on purpose believe it or not, as I thought I wouldn’t subject you all to my “just got out of bed” hobo self…

Technorati Tags: Min,Sydney,Chocolate,Food,Annie Leibovitz

Christmas is all Around

Technorati Tags: Christmas,Max Brenner,Zoe,Georgie,Arn

Ok, to start this post, I give to you Max Brenner’s Chocolate Dip….

 
Need I say anymore.
Doesn’t really have much to do with Christmas, however, I had a lone picture of chocolate and strawberries and I couldn’t very well leave them un-posted.

 
Christmas is my favourite time of year, and no matter what I try to make sure I remain excited about it, even though the shops are packed, I work up until Christmas Eve and it’s not QUITE the same as when you were a kid.

The picture above is one Christmas decoration that I got from Germany last year…

And of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without wrapping “theming.” Everything matches, and it looked pretty awesome under the tree.

Christmas Morning.
Arn is attempting to have breakfast while Zoe watches the Christmas Ham on Toast very intently…

 
… and continues to do so until Arn has finished

… but soon there is something else to distract her, A Christmas present perhaps??

????

YAY it’s Bernie the Saint Bernard….

Sam and I with Zoe and Bernie….
 

But it all went pear shaped when I opened Georgie’s (bottom right) present… a Grover soft toy. Zoe wanted him too…

Overall, it was a great Christmas day… for the first time in a long time we all kicked back and relaxed and enjoyed the most glorious Sydney summer day.