Month: May 2013

Giraffe Shot

SONY DSCWhen I think about the dinosaurs (not that I do that very often) and our current day animals, the giraffe is like the modern day brontosaurus to me. Long necked greens eater, evolved to reach the high trees. Funny looking, but gorgeous creatures that for some reason always look well presented.

Today’s shot is my last for now from the Sydney Zoo series I have dropped in this last week. On a related note, one of our local giraffe from Auckland Zoo, Nakuru, has just completed her journey across the ditch to Melbourne Zoo to find a new mate…proving that even giraffes get seasick along the way!

One or two interesting facts – they can close their nostrils, useful to block out ants or in sandstorms.A giraffe only walks or galops and can sustain about 50kph (30mph) for several km. Lifespan is up to around 25 years. Greeks and Romans theorised the giraffe was a hybrid of a camel and leopard – called a camelopardalis! 

That will do for giraffe facts for today…

 

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Pelecanus Conspicillatus

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Pelecanus conspicillatus, the Australian pelican. Shot at the Sydney zoo a few years back on my old Sony A230 DSLR. With a wingspan of ~2.5m, these guys are fairly large birds. Interestingly, you can tell if they are a part of a breeding couple or not by the colour of their bill and circles around eyes. Protected in Australia, they are lucky enough not to be on the endangered list, although some of their native waterland’s have been taken over by our recreational sports.

As above, shot on the Sony Alpha A230 and resized/converted to black & white in Gimp.

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Waiting for Food

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A quick mobile snap for today using androids Paper Cam. A combination of a long week, cold and wet weather eroded my cooking motivation and brought me here to Burger Fuel…

Weather looks poor again for the weekend but I will see what I can find to shoot tomorrow!

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Hut in the Woods

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMore a hut in the park rather than hut in the woods, but an interesting discovery none the less whilst having a short walk after work. Armed with the Olympus E-500, my battery was almost flat, so I rushed to get some shots off before it died. Shooting at dusk under trees at iso100 I did get some motion blur, but quite liked the final result once converted to B&W.

I am assuming the hut was some form of student project or fun game for kids/family rather than someone actually using it – it would not offer much shelter.

 

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Racing for the Sun

Racing for the Sun

 

The sunset this evening was one of the more amazing of recent. Unfortunately I was stuck in traffic for the best of it. Racing (or driving as prompt as possible) once out of the  traffic, finding a park and jogging down the track to an open area, I missed all but the last of the sun as it dropped into the horizon. With tide out and still, I did manage to catch it reflecting the last of the days sun as it slowly curved down and away out to sea.

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV and resized in Gimp.

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Sydney Peafowl

SONY DSCStuck in the house sick today, I hunted through some old images shot at the Sydney Zoo a few years ago. I had a wide variety of head shots of various animals, including todays peacock.

One of the more well known colourful birds, I have always found it funny how many animals have the male being bright and exuberant and the female otherwise plain. Of course the majority of examples of this are to show off and attract a mate.

Shot on the Sony A230, converted from RAW in UFRaw and final edit in Gimp.

 

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Smurf Village?

In the GardenSmurf Village? Unlikely, but a bumper mushroom/toadstool patch none the less.

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, cropped and resized in Gimp.

 

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