• What a long work day! – I didn’t get a chance to snap any images today, so pulled out this one from a few months ago. The beach down the road from us is one of those very shallow, or flat areas. When the tide goes out it stretches quite a way. We were down for a wander when next doors cat suddenly appeared and started running out to sea! As you can see in the background, I was already out quite far when the cat came in for its closeup. Taken on the Ricoh in bleach mode, I upped the sharpness one notch in Gimp as it lost some when I reduced it to internet quality.

  • Tonight we went to see Lady Gaga who was in the country for the week. Whilst it would have been a great opportunity for my Nex & long lens, technically they are not allowed in the Vector Arena for concerts. I brought along my Ricoh GRD. With its wide 28mm lens, I had no chance getting anything close to the stage from our seats. I did however catch todays image ‘Gaga & the Sea of People’. I like how the wide angle catches the silhouette of the heads near me, flows down to the main crowd and ends at the stage. I had to bump the iso up on the Ricoh, but think it performed pretty good for hand held!

     

  • Just a wander down the road from me is a muddy beach and forest of mangroves. Once removed, mangroves around the world are now being protected, or at the least allowed to regrown in areas. As well as being host to a massive range of wildlife, they can be of benefit as a buffer, protecting the coastline from storms. I’m always impressed, as a plant, they grow in such a difficult environment.

    Todays image was taken just before sundown. I positioned myself low enough to get amongst the mangroves, but also high enough to get the bright glare of the sun as it started to disappear from the sky. Perhaps the last bit of light before the baby mangroves fall under the high tide level also!

    Taken on my GRD IV & resized for the net.

  • Creatures that go through multiple forms are amazing. Imagine going from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Do they know they are going to make the change? – crawling along on branches eating, then being ‘reborn’ and swooping through the sky. Todays little guy was snapped still on the swan plant that they eat down here. Caught early in the morning, it was covered with dew, and unlucky to appear to have had something nibbling its wings overnight. Warming up as the sun arose, it looked like it was getting ready to take off.

    Taken with the Ricoh GRD IV, on no modes, I love the bright rich colors.

  • I woke up early this morning. After the noisy people at the bar below our venue last night, the cleaners proved to be just as loud come sunrise. As we were checking out mid morning I wanted to explore a bit more of Gulf Harbour anyway. I wandered my way through the side streets as the sun slowly arose, admiring some amazingly big houses. Being Gulf Harbour is full of boats and launches of all types, it was not overly surprising there was $$ in this area.

    Eventually I ended up on a cliff top looking out to the sea. A beautifully calm day. Here I caught todays shot of a sailboat drifting just off the bay. Aside from the birds (and the cleaner back at the motel) it was dead silent. A great peaceful walk with an amazing view.

    Taken on the Ricoh in bleach mode, post cropped in Gimp 2.8.