Tag: Nature

Jungle Den

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABattling on/off rainy weather, we ventured out to the Auckland Zoo today.  Some animals looked to enjoy the rain, others indifferent, and then the rest – the primates all sheltered out of vision, keeping dry.

Armed with the Olympus e-500 I got a number of shots today. Some good, some average. With the larger zoom, it had troubles with focusing today in the average light. Even though todays image is in B&W, I still enjoy the colour from this older four thirds DSLR.

Todays shot, the Chimpanzee enclosure, was captured just after one chimp swung out to check the weather, and then back under the building out of sight and in shelter. Using Gimp I converted to B&W after first tweaking the separate colour channels.

 

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Towards the Journey

The Path to the Side

 

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Been a busy week with little time to write. Almost the weekend though, so hopefully I will find some time then!

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Looking to the South

SSE Museum

Shot approximately SSE, todays view has us looking down upon the Auckland Museum, and Mount Wellington in the background (as well as two aeroplanes if you can spot them).

As a child, from the North Shore, the museum was in clear view. A monster of a building, whilst still visible, is dwarfed by the cityscape. Built from the early 1920’s and opened in 1929, this neoclassical monument has undergone a number of upgrades over the years, but still holds true to the essential design. Holding a vast array of museum pieces (many in the underground storage archive not available to the public), its well worth a visit for anyone stopping by Auckland.

A war memorial museum, it is also the biggest venue for our annual ANZAC dawn ceremony.

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Autumn Between the Shadows

A sliver of light

A shot from above.

Looking down I snapped the autumn tree, its colours beaming out from both the shadows and grey city surrounding.

Shot on the Nex 5N with the 55-210mm lens. In Gimp I desaturated the blue tones, giving the city buildings the mono tone.

More shots from above tomorrow.

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Butterfly on Flower

Butteryfly on FlowerSame as yesterday, some more interesting facts:

  • The fastest butterflies fly at 19kph(12mph)
  • Many butterflies can taste with their feet to test suitability for laying eggs.
  • Antarctica is the only continent on which no Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies)  have been found
  • Butterflies like to drink from mushy slices of banana, oranges and watermelon

 

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Life on a Twig

Life on a TwigWork found me at Butterfly Creek today for an all staff meeting. After the meeting, myself and a few other staff took the opportunity to go through their butterfly enclosure (and small farmyard). I’ve been once before, so in preparation brought along my Nex 5N with a few different lens’. Unfortunately, whether due to the time of day, or time of week, it was not as full of butterflies as the other time I went, but I did manage to get a few shots I will share over the next day or so none the less.

Some butterfly facts:

  • The earliest fossils of butterflies date back 40-50million years!
  • Depending on the species, they live from a week to a year (a week sounds pretty sort aye!)
  • Traditional Japanese see the butterfly as the personification of a persons soul. One definition of the Greek work for butterfly means soul.  
  • They cant fly if their body temp is lower than 30c degrees(86f)

Shot on the Sony Nex with 16-50mm lens. Cropped in Gimp.

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The Pathless Bush

Wraparound Tree

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar.
I love not man the less, but Nature more.

Lord Byron

 

 

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