Not easy being... GREEN! (weather watch alert)

So Pioneer Woman is running another contest/assignment at her place.

The theme is 'green'.

I have to admit, there is a lot going on and I am not as focused as I might be

on bloggy things this week, but thought I'd hurl this one into the

massive melting pot that is her Photostream...

Backlit gumleaves photographer on a small sapling

beside one of our paddock roads, sometime.

Cause green (in my opinion) is no good unless you get some brown

to contrast it with, in order to appreciate it properly.

Like rain after drought, green after brown.

Makes sense (to me).

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SPEAKING of weather

(oh the subtlety of the segue today)...

the WEATHER FORECAST for the week ahead.

Clouds but no real follow-through.

Plus a serious chance of getting sunburnt.

*Sigh*

Now for the more romantic side of the forcasting section:

Moon and sun phases.

My new favourite weather forecasty things.

How 'bout you?

Photos of verde to share?

Or a report on the

Weather from your verandah?

Last one I promise...

Holy cow... or should I say Holy Great Dane?

I arrived home late tonight to be alerted to the incredible fact that Cosmo the Great Dane (and keeper of an entire corner of my heart) has made the fourth group of Ree's doggie pics.

In some seriously HOT canine company...

She chose this shot - of my lovely late mate watching the very same little fella (just out of frame this time) he was photographed with in the previous selection.

This one was taken on the beach/mudflats at Sandgate (Brisbane, Qld, Australia) in 2004.

*sigh*

He was a great galloping galut and I still miss the big boofhead.

But what an amazing honour - twice.

(All those 'also-ran' efforts in previous assignments will keep me level-headed, I promise!)

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I realise I have been a tad self-indulgent this week.

So tomorrow I will offer you something different.

What would you like to hear about next?

1. What happened to Bay Lulic the one-eyed cow?

2. How to cut up beef (from scratch)? (You heard me), or

3. Magic mushrooms

Flashback: Old (Dane) Gold.

There might be a bit of a pooch-flavoured week this week - blame Pioneer Woman okay?

Just thought I'd share another entry in her Dog Portrait assignment - and to be completely different from yesterday's last-minute shot, this one is quite an old photo.

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This particular image was taken (on film with my old Nikon) in 2003. It was taken when we lived in a tiny little house in a suburb of Brisbane - married just two years and with a sweet little boy who would go on to be called Dash. Dash would have many little challenges in his life (back then) and we would spend much time in the house, rather than rollicking around playgrounds like most little boys and their doting mamas.

Luckily we had our own built-in play centre.

And his name was Cosmo.

Coz adored Dash and was intensely careful around him - things had been quite tense as we realised the extent of Dash's condition and his feeding and medication regime had pretty much grounded us, and this tension had made our bitumen-speckled (Blue Merle) Great Dane quite protective. Not in an aggressive way (he was NEVER aggressive) but he would mostly just park himself nearby and watch our little boy. Dash didn't move a lot, but this giant, steady, loving presence seemed to comfort him just by being there. Occasionally Dash would shuffle over (he never really did crawl) and just hung with Coz. The trust he had in this dog was really something. This confidence with dogs is something that stays with Dash to this day.

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As Dash grew stronger, he would pull himself up onto the dog's back and Coz would sit steady and still. Waiting calmly. Being his plaything. Letting Dash pull ears and lips with a quiet "It's okay... he's right... it doesn't really hurt" look on his face.

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This photo was scanned (with a lot of dust marks) before I lost the original. Using a very basic original version of Photoshop, I had monotoned and lightened the background for a card I made years ago - a card to thank so many people who had helped our son through his challenges. I found the file yesterday and thought I'd clean it up a little and enter it. I ran a sepia action on it (which included a border that I have almost removed) and then left it be.

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You'd think after seven years, the power of this photo on my emotional state would lessen.

You would think after three years of Coz-less living, I would be over it.

But this photo never fails to make me cry.
I'm bawling right now, wiping stupid tears away before Mr Incredible sees me.

It's the look on Dash's face.

The one that says: He's mine.

A lunatic by any other name...

Trying to work out my best entry for this week's Pioneer Woman challenge:

Portrait of a Dog.

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I discovered that I have FAR too many dog photos.

And amongst them, FAR too many crappy dog photos.

(Not, not doggy crap photos...

I would need a wide angle and my mother reads this thing!)

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So what did I do?

I gave up searching the archives and just whacked up the most recent dog photo I have taken. Literally... it's the last shot of our ridiculous Great Dane on the camera, taken yesterday (when I was supposed to be cutting down on the Nikon-sniping).

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I give you Axel (Roseberry the First) adoring Mr Incredible to bits.

Nom, nom, nom... ow!

I love the crazy flappy lips, the fact Mr Incredible is absent-mindedly playing with Axel while talking to someone else (out of frame), and I even love the John Deere mower in the background.

It screams 'ludicrous large pooch trying to be a farm dog' to me...

and ' LET ME BE PART OF IT ALL... PWEEEEESE!!'

And for those wondering how big Axel is now (that he is a whole one year old and getting close to fully grown) he measures approximately 107 cm at the shoulder. Which converts to about 42.125 inches. Which cannot be right or he'd be nudging THIS guy. We need a proper measuring stick methinks!

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So, tell me: What's your favourite pet photo?

Share a link to it with us in comments. And if you don't have something to share at your own place, was there a favourite shot somewhere in the archives here that you think I should enter in PW's contest later in the week? All nominations gratefully accepted!

Messin' with a billabong

Now if you are an Aussie, you may have anticipated a photo of an ice-block here.
Or at least a clothing company.
But no.
I am talking about one of just two photos I snapped on my recent drive up the paddock of a small waterhole beside the road. I had hoped to get many more images here in slightly later afternoon light... but, well... if you read that post, will already know what happened there.

(A lot of dismissal went on, that's what!)
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But here is what I am up to with the 'messin'. I'm using some tools in Photoshop on the sweet little pic below...

My white-balanced version pretty much straight out of the camera:

(Don't you love that sky?).

Using Pioneer Woman's Lovely and Ethereal action:


Using the basic PS7 Sepia action:


Using Rosalind Harrison's B&W Sepia action

And finally, using my own combination Photoshop tools,

Hue & Saturation plus some PaintDaubs and some darkening around the border.

A couple of questions

(and this is not for photo nerds only, I want all opinions):

Which one works best, do you think?

And what is your colloquial name for a small body of water like this?

Don't be like Bush Babe (Valentine's edition)

Today was apparently Valentine's Day...

I know this because I went to a dinner last night with my beloved (and our progeny). Not so much a gaze-into-each-other's-eyes romatic dinner, as a sit-around-with-friends-and-get-waited-on-by-schoolkids dinner. It was fabulous.

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It was a fundraiser for a local small school (not ours, a big THREE-teacher school nearby). An event which cost (are you ready?) $35 per couple and $5 per child - fees which included a three-course-meal (really nice and well-served) lots of fairy lights and candles, pizza for the little 'uns and babysitting. We ate and drank while others cared for our kids and cleaned up after us. The best value I have ever experienced!

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So we knew it was Valentine's Day because that was last night's dinner theme. But we aren't really into the whole card-giving, bunch-of-flowers, romantic stuff. Today started and ended much as any other day of the year. Not that we don't feel the love (she hastened to add) but we don't save it for a special day in the year. It's pretty random in our household - when the mood strikes. And let's just say it rarely takes the form of a Hallmark card.

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If you subject yourself to my twittering, you'll know that a few days ago Mr Incredible offered to take care of the kids and cook dinner, while I went out in the paddocks to take photos for a couple of hours. It was the kind of offer he knew would ring my bells. Seriously, I couldn't get out of the place fast enough. My excitement was slightly over-the-top - afternoons (as any Mum of young kids knows) is an exhausting parade of unpacking schoolbags, dealing with tired and hungry offspring through food-and-drink regeneration programs, squeezing in last-minute washing loads, preparing dinner and wondering if that sunset will last long enough for you to get a shot once the kids are out of the bath. (For the record, it hardly ever does.)

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So I went - hastily grabbing my camera bag and thanking my husband profusely on the way out of the door. He gave me a satisfied 'Why yes, I AM Husband of the Year' smile. I leapt into his ute and took off in a cloud of happy dust. I made it about five kilometres before I realised I had forgotten the parcel I was supposed to deliver to my brother en route. (Because I have to mult-task, that's why!).

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So I hauled the Toyota around and headed back to the house. With a wry smile, I grabbed the parcel and waved goodbye for a second time. My family collectively shook their heads at my forgetfulness. The word 'typical' rose in little thought bubbles above their heads.

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I got about three kilometres into the much-anticipated photo trip (I had about an hour's window of great afternoon light) when I stopped to take my first shot. Fabulous cobalt blue skies, soaring jet streams towering over rippling hills of succulent green grass... I pressed my trigger finger. Nothing. I looked down at the camera. No memory card.

Are you kidding me?

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Around I turned again, pressing the pedal to the floor to waste as little time as possible on the SECOND return to the house. Head down, I dashed into the office, mumbling something at my slightly-astonished family (is she EVER going to leave?) and out the door again. I slid the card into the back of the Nikon to check I had enough space - yup. A goer.

Off I headed again (fingers firmly crossed as I drove).

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My main challenge for the outing was to get shots of cattle for promotion for our stud. Lucky for me, the recently branded calves and their mothers were grazing peacefully near the road.

YES. I was in business.

They milled around the ute as I snapped happily away...

Lovely. Green with happy bovines. Sweet.

Pretty polled heads posing in the sunshine.

Happy days.

After gathering a nice bunch of cow shots, I drove off. I allowed myself to indulge in a little 'landscape' action (offering some much-needed relief to those who have overdosed on my Shallow Depth of Field period last week).

Bottle trees reaching above the clouds.

More boabs, rampant green grass and red roads.

Almost a sensory overload.

Well it was actually. For my camera.

It grunted, it groaned.

It stopped altogether.

Flat battery.

Yuh huh.

You heard me right.

The World's Most Impetuous Photographer failed to check ANYTHING.

I immediately sacked myself (several times actually),

And then drove home, muttering furiously about wasted opportunities.

I drove by the magnificence of utterly still water in roadside dams perfectly reflecting the dusky skies above?

You will just have to trust me - it was amazing. Amazingly frustrating with NO CAMERA.

Then I looked down and panicked - the low-fuel light was on.

(I braced myself and called in, only to be reassured via two-way radio that there was a second tank full of fule if I just pressed a button. I promptly sacked myself as a bushie as well.)

So please. In matters of photography, or romance, or country life...

Just ignore me, okay?

Because (to steal a line from a fellow Aussie blogger)

the chances I'll learn from this Valentine's escapade?

Approximately...

Barking up the right tree...

It's a gorgeous day here... and I just had to share.

Two sides of the same tree: an ironbark that is the final sentry to the driveway into our house.

First a shot showing the rolling green hills (thanks to the rain!) to the north...

And second looking west.

If you look closely, you can see the shape of the roof of our home (and chimney) in the background...

Ironbark.

It's just a great name for a tree.

Sounds like a movie. Or a Transformer.

Why yes, I have a seven-year-old son.. why do you ask?

Hope your weekend is gorgeous too...

Focus!

I had to go out and take a photo today.

Of a blade plough.

Ever wondered what a blade plough looks like?

There you go.

It's a big plough that digs deep. And that is all I know.

You can now sleep at night, right?

Sure.

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Now, while I was out, I decided to take FIVE minutes to do a little practising.

Practising my 'Depth of Field' action - inspired by the efforts of so many talented photographers at her place. And (I admit) spurred along a little by a certain pick-cher being listed somewhere.

Pardon the pun.

So here we go...

Purple weeds, at f5.6 and 1/1000 second.

Please note: My lense only goes down to 5.6, but the depth of field is still pretty shallow here thanks to the zoom being at full stretch. Is 'full stretch' a photographic term, do you think?)
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I then found a birds' nest in my car. Don't even ask. Okay, it's been floating around the house for a while after all this happened, and then it was taken to Show And Tell at school last week. And yes, my car DOES need cleaning out. Stat.

Wagtail Nest, f5.6 at 1/800 second (pic below is f5.6 at 1/640 second).

I love these shots - love that the horse hair woven into the nest by the willy wagtails is in focus, while most of my hammy hand is not. If you look really closely at the bottom one, you can see some sort of seed pod (?) on the tiny twig at the back of the nest.


You can also still see the sticky tape - keeping it real!

Then I spotted fences, and recalling how many people had used chains to demonstrate shallow depth of field, I tried this...

Barbed wire green - f 5.6 1/800 second

And I am also LOVING that green!

This one, however, is the one I like the most.

Barbed wire rust - f5.6 1/800 second

It was shot where a fence ran in front of a pile of rusting steel pegs and coils of new barbed wire - hence the rusty red and the blue steel blur in the background. The only PS work done is to slightly up the contrast. *Hand on heart*.

I was torn between entering this one and the one above. I went with the one above... am not quite sure why...

I guess I need to get back to business now.

Sending off blade plough photos and paying bills.

Focus Bush Babe, FOCUS!

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While I am gone, tell me, which shot did you like best? And why?

And did you know what a blade plough was before today?

Eye on the prize...

Okay - that's a slightly misleading headline...

(What can I say, I am an ex-journo/sub-editor!)

Kate and Pam let me know this morning (as I checked emails between making tuckshop for 20 kids and ironing uniforms and clearing breakfast plates) that my spur photo had made the Day 2 list of Pioneer Woman's photography assignment...

I was (momentarily) speechless.
Lil' old Bush Babe amongst all those amazing photographers?

A big thanks to Ree for selecting the shot and appreciation to those who let me know.

I don't expect to get any further than this (semi-final?) but this is far enough to put a massive smile on my dial. I am inspired to keep on trying and stretch that little camera even further, and really, that's the main thing isn't it? I don't even know what the prizes are - so no, I don't really have my 'eye on the prize'. That's simply a pun on the next image...

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I have added this photo to the massive melting pot of Ree's Depth of Field assignment

(we are allowed to enter one new photo per day).
Horse eyelashes.

Mmmmmm.

Those who read here regularly or have bought my calendar will know it already.

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Hope you have something happen to YOU today to make you grin like Luna Park.

Let me know about it in comments...

*skips off to do the mowing*

Weather Watch for Drips and Nerds

It's Wednesday today. I know this salient fact, 'cause I just arrived back from our one-teacher school where I help out with the reading activities. Plus I checked the computer date. Heck it's only taken me FIVE Wednesdays to actually get into gear for Weather Watch Wednesday... the idea I came up with. I am SOOOO organised!!
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So what I'm going to do today is to share my weather and forecast (duh) and some images I shot during recent rains here on Granite Glen. Does it seem like it's always raining here to you? I assure you, it is not. I just talk about it a lot. And take more photos of rainy days and the glorious aftermath of moisture arriving on our countryside...

What can I say, it inspires me when it's green.

(More than this anyway!)
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Below are a series of shots of water dripping and trickling from a beam underneath a big old bridge that links our place to our neighbours - we sheltered under there while inspecting the puddles of water in the river back here. I was trying to capture the drops clear and still in the shade of the structure - and not knowing where the next drip would come from made focussing tricky. Nonetheless, here's the result:

(I am also sharing basic camera settings for those interested in photo-nerd stuff. )


f 6.3 at 1/800 second

f6.3 at 1/500 second

f 6.3 at 1/200 second

f 6.3 at 1/200 second

(Faster speeds freezing moving drips better).
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Weather Forecast for today and next few days:
Showers predicted with up to 80% chance of less than 1mm

Temperatures ranging from 19 degree Celsius (min) to 30 degree Celsius (max)

Steamy.

Steamy spit.

Hopefully bringing more of the stuff that does this:

f 6.3 at 1/1000 second

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NB This is my new entry in PW's assignment this week - just so you know, I have no hope of winning but I do like to take part. I don't mind not being selected - it honestly gives me a buzz to see what others can do. Inspiring.

Shallow spurs

A long time ago (in blog time) I was sent a special gift by a woman I had never met. It was to change the way I thought about blogging and it would allow me to make a real connection with a place somewhere on the other side of the world.
You can read about it here if you don't know what I am rabbiting on about.
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Anyway, this week the fabulous Ree is running another contest at her place. For photos exhibiting a 'shallow depth of field' - she does a great tutorial on it here if that phrase bamboozles you. Basically she wants mostly blurry and a bit in focus. And the shots I took of that gift sent by Debby just over a year ago fit the bill.
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I don't own a lens that REALLY gets down low (in the aperture department) but the limits of my little 18-200mm zoom did their very best for this one.

It was shot on my kitchen bench in natural light the day I got it home.

It is uncropped and run with PW's Fresh and Colorful action...

(How's that for ironic? 'Fresh and Colorful' on 'Old and Rusty'?).

It's still one of my favourite photos ever...

perhaps not for technical reasons, but it never fails to make me smile.

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What's your favourite photo? And why?

And if you are entering PW's contest please add your link to the comments so we can all admire...

For those who haven't, the whole lot of amazing images can be found here.

Man there are some talented bloggers out there...

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Late note: I made a list, I made a list!

Day 2 finalists are here. And the spur is tucked in amongst the awesome snow and bubble shots. I won't get any further than that (the standard of pics is staggering!) but am utterly stoked to have been chosen for a day list.

Addiction, apologies and catching up

I have a confession to make today. I am a shocker - I have a real problem actually.

Do you have ANY idea how many photos I take? Literally hundreds a month. I try to slow down, but it's my crack. My poison. And I figure it ain't hurting no-one with my addictive pastime, except for my hard drive (and my grammar apparently!).
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And when readers and friends say: 'How on earth do you think of your next blog post?'
My response is usually: 'Are you kidding? If I was laid up for the next six months, I have enough blog fodder saved there for daily contributions to the chaos of www!'

My problem is not WHAT to write and blog about, it's finding the time to do it. Sure I can take the photos and have a rough idea what I am going to write with them, but generally I can't sit down and focus on it until late at night - after when all my loved ones are fed, bathed and tucked into bed. It explains why so many typos make it to the 'publish' button.

(That's my excuse and I am sticking with it!)

For instance, I have a small mountain of photos from after Christmas - when the rain started falling (finally) and softening the views from our windows (and the faces of our workforce). I am finding an excuse to post some of them now - as it's been raining again this week (three and a half inches of gorgeous precipitation into our rain gauge) and as I am reintroducing Weather Watch Wednesday. (Yes, I know it's not Wednesday, this is a PREVIEW. Stay with me!).
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Here are some shots of the kids from a month ago - exploring a gully running with water. There had been a heavy downpour with that same amount (as we had this week) falling in a couple of hours. It's amazing how differently the country 'lets go' of the water with the different rates of rainfall. This week, the water simply soaked into the ground. No run-off.

No ready-made waterfall-filled playground for Dash and Violet...

It was incredible how quickly the Nintendos and Wii games were forgotten as they frolicked in the stream. Exactly as I did when I was a youngster growing up here... before either of these devices had been dreamed of.

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We had also checked out the river bed during the last lot of rain...

Here Dash demonstrates his 'Jesus Walk' .

It only lasted 1/100 of a second, but the moment is officially filed in our Historical Events!
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Mr Incredible also checked out how far the water levels were rising in the river bed. Did you know that rivers keep running BELOW a sandy river bed like this? Even if you cannot see it from above, dig a little and you can generally find sand-filtered water...

The river was running about two feet below the natural level of the sand.

In the old days, cattlemen would use hollowed out tree trunks to bury into the sand, digging out the sand inside the circle of timber, and viola: a trough of clean water for animals to quench their thirst. I actually have a couple of these old sand troughs as 'pots' in my garden.

Hey - there is something I haven't photographed lately...

Oh wait... hang on... lookee here:

In the archives baby.

See that timber thing in the background of this lily photo taken at this time.

One of the unposted thousands...

*Sigh*

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So Weather Watch next Wednesay, okay?

Would love you to catch me up on the last month of Mother Nature's efforts in your neck of the woods, in the comments section below?

And while you are there... what's your poison?

Something you KNOW an addiction you KNOW you should cut down on, but just can't?

Make me feel better please!

EYE- Max theatre

I adore equine eyes... do you?

I think horses have the most incredible 'windows to the soul' of all animals.

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There was a rare moment of stillness during our recent week of branding: the men (and kids) had taken some cows and calves back to their paddocks after I had helped mother up (match calf tags to cow tags for our records) and all was suddenly still and peaceful.
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I wandered over to Yvette (often my steed, but also mount to Dad and Salina when she is visiting) - she is a sook who always adores a cuddle and has the most wonderful warm, open eyes. The skies were intensely blue, and the shape of her prominent brown eyes made for an incredible warped mirror of our surroundings...

First I focussed in on her spiky red lashes... who says redheads need mascara?

And then realising how clearly the dark liquid surface of her iris was reflecting the scene around her, I drew closer.

I reached to touch her cheek...

Then tried again - can you see her shadow on the ground?

And the yard and shed behind me?

And how the white timber rail of the gate is whoopy, following the curve of her eye?

This angle is even better...

you can actually see me AND her shadow AND her neck and back reflected in her orb...

I might be wrong, but I reckon you would only ever see this in a prey animal. Animals whose eyes are set at this particular spot on the sides of their heads, so they can check behind them for predators and still see in front to escape.

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I love that she is so relaxed with me and stands patiently while I point the Nikon at point-blank range at here eye. Clearly I am not considered a predator!

Have YOU seen any freaky, fabulous reflections in your world lately?

I bet you have - if you disagree, look again!

(Think: rear-view mirrors, the still water of a lake or puddle, the tinted window of your car...)

If you are inspired to post a reflected image at your blog, I will put a link up here at the bottom of this post to share...

Come on...

Play with me!

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Players...

Trace Elements

A Novel Woman

Farmer Gal

Kelly

Debby

Marilyn

Bull Rhino

Many roads - actions aplenty

I am going to share a couple of the things that go on behind the scenes today - some photo work that gets done before I upload images. This may well bore the socks off you - if so, perhaps you'd rather read about this or this. Or just skim the words and vote for your favourite version at the end! I promise I won't hold it against you.
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If you are remotely interested in photos, then forge on with me. But remember I am no expert. (There should be a massive disclaimer right up at the top of this blog - but I reckon the drip remark in this month's header should be hint enough, right?)

This is an image I snapped while driving home from Toowoomba recently. It was simply shot through the windscreen as the Prado hurtled towards Granite Glen - this stretch of road is notoriously whoopy (that's a technical term for 'not smooth'). Actually I very nearly got seasick trying to shoot it. But I was reasonably happy with this shot (which is SOOC - straight out of camera) - I liked the natural lines and balance and the mirage effect. It needed cropping slightly and I just couldn't leave alone the whole 'dull colour' thing.

What to do?

Here is my first effort. I simply played with the 'curves' tool in Photoshop (I am still plugging along in PS 7) to find a better white and punch up the contrast to better reflect what I thought was 'real'. It's what I do to most of my images. Someone recently said they liked the 'honesty' of my photos - I suspect this means that I don't do enough work on them! Heh.

Next I thought I would try the "Fresh and Colourful" action from The Pioneer Woman. This really saturates and sharpens things up - the final version is not at full blast (I reduced the opacity of the layers a little before flattening). I don't mind this action but use it judiciously - too much saturation is well... too much. Especially on faces - people can tend to look VERY sunburned.
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Now I thought I'd push the envelope a bit more - I have to admit that I downloaded these actions from a site I picked up from Kate (Chronicles of a Country Girl) and I cannot recall the site. (I think it was here).

Most action sets have a black and white action - I quite like this one as it allows you to mess with it a bit. It's called Black and White Sepia. Feels like something from the 50's - as long as you don't look too closely at the shape of the vehicle hovering over the mirage!

This one is called Vintage.
I love that it gives a little border to the shot but I have toned back the texture layers and allowed a little more colour to seep through with this one. It appeals to me - like something printed on some very groovy rich paper.
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So your turn now...

Do you mess a lot with photos?

Would love you to share your favourite actions - pop in links if you have them please.

What is your favourite version of the road shot here?

(The BBfix, the PW Fresh&Colorful, the Black&White Sepia, or the Vintage?)

The most popular will be added to the prints section of the blog.

Thanks for playing!