2015 = Two Photo Projects

30th March 2015
2015 ... I really felt the need for a challenge more than just another Project 52 so I have taken on another Project 365 BUT added the twist of using the Lensbaby for this challenge, as well as a Project 52 with a weekly theme!
Today is day 89 for P365 and although I've not taken my photo today ... so far so good. I know that I am a capable photographer, not in a professional sense by any ways or means but I can take a photo and with a little forethought and planning I can even take a good photo.
I shared this photo from yesterday - Day 88 in the Lensbaby group on Facebook and not only did I receive some great comments but 89 people have liked the photo = best response ever to one of my photos. I'm blown away. Maybe it's because no one else has tried astrophotography with their Lensbaby or perhaps that they just have to travel too far to get away from light pollution before they can even try. With such positive feedback it gives one great confidence.
Thanks for staying with me thus far ... Hope you have  a great week!

Making an effort - 2 posts in 1 week!

I know I am not the best keeper of a blog but I'm trying to make an effort to at least post once a week. Here are some photos from this last week

Day 83 ... a lovely place to visit in a local town. A boardwalk through a wet area, which has been closed the previous 13 months due to someone setting a fire here and 1/2 the boardwalk burning. Very grateful that it is again open.

Day 84 ... a frangi in my MIL's yard

Day 85 A walk through our Paperbark forest on our property 

Day 86 Easter Lilies in flower in a Church Yard

Day 87 ... a simple pinecone

Day 88 today, my first attempt at the Milky Way DG with superwide optic attached

I have a long way to catch up!

Because I post my photos to Facebook I totally forget about my blog. How bad is that. I will catch you up on a few days here - today is Day 83 (!!!) although I've not taken my shot yet today. Here are some from the last few days ...

Project 365 Days 5 to 12

I thought I was going to keep up with my posts here but I am already lagging behind! Still, I guess it could be worse, at least I am still taking my daily photos!

Day 5 - The Aliens have Landed & Paddock Grasses

both taken C/pro DG @ F2

Day 6 - Flying Ibis  Edge 80 @ f5.6

Day 7 - Cactus Flower

C/pro DG both macro filters & +4 filter F2

Day 8 - What Lies within. A bug or one of our chooks has created this hole in the Gooseberry and you can see the fruit inside. C/pro DG both macro converters & +4 filter F2

Day 9 - What remains. The remains of a jetty I discovered on the way to camera club (so glad I was running a bit late and didn't go via the beach as I was planning and made this little discovery!) C/pro DG F2 

Day 10 - Bottle Brush. Spotted in a park in one of the local towns to us. Unfortunately I couldn't get a cleaner shot due to the plants location next to a pond. C/pro DG F2

Day 11 - Bobtail. This old bobtail has been visiting our yard in summer for a good number of years although he wouldn't stop still for me on this day so focus is not spot on. Did manage to capture his blue tongue though! C/pro DG F2

Day 12 - Mater was having a hard time negotiating these sand dunes (which have been created on our property by the new tyres on our quad bike!)  C/pro E/80 F2.8

Welcome to 2015

I have no idea where 2014 went and I can't believe that I just didn't keep up with updating my blog here. This year will be different as I have taken on 2 photography projects. 

Project 52 - Take a photo at least once a week with a weekly theme 

Project 365 Lensbaby - Take at least one photo a day but the challenge here is to use a Lensbaby lens &/or optic. I love my Lensbaby products but just don't seem to use them very often ... so this will be a real challenge! I started my 365 on new years eve of 2014 and these are my photos to date. 

 Paddock Grasses 1/365

 Sunrise 1st January 2015 2/365

3/365  The truck my hubby drives - nearly 130 tonnes of truck, trailers & cargo heading up the highway (next time he is on day shift I will retake the photos with morning light!!)

 

4/365 Fruit (our weekly theme for P52)

Perseverance, Persistence & Patience ...

Australia has over 1500 native bee species and for the last couple of days I've been trying really hard to photograph the Blue Banded Bees that are hanging around one of the flowering plants here at home. They are so fast and never sit longer than a nano second so I was really happy to have captured these 2 shots this morning!  This species are solitary bees and do not live in hives. 

What makes me smile

Continuing with this week's Project 52 theme What Makes me Smile I have just tried to photograph Jessie who is usually quite uncooperative as she continually moves her head. Still I managed to capture this one of her and it made me smile, as she does every day!

Project 52 - Week 1

So here we are in 2014 ... Happy New Year! 

Project 52 has started for me and I wanted to share a few photos that I took yesterday with this week's theme of "What makes me smile" in mind. I planned at least one visit to the beach as I always feel refreshed after dipping my toes in the water or taking a nice walk along the beach. A little challenging getting the lens to focus as I was walking towards the water, stopping and then trying to focus before the water disappeared. 

the bottom of my pants got wet too which made me laugh as well as smile

and it goes without saying that this man brings a smile to my face every day, I don't know where I would be in life without him, he's my life, my soul mate, my everything ... 

New Lens!

Week before last I purchased a new lens ... it's what they call the plastic fantastic. Normally they are around the $130-$150 price range depending on where you shop but they had them out for just $98! I have been contemplating one of the 50mm lenses for a while and wasn't until I saw someone had posted a comparison between the F1.8, F1.4 and the F1.2 that I'd made my mind up the the $450 version (F1.4) that I was leaning towards, really was not worth the extra $300 when I am not making money from what I love ... so when the F1.8 version was offered on sale at $98 it was time to grab me a bargain and wow, I love it!!! I've not had the opportunity to really try it out as a portrait lens on a human other than Brian and he doesn't make for a very good subject so I've used Jessie as my subject a couple of times, but she is not a very willing subject either, she hates sitting still! 

Here is Jessie #1

2014 ... Project 52

Yes, I am already looking towards 2014 and with a group (currently 6 other members) we are going to take on Project 52! I am quite excited about this idea. I was considering Project 365 again but had more people willing to join me if we took on Project 52. What will this entail ... we'll, I've asked everyone for suggestions on what subjects, themes, genres, ideas and numbered & listed them all to date. I've then used RANDOM.ORG to select our weekly subjects. We have 1 week to take photographs of the said subject and will post the best shot/s of the week every Wednesday! Sounds fairly easy ... NOT! Our first 4 week's themes/subjects are:

1. What makes me smile ... 

1. Femininity ... 

1. Candle Lit ... 

1. Wild Weather (hopefully we'll get a storm this week!!) 

I think that a couple of these will be a challenge in themselves. What makes me smile ... lots of ideas for this one. Femininity ... I am not a girly girl, very far from it so will need to find a subject (thinking one of our nieces/nephew's girlfriends) or will need to do a photoshoot of some girly type things maybe including perfume, jewelery, handbag etc. At least I have a little bit of time to think about it. Candle Lit ... a few ideas here. Wild Weather ... our weather (apart from being hot) is usually pretty consistent so unless we get a storm this week, this subject will be quite a challenge! So, if you follow me and would love to join our challenge we have a closed group on Facebook where said subjects will be listed each week and we can post photos, inspire and help each other. If you wish to join leave me a comment :)