Mar
06
2008
Old world customs appear to be back in style. In this case, the English tradition of a formal sit down high tea - in the old days, being enjoyed by “elegant”society.
My experience was for a friend’s baby shower. The old world customs appeal to my friend, and this is a great place for ladies to go and dress up, for a nice outing.
The place we went is called High Societea, in Brisbane Australia. It only caters for high teas and is exactly how one would imagine a place like this should be.
There is a faint scent of rose that lingers in the air, and the fresh cut roses on every table is a gorgeous touch. To the right is a photo of their place settings - immaculate - even down to the white and brown sugar cubes.
Menus come around, where you can choose from a traditional high tea of sweet and savoury, or you can just choose to have savoury (which also comes with a few sweet items, just to round out the palate). There is even a Chocolate Indulgence option - which I seriously considered.
Continue Reading »
Feb
21
2008
It’s the one day every year specifically set aside to remind people to acknowledge their partner, and those special people in your life. Not that there should need to be a day for this, but considering how fast-paced life has become, I suppose we all need a reminder.
This year I had a lovely surprise - the first time I ever received flowers on Valentine’s Day (not counting the flowers my mother sent me one year when I was in high school… Yes, I realise how sad that sounds). Not just any flowers, but red roses…
Continue Reading »
Feb
07
2008
In our busy modern world there always seems to be something happening. These occurrences don’t always require a photograph to be taken, but think of what you could miss out on if you didn’t have a camera handy!
Recently my mother was in a pretty bad car accident. Having safely deposited her at home, I had to drive over an hour away to get all the stuff out of her mangled car. That trip was unexpected, so I didn’t have a camera on me - except for my phone camera, at 2 megapixels (better than nothing I guess)…
Continue Reading »
Jan
31
2008
Well, my birthday celebrations are now over - lasting 4 days is pretty good!
It was busy for a few days, and as my birthday is also Australia Day, there were lots of other celebrations going on around the city, which made it seem even busier.
Here is some local ‘color’ - an old-fashioned lifeguard scanning the horizon for struggling walkers (rather than swimmers) in the inner city area by the river.
Each year the Australia Day celebrations become larger and more patronized, which is great. It’s good to acknowledge such a day and to provide an excuse for family to gather and have some fun in the sun.
This particular day was very warm, so it was a good thing volunteers were handing out cold pieces of watermelon. I only saw these after lunch though, when I’d eaten too much!
Here are a few other images from my actual birthday day.
Continue Reading »
Jan
28
2008
It’s my birthday, and what better way to start, than by receiving gorgeous flowers.
Here is a photoshopped “portrait” version of the flowers. Later in this post I’ll show you the full color image, but here I thought I’d have a little fun changing their appearance in Photoshop.
I decided to emphasize the pink in the arrangement - especially those cute rosettes.
In a previous post I went through how to achieve color with black and white with Photoshop. In this instance I didn’t completely turn the photo into black and white, I just destaurated the colors slightly and brought back some of the original colors from a selection of the photograph.
I could have chosen a few different color backgrounds, but decided to go with black. I have a few different colored sheets of A1 size paper always handy - they are a great, quick way to create a professional look, and it only takes a few minutes!
Keep reading for some more photos…
Continue Reading »
Jan
17
2008
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of books on photography. They are a valuable reference tool, and also a source of inspiration. This weekend in my home town, I went to a huge book fair that happens twice a year. It goes for 8 days and the stocks are replenished on a daily basis.
For bookworms, it’s unmissable. Everything is grouped into broad categories, and I went there looking for photography books…
Continue Reading »
Jan
14
2008
Photography expos are a great way to see what’s new for your favourite brands, and to test drive many different types of cameras, that may not necessarily be available in every retail outlet that sells camera gear.
The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to check out what’s going on when, and where.
Depending on where you live, here are some resources for finding photographic expos you might be interested in. Continue Reading »
Jan
10
2008
Floods are a natural phenomenon. They are also extremely unusal where I live, particularly as we have been in drought conditions now for months.
Well, this afternoon we had a spectacular (and fast) thunderstorm in the middle of the day. Lightning, torrential rain, and the result - flooding.
I had a particularly good vantage point from my balcony. Here is a photo taken shortly after the storm had passed, and the sun re-emerged.
Summer storms are gorgeous - so long as you aren’t caught up in them.
Up until the storm, the air was steamy and almost becoming unbearable.
Take a look at some of the other photos I managed to get. It’s funny what people find to do after a storm - especially when they are a novelty…
Continue Reading »
Dec
27
2007
Well, by now we’ve all managed to get through Christmas - be it a hectic time, or a quiet time.
Mine is usually pretty quiet, but this year there was no such chance, as my father was getting married a few days before Christmas, and there was no one to take photos!
Continue Reading »
