Archive for December, 2007
Some of my favourite photos from the year that was…
This post is going to be a bit different than usual.
I’ve gone through the archives to pick out some of my technically or creatively best photos that I’ve taken this year. This is to not only show the world what has been hiding on my drive, but also to set a personal benchmark for me to see how far I progress in my photography in the year to come.
So, with this lofty goal, I present some of my favourites from this year!
(Click for bigger versions)
From a colour and subject point of view, I really like this shot.
It was taken at that particular time of an evening where wet sand turns into a mirror, reflecting one of the most awesome sunsets I’ve seen in a long time.
While I was playing with capturing light, my infinitely more sensible other half was relaxing, taking in the sea air and keeping an ever-watchful eye out, just to make sure the horizon was doing it’s job.
If you’ve ever done the tourist thing around South Australia, it’s highly likely you’ve seen this before; it’s almost a rite of passage for all visitors to either go or be taken to Granite Island.
As the name suggests, it’s a big rock located just off the coast of Victor Harbour Victor Harbor on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It’s joined to the mainland by this particular bridge, with transport for weary tourists provided by horse drawn carriages.
The bridge has been around for years - I can remember walking across it many times either looking for penguins or to go stargazing in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, the horses had a big night on the town the night before and thus were unwilling to pose for photos while the hangovers were being nursed. You’ll either have to imagine them or hunt them down yourself during your inevitable visit.
As is usual in the IT industry, there are certain things that can only be performed at really ugly hours in the morning. This particular morning, featuring a major server migration, was no exception.
(You want me to do what? At 4am? Seriously? <sigh>)
This day’s early start finished much earlier than expected, providing plenty of spare time and the rare opportunity for me to take an early morning walk around the neighbourhood and see dawn break.
(For those that know me, they’ll agree this is almost unheard of; me surfacing before 9am usually makes people run for earmuffs or headphones to drown out excess whinging)
This morning was different, though; seeing this sun rise and start turning the clouds golden with a sense of accomplishment so early in the day was well worth the price of admission.
Many a story has begun, “it was a dark and stormy night…”
Whilst there was no such storm on this night, I’ll settle for “dark and pea soupy” for this photo.
This was taken just outside the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, on one freezing cold night while seeking refuge from the wind at a tram stop.
The night really was as eery and orange as the photo alludes; the only light available was from the sodium street lamps burning through the fog, as well as the head and tail lights of passing cars. Visibility was down to around 100 metres and there was not even a hint of sky or moon visible.
Walking around in this, at night, when you can’t even see the traffic lights at the corner of the block, was certainly a bizarre experience (as it was again the next day - the fog didn’t start burning off until around lunchtime).
On the topic of storms, this truly was from a dark and stormy night (and was officially taken two days before 2007 - because I like this shot, I’ll let it slide for this year though).
This photo was taken using my old trusty point’n’shoot set up on a nasty table-top tripod precariously balanced on the window sill, randomly taking shots in the hope I’d catch a bolt of lightning.
Fortunately, luck and, well, lightning struck right over the neighbour’s roof.
Cindy is absolutely nuts for birds. Her weekly series, Friday Feathers, is amazing to look through (as is all her other work).
Given Cindy’s interest in all things feathered, I go out of my way to try to find birds for our international show and tell sessions (although, my knowledge doesn’t extend much past “duck”, “goose”, “turkey”, “chicken” and “galah” - all the edible ones… well, except for the galah).
This time around, I was lucky enough to find a pair of galahs while down the coast taking a few day’s worth of rest and relaxation. These two were hanging around in a tree right near the beach front and were more than happy to pose for pictures, which is more than I can say for the Victor Harbour’s horses.
Another shot from down the coast.
The place we were staying in was a five minute walk from the beach. Being so close, I couldn’t resist spending each evening there, watching the sun set.
These guys were a bunch of friendly teenagers, determined to fish long into the night and were very interested in talking about and looking through the rest of my sunset photos.
No idea if they were successful in, or even cared about, catching their quarry; they just seemed more than happy to find some bait, throw in a line and shoot the breeze for a few hours.
With this view, who could blame ‘em?
Our local botanical gardens has undergone a significant overhaul since I was last there a few years back.
One of the improvements was a new glasshouse, specifically built to grow these humongous lillypads.
Most interestingly, the lillypads share their home with a bunch of small, guppy-like fish who were interested in anything and everything walking by. You would see a small swarm of them start to surface near where people were leaning on the edge of the pond causing the ripples you see in the otherwise mirrored water.
This orangutan was one very clever monkey.
He spent the best part of an hour showing off for the dumbstruck masses who congregated around his home to watch him jumping around, finding things to throw around and effortlessly climbing bamboo poles and ropes.
I seriously, I think he’d have a future in Parkour if he put his mind to it. 
This photo was taken after he was done with his exercise (or the audience), and progressed to the brooding segment of the show.
This one here is another favourite for the colour.
I’m not sure if this peacock was tame or just plain fearless. He was more than happy to sit on the fence, eyeing off all the passers-by while I (and a couple of other interested people) approached with cameras at the ready.
In true supermodel style, there was a pose, a turn, a pout and another pose before he got bored and moved on.
I have to wonder how frequently he has to put on that show; it’s certainly well rehearsed.
While wandering around town with my camera one afternoon, I came across this small alleyway filled with trees, vines and an old brick wall in the middle of nowhere.
This has obviously been here for a very long time going by the size of the trees - I have no idea how they have survived for this long with the very limited light that managed to make it’s way in.
I was aiming for a low-key shot with some interesting textures - I think the imperfect brick wall makes it in this one.
A lot of my photography this year has revolved around people and portraits; there’s just something about people just being people that I want to learn how to capture.
In this case, I think I managed to do it. This photo is of my aforementioned infinitely more sensible other half. A combination of right time, right place, and her wanting to hide behind a piece of garden infrastructure to escape the crazy nieces and nephews running around made for a wonderful portrait.
Cute, ain’t she?
(For the record, she made me promise not to upload the karaoke photos. I will, however, accept bribes from anyone requiring one for “amusing” purposes )
My favourite photo, and I’d like to think, one of my best.
This is my son Chris, circa 3 months of age.
For those not familiar with the story, Chris was born with an extremely rare condition known as VACTERL Association - a collection of abnormalities affecting the vertebrate, anus, cardiovascular system, trachea, (e)oesophagus, renal system and limbs (and other skeletal structures).
Possessing three of the seven abnormalities is sufficient to be diagnosed with the condition which affects roughly 250 births a year worldwide.
Chris was special.
He took on all seven.
Plus extras.
Head on.
And did it with a smile and nary a whinge, even after eight major operations in four months, right up until the point where he lost his fight for life.
Suffice to say, he was a fighter, an inspiration and an all-round awesome kid, although I suspect my opinion may be slightly biased.
Above all, he will be missed.
I won’t go into further details here; if you are interested in more information, leave a comment, email me, read his journal or view his gallery.
So, here’s a line in the sand. Most of these are either straight out of the camera or slightly post processed to correct white/colour balance or cropped.
I think I’ve got most of the basic technical stuff down; now it’s up to learning the art and the craft and seeing where it takes me. I suspect one of my first stops in the new year will end up somewhere near Strobist-ville; my cheap Vivitar manual flash and remote trigger awaits!
For you, though, stick around or subscribe to the feed to see more photos from the archives as they are uploaded, as well as the new stuff coming up in 2008.
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