Scavenger Hunt - Macro, Found Texture, Home, Cover & The Tree

1. Macro

 Raindrops on Sacred Bamboo leaf.

2. Found Texture

 We spotted this turtle at one of the lakes at the Botanical gardens on Sunday. I love the textures on him. His head looks smooth, his neck rough and his shell slimy and then the ripples in the water.

 Ripples in wet sand.
And from last week:

Seed pods on a lichen covered rock, and fragrant star anise, both taken with my 50mm and extension tube.

Linking up with Kat's Exploring with a Camera

3. Home

I've always struggled with where my physical home is, where I really belong. I've lived in four countries throughout my life, which on the surface sounds quite exotic but in reality it has caused us some worry and heart ache.
But to me home is where the heart is, where the hugs are, wherever I'm with my loved ones.
My son hugging his globe. 

Linking up with Mortal Muses

4. Cover

This pretty little weed has sprung up all over the place and covered areas of lawn, I think it's Yellow Trefoil a type of Clover.

5. The tree

This tree is on an outcrop into a lake at the Botanical Gardens, it's a great place to sit in the shade and have a picnic, watching the ducks swim by.

I Clicked it up a Notch - October

I had a really hard time picking a favourite this month because I liked photos for different reasons, some because I loved the moment I captured with my son, some the composition or lighting or some because they represented what I learned this month.
So I went with the latter. I've been trying to work on my food photography this month. I bought Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin, although I haven't had much time to sit down and read it.
I've been scouring shops for fun props and studying this book and my cookbooks to get a feel for what I like and how to achieve the right look.
Last Friday I made Orange and Almond cakes with Orange syrup. It was for the prompt orange in Ashley Sisk's Scavenger Hunt. So I wanted orange to feature heavily in the photo.
First I went for quite a formal setting with a pretty teacup but I didn't like the feel, I wanted it a bit more rustic. I tried a few combinations, but as I was cleaning up with five minutes till I had to leave to pick my son up from school I poured the syrup into a jar and my idea clicked into place, I rearranged my props, shot a couple of shots and this was my favourite.
And gosh they were yummy!

Journey Around the Sun - Days 109 Through 115

Well my 365 overlaps a bit with my Scavenger Hunt this past week, but there are a few new ones. This is actually Monday to Sunday of last week.
I think a combination of finally getting through the mountain of photos from our holiday and spending quite a bit time getting myself organised this week meant I didn't spend much time being creative.
I finally uploaded photos to my Flickr account, go here if you want to check it out. I'm still organising it, and trying to keep to the 200 photo limit for the free account, I'll see how I go! :-)
I realised that I'm so glad I had a system in place since starting my 365 because trying to find my Month in Macro photos had me pulling my hair out with frustration.
I also added a few Gadgets to my blog; recent popular posts and my Flickr stream, unfortunately it doesn't seem to load properly every time but F5 usually brings it up.

Day One Hundred and Nine

I thought these little flowers were so cute although very spiky. Taken with my 50mm and extension tube. 

Day One Hundred and Ten

Day One Hundred and Eleven

Pretty Hippeastrum flowers in my mum's garden, taken with my 50mm and extension tube.

Some little seeds nestled in a hollow in a lichen covered rock, taken with my 50mm and extension tube.

Day One Hundred and Twelve

Star Anise, I love their colour and texture, taken with 50mm and extension tube.

Day One Hundred and Thirteen

These were so yummy!! Donna Hay's Orange and Almond cakes with Orange Syrup!! 
Her's were prettier, I used whole almonds and ground them myself rather than almond meal, so they ended up a bit bumpy. I've never made them before and couldn't believe you actually boil the whole oranges and then puree the whole lot.

Day One Hundred and Fourteen

We had a fun morning playing around! My son with his huge magnifying glass and under the sheets pretending to be reading a book by torch light. 

In the afternoon we took a drive out to the peninsula and chased the seagulls and went for a walk.
This seagull actually came up to me as I was taking photos with my 50mm and extension tube, so I had to quickly remove the tube to take a shot. 

I played around trying to get wave bokeh, there's not much waves at this beach but it was quite windy so there was a fair amount of spray.

A little colourful mollusc had found a home in a hole. Taken with my 50mm and extension tube.

I liked this little seat out on this small concrete jetty. It was too high and just two planks of wood, so not a comfortable spot to sit, but sweet nonetheless.

Day One Hundred and Fifteen

Picnic lunch at the Botanical Gardens. We had the lake to ourselves and as we were eating we spotted the turtles in the water so I ran down with my camera.  They were pretty shy.

I really liked these little flowers popping up along the edging, taken with my 50mm and extension tube.

We had to run a gauntlet of sprinklers, a lot of fun for my son. Growing up in a time of drought and water restrictions he's hardly ever seen a sprinkler and certainly not played under one. Such a shame as it was a highlight of our summers as kids to run back and forth over the backyard sprinkler.

I liked these leaves but it was so windy so they were hard to capture.

Scavenger Hunt - Words, Under, Orange, Fly & Bright Side

Another Sunday and another challenging Scavenger Hunt!

1. Words

Well, kinda self explanatory isn't it!

2. Under

I love the idea of capturing traditional childhood moments in photos. I've thought about doing a photo of my son reading a book by torch light under the sheets, so when this prompt came up this is what came to mind.
His top is actually from my cousin's Swedish organic clothing range DUNS.  Isn't it adorable, she sells her clothing in boutiques worldwide and has even had her clothes featured on children in the IKEA catalogue.

3. Orange

It's spring here in Australia. but even in autumn we don't have fall colours where we live. Unfortunately, because I love them!
So I made Donna Hay's Orange and Almond cakes with orange syrup! They were absolutely positively scrumptious!!

4. Fly

 I can't believe this seagull didn't fly away! This was taken with my 50mm. The seagull actually came over to me when I was taking photos with my extension tube and I quickly had to remove it to take some shots. I had to straighten the horizon a tiny bit so it was cropped a little.
For good measure here are some flying from the same afternoon, this time with a telephoto lens.

5. Always look on the Bright Side

Looking on the bright side for me is remembering that my family are all happy and healthy!
But I had an idea of taking a photo of my son looking at me through a magnifying glass. 
This was surprisingly hard to do, trying to get his face or eye visible and things mostly in focus and no harsh reflections, I'll definitely try again some time.

I can't wait to see everyone's interpretations.

By the way I've gotten a few comments about word verification, can anyone tell me how I turn it off, it used to be in the settings,  posts and comments, but it's not there anymore??

Journey Around the Sun - Days 93 through 108

 This is a big long post, but finally I'm caught up with my 365 after our holiday at Rainbow beach. 

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on my Scavenger Hunt and on all my posts. I still can't get over the support from other bloggers since I started this blog less than 5 months ago.  

During that time I've learnt to shoot in manual and now completed over 100 days in my 365, made over 100 posts and received over 1000 comments. Wow, it's been an incredible few months.

So I wanted to let everyone know how much I've appreciated their support. I've been behind with returning the visits at times, especially during our holiday and since, while I've been trying to catch up, but I'm trying to get around to say hello and check out your beautiful photos.

Day Ninety Three

After we drove home from Rainbow Beach we took our son out on his bike while we walked along. I stopped to look at these bushes and noticed the light from the setting sun was filtering through the bushes. I like the rosy peach bokeh it made.

Day Ninety Four

Just a family day around home, unpacking and catching up before school started again. We headed out to a park in the afternoon. I liked the way the late afternoon sun was bathing the plants in light.

Day Ninety Five

Michelia Coco, a type of Magnolia, after a rain storm. Taken with my 50mm & extension tube, they're quite small.

Day Ninety Six

For the Scavenger Hunt food prompt. Pikelets with cream and homemade strawberry jam.

Day Ninety Seven

A small flying insect in our garden, taken with my 50mm & extension tube.

Day Ninety Eight

Rock textures, taken with my 50mm & extension tube.

Day Ninety Nine

Raindrops, taken with my 50mm & extension tube

Day One Hundred

We headed out to a jetty at sunset.

Day One Hundred and One

We spent the afternoon wandering along the boardwalk along the river in town.

Day One Hundred and Two

I found a little frog in my garden, it was a pity my son was at school because we don't see frogs often. Soon after I took this photo he jumped off and I couldn't find him again. Taken with my 50mm & extension tube so he was pretty little.

Day One Hundred and Three

The flowers off a type of Lilly Pilly, Syzygium luehmannii for those who want to know. I love how pink and pretty they are, reminds me of little tutus. Taken with my 50mm & extension tube.

Day One Hundred and Four

Agapanthus flower bursting out from it's bud. Taken with my 50mm & extension tube.

Day One Hundred and Five

I played around with wetting an Agapanthus flower.

Day One Hundred and Six

I had a really sore throat so I made some French Earl Grey tea and I decided to try capturing some steam, it didn't really work, I think my background was too light. But I just sat down and enjoyed the tea rather than try again.

Day One Hundred and Seven

My son blowing stars. I'm going to try this again with some confetti and the stars were too hard for him to blow, but you can see a few in the air.

Day One Hundred and Eight

I had a crazy idea of having my son spray the car with a hose while I sat inside. Didn't turn out exactly as planned but I like the ripples and colours, his face was a bit too distorted I think but it's funny.

By the way some people have asked about the extension tube I use I have a post here about it if you're interested.