Another 31 Days

Triptych of Garden Treasures

2010-02-08T02:00:00.001-08:00

My entry for the final challenge for the 31 day-ers who completed the 31 days. Unfortunately when I went to upload it with 15 minutes to go, the site was down. I had been so carefully watching the clock.

Anyway here is a ' Triptych of Garden Treasures' done in a minimalist way.
It was a fun month, thanks to all for the kind and constructive comments.

Heart and Rings

2010-01-30T20:33:00.001-08:00

This is my final photo for the 31 Day Challenge, 2010!
I have learnt so much; a big thank you to everyone for their comments.

The ring on the left was my Grandmothers, she died when I was 15, it is too big so I will get it resized one day.
The other two are mine, which I always wear; the bottom one is my wedding ring and the other one my husband, Dan, gave me when we had been married five years.
They are sitting on a little wooden heart my son Finn made and gave to us when Dan and I got married in 2002.

Taken with the manual 50mm Prime at f11 and still very hard to focus. The room was quite dark due to a thunderstorm outside, so I used the little laser led light to make the rings sparkle. The frame is too thick but I have to use it to match the other 30 photos.

Finns Fish

2010-01-30T00:13:00.001-08:00

This is a real treasure, a little pottery fish my youngest son, Finnian, made at Intermediate school (for ages 11-12). It is about 3 inches tall and has lovely gold trim.

The background is another large sheet of handmade paper against the window light in late afternoon. The room was quite dark so this is a 1 sec exposure with kit lens at 45mm and f5.6 and light from a small laser led light.

Only one more day to go and as usual I have no idea what treasure it will be.

Amethyst

2010-01-29T01:12:00.001-08:00

I am fast running out of treasures and inspiration and this is not what I had planned.
I was trying to take a group shot of "Treasures from the Earth"; six unusual rocks, some with colourful crystals on them, but they sucked!
I thought this sharp edge of amethyst crystal pretty and turned it into an abstract macro instead (I think I have taken almost every type of shot possible this time round).

Taken with the Prime 50mm and close up macro extension, in natural daylight.

Two Watering Cans

2010-01-28T00:18:00.001-08:00

When we first moved to Tirau these were quite collectible and were available in many of the local shops. One of these my husband bought and the other a close friend, and I have no idea which is which.
I thought I would share two sides of them today.

Taken outside with the 50mm Prime, just before a huge downpour, but luckily no lightning yet.

Greek Doll

2010-01-27T02:04:00.001-08:00

When I was a little girl I was given this Greek doll in her finery. The blue has faded unevenly over the years but the rest of her is still vibrant.

Lots of drama tonight; I tried swapping video cards with my husband (long story) ended up cleaning his CPU fan and then his computer wouldn't start. Eventually fixed it but still can't find drivers for Windows for the other card and Photoshop isn't working. Hurrah for picnik.com. I always remember aviary after I have edited it elsewhere.

Prime 50mm and a bedside light.

Ebony and Ivory Elephant

2010-01-25T23:10:00.001-08:00

Made many years before the use of ebony and ivory was severely restricted.

This was my Grandmothers and although it has a broken tusk (temporarily blue-tacked) and repaired foot, I think it has aged well. The background is a large sheet handmade paper.
Taken outside in the shade and dodging the wind gusts, with Prime 50mm

Clan Macmillan Crest

2010-01-24T21:16:00.001-08:00

A key ring given to my by my late mother-in-law.
The Clan Macmillan crest is two strong hands brandishing a double-handed sword and the motto of the Macmillans reads "Miseris succerrere disco" meaning, in Latin, "I learn to succour the distressed".

I don't have any Macmillan tartan; this was the closest I could find and as the colours are all wrong made it black and white.

Happy Robbie Burns Day!

Bruce Springsteen

2010-01-23T23:49:00.001-08:00

I first discovered Bruce in the late 70's and have been a huge fan ever since. In March 2003 he played in New Zealand for his first and only time, I was in heaven!

Magic is one of my favourite albums. In the centre is a pin given to me by someone I met via a New Zealand internet group of Bruce devotees, we had a party on the anniversary of the concert and all got one. The background is made up of CD covers.

Taken with the 50mm manual prime and window light; post processing and added grain courtesy of Photoshop.

Our Cat - Flickr

2010-01-22T22:59:00.001-08:00

I couldn't have a collection of treasures without including our cat - Flickr. She is a real treasure and very entertaining; she even talks to the birds.

I was going to the Auckland Zoo today but when I took a couple of photos before leaving my mums, the red battery warning light came on and I didn't have my charger - oh well. I went shopping instead...well more looking than shopping but that was ok!

Photo taken with a Prime 50mm out on our deck.

Three Toby Jugs

2010-01-21T20:19:00.001-08:00

I am visiting my mother today, so took the opportunity to photograph her small collection of Toby Jugs. They were her mothers, who bought them when my mother was a little girl. I hadn't noticed the character and detail in their faces until photographing them today.

I hope the border matches the others as I didn't use Photoshop.

Taken with Olympus kit lens 40-150mm, using natural window light on the coffee table.

Portmeirion Cup and a Jaffa Cake

2010-01-20T17:14:00.001-08:00

Many years ago my Nana visited Portmeirion and bought these two cups and saucers. After seeing the Prisoner TV series in the late 70's and finding out my Nana had been there I had had a fascination with the place. Last year I was lucky enough to go and visit it for myself. I drove my mother nuts taking hundreds of photos...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmeirion
Jaffa Cakes are a favourite English treat which are occasionally available in New Zealand and are very yummy.
Although I had the idea in my mind for this shot for a while, I didn't have enough time to minimise reflections, etc before heading back up to Auckland for a few days. Fingers crossed I will get a photo up tomorrow.

Taken with the Prime 50mm, tripod and natural light.

Books by Candlelight

2010-01-20T02:55:00.001-08:00

We went out for dinner for my husbands birthday and I never expected to get home so late... and then I found the photos I had taken earlier were awful.
For this shot of some of the books in my bookcase I used the fifty prime and tripod with very low flash and tissue over the flash. I think the bright highlights are reflected candlelight. The candle is one of a pair of wrought iron candlesticks that I inherited (not that you can see them).
Inspired by Lady Min.

Two Zebras

2010-01-19T00:32:00.001-08:00

Two zebra's given to me by my children. I would like to create a herd of zebras one day.

Taken in the evening with a tripod and the Prime 50mm lens with TeleConvertor 2X.

Christmas Tree Fairy

2010-01-18T00:17:00.001-08:00

I promise this is the last of my Christmas shots until at least November.

I was putting away the last of the decorations today and found this treasure that my Nana created. I have no idea how old she is but she must be at least 45 years old and is only about 4 inches high; my Nana made the tinsel wand and fancy outfit complete with sequins.

I found (in my husbands old collection of film gear) a TeleConvertor 2X that I put with the manual 50mm prime. This photo has only had a slight crop, I can see me using this combination again. I have another photo that is all in focus but I preferred this one.

Puppy Love

2010-01-17T01:58:00.001-08:00

My daughters treasure; her Rottweiler puppy Jed, playing with Zac, their friends dog.

We just got back from a busy weekend in Auckland catching up with family and having a late and wonderful Christmas dinner.

I didn't get time to take many photos today and still haven't looked at the other 300 plus I took yesterday. Thanks Ice Bunny for the reminder of the shadow and highlights adjustment which I used to fix the dark area on this shot.

Little Treasure

2010-01-16T02:51:00.001-08:00

A little treasure and its Mum I photographed at a Horse Sports Day today

Farewell Flowers

2010-01-15T00:08:00.001-08:00

Today was my last day of work after 3 and 1/4 years. My workmates bought me these lovely flowers, knowing I will also enjoy them photography wise. LOL.
I am looking forward to what life brings next and hopefully a few weeks off to catch up on commenting!

Taken with Sony DSC-W170, natural light window light.

Twin Luck Dragons

2010-01-13T23:31:00.001-08:00

Well I used a tripod and fill in lighting and still couldn't get it right. I should have used an auto lens, LOL.

These little dragons were a wedding present nearly 8 years ago. I think they are hand made - they come in a pottery egg (they are sitting in the remains) and when you break it you you find your little luck dragon who hold the coins in their mouth. We were extra lucky and got twins!

10 minutes in the garden

2010-01-12T23:53:00.001-08:00

My treasure today is the little things I found while wandering in the garden. We have a couple of rose bushes struggling to grow as they are never pruned (long story). A fern unfurling that is part of a tribe trying to take over our deck and a dandelion just past its best.

None of them were particularly good on their own so I have joined in with the abstract and multi-shot takers and created this. It reminds me a flag, if I had put the dandelion in the middle it could be Italy.

Taken with the prime 50mm and macro extension ring.

At the end of the rainbow

2010-01-12T00:45:00.001-08:00

Not sure what I was going to photo today, then just before dinner this beautiful rainbow appeared with its friend. So todays treasure is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - just over there!

I took some more photos of the rainbows and an amazing cloud, but my memory card is refusing to work and the recovery software is struggling, so this one will have to do.

I did get told I am finishing work on Friday, but managed to negotiate a bit more redundancy - a small victory and still only a small amount.
Looking at this rainbow I am reminded that every cloud has a silver lining and I am hopeful I will end up with a better job.

Rubber Band Ball

2010-01-11T00:15:00.001-08:00

This was the best of a bad bunch today. Not much DOF involved either. Taken with a Sony DSCS-W170 at work, on automatic. But I did use white bags to reflect light back onto it.

I started off this rubber band ball over a year ago and my co-workers and I have been adding bands ever since which makes it a treasure, especially as I am almost definitely going to be made redundant by Friday.

Little Owl

2010-01-10T00:32:00.001-08:00

This is a recent treasure I got when I visited the Hawk Conservancy in Hampshire, UK. It is only 6cm tall.

The background is some handmade paper we bought a few years ago with the light coming in from the window behind. Thanks to Kimbomac for the white paper trick.

Taken with the Prime 50mm and macro extension tube for very limited DOF.
I would have liked to get the closer eye sharper, but the light was fading. I will try again another day.

Photographic Treasures

2010-01-08T21:34:00.001-08:00

My first decent camera was this Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S90 which I got in June 2005. I have taken some of my favourite photos with it.

It had started to turn off erratically earlier last year and in England in May/June I never knew whether I would get 3 or 30 photos out of it before it cut out and refused to turn on again for a few hours. I was still fond of it enough to bring it home and retire it to the shelf. I had my bigger Fuji with me, but this one was so portable and better on batteries.

I love my Crumpler Case, alas I have nothing to fit it at the moment. The pink tripod my darling bought for me, I thought it went nicely with my blue camera. It isn't really stable enough for the old D-SLR I am now using but I still used it on occasions, until the spring for the hot-shoe fell apart last month.

Keeping warm

2010-01-08T00:09:00.001-08:00

For all the challengers experiencing the cold weather!

This is a treasure I had in mind when I started the challenge and have been pondering how to make it interesting. The hot water bottle is at least 35 years old and I was still using it during the winter of 2008. Until I noticed that when I emptied it pieces of rubber were also coming out.

I love it because without the ribbing, that our current hot water bottles have to have, I could use water straight from the hot tap water and it would still keep me warm.

Last winter I was visiting UK for a month and my husband quickly purchased an electric blanket for warmth, previously he relied on me warming the bed up for him, LOL.

Taken with the manual nifty fifty (which becomes a 100mm on the Olympus E-300) and window light.

Kisses

2010-01-06T22:00:00.001-08:00

Little gold treasures...

One of my students surprised me today with a packet of almond Hersheys Kisses (my favourites).
She lives in a town I drive through on my way to work, so I sometimes pick her up and drop her home. This was a thank you gift for helping her.
Moments like these make life so worthwhile!

The surface they are resting on (a mirrored glass vase) was a gift from my co-worker at Christmas, she knew I would enjoy using it for photos...

Taken with the Prime 50mm lens again.

Who Moved the Cheese?

2010-01-06T00:45:00.001-08:00

A childhood treasure.
I recently found this small brooch I had when I was a small child. I always loved the curved tail and ruby eyes.
I started of using cheese and crackers but the cheese started melting in our summer heat.

Taken with a 50mm prime and macro extension ring. I accidentally set the colour balance to cold, so used Photoshop to warm it up.

Candle glow

2010-01-05T00:24:00.001-08:00

A bit of an abstract treasure today.

Years ago my youngest son, made this cute candle at school with tinfoil and cellophane.

I often light it while in the bath, the last time I used it, it started sputtering and I noticed it had almost out. It had just enough left to get a couple of photos of the last candle light.

Taken with manual 50mm prime lens in a darkish room.

Hawkhurst Rose

2010-01-04T02:24:00.001-08:00

I had a long lost friend turn up today. So my todays treasure is good friends and fine wine to sip while we chat.

This is a New Zealand Merlot Rose and was absolutely delicious!

Photo was taken with a 50mm pre digital Prime lens with manual focus, I was too busy catching up to spend too long on todays photo.

Kotare - Sacred Kingfisher

2010-01-02T23:55:00.001-08:00

We visited the Hamilton Zoo today and got some great bird photos. This is a Kotare or Sacred Kingfisher and I feel that makes it a national treasure.

I used an Olympus digital 40-150mm kit lens at its widest aperture which at 150mm is f/4.5. This has blurred the background, I also like the out of focus effect on the foreground leaves top left.

Golden Bear

2010-01-01T22:57:00.001-08:00

Sticking with Christmas and Gold today, but not such a shallow focus.
The bear recites 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' when the batteries are good, his head moving while he reads.

I used another old manual lens for this shot. The focus was very hard to get perfect even with a tripod. It is a Formula 5 80-200 Zoom f4.5. The push pull and turn system was fun to use.

The presents are still unopened as we haven't been to visit family in Auckland yet.

Golden Ornament

2009-12-31T21:53:00.001-08:00

This is one of three treasures that go on our tree every year.

Taken with a manual Prime 50mm lens and a Macro Ext ring.

I still have three glass ornaments in this shape that came over from England with us in 1966.