f365: Day 120

Last night's shot had me thinking about traffic trail night exposures. When we were living in London I took a few of these (in fact I have added a shot in front of the Houses of Parliament below).

While our street in Brisbane's western suburbs is hardly Piccadlly Circus or The Strand, given it is a busy road, it still provides scope for interesting trails.

Below is my effort from tonight. I might try this again later this year looking down onto a highway from a bridge. Underneath this shot is my London photo, from 2006.

f365: Day 119

Things have been pretty busy on the work front lately - luckily Jenn sometimes comes and picks me up as public transport slows down somewhat after the rush hour.

Here is my view of the world about 30 minutes ago - a passenger in our car. One of these days I want to try a traffic trail (more on that later!).

f365: Day 118

Good points about owning a Bullmastiff:

- "Gentle Giants" (they are a very placid breed, even if misinformed journalists give them a bad name)
- Great family pets
- Do not need much exercise, in fact these guys are extremely lazy
- Calm and not renowned for overly excitable behaviour

Now the bad points:

- He currently eats about twice the food as I do per day (seriously)
- Slobbering (this hasn't started yet, but we've been warned)
- Loud snorter and snorer

and the worst thing:

- the constant (room clearing) farts and bad smells

Today's photo represents a partial solution to the malorous miasma or stinking poo gas that follows him around - an incense stick! We'll be keeping plenty of these handy...

f365: Day 117

We drove up to Noosa today (about 1 1/2 hours north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast) and left the dogs at home. We checked out the Eumundi Market first which was huge and very busy.

Then we went to Noosa Heads and I jumped on my paddle board for an hour, complete with waterproof camera. This is a fantastic spot for SUP (stand up paddle boarding). Calm water, lots of water pathways and beaches to stop at. Definitely coming back here again. Today's shot was taken on the board looking back towards the multi million dollar properties.

It was a great day out but need a holiday from the mini holiday...

f365: Day 116

Yesterday's shot showed Bruce nice and relaxed on our bed with not a care, nor a naughty trick in the world.

But owning a puppy means constant surprises, some good, some not so good.

I picked up some discounted Bundaberg Ginger Beer today - quite a refreshing drink. I stashed it in the corner of our "fridge room" (don't ask!).

Just after dinner we heard some furious tearing noises only to find Bruce trying to find his way into a bottle. The shot below, although somewhat staged, shows Bruce's handiwork.

f365: Day 115

It was ANZAC Day today meaning a day off and time to reflect on the sacrifices made by NZ & Australian troops over the years.

Here is a shot of the slobbery Bruce reflecting on the day - or just thinking about his next meal!

f365: Day 114

They say that photography is art with light. This is something I haven't tried for awhile. With an almost pitch black or very poorly lit background, position a camera on a tripod and use bulb exposure (i.e. more than 30 seconds).

Then while the shutter is open, use a torch to illuminate certain areas. I was able to "paint" a squiggly line with my torch as well as illuminate the table, a pot plant and my face.

Dead easy, but lots of fun. I might try this again sometime later in the year using different objects.

f365: Day 113

The weather has been fantastic lately - clear skies and warm temperatures without the summer humidity. Hopefully it'll stay this way for the long weekend (Thursday is ANZAC Day plus am taking Friday off).

This shot was taken at a park near work. Sometimes I chill out around here and either read or listen to music. The park borders the Brisbane River. Note the Great Dane in the background!

f365: Day 112

I wasn't really in the mood for taking any photos today, but noticed how especially attentative the dogs were tonight while we were tucking into our Nandos dinner.

Bruce loves beer. He found a small pool of it to lap up just before so I snapped this one of him enjoying the remainder of my beer. He's now 24 kgs and probably too heavy to carry to bed later!

f365: Day 111

Apart from a social brunch catch up with Chris (my brother-in-law), today was mostly about going home to Brissie. I had a great time in Melbourne and it'll be sad to see Mike, Tash and Sofia off (they are UK bound).

Today's shot is one of the Gold Coast, taken from the aircraft. Unfortunately no zoom on my camera phone, but you can just make out the city and urban development.

f365: Day 110

My friend Mike and I had a busy weekend in Melbourne. Yesterday morning we were up early for mountain biking in Lysterfield National Park, just outside Melbourne. It was chilly, but mostly sunny and generally good conditions.

In the early evening a group of us went kayaking on the Yarra. I would recommend this as an alternative way of viewing the city - it really adds another dimension to it.

I paired up with Mike - I was in the rear seat and got to steer - excellent!

f365: Day 109

I've been in Melbourne this weekend and currently playing catch up with my images. This shot was taken Friday night at the Southern Cross Station. It is massive inside - it originally opened as Spencer St station in the mid 1800s, five years after Flinders St station.

Melbourne has some amazing architecture and stadiums - very impressive.

This shot is not my best effort as it is blurry and grainy, but didn't have much time for much else!

f365: Day 108

Well this is definitely my earliest post so far (6.40am as I type). We have puppy pre school for Bruce tonight after work plus we were greeted with this excellent sunrise, shot from our veranda about 6.15 this morning.

Anyway, here is today's shot. If something better comes up, I'll add it to the blog.

f365: Day 107

One of my favourite lunch spots if I feel like a walk and lie in the sun are the lawns around Newstead House, on the banks of the Brisbane River. It was a perfect day - sunny and warm with a late thunderstorm.

Newstead House has been around for over 150 years and is one of the oldest surviving residences. It is also a good starting point for a run near work as it is easy to head south along the river or north up into the suburb of Albion.

Anyway, today's shot looks across the grounds to Newstead House.

f365: Day 106

I was in the city today, for no other reason than to have a walk around and grab some sushi for lunch.

The weather was everything I expected a humid sub tropical climate to be like - heat during the day and then a big storm and dark clouds in the afternoon (with heavy rain), only to clear in the evening.

At lunchtime it was still warm and the clouds were starting to roll in. I snapped this shot of a collection of bikes as part of the CityCycle scheme. The idea is you can borrow a bike for a small fee and drop it off at any of the 150 depots around the city. A great idea I reckon.

f365: Day 105

It was good to be back home with Jenn and the two dogs. I have had three consecutive early starts (4am Sat, 4am Sun and 4am this morning) so currently extremely tired.

Today's shot therefore wasn't well planned and executed. But "Bertie" our door stop hedgehog, is slowly becoming victim to the two dogs.

We bought him in the UK about 4-5 years ago but it was only a matter of time before he got mauled by one of them.

So before he totally goes to the dogs, I thought it was time to capture a shot of him, in a semi decomposed state.

PS This room is our utility room so a bit messy at present.

f365: Day 104

I'm posting this a day late, which is largely a consequence of not arriving back to Brisbane until early this morning (I was not able to get on a late Sunday night flight back).

Anyway, yesterday's marathon went really well. It was perfect running conditions - calm, around 10-12 degrees and sunny - much like last year.

I pushed myself quite hard and found the last 5kms very tough. I managed 1:40 which was 4 minutes faster than last year so very happy with the result.

Below are a selection of shots from the day, including one with Steve and I at the end (good friend of mine and old work mate), and one of a monument outside the National Museum of Australia - Richard, Junko and their two children and I went afterwards.

All in all a great trip and really keen to do some more half marathons and try and crack the 100 minute mark!

f365: Day 103

I'm in Canberra this weekend, as stated yesterday for the annual half Marathon. I was going to sightsee this afternoon but ended up just resting. Richard, his young daughter Sarah, and son Kenn went for a walk near their property. Here is a shot of Richard and Sarah walking towards me.

f365: Day 102

Hmmm....
Running gear - check.
Running shoes - check.
Race entry pack - check.

I'm off to Canberra this weekend to run the Canberra Half Marathon on Sunday. I did it last year with my friend Steve in 1 hr 44 mins. My training has been almost non existent plus am 5 kg heavier so I would be happy to match that.

I'm also looking forward to checking out the nation's capital as well tomorrow.

f365: Day 101

It's my birthday today! I've reached the ripe old age of 41....

Here is a self portrait of me holding my present from Jenn, along with amusing card (it reads "Voted Classiest Strip Mall Salon...Yes We Wax Backs & Cracks").

Jenn bought me a weather station - it measures indoor and outdoor temperatures - cool :-)

f365: Day 100

Well I have made it to day 100! I never thought I'd be able to do a photo every day, but so far so good.

The dogs received the benefit of this milestone. Check out today's photo. The tricky thing wasn't the arrangement of the kibble, nor the composition, depth of field or even the conversion of the image to a JPEG.

No the tricky thing was getting them both to sit still for a fraction of a second while I took the shot! Immediately after the shot was taken, the kibble was rapidly gobbled down...

f365: Day 099

Someone has decorated the pathway I walk along near work. I noticed the young artist sketching it last night. Anyway, it is still here now, but probably will not be in a few day's time.

Good pavement art can be fantastic. This isn't a bad effort as well and it definitely stopped a few people in their tracks.

Yesterday's shot was of the sky - today's is of the ground. Kind of a reminder to check life out from different angles and viewpoints.

f365: Day 098

There have been some persistent showers about lately - this has meant a lot of sodden lawns and footpaths, but also some interesting cloud formations. It is almost like four seasons in one day weather.

Once again I am deliberately over cooking some of my shots on my Vignette app on my phone. Sometimes the effect is a bit over the top, but other times it accentuates the contrast in an image.

This shots was taken opposite my workplace, looking west.

f365: Day 097

A trick of the light? The mirror is lying in this case (I see myself differently).

I thought I'd try something a bit creative for today's shot. Two exposures taken under identical lighting but with myself exposed twice - the camera was mounted on a tripod to ensure consistent compositions. The images were blended together to give the impression another person is staring back at me in the mirror. The effect is surprisingly easy to do in Photoshop.

f365: Day 096

We've only just starting taking Bruce outside on the lead. It is tricky but fun walking both dogs at once. We didn't have much luck here. No sooner had we gotten outside and the heavens opened!

So this shot was taken moments before the heavy downpour. One of the more unusual applied effects on the Vignette ap I am using on my Android.

f365: Day 095

I took another shot tonight of Cookie and Bruce side-by-side. Given there were some tasty food morsels (plus I hadn't taken my photo yet and it was getting late), it was too hard to resist.

I then realised I'd taken a similar shot about 6 weeks ago (day 52).

To illustrate Bruce's growth in 6 weeks I have placed the 52 day shot at the top, with tonight's shot at the bottom.

At 4 months old he now weighs about 22kg (or 49 lbs for our US friends)!

f365: Day 094

Bruce has come of age - time for puppy pre school! We took Scampi and Cookie along when they were young. As well as getting some good advice, it is a great chance for them to socialise with other puppies.

Not surprisingly, Bruce was the biggest in the class, and probably the most docile.

We attended class at a vet in Red Hill (Brisbane's inner west) tonight. The session was excellent and we were impressed by the teacher.

A couple of times the puppies were let loose for some playtime. This blurry shot captures some of the energy of the pups. Probably the cutest puppy award goes to a tiny pug.

f365: Day 093

Given the amount of time we spent up and down the aisles at either Coles or Woolworths, an empty aisle shot is my shot today (I popped in to get some yoghurt and cereal while waiting for our take out curry).

I have applied a desaturation filter to give it a clinical sort of quality. Needless to say, Easter eggs were on special so that made the trip worthwhile ;-)

f365: Day 092

Continuing on the backyard wildlife theme, our backyard has been littered with frogs and cane toads lately. I did a "cull" a couple of days ago, but there are still one or two around.

Cane toads have poisonous glands and are dangerous to our dogs so we need to get rid of them. This one I spared tonight only so I could take its photo (I was fumbling around in the dark with a torch in one hand and my digital compact camera in the other).