f365: Day 181

It has been a very wet, drab weekend and the sun has been absent the last month or so.

I decided to get out and go for a paddleboard on the Brisbane River rather than sit inside. The water wasn't cold at all and a few people were out there (jet skiers and kayakers).

I tested my new Go Pro Hero 3 camera out - it was attached to an elasticated head band and gives a great first person's perspective on things. I shot some video with it, plus set the timer to take a photo every 5 seconds. The images are very wide angled by default and give a fish eye effect. Here are a sample of the photos taken - enjoy!

f365: Day 180

It was pretty drab and overcast today - a silver lining on these clouds is it can give some interesting HDR shots (High Dynamic Range).

The idea being a number of exposures are taken with the camera mounted to a tripod with the aperture fixed. The only variable is the exposure compensation - that is, a very under exposed shot is taken, immediately followed by a slight under exposed shot, then a couple of over exposed shots.

Special software overlays all the images into one, and capturing all the tonal ranges that one shot cannot.

The effect can be somewhat surprising sometimes. Here is one of our Queenslander house from our backyard.

f365: Day 179

Today's post is dedicated to my late dear sister Venessa. It was two years ago today we heard the terrible news about her accident (impossible to believe at first) - sadly she passed the next day.

In some ways it has been very hard to come to terms with. Her infectious smile, unforgettable laugh, willingess to help anyone and a fantastic friend, sister and mentor. She was loved by many, made her mark on many, and will never be forgotten by many.

My photo for today is a photo of her taken at our wedding in March 2010. She embraced Buddhism so her photo is positioned next to our Buddhist statue with lit candle.

I am not a poet, but I found this verse:

"We remember you

Even when the world forgets

We remember your smile
Even when we can’t find anything to smile about

We remember your laughter
Even when nothing is funny

We remember how you felt

Even if we can’t hold you

We remember you
Even when it hurts the most

One day we will see you again"

f365: Day 178

Our spare guest room will undergo a transformation later this year. Currently it is a bit of a dumping ground for clothes, tat and other bits and pieces.

Anyway, here is a "before" shot. Hopefully can show an "after" shot before this project ends.

f365: Day 177

I took this shot from work looking outside in an easterly direction as the light was fading. I applied a high contrast red filter to it (built into my Android app). I like the effect - it gives it a desert sunset look - almost a bit like the dust storm in Sydney several years back.

Oh, and go the Maroons tonight (speaking of which, the bus journey home took considerably longer than normal due to our relative proximity to the stadium)!

f365: Day 176

We had a lot of fun water blasting our front concrete fence in the weekend (although Jenn did most of it). The prep work has been done and we are now replacing the drab yellow colour with a dark grey colour.

Jenn made a start on it today so it seemed appropriate to get a shot of both colours side-by-side.

f365: Day 175

There are a lot of viruses going around at the moment and I finally sucumbed to it today so didn't leave the house all day.

I am committed to this one-shot-per-day until the end of the year so today's shot is of a lawn repair project in the early stages. Our dogs love to dog and this section here I am attempting to fix. Growing grass from seeds requires a lot of water so we need to drench this patch at least twice a day for 6 weeks.

Failing that it may be easier to just get the pre made lawn section from Bunnings but I like a challenge!

f365: Day 174

We checked out the Brisbane Pregnancy Babies & Children's Expo at the Convention Centre today. Given we haven't been down that road yet, it all seemed pretty daunting. Which pram to buy? Do we need this? What questions do we need to ask? We did get a few ideas but I wasn't prepared to consider an "empathy pouch" ;-).

In case you do not know already, Jenn is about 16 weeks pregnant with the baby due early December - exciting times (apologies if I haven't told you directly, it still seems a bit surreal)!

f365: Day 173

The sun was out again today, and so were the Lions supporters for the Australia vs Lions clash here in Brissie tonight.

I did an 18km run around the river, and through South Bank, crossed the Story Bridge and ran through the botanical gardens. I stopped at Kangaroo Point to take a shot of one of the many rock climbers ascending the wall.

f365: Day 172

Today was our coldest day of the year with the mercury only reaching around 15C. By Brisbane standards, that is like Hawaii failing to get to 20C.

We must have acclimatised now as it felt cold and drab. I did pop into the city at lunchtime to buy some US currency for Hawaii before the Aussie dollar completely tanks against the US. Today's shot symbolises the wet - brollies and jackets.

f365: Day 171

Beer and pizza....! Perfect Thursday night fare, on the eve of the last day of the week.

There is an Italian restaurant around the corner from home (Avanti) - the pasta menu is extensive but I was more than happy to settle for a pizza.

f365: Day 170

Today's shot is of one of Jenn's artworks - this one originated from a photo she took in the Northern Territory when we were there in May last year.

The Kookaburra stamp is a great touch which currently forms the focus of the image. It is a work in progress so may give an update later!

f365: Day 169

I've just bought one of those Go Pro 3 cameras - the ones that are designed to be taken anywhere - on surf boards, underwater, mountain biking etc.

So I popped into the city at lunchtime to check out mounting bands and straps. While I was there I snapped this shot in Queen St Mall - it looks a bit like a pergola although wouldn't stand under it if it was raining!

f365: Day 168

Poor Bruce. He probably thinks he's being punished for destroying two dog beds last week.

Actually he has 'come of age' and yesterday was his last day as a 'whole male'. He seems ok after surgery but is not enjoying wearing the cone. We refer to this as the 'cone of shame'.

f365: Day 167

I'd been looking forward to this event for some time - it was the inaugural Brisbane "City to South" fun run. The distance of 14 kms is a good running distance. Long enough to be worthwhile, but not too long so that you start to feel like you're running through cement and your lungs feel like they've been through a cheese grater...!

I did the course in 65 minutes which is about the running speed I want to attain in the Gold Coast Half Marathon in three weeks time.

Some shots from this morning - the first two prior to the start, the last two of random people finishing.

f365: Day 166

We went to another dog show today out at Durack (just south of Brisbane) to catch up with Christine, Ashley and their bullmastiffs Scarlet and Big Boone (Bruce's siblings). We were also keen to see the French Bulldogs.

By chance, we bumped into Sheridan and Dean, Scampi's original parents so it was nice to see them.

Below are a selection of shots taken throughout the day (I couldn't just choose one shot for today!).

Below: One of Sheridan and Dean's French Bulldogs

Below: Big Boone, Bruce's brother (they look very similar!)

Below: Dean with one of his Frenchies (she won a prize!)

Below: An English Bulldog

Below: Big Boone about to be judged (right hand side)

Below: Bruce completely knackered after a busy day!

f365: Day 165

Wow - we came home tonight thinking it had been snowing! And even more remarkable inside.

Hang on a minute - we live in subtropical Brisbane and it NEVER snows here. The realisation that Bruce has destroyed his second bed in two days dawned on us. Here is the aftermath complete with Bruce being "dog shamed" again. Naughty fella....

f365: Day 164

Dog shaming time for Bruce. His new bed (which cost us around $80) only lasted a few nights - Jenn was out earlier today and he decided to tear into it....Jenn thinks she can sew it back together though. He is looking sheepishly on in this photo.

f365: Day 163

Mmmmmm Wednesday night currry...! I'd been busy all day today so hadn't even given my daily shot a grain of thought. That is until we were waiting for our curry at a place in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill.

I thought about trying another traffic trail but need the heavy duty gear to do that, so in the end, I snapped a shot of the shopping centre sign. The Indian takeout (which turned out to be very delicious) has its place at the top of the sign.

f365: Day 162

Perry Park which is close to work often have night football games or practice sessions. I often walk past here and it is very well lit up some nights so today's shot represents another visual stepping stone present on my journey home every day.

f365: Day 161

Queen's Birthday public holiday was a complete washout (it has been cold and raining all day - typical long weekend weather!), but it was perfect weather for staying inside and getting some renovations done.

Jenn has been staining our front door (and so far it looks excellent) while I painted the ceiling in our front room.

Bruce also now has his own outside little house - we picked this up for him today (background in photo) and after some rather cryptic instructions, managed to put it together. However he seemed to enjoy lying on the cardboard box more than his dog house. It'll be interesting to see how he copes sleeping outside tonight!

f365: Day 160

After a 10km run this morning followed by brunch with friends of ours, we caught up with other friends Mani and Duncan in the afternoon. While Duncan had been up here for work on previous visits, it was Mani's first trip to the "River City".

Normally when people are staying or visiting, we take them up to Mt Coot-ha for views of the city, so today's shot is of Mani, Duncan and Jenn at the observation point with the city in the background and random woman in the foreground....

f365: Day 159

We woke to the start of the long Queen's Birthday weekend with a nice sunrise which I captured as part of today's shot. The sky turned slate grey not too long after and keeping in tradition with long weekends, it looks like it'll be a shower/rain/cloud fest...Good weather for staying inside!

f365: Day 158

Cookie experiencing "high tea". All we need is a dog shaming sign in front of her to complete the story!

f365: Day 157

The Virgin Village (as my work place is known) has a decent collection of succulents on the north side of the complex bordering the river.

We used to grow a few succulents in Wellington years ago, and have a couple on both sides of our front door now. This shot works well with a dark vignette around it I think.

f365: Day 156

State of Origin was the talk of the town today. Can QLD make it 8 series win in a row? Well maybe not after tonight's performance which saw the Blues winning 14-6.

Support for the Maroons was rampant around Brisbane town. Our dogs got into the spirit - after all Cookie is a NSW girl and Bruce is a QLD boy. This was a pre match shot. Bruce, sensing his team were not doing well, slunk off to the study towards the end....

Our friends Aurelie and Dom came over to watch the event as well.

Bring on game two!

f365: Day 155

Today's shot represents where I spent a disproportionate amount of time as not only did I miss the southbound train by seconds, but the next one took awhile.

So just in case I forget in future which station I commute in and out of everyday, here is a shot denoting the station name!

Note the arriving train in the bottom left corner (not the one I needed though).

f365: Day 154

There is a very 1970s looking shopping centre (if you call it that) near work, right on Breakfast Creek. I took this shot of it while out for a walk and applied a sepia effect with a vignette to give it an old 19th Century look.

It was a lovely winter's day today - wall to wall sunshine and low 20s. Too nice to be inside working!

f365: Day 153

It was nice and sunny for most of today so after taking care of some domestics, I settled down in our hammock and chilled out. So...today's shot is an over saturated shot from my hammock of the top part of our veranda. Cruisy Sundays!

f365: Day 152

Today was chilly and the first calendar day of winter. Therefore apart from walking the dogs, I decided to take a photo inside and try and see what I could find.

Today's shot is an interesting take on the North and South Island of New Zealand. We have these ornaments  of the two islands that we've filled with decorative shell. We both think it looks terrific on our TV cabinet. Apologies though to the forgotten about Stewart Islanders...