Tuesday, December 31, 2013

f365: Day 365

Well here we are. The last photo of my one year photo journey. It just does not seem a year ago that Jenn and I headed out to Riverlife and went kayaking on the Brisbane River and I took my first shot - a selfie (or groupie?) of us posing with NYE fireworks being set off in the background.

Ironically, I had a nice chat this morning with Mark and Tracey in NZ - it was them that originally gave me the idea (with support from Sue McKone) of this project. In all honesty, I never thought I'd be able to pull it off.

But I'd especially like to thank all the regular followers as well as the less regular - thanks for the comments and feedback.

So my last photo is somewhat underwhelming - I had the urge to hit some golf balls down at the Victoria Park Golf Complex's driving range this morning. I got a few odd looks upon rearranging the balls to form the 365 - not that it helped my driving at all!

Anyway, have a fantastic 2014 everybody and I'll still do the odd post as well as my one-month photography project :-)


Sunday, December 29, 2013

f365: Day 364

On the penultimate day of my photo project, Jonathan yet again takes centre stage (and rightly so as things are always happening/changing).

He had some tummy time this afternoon so we all had our cameras out!

He seemed to be enjoying himself - enjoy the shots.





f365: Day 363

Apparently it hit 41C in our suburb this afternoon (we are west of the city so tend to get hotter temperatures but conversely, cooler nights in winter).

We did very little today, other than barricade ourselves inside in air conditioned comfort. We did take Jacquie out to Mt Cootha look out, a popular spot we tend to take visitors to Brisbane.

The first shot is a rather pixelated shot of the city using my Android phone fully zoomed in. The second shot shows the build up of a big storm we are currently experiencing (the temperature dropped plus have had a bit of rain).



Saturday, December 28, 2013

f365: Day 362

My sister-in-law Jacquie arrived today from Newcastle. She has been eagerly awaiting meeting Jonathan as well!

After picking her up, we went to the nearby Nudgee Beach so as to let the dogs have a good run and splash around.

Persistent cloud cover prevented it from being another scorcher, but otherwise we have a nice relaxing day!





Thursday, December 26, 2013

f365: Day 361

A couple of weekends ago (when my brother-in-law Chris and his partner Jacinta were staying), Bruce climbed over the short fence at the back of our property into an adjoining property.

Our fence line around our back yard is woeful - the right hand side is complete but we need to get proper fencing put up to safeguard the dogs.

So a trip down to Bunnings and some mesh and stakes plus a bit of manual labour later and - hey presto - a couple of make shift temporary fences that hopefully Bruce cannot scale.

Also a cute shot of Jonathan who seems to be permanently awake right now (and the 16 hours/day for babies sleeping does not apply to him....).




f365: Day 360

Today marked the 360th day of 2013 and the 360th day of my blog.

What better way to represent it than a shot of a globe (360 degrees in a circle). This globe light was a gift from Jenn's parents and it is wonderful - Jonathan loves it and it creates a soft calming light for when he has his nappy changes.

Underneath the globe is a beautiful present from our good friends Tim and Sherina.

We hope your boxing day went well (we braved the crowds at Chermside and picked a few things up).




Wednesday, December 25, 2013

f365: Day 359

Xmas Day has arrived! And more importantly, it was Jonathan's first Xmas.

After breakfast, we went for a walk down to the local dog park (first image). Then I took some pictures of him wearing his Xmas outfit given by his Aunty Jacquie. Plus one of him posing with a teddy bear from his Grandma and Grandad Green.

Also included in today's photos is the roast lunch I made for us both (Jenn made herself a vegetarian loaf and I roasted some pork), plus Bruce looking bored and unimpressed!

Merry Xmas to everyone and we hope you had a fantastic day!









Monday, December 23, 2013

f365: Day 358

I cannot believe the end of the year is almost upon us. I also cannot believe I managed to keep this one photo per day idea going for so long.

At times I thought about quitting, especially after a busy day at work and the last thing I felt like doing was trying to take an interesting photo (especially when it was dark and options were limited). But I am glad I persevered.

In some ways I will also miss doing this blog. Even on busy days in hindsight it was time well spent to reflect on the day and force myself to temporarily forget the issues of the day and think creatively.

Although we are not quite there yet, in case alcohol and sleep deprivation takes over at the final hurdle, I am going to reflect and comment on how much of an interesting year we've had. In summary, we have:

- introduced our lovely boy Bruce into the family (our bullmastiff btw!)
- found out Jenn was pregnant
- shook hands with Sir Richard Branson (he briefly visited the 'Virgin Village' back in May)
- had a fantastic holiday in Hawaii
- learnt some renovating skills and played a part in the new kitchen as well as renovating Jonathan's room
- put myself in hospital, due to over exertion in the renovating
- ran a couple of half marathons, plus cracked the 100 minute mark
- finally traded in the old Corolla and become one of those dreaded SUV owners
- and the biggest news of all, welcomed Jonathan into the world

We've also had some lovely catch ups with friends and relatives along the way.

In case you have read this far, you may be wondering what will happen with myself and my camera beyond 31-Dec-2013. I have realised that this project has been the kick in the backside I have needed for some time as I hadn't been doing as much as previous years. Therefore I have decided in 2014 to do a photography project every month and publish my attempts around month end. The topics have yet to be decided but may flow forth after some Xmas lunch and/or a beer or two.

Lastly, while I am happy overall with the project, a lot of creative shot ideas I had around 12 month's ago just never happened this year. Maybe they will be addressed next year...

Anyway, enough pontificating - I popped out at lunchtime for some last minute Xmas shopping. The heat here continues unabated but I shot Queen St Mall during the lunchtime period.


Sunday, December 22, 2013

f365: Day 357

It justs seems a bit more real that we have a child - Jonathan's birth certificate arrived in the mail today! We went for a commemorative design which included Australian flora and fauna decorating the perimeter.

Anyway, proof that the wee tyke exists!


f365: Day 356

I went to my first cricket game in years tonight with a workmate (Stuart). The Brisbane Heat took on the Perth Scorchers in a T20 match.

It was highly entertaining and Stuart and I had terrific seats. It came down to the last over and the Heat ended up winning. Top stuff and some superb batting from Chris Lynn to see us home.

A selection of shots from the evening with the usual effects applied to a selection.







Saturday, December 21, 2013

f365: Day 355

I had my first game of golf in about three years today. Myself and two guys from work (well one a former colleague) met at 6am down at the St Lucia Golf Links for nine holes.

By the third hole, the heat was pretty overbearing, but we made it through nine in the end. My lack of play definitely showed and I rounded out with a pretty lame total. But at least it gives me something to work on!

A couple of shots from today attached.



Friday, December 20, 2013

f365: Day 354

Jenn's Mum June has been staying with us for the last 8 days - she returns home in the morning.

So in the space of just over a week, Jonathan has met both of his grandmothers! I took shots of June, Jonathan and Jenn (the three J's!) this morning before work. Various Photoshop effects have been applied. Enjoy!








Thursday, December 19, 2013

f365: Day 353

Saw this big line up of trolleys at the Woolies supermarket at the relatively new Gasworks complex near work.

I love patterns and this one really stood out.


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

f365: Day 352

Kind of sums up my day really.....

Surprised this moody self portrait worked so well considering taken in low light and on my Android phone.

All I can say is...roll on the weekend.


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

f365: Day 351

We are trying to get into a bath time pattern with Jonathan. Sometimes he loves his bath, other times he is not so sure.

We had a mixture of emotions from him tonight in his bath - below are two of the better shots!



Monday, December 16, 2013

f365: Day 350

We had the Velocity Xmas party today at a restaurant in Teneriffe next to the river. A great way to round the year off and it included a very long Secret Santa event.

Pictured below are a few of my colleagues - Aurelie, Tom and Keith. Fantastic day out!


Sunday, December 15, 2013

f365: Day 349

Another beautiful day in Brisbane, although a fairly warm one at that. I took Chris and Jacinta out for a City Cat ferry cruise along the Brisbane River - these form the first lot of shots. We stopped at the infamous Regatta Hotel for brunch (in the suburb of Toowong). All in all, an excellent day.

I have also added in a few shots of Chris and Jacinta holding Jonathan - these were taken yesterday but I thought I'd add them into today's post.

Enjoy the shots!