Farrer Ridge Nature Reserve - Morning walk

Kangaroo - always an early morning visitor

It's quite unusual for me to rise before my children, but I did so this morning.

My Dad is visiting and has been walking around our new neighbourhood each morning.

Today I decided I should join him, particularly as he spoke of heading to the Nature Park nearby.

We spent two hours wandering, chatting, taking in the sights, exploring nature and stopping to take in the finer details of many things through my camera.  The photos will tell much of our story.

Come enjoy a refreshing little walk with us through this reserve.

Everlasting Daisy

Cauliflower Bush - Cassinia ?

Cauliflower Bush - Cassinia aculeata (I believe)

It seems there's a natural spring here, my Dad thinks, 

or perhaps the water is flowing due to the excess rain we have had.

All in all it's a very pretty spot.

Next time I will bring my girls.

They will adore all the flowers,

and the kangaroos will be a treat for them also.

iPhone brings us together

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.” ~ Steve Jobs, Apple CEO [NBC Nightly News, May 2006]

Bird on the Wire
at our home

I've been thinking about writing this post for such a long time and with the very sad loss of Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, this week.  I thought I should make the time to write again.  

Since my life became transient this year and with a need to purchase a new mobile phone I decided I could go with nothing less than the iPhone.  I found the deal with Virgin to be very good and suitable for our needs costing just $49 per month.  Allowing us internet access on the go as well as $300 worth of phone calls each month.

Peace and Serenity at Lake Burley Griffin

A greater pull towards the iPhone however was the fact that my brother and sister-in-law in Belfast have iPhones, along with my sister and brother-in-law in country NSW.  I knew they were texting each other for free and phoning for free and I really wanted to be part of their lives in this way.

Reflections at Floriade

Is there a more beautiful flower than the Tulip?
Floriade

And so while my life has been turbulent this year, I have found that connections with my family have been much greater.  Connections via iPhone have been enhanced and time taken to enjoy them has been to the detriment of this blog and for that I am sad.  So I would like to ask you to follow me, if you will.  I twitter more these days, search for me @ceelewis if you twitter also.  I'd love to follow you and connect with you there.

Silver Birch leaves as lacework
at Commonwealth Park

I am also an avid Instagramer.  Do you Instagram?  Search for me there if you do, I'm @ceelew.

Tulips of Floriade

Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park

All the photos you see here in this blog post have been well liked on Instagram and I very much enjoy sharing and connecting with that community. It consists both of family members and other great photographers.

Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park

So enjoy this little glimpse of Canberra and pop over and join me at Twitter and Instagram.

Thankyou to Steve Jobs for his wonderful creativity and inventions which serve to connect us in new ways.

You know I really am just a bit lazy, or tired with my young family.  Call it what you will! Using my iPhone I can lie down on the lounge and relax while I twitter and instagram, in order to write my blog posts and share photos here, I need to get up to the iMac.  It's a great machine - but it feels like work ;)

So my dear friends and followers, please continue to follow me and connect.

Beachfront Bicycling

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy

On an unseasonably warm and windy day on Saturday we packed up our bicycles and headed to the beach for another dose of beachfront bicycling, something we all love. Although we just happened to hear a little cry from a pink 5 yr old on a pink bicycle about how she needed a rest just as another playground was approaching. There are at least 5 playgrounds within easy cycling distance of each other along the Semaphore Foreshore. We were often stopping :)

Another little lady was keen for some "dig, dig, digging" time so Dad bribed her to get back into her bicycle seat on his bike for a quick ride down the path to where our friends were kite flying. There was sure to be opportunity for sand play and grass tumbling with them.

I meanwhile, enjoying the serenity and solitude the bicycle affords me, rode a little further on towards Largs Bay. Breathing in the salty, seaside air, absorbing the soothing sounds of the gently crashing waves and lapping waters, I took a wee break from my family to nurture myself. My Generous Gentleman bid me take my time as he rode off in the opposite direction with my two little treasures, yet somehow, quite quickly, I was drawn to be right back with them again. Even he commented he was surprised I had ridden all the way up to Largs in the time I had taken. Yes I do need my space, but my sense of obligation to my family as well as my desire to be with them overrides that so often.

I rode past the Semaphore Jetty which still has a big piece broken from the centre of it. The pale sky and rich blue ocean contrasts beautifully with the yellow ocean in the foreground created by the numerous soursobs. Blue, green and yellow blending to create such calm.

I enjoyed the vivid, almost fluroescent yellow of the soursobs (oxalis), a persistent weed which brings such delightful bright colour in the wake of winter. I explored the zoom on my new Pentax Optio X70, belated birthday present, camera and am very pleased with the results. I wonder if Blogger will let you see their best here.

The zoom lens is very effective as well. This sailing ship was but a dot on the horizon to the naked eye. It speaks of such serenity in this image here. I absolutely adore watching a lowering sun over the waters of the Gulf of St Vincent. Growing up on the east coast of Australia meant the sun rose over coastal waters. Seeing the sun setting over the Gulf here is magic.

Macro Improvements - Embracing the Small Things

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Still enjoying the macro setting on my camera.

They call to me, those little things.  

Begging me to see the tiny detail, to illuminate them, to make them larger, fill the screen, fill my mind.

Much like my delightful children.  "Mummy look at me!"  "Look at this Mummy." "See what I can do!"  The constant chatter and conversation which must be attended to, reiterated and acknowledged.

They demand my heart, my attention, my all.  They beg me to see the finest parts of them, to know them, to celebrate all the tiny bits of newness they enjoy in their lives everyday.  Sometimes it is a real challenge to watch a leg flick this way, then that, as a new manouevre is undertaken, or to echo that new word just one more time to acknowledge to little Eee that she is speaking brilliantly.

Yet, while it sometimes frustrates and tires me, I revel in my role of mothering my girls.  I love to watch them grow and learn and discover anew the things which are very commonplace to me.  In a way, it seems, that I get a second chance at learning too.  It is interesting that the camera was rarely in my hand before they were born.  Now it is rarely somewhere I am not.  Yes I have great subjects in them but I also have a new way of seeing things.  I have slowed down, I have taken time, I have learnt to see and embrace all the small things in everyday life.  Whether that be something of nature outdoors or something within the nature of my darling girls, I am looking more closely.  I am eager to behold every small detail about them in order to know them.  To love them more deeply, to guide them more knowledgeably and to ensure they know that are wonderful little people, very much loved.

Macro on a Gumnut

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it.  ~Author Unknown

It might also have helped me, with my little...well...um...problem.  

After about 7 or 8 years with my faithful Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom by my side I have discovered how to use the macro setting.  Not for lack of wanting.  I have tried and tried to use the macro setting. I love photographing fine detail, close-ups, blossoms.  I knew about macro settings, I knew the symbol on my camera for it. I could see the button for heavens sake.  For the life of me it would not turn on.  I read and read the manual at different stages over the years.  I decided mine was simply a faulty camera and this button was just not working.  This morning I resolved to take it to a camera shop to have someone finally teach me about the macro button on my camera.  I then went home and got the manual out...again.  This time, while reading and playing (with little Eee, not the camera) my mind was illuminated.  I don't know why, I am very tired today after a busy teaching day with a guest, a new student.   Today must just be the day for me to start. 

I cannot believe it!  Just after I made a post about some beautiful native blossoms I have made this discovery which begs me redo it (and the previous one)...only the time it has taken.

I am now learning how to use my macro setting.  It's not hard.  It makes all the arduous work of my previous photos seem ludicrous. I took so so so many photos to get the few that you see which are actually in focus...zooming in and out in order to find just the right place...not too close, too blurry...not close enough, but at least it is in focus.  I have learnt the macro button actually DOES work when I am in the P mode (Program Mode) not the half a dozen other modes on my "point and shoot."  In my defense, it actually did not say this in the manual, I intuitively put two and two together as I explored the P mode.

Tell me, what do you think of my results?  I know I have a lot to practice, but these were taken in the extraordinarly dim room in the centre of my house with very little natural light due to our lovely retaining wall (i.e. I cannot see the sky *sigh*).  I am pleased and can't wait to take more photos.   Yes, I'll be working on my focal point and my shaky hand.  It's tricky with a toddler at your legs!!

The joy of learning something new, you should try it if you haven't done so lately.