Charlie's WorldA trip to the wheatbelt – Canola fields
Posted on November 15, 2015
Springtime in the wheatbelt means yellow canola fields as far as the eye can see.
Well, not quite, but it does seem a bit like it from some vantage points. it was a lovely day, I had some time so I jumped in the car and headed out to York, which is a couple of hours drive from me to see if I could find some photogenic fields.
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Greetings from the other side
Posted on February 10, 2013
Happy New Year, dear internet.
Yes, I know I’m about a month late, I’ve been busy, ok! :p
So, what has been going on in my world that’s meant a 6 week hiatus? One word
Work.
Trip to the UK – Part 1
Posted on February 14, 2012
And so the time has flown since last summer and it’s time for another trip to England.
No flight photos this time as a) I had a middle centre seat out from Perth and then b) it was dark all the way into London.
I went via Singapore which was cool – I like Changi airport, it’s big and clean and has lots of places to sit down and chill. This time it was full of Japanese schoolgirls, which was really bizarre – it was just like a cliché – all with their knee high socks and giggling – very odd. I would have taken a photo, but I didn’t want to seem like a pervert stalker, so you’ll just have google and imagine it all for yourselves. Read More
stormy weather
Posted on January 30, 2011
We’ve been on cyclone watch for the last few days as tropical cyclone Bianca has been making its way down the Indian Ocean from the tropics and is forecast to swing inland right over Perth today.
Well I think its petered out and although the wind is increasing and the sky is looking very dark all of a sudden, apparently its not scheduled to be the roof lifting monster that was once feared. In fact, you can hardly see it on the weather radar.
Good! Being next to the ocean like we are here, we often get storms in the winter and just occasionally in the summer too and we’re well used to be battered by some pretty strong winds, but I don’t want to go through that kind of thing if I don’t have to!
Anyway, yesterday, out of the blue, we had thunderstorms arrive and they left a trail of destruction across the state – north and east of us got pummelled by this thing – causing damage everywhere.
It kind of missed us, we got some rain, lots of rumbling thunder, amazing skies and that was pretty much it.
Well, being the photo happy snapper I am, I had to get a shot 🙂 Cool, huh?
Later in the day I thought we were going to get the most amazing sunset – the clouds were just too thick though, but the skies were still very interesting, even if they didn’t glow and shine like I expected.
One minute it’s too hot, the next, nature decides you need a storm, the next its 38C again and then that very afternoon, a cyclone rolls over. Australia, never a dull moment.
Brrrr, its a bit chilly
Posted on December 19, 2010
Yes, it’s cold, I might even have to put some jeans on.
All of you in the Northern Hemisphere, up to your necks in white global warming, are probably thinking:
“Ha, yeah right, you’re in Perth, I’ve watched some cricket (ok, it’s pretty unlikely that any Americans would say the last bit as cricket is as foreign to them as baseball is to the rest of the world) – it looks pretty warm down there”
Ok, I’m being a wag, I’ve just had the old crappy useless evaporative air conditioning unit replaced with a new big monster one and it’s a bit efficient. Perhaps a bit too efficient for its own good. Jay is sitting at the desk in a one woman huddle, pretending it’s all fine. Being a hot person (I know, you all want me, right?) like I am, this chill suits me just fine!
We all took the doggy for a little walk along the beach (yup, the one that, I have to remind all of you repeatedly about) at the end of the road. I think the dog actually took the girls for a walk, rather than the other way around
Anyway, with all these digs and jibes at your chilly snowy weather, what I’m really doing is setting you up for some photos to give you all some Christmas cheer, so here for your viewing pleasure, are the dreary surrounds of suburban Waikiki.
And Piper, as special as ever.
I know, its a hard life.
Ok, for balance, there are some downsides – being 40C hot in a suit is no fun and it might rain tomorrow for a bit.
There, happy now, snow people? :p
mad dash
Posted on December 7, 2010
I had my Tuesday free time again tonight, but as the sunset and golden hour is now later than the time I have available, its difficult to get any decent landscape shots.
So, as there was a good breeze, I bolted down to Safety Bay to see who was out on the water.
I met a lad from Devon with a camcorder in a waterproof housing filming his mates doing some cool tricks. It turns out he’s Ned Taylor, UK #1 freestyle champ. Not that he even really mentioned he did much kite surfing. So much modesty! I’m sure I got some shots of him the other day actually – be good to see what he can do for the camera.
Anyway, we had a good chat – he was really getting in there with the filming – very cool – all those wide angle on the water shots you see on TV of kite surfers – well, that’s how they do it – waist deep in water!
I got a few shots, but I had so little time – shame really – hopefully I’ll get another chance to come down and take some really cool shots of them all out practising.
I’ll be back for more soon 🙂
Sydney
Posted on November 10, 2010
So, I got sent to Sydney.
I wonder, is that a bit like being sent to an Australian version of Coventry? – (which by the way, if you’re not familiar with the expression – being ‘sent to Coventry is an ‘old’ English expression which means to be sent somewhere bad).
All good fun you may think, I get to large it up on company expenses, stay out all night drinking and partying and can snore all night long in a hotel bed that gets made for me every morning.
Awesome.
Well, actually, not awesome.
The sad reality of being away from home and staying in a hotel on my own means meals for one, working late (*its 11:30pm and I’m still working) and eventually sending for mediocre (actually, I’ve just ordered butter chicken curry, and it’s not too bad) room service as I’ve kind run out of enthusiasm for yet another trip out to find food.
Joy.
The other think I don’t like is that the hotel I’m staying in is a good walk from the office. About 30 mins to be exact. And Sydney is very humid.
*Melt*
Anyway, its not all doom and gloom – well, actually, thats not true – its is all doom and gloom – its been terribly overcast here so far – thick cloud, heavy rain, thunderstorms etc. So I’ve been somewhat stunted in my ability to take any photos. Well, that and the long work hours.
I did get a few shots on my first day here, before the heavens opened and the mother of all storms rolled in – so, here, for your viewing pleasure are some photos 🙂
weird stormy skies from my hotel room
Apocalypse Sydney
incoming...
convention centre
morning skies from my hotel room
Darling Harbour at night
So, there you g0 – its either work or shots from my hotel – hopefully tomorrow it might be sunny and I can take some photos of a nice bright city…
Tuesdays on the beach
Posted on November 3, 2010
As luck would have it, I have to run big’un around on a Tuesday, so it means I get almost an hour of photography in before I have to collect her again.
At the moment, that hour happens to be the golden hour just before sunset, which is awesome for photos.
Last week, I took the old jetty shots and was pretty happy, so I gave that location a miss this time and went further on up the beach in search of some boats and things to get up close and personal to with the wide angle lens.
Mangles Bay in Rockingham is where all the boats anchor and it’s really cool, underused and very quiet. The yacht club could do with some updating, but apart from that, its lovely.
However, this whole place is under threat from a massive marina development (please visit http://handsoffpointperon.com/) which is will destroy hundreds of hectares of previous ‘permanently preserved native bush’ (yeah – that status was overturned – amazing what happens for a quick buck) and replace it with millionaires canal side houses, apartment blocks and an enormous marina. Nice.
Anyway, so before we lose this wonderful place forever (which, lets face it, once the money starts to flow, no amount of local objection is going to make any difference whatsoever), I thought I’d get some photos.
The light was amazing, clouds make such a difference to the sky and the feel of a shot, plus the circular polariser creates outstanding definition between white and blue.
Thats all for now – I’ll be back out later in the week or next week for another location, work and personal commitments being equal – so if you like the pretty pictures, check back soon.
In other news – its the middle of the week, which means – Red Wine Wednesday – stay tuned 🙂
if at first..
Posted on October 27, 2010
..you don’t succeed, then try try try again.
You may remember I took a few photos of the jetty (again) last week – well, I wasn’t happy with them, so I went out again last night to take some more
My fave of the night:
Same view, just a slightly different range of colours – I think this was a slightly longer exposure
And lastly, a random view back towards Rockingham that grabbed my attention that actually came out rather well.
Of course, all the time I was doing this, I didn’t really notice that the sky to the west (the jetty faces pretty much North) had lit up bright amazing red and would have made a fantastic backdrop to some of the other westerly facing beaches and jetties. Ah well, I’m still stoked at these shots and don’t really care!
I’ll spin you right round..
Posted on October 22, 2010
..like a record baby (only with a camera held out at arms length)
I’ve seen these shots done a a few times, so I thought I’d give it a go.
Set camera to have 1/4 to 1/2 second shutter, hold at arms length point at your head, spin around on an office chair, press the shutter, try not to look too much like an idiot.
Ok, so I failed on the last point. And I need to to spin faster and have a shorter shutter speed, they’re not sharp enough.
This one was slightly out of focus, which is a shame, as it was the best one. Ah well, practise makes perfect (and also makes me feel really sick **barf**)
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