Here's a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, as seen from Blues Point. The bridge and the Opera House are not lit up as much as they were in previous years, but a long exposure provides some nice results.
On the evening when this photo was taken (31 October, a Saturday evening), the biggest issue was trying to achieve a long exposure without one of the many boats on the water intruding into the frame!

Sydney Harbour Bridge from Blues Point

Blues Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @45mm, 20 sec, f/8, ISO100

This 30-second exposure captures the lights of Albany Port, and their reflection on the waters of Frenchman's Bay. In the foreground, the light streak shows the headlights of a car that crossed the frame during the exposure.

the lights of Albany Port, viewed across Frenchman's Bay

Albany, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @34mm, 30 sec, f/7.1, ISO100

We're making the most of daylight savings, which is due to finish in a couple of weeks. With the sunrise occurring at around 7:10am, we can get some photos of the pre-sunrise colours, and the sunrise itself, without having to get out too early.
However, once daylight savings finishes, the sunrise will be an hour earlier, and it'll be a bit harder to get out of bed to catch the pre-sunrise colours!

I got together with some colleagues early on Thursday morning, in South Perth. The forecast for that morning was for a chance of a shower, so we were hoping for some clouds over the city, along with some sunrise colours in the clouds. The clouds were certainly there...but the sunrise didn't produce much colour in the sky.

Here is one of the better shots from the morning.

city skyline in black and white

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @34mm, 5 sec, f/10, ISO100

Earlier this week, on Monday night (1st December), the planets Venus and Jupiter aligned with a crescent moon, to form a celestial smiley face for viewers in Australia (in Europe and the Americas, these three celestial bodies formed a frowning face).

In the photo below, the planets Venus (top left) and Jupiter (right) form the eyes, and the Moon forms the mouth of a smiley face.

the Moon, Venus and Jupiter

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @200mm, 1/15 sec, f/5.6, ISO320

Apparently the next time these planets and the moon will be so close in the sky is in November 2052, although Venus and the crescent moon will be close together again on New Years Eve.

To provide some scale, the distances from the earth to these two planets and the Moon were as follows on Monday night:

body	AU	km	miles
Moon	0.0027AU	0.40 million km	0.25 million miles
Venus	1.005AU	151 million km	93 million miles
Jupiter	5.807AU	870 million km	540 million miles

1AU is a unit of measure called an astronomical unit, and it's equal to the distance from the Earth to the Sun, with an approximate value of 150 million km (93 million miles).

These distances were calculated using the distance information from Stellarium, free open-source planetarium software for your computer, using the planet locations at approximately 9pm on Monday night.
If you're interested in stargazing and astronomy, I can highly recommend Stellarium.

Here's a photo from Saturday night, while at a friend's house for a bonfire. The kids (including older kids and adults) always love a bonfire, and it's great to sit near it on a cold night, with the bonfire providing lots of warmth.

bonfire silhouette II

Forrestdale, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 50mm f/1.8 @50mm, 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO200

This photo was taken at the same location as a bonfire silhouette photo taken several years ago.

The Batman Bridge, which crosses the Tamar River in northern Tasmania. It was built in the late 1960s, and was the first cable-stayed bridge in Australia.

This long exposure was taken just after sunset, with headlights of cars traversing the bridge providing some lighting of the railing on the top of the bridge.

Batman Bridge at dusk

northern Tasmania
Canon EOS 350D, 10-22mm @10mm, 30 sec, f/7.1, ISO200

This is the Tasman Bridge, which crosses over the Derwent River in Hobart, Tasmania. This photo was taken from Rose Bay, on the east bank of the Derwent River.

This bridge gained a lot of media attention in 1975, when a section in the centre of the bridge collapsed after one of the bridge's pylons was hit by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra. Four cars fell off the bridge, killing five people, and seven crew members on the Lake Illawarra drowned when the ship sank.

Tasman Bridge at night

Hobart, Tasmania
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @35mm, 20 sec, f/9, ISO100

Here's a shot of the well-known Sydney Opera House, one of the Australian icons that is easily recognised by many people around the world.
This was taken before dawn, while on a photoshoot with some local Sydney OCAU amateur photographers. It was a cold and windy morning, and the sunrise didn't provide very interesting colours, but I'm happy with some of the shots I got before the sun appeared, including the one shown below.

Sydney Opera House Before Dawn

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @64mm, 4 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

This shot was taken along Orchard Road, in Singapore, back in November 2005. The fountain is in front of the Ngee Anne City shopping centre, and the temporary tent structure between the fountain and the mall was there for a display of some sort.

fountain at night

Orchard Road, Singapore
Olympus C-770 UltraZoom @18.5mm, 1/25 sec, f/3.2, ISO400

Some photos from a bonfire at a friend's house.
This photo shows a child silhouetted in front of the bonfire, with a shower of sparks rising from the fire.

Silhouette in front of bonfire

Forrestdale, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @17mm, 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO1600