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

One of the numbats at the Perth Zoo.

Numbat

Perth Zoo, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @126mm, 1/320 sec, f/4, ISO100

I was trying to get closer to these stilts, but they didn't appreciate my approach, and flew off in the opposite direction. However, I managed to get this shot as they flew off.
I like the colour gradient in the water, and the reflection of the birds on the ripples is particularly interesting.

Black-winged Stilts flying over the lake

Bibra Lake, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @200mm, 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO100

I like the stark silhouette of the Citronella burner against the blue sky.
Citronella oil is an effective natural insect repellent, particularly for mosquitos.

Mozzies Beware!

Mount Nasura, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @85mm, 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

This is a view of the sunset yesterday, taken from the patio of a friend's house up on Mount Nasura, and looking north-west (Perth city is just out of view on the right hand-side).

Orange Sunset

Mount Nasura, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 100mm f/2.8 macro @100mm, 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO200

For anyone who has a set of extension tubes, here's a cheap and easy way to protect them in your camera bag. Just slide the extension tubes into a neoprene stubby/can holder.

extension tubes securely protected inside a stubby holder

The thick neoprene provides a very thick and robust holder, protecting your extension tubes from getting scratched in your camera bag.
A stubby holder is also significantly cheaper than a lens case designed specifically for photographic gear, particularly if you can get the stubby holders for nothing, as many companies give stubby holders away as promotional items, or alternatively, they can be purchased cheaply at many retail outlets as souvenir items.

This seagull was snapped near the Barrack Street jetty in Perth, Western Australia, while on an early-morning photoshoot with a colleague.
I particularly like the colours and texture of the wooden post that the bird is standing on.

seagull

Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @118mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.5, ISO100

Digital tilt-shift effects can be digitally applied to a photo, to give it the appearance of being a miniature model. I've previously blogged a tilt-shift photo of South Perth.

The photo below shows a ferry heading into South Perth, with the Perth city skyline in the background, and has been digitally tilt-shifted using the advanced technique described below (click image for a larger version).

ferry approaching South Perth

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @70mm, 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO100

This blog entry provides details on how to easily apply a basic tilt-shift effect to a photo, as well as details on a more advanced technique (using Photoshop CS2) that provides more realistic-looking miniaturised tilt-shift photos.

As a regular user of Google Reader (Google's web-based RSS reader), I've become used to the keyboard shortcuts it supports to speed up navigation.
(If you use Google Reader, and were not aware of the keyboard shortcuts, hit "shift-?" in Google Reader to view the complete list of valid shortcuts.)

I decided to implement something similar in my photo gallery, to allow keyboard shortcuts to be used to navigate through all photos in a gallery.

Some quick Googling turned up plenty of sample javascript code for implementing this functionality. I ended up using sample code from a page titled Handling Keyboard Shortcuts in JavaScript.

After a bit of coding, my photo gallery now supports the following keyboard shortcuts when viewing the contents of a gallery:

j	next image
k	previous image
shift-j	next page
shift-k	previous page

These use of the j and k shortcut keys is similar to that in Google Reader, and is very familiar to me, as j and k are used in vi (a linux text editor) for moving to the next and previous lines.

The low evening sunlight highlights the shape of the roots of this huge fig tree.

roots of a giant fig tree

Northbridge, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @85mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO200

Footprints on Cottesloe beach, just before sunset.

footprints in the sand

Cottesloe, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @70mm, 1/200 sec, f/4.5, 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

A few selected sepia photos from a wedding I shot in December 2007.

wedding certificate and bouquet

Canon EOS 5D, 100mm f/2.8 macro @100mm, 1/320 sec, f/3.5, ISO250

The Eternal Flame in front of the State War Memorial, in Kings Park, Western Australia.

Eternal Flame and State War Memorial

Kings Park, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @85mm, 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

Footprints on the beach are always an interesting subject. The long shadows just before sunset emphasise the texture of the sand, and the depth of the footprints.

Footprints

Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @70mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

Some ducklings on the grass in Kings Park. We were having a picnic dinner on the grass, and some of the ducks were eating the bread crumbs from right next to the kids. They weren't scared of people at all.

follow the leader

Kings Park, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @200mm, 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO100

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

Here's an overview of all the photos I blogged during the month of February.







Click any image to navigate directly to that blog post.