Strobist recently did a post on How to Photograph Water Drops with One Speedlight, with some great info, including a few videos.
It's something I've been intending to do for a while, so yesterday I pulled out my camera, tripod, flash and remote flash trigger, and gave it a try.

First I tried using water, dropping into a dish of water. I experimented with different coloured reflectors behind the water, with varying results.

water coronet

Canon EOS 50D, 100mm f/2.8 macro

I was officially considered a swine flu suspect for a few days! Because of this, I had to quarantine myself (and immediate family) at home, until swine flu test results were available.
However, I received the test results yesterday afternoon, which confirmed that I do not have swine flu.

I had recently returned to Australia after a couple of weeks in Canada on business, and Canada is considered one of the countries at risk for swine flu.
When my flight from Vancouver landed in Sydney, all passengers had to remain seated while Australian quarantine officials came on board and sprayed the cabin.

All passengers also had to complete a health questionnaire asking if they had any flu-like symptoms, and when walking through customs in the airport, some officials were monitoring all passengers on heat-sensitive cameras, looking for people with signs of a fever.

A few days after returning to Australia, I came down with some flu-like symptoms (sore throat, coughing and headache), and had to quarantine myself at home until test results confirmed if I had swine flu, or if it was a false alarm.

A nurse dressed in full protective garb came around to take some swabs from my throat and nose for testing, and an information pack, along with masks and Tamiflu was left at the front door for me.

Initially, I received conflicting stories about how long it would take to get the test results, with one person indicating it would only take 8 hours, but someone else said it would take 48 hours, but they weren't sure if the pathology lab would be working through the (long) weekend.

However, I received the test results about 24 hours after the swabs were taken, and only had to be in quarantine for about 2 1/2 days.

Some people think it's an over-reaction, and this sort of response is unnecessary. I think the government and health department are doing a good job to try to identify any at-risk individuals, and isolate them until they can be tested for swine flu.

Prevention is certainly much better than cure, particularly given the potential rate at which swine flu could spread through the community!

I saw these pink flamingos at the Calgary zoo. Most of them were just standing around on one leg sleeping, but this one was keeping a wary eye on the zoo visitors.

pink Flamingo

Calgary Zoo, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @109mm, 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO200

When they sleep, they twist their neck into some awkward shape, and tuck their head between their wings on their back. They also lift one leg and tuck it underneath their body, and sleep while standing on the other leg.

twisted neck! Pink Flamingo asleep

Calgary Zoo, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @113mm, 1/3200 sec, f/4, ISO200

They actually look very unstable, with the relatively large body balanced on such a skinny leg. I wonder how well they can balance when it gets windy, or when a curious visitor tries pushing them over!

I love the way a light fall of snow provides a light coating on all the branches in the trees.
While making my way from Calgary to Lake Louise last week Monday, I stopped at every lake and lookout that was sign-posted on the road. This is a photo that I took while in the carpark at Barrier Lake.

snow-covered trees

Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @22mm, 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO200

Following on from my previous list of observations, I thought I'd take the opportunity to jot down some more, while seated on a plane 10km above the ocean a few hours north-east of Sydney (but posted on my blog sometime later).

Note that this wasn't my first time in Canada - but it's the first time I've taken the opportunity to make a note of some of the differences that struck me while in Canada.

Here are the additional observations:

16. Waiting staff in restaurants and cafes provide a better level of service than in Australia. [1]
    
    
17. All hotels and airports I visited provided free wifi internet access. [2]
    
    
18. There are lots of Aussies working in Canada. [3]
    
    
19. Light switches are upside down compared to Australia (ie, up is on in Canada).
    
    
20. "Entree" refers to the main course, while in Australia, it refers to starters. [4]
    
    
21. When asked by waiting staff if they would like more coffee/food/etc, Canadians typically respond with "I'm good". What does good behaviour have to do with it?
    
    
22. A "strip mall" isn't what I thought it was! [5]
    
    
23. A car with a manual gearbox is referred to as having a "standard" transmission. Does that mean an auto gearbox is non-standard? Even though most cars have autos?
    
    
24. Canadian toilet bowls are a very different shape to those used in Australia. [6]
    
    
25. ATM machines don't seem to give out larger denominations than a CAD$20 note. [7]
    
    
26. Buildings don't have a level 1, but go straight from the ground floor to level 2.

I have just spent two weeks working in Calgary (Alberta, Canada), followed by a few days of my own time driving through the Rocky Mountains, taking lots of photos. While I'm sitting in the airport at Vancouver (local time in Vancouver is nearly 10pm Thursday night), waiting for my flight to Sydney, I thought I'd take the time to jot down a few observations from my time in Canada.

Note that the last week was unseasonally cold for this time of the year, with maximum temperatures in Banff and Lake Louise only a few degrees above zero in the last few days (although the previous two weeks were quite a bit warmer). It also snowed most days this week too.

On with the observations:

1. Snow squeaks underfoot.
   
   
2. Icy snow crackles underfoot.
   
   
3. Icy snow is very slippery to walk on.
   
   
4. Driving on snow makes you realise how slippery it is.
   
   
5. A car handbrake can be fun in an empty car park (see previous item).
   
   
6. The wind on a glacier is very cold! [1]
   
   
7. The sun shining on snow is very bright.
   
   
8. Sports shoes are no good for walking in the snow, as you get wet feet when the snow soaks through the top and sides of the shoes.
   
   
9. When driving through falling snow, it looks like the snowflakes are coming straight towards you.
   
   
10. Driving on the right (wrong!) side of the road takes a bit of getting used to. [2]
    
    
11. The average-sized car on Canadian roads is larger than in Australia. [3]
    
    
12. Parking spaces in car parks are larger than in Australia (see previous item).
    
    
13. Cars are cheaper in Canada.
    
    
14. Petrol is cheaper in Canada. [4]
    
    
15. When paying with a credit card, never once was my signature on the receipt checked against the signature on the back of my credit card.

I was intending to post more photos from Canada during my time here in Canada. However, despite calibrating the screen of my (work) laptop before I left, I'm not particularly happy with the colour rendition of it, and hence cannot be confident that the colours of a photo are correct (changing the viewing angle of the screen changes the colours, and particularly with photos of snow, it's important to get the white balance correct).

Also, I don't have Photoshop on this laptop, which significantly restricts my ability to post-process photos. I have about 20GB of photos taken while in Canada, and am intending to post some of them over the next few weeks.

I'm working in Canada for a couple of weeks, and on Saturday, I went for a drive to Waterton Lakes National Park, in the south of Alberta.

I used the side mirror of my rental car to take this photo of the snow-covered Rockies.

Rocky Mountains in the rear view mirror

Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, 2009-05-09
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, 1/320 sec, f/7.1, ISO100