We recently added a new pet to the family - a young female kitten named "Bella". As is typical with kittens, she has lots of energy!

On the weekend, I tried to get a photo of her in mid-air leaping from the ground onto the top of her scratching post. However, she didn't want to co-operate...but I still managed to get some interesting photos of her.
Here's a selection of 8 photos from the weekend session.

I can pose

I can dive

At the end of a recent business trip in Adelaide, some colleagues and myself finished our customer meetings at about 4pm on a Friday afternoon, and headed to the airport, with most of us booked on a Virgin Blue flight scheduled for 7:15pm.

When checking in, we were told our flight was delayed by about an hour, and we were told to listen for announcements about boarding times for our flight.

One of my colleagues was booked on a Qantas flight that evening, and managed to get us all into the Qantas Club lounge. It just felt wrong walking into the Qantas Club lounge with a Virgin Blue boarding pass in my pocket, but I wasn't about to complain - I would much rather spend a few hours in the lounge enjoying the free food and drinks, than out in the airport.

discarded

Adelaide Airport, Adelaide, South Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 50mm f/1.8 @50mm, 1/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO640

On Saturday night, I went along to a PIP get-together in Como.
Steve had made a few steel wool spinners, designed to hold some burning steel wool while someone swings it around their head.

Once it got dark, the fun began! Here are a few photos:

Como, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 5 sec, f/5, ISO100

Como, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 3.2 sec, f/5, ISO100

The previous two photos were taken using a tripod. The next photo was hand-held, as my daughter was using my tripod at the time.

Como, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @16mm, 2 sec, f/4.5, ISO500

For more photos from the evening shoot, see my gallery.

When taking macro photos, you need plenty of light on the subject, to allow a reasonably large DOF (depth of field), yet keeping a reasonably fast shutter speed, and a low ISO. As a result, ambient light is typically insufficient, requiring the use of a flash.

However, using a bare flash will result in harsh lighting with harsh shadows, so it's important to diffuse and reflect the light to create a more pleasing photo.

This post provides details of the very cheap homemade reflector that I use for macro photography. Note that I can't claim credit for the idea, but I first saw it here on flickr.

The Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge provide a stark silhouette against a bright orange sunset sky in this photo taken a couple of weeks ago in Sydney.

sunset behind the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge

Bradley's Head, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @35mm, 1 sec, f/6.3, ISO100

I was in Sydney for a few weeks for work, and took the opportunity to take some photos on the weekends. On my first Saturday in Sydney, I got together with Mitch, a fellow amateur photographer from OCAU, and we visited a number of different locations around Sydney, including Bradley's Head, where the above photo was taken.

As the sun rises above the horizon, the early morning light silhouettes the distant hills and buildings seen across the Swan River.

Sunrise photography is fickle - you can go to the same place at the same time on consecutive days, and the sunrise will be different every time!

sunrise layers

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @200mm, 1/6400 sec, f/4, ISO320

Jeff Revell (from PhotoWalkPro) has been a professional photographer for 25 years.

His book "Canon 50D: From Snapshots to Great Shots", published earlier this year, is written specifically to teach Canon 50D owners how to take great photographs, and to learn how to use the camera's features in different situations.



This book is clearly targeted at people who own a Canon 50D. It focuses specifically on the features, functionality and controls of the 50D, and as a result, would not be of much use to anyone who doesn't own a 50D.

One of the first photos I took with the Canon 50D when I first bought it last year, I love the soft red texture of this flower.
This was taken in the Midgegooroo National Park, in Roleystone.

ant exploring Calothamnus rupestris flower

Midgegooroo National Park, Roleystone, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 100mm f/2.8 macro @100mm, 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO400