the gift of flight

Every 12 months or so I have the great privilege of having a flight in an Australian Army Blackhawk helicopter. For those of us who have family who work in the industry the department is kind enough to let family members have a flight every now and then to familiarise ourselves with what it is they actually do every day.
This year both my young sons were old enough & tall enough to qualify for a flight. I honestly don't think I've ever seen them look so happy - ever!
Their little faces were beaming from ear to ear, and who wouldn't be. A Blackhawk cruises at 250 km per hr, so when you're zipping through the air with the pilot deliberately pulling negative G's with the sole intention of turning stomachs it's pretty much everything a 6 yr old could dream of. It's paradise up there.

So there I was strapped in between my two boys. One with his face painted like a tiger, the other with his face painted like a leopard. They were fearsome indeed. Perhaps I'll show you the photos one day :)
We didn't have a long flight, probably only 5, maybe 7 minutes, but the view was magnificent.
We've suffered from a terribly debilitating drought here on the Darling Downs for the past 10 years or so, but this last winter we've has record rains, and the rains haven't stopped. So now, instead of the usual dry brown that we've become so familiar with, what I saw from my helicopter was vibrant green all around me. Full dams for the first time in years, Farmers have planted their crops and can expect a bumper yield.

So this is one of the images that have come from that flight. Five minutes of fun and inspiration.

the many faces of he

Every year I put together a photobook of the nicest photos that I’ve managed to shoot of the boys. It’s a nice tangible record of their lives and a great gift for the Grandparents.

For this year I’ve been looking for a shot of Reilly that captures his personality so that I can get a nice big framed print for our wall, but he’s such a poser that I was struggling with what to do.
Today I realised that this larrikin poser is so much a part of his personality, this is him, I really don't have to look any further.

I've never made a polyptych of any sort before, so I've had quite the learning afternoon. I figured that it couldn't be too hard, and determined that it wouldn't be too hard, (positive thinking, I was prepared to try everything).

The hardest part? Trying to decide if I wanted to go with a warm or a cool filter to finish the colours...... settled on cool - 'deep emerald'.

Anyhoo, lots of fun, can't wait to buy a print & see him on my wall.

a daisy a day

I'm not much of a gardener. In fact if truth be told, I have this incredible, and somewhat uncanny knack for killing almost every piece of plantlife that is entrusted into my care. I wish it weren't so, I really do. I love gardens. I love to be surrounded by the beauty of nature, and the earth, all those gorgeous flowers that I'm constantly poking my camera at... I just can't seem to help them grow.

Having said all that, these little daisies don't appear to need my help. The garden bed in my front yard is laden with them. They're spilling out onto the lawn and are at real risk of taking off down the street if it wasn't for a very keen man that I know with a whippersnipper.

We're also trying very hard to grow a little veggie garden to help our boys learn that plants actually come from the earth not from the supermarket. So far it's doing really well & also seems be resisting my notorious plant history - perhaps they just haven't heard of my reputation yet ;-)


[shot using the TTV technique : Nikon coolpix S8000, vintage kodak duaflex II, weird plastic contraption made from duct tape & a 2 litre ice-cream container, Processed in PS CS5]