Every new day

The end of another busy week - so going into the weekend I send you a few words written by Eleanor Roosevelt -

With the new day ahead comes new strength and new thoughts.

  I am fairly sure this is a Swan River Myrtle - a beautiful wildflower which I found in the Crooked Brook Nature Reserve near Dardanup - about half an hour from where I live. It is a wonderful place to go for a walk during spring when the wildflowers are out, but any time of year you will find something flowering in the Australian bush. I find walking in the bush is so calming and rejuvenating - peace descends as worries slip away. I hope you have a piece of "bush" or forest near you where you can escape to and enjoy being out in God's amazing creation.

Have a lovely weekend in the company of those you love, and give yourself time to do the things you want to do.

Souffle for breakfast and pizza for lunch?

My photography lately has met a crossroad and I have decided to learn and experiment this year as much as I can with food photography and food styling. So last Monday, on my day off work (my paying day job that is) I spent the day cooking a couple of simple meals and photographing them in the natural light in my garden.

In this mosaic you can see some of the results - cheese and chive souffle for breakfast and pizza for lunch! You can also see olive bread in this shot, which was bought from a local bakery.
Enjoy!

 

Join me in the post below for more foodie pics from last Monday's exploration, or you can also follow me on my food journey by clicking on the tab above - Food glorious food - and to my Picasa web album by clicking here - Picasa web album   I look forward to hearing from you.  

In the meantime, this post is part of Mosaic Monday. To see the work of Mary and other wonderful contributors, please click on the link - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Exploring food photography

I have decided this year to make my project exploring food photography and food photography.
So last Monday, on my day off my paid job.....I spent a lovely day cooking and taking photos of the results.
Most of these are in natural light in my garden, as they say the best food photographers use natural light, although I do still favour my light box for some subjects.

Digital Photography magazine's Macro edition , Volume 12, says that "Food ultimately looks its best right after it has just been served. Often food will start losing its full appeal no more than a couple of minutes after leaving the kitchen. At its best, you should still be able to capture the steam rising from its surface and savour the fresh succulent juices still oozing from the dish that has just been served"

So with this in mind, here is what I learnt.

Here are the eggs ready for the souffle. Take time with the arrangement. This photo was taken in window light, and then sharpened and brightened in Photoshop Elements. 














Cheese and chive soufflé. The soufflé may look fantastic in the oven, but it starts to fall as soon as you take it out, so have everything set up to take the photo as soon as the soufflé comes out of the oven. I had everything set ready to go, but just taking it from the oven to my garden was enough time for the soufflé to start to flop.

I think this one (on the left) is my favourite from the soufflé series.



If you are going to take an overhead picture, then make sure you are totally overhead so everything is in focus. However, I still like this arrangement and photo.






Pizza for lunch?

This is a tomato, salami, mozzarella and pumpkin pizza decorated with a few basil leaves, and made on homemade pizza base. Photographed in natural light under the shade of my pergola in my garden.

What I learnt - use more Mouzarella so the cheese is dripping when you lift the piece of pizza. It is difficult to focus, use a shutter remote and pick up the piece of pizza all at the same time!  It would have added a nice touch to have had some wine in the wine glasses in the background.

Would you like some Olive Bread with that Pizza?
I bought the Olive Bread from a local bakery. I think the basket and the outdoor setting adds to a rustic natural homely effect.



Biscotti - almond bread - for desert?
This one was taken in my light box, as I wanted clean sharp lines with no distracting background.
What I learnt - when you buy a packed of biscotti, half of them will be broken when you open the packet!
I think this shot would make a good magazine shot as there is room for writing at the top. Placing the biscotti to one side of the shot, would also have left room for writing if it were to go into a magazine.

Thank for joining me on my food journey. I hope you have enjoyed this post. The results were certainly yummy to eat!

Thankyou to "Tiddlewinks and More" for giving me the inspiration to start a food project, the Flickr Food Styling group and its members for continued inspiration (their work is amazing), and to Kate, Martha and Linda on Flickr for their continued encouragement.

And to you for looking! I look forward to hearing from you.

The rain has come!

Finally after 72 days without rain - and drought conditions in our south west corner of Western Australia  - during last night we heard rain on the roof! What a sweet sound it was. Throughout the day we had showers, interspersed with sunny skys. It has been a long hot dry summer and the rain has freshened everything. I ran outside with my camera this morning before work and took a few photos of the raindrops on my roses.

and leaves......

and in my lunch-hour I drove to the beach and sat in the car and watched the rain......

 

I picked up a little book of quotes, called "Enjoy the Journey", in a cafe in town today - here is one of them. We are going through a difficult time at the moment and this quote was a gentle reminder to cherish every moment - as it is all part of the "tissue" of life.

"Savor"

Life, we learn too late,

is in the living,

the tissue of every day and hour.

 by Stephen B Leacooke

My summer Agapanthus

Every summer in early December the buds on my Agapanthus start to open. I look forward to this event as I love to watch the gentle unfolding of the bud and the parts of the flower emerge.

The Agapanthus is a native of South Africa (sometimes also known as 'Lily of the Nile' although it is not a Lily). It is common in gardens all over Australia.

By Christmas my Agapanthus is in full bloom on long tall stems - and combined with the colour of the red Coral Bush, and the yellow daisies and Day Lily's, the purple/blue, red and yellow put on a brilliant display in my front garden for Christmas.

Then in January the flowers start to wilt - see below left - and by the end of March the seed pods form - see below right. I have never grown the plant from seed, but they come up in my garden everywhere, you can split a big plant into smaller plants, and they are very easily grown. My friend has her driveway lined with plants that I have given her - they really make a lovely colourful entry during the summer, whilst throughout the year the long strappy green leaves remain green and lush. 

Here is a bud, and the same picture with a bit of pp work done in Photoshop Elements to add a textured feel and the colour adjusted. I am wondering which one you like the best.


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Thank you for visiting my blog. I love my Agapanthus and hope you have enjoyed these pictures.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Today's post is part of Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. To see the work of Mary and other contributors (many of whom are in the northern hemisphere and still surrounded by snow, whilst in the south west corner of Western Australia where I am it is still hot and dry), please click on the link - Mosaic Monday at Little Red house

Love and marriage

My nephew and his beautiful new bride have consented that I can share a few photos of them from their wedding last Saturday. I have put together a few of my favourite photos in this collage to share with you.
The wedding was held on the lawns of Kings Park in Perth overlooking the Swan River. What a magnificent backdrop it was. It was a wonderful day, the bride looked stunningly beautiful and they are both very happy. I wish them every happiness, and thank them for allowing me to share some of their special day with you.

 Sharing a quiet personal moment........

This has been my contribution to Mosaic. Monday. To see the work of Mary and other photographers please click on the link -  Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

When two people meet and fall in love

On Friday we spent a wonderful day with family and friends for the occasion of the wedding of my eldest nephew and his beautiful new bride.  They had an official photographer, but I was asked to take photos of the groom and grooms-men leading up to the wedding ceremony. I also took my own set of photos at the the wedding (of course!). I put on my big lens and captured some lovely shots of the happy couple, some closer shots showing detail and some more intimate shots conveying the love between them. They are a wonderful couple and I wish them love and happiness and all they dream for in their future lives together.

The wedding ceremony was held in Kings Park in Perth with the wonderful backdrop of the city. Here is a collage of some of the photos I took.

and with sepia added

 The flowers included frangipani from the bride's grandmother's house.

The reception was held at the Indiana Teahouse on the Cottesloe beachfront. It is a glorious old building with views over the Indian Ocean. Here is the cupcake wedding cake with a view looking out to the beach.

I hope you have enjoyed this selection of photos. I hope to be able to bring some photos of the couple once I have their permission to share with you.

This has been my contribution this week to Mosaic Monday. To see the work of Mary and other wonderful photographers, please click on the link - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

You are never fully dressed without a smile...........

Tonight I am sending these yellow daisies to a dear friend who is going through a difficult time at the moment. I send her my love, thoughts and prayers. And remind her to take time for herself, and to remember her motto - you are never fully dressed without a smile.....

Balingup and Grimwade afternoon

Last Monday was a public holiday in Western Australia, so our family took the opportunity to spend the day together. We went down to Balingup which is beautifully located amongst rolling hills and valleys about an hour south of where we live, and we had lunch at the Tavern. We had a delicious meal in a relaxed, friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I recommend it for a lovely lunchtime meal. Here is a link -  http://www.balinguptavern.com.au/

In this collage you can see clockwise, my grandson's lunch (they have a children's menu which is always a plus when dining out with children), a view of the hills, an acorn tree at the tavern, my lunch (grilled fish and salad - delicious), and my eldest grandson with one of the cow's from the cow parade. Last summer lots of artists painted and decorated cow statues, and they are now scattered around the South West of our state. The photo in the middle is the Tavern.

After lunch we drove to the Grimwade pine forest in search of blackberries. We had an enjoyable time tramping around the pine forest. We have had a long dry summer, and as it is early autumn here there were very few wildflowers, but plenty of other beautiful images to capture. I put together this collage with some of photos I took.

We found lots of blackberries, but they weren't ripe yet. Actually they are a pest in our forests, not a native plant, and they choke our bush undergrowth and waterways. They are covered in prickly thorns so you need to wear protective clothing. However, they make delicious jam.

It was lovely to be out walking in the bush and we had a wonderful day in the company of our family. It regenerates the soul and helps us appreciate the beauty around us and realise what is important to us.  Jobs around the house and yard can always wait - these precious days are far more important.

I am posting this as part of Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. To see the work of Mary and other talented contributors please click on the link here - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Sending my prayers across the oceans.......

The images of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan I know have sent shock waves around the world. Images of homes and villages being swept away, little children not knowing where their parents are, the look of absolute despair on the faces of the people of Japan, people searching in vain, loss of hope. My prayers and tears of grief go out to them, and also to the victims of the earthquake in New Zealand, the cyclone and floods in Queensland, the floods in the mid west of Western Australia, fires near Perth (West Australia) and to all those other people around the world that are suffering from natural disasters, famine or war.

I am wishing that the wings of a seagull can rise them above the sorrow and return them safely to shore and  into the arms of their loved ones.