248
~ Waiting ........... ~

.

.
This young woman was waiting for her fisherman to pack it in and take her home ... I assume he did ... eventually ....

249

~ Crash Landing ~
.

.

Ok, I know I promised no more pelican shots, but hey ... I loved this moment as this wondrous great bird touched down into the water with all the grace of Meatloaf leaping into the bath ...

250
~ Made on China ~

.

.
A much-loved china painting my mother did many years ago is given a small tweak with solarisation and colour saturation adjustments ...

251

~ Still Got The Blues ... ~
.

.

Once again my learned colleagues may be able to assist their botanically challenged friend with the correct name for this one ... otherwise it shall just have to be referred to as 'pretty blue flowers' ...

252
~ S.N.A.G. ? ~

.

.
"For goodness sake Ethel will ya hurry up and sought out that tangled line ... I can't sit here all day and the fish ain't gonna wait forever either !"

253

~ Reclining Gull ~
.

.

Sometimes, there's nothing more relaxing that just sitting on a nice patch of grass, watching the world go by, and soaking in the warmth of the sun ...

Editorial Comment # 1 ...

Apologies for the infrequencies of recent postings. The last couple of weeks have been mayhem and madness and have severely limited my time to add to this blog. Hopefully, things will start to ease up a bit now and I can re-focus on the job at hand ! :)

Editorial Comment # 2 ...

Just to clarify the reason for the existence of this blog. Firstly, this blog is NOT a series of photographs specifically published for impressing people. I do not profess to be an elite photographer (yet, but I'm working on it), nor do I expect anyone to get excited about what I do (yet, but I believe one day they will). What this blog IS is a project I have set for myself ... it is more for my own benefit than anyone elses ... It is about stretching myself ... learning from things I do (photgraphically speaking), both good and bad. I feel honoured that there are a number of folk who choose to check in from time to time to see how it's going, and I will ALWAYS appreciate criticism in any form, as long as it's constructive. If you don't like the photo's because they are offensive to your taste, or if you find the descriptions or comments get up your nose, then please bear in mind that no-one is holding a gun to anyone's head ! Feel free to decide that the site is not to your liking and move on :)

Cheers, AJ

254
~ Redlands Revisited ~

.Another aspect of the beautiful Moreton Bay ... the natural colours that abound through this place are breath-taking to me ...

255

~ Here's Mud In Your Eye ~
.

.
A small boy doing what small boys do ... became somewhat concerned when his feet became stuck and he couldn't extricate himself from his muddy situation ... "Daddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ..."

256
~ Boogie, Woogie Bugle .. um, Girl ~

.

.

Originally, this was a much larger photograph I took of a girl playing a trumpet in a cemetary with an ugly background of industrial concrete facades ... was cropped and treated to give the feeling of a smoky jazz club somewhere ...

257

~ Guessing Competition #3 ~
.

.
Ok, what is it ? ... As usual, there are no prizes ... :)

258
~ Out for a Duck ~

.

.

With apologies to any non-Australians who may not understand the title, being a cricket term here .. no, not the small creature that makes a noise at night, it's a sport where, when you're in you go out, but when you get out, you have to go back in .. simple really ! ... Ok, might make this the last duck shot for a while .. it's getting nearly as bad as the pelican issue of a short while back ...

259

~ Duck ! ~
.

.
Playing catch-up after an extremely busy week that has kept me away from the camera and the blog ... I promise I'll try harder ! Here's a couple of Daffy's relatives that graced me with their presence this afternoon.

260
~ Thufferin' Thuckotashhhh ~

.

.

Introducing my hero ... a genius legend, yet still so sadly misunderstood by such a large percentage of the great un-washed public ... The Duck holds a special place in my heart, and also the Chief of Security position in my office ...

261

~ Wash Cycle ~
.

.
What was once someones pride and joy is now, for whatever reason, just another piece of useless flotsam on the shores of Moreton Bay ... Don't look at this Mason, you might find the image disturbing !

262
~ Horror Movie ~

.

.

Remember "The Day of the Triffids" ? ... Has been a long time since I saw the film, but this flower conjured up memories of man-eating mobile plants for me. It also bears some resemblance to fettecine (sp?) and/or Chinese noodles in my over-active imagination ... but hey, it's getting pasta joke now ! (moan) .. For the purists, the colours evident are all natural and were not added during processing.

263

~ Spring Has Sprung ~
.

.
More of the joyous warm colours of spring ... I just love this time of year :)

264
~ Backyard Bouquet ~

.

.

Again, no idea what these are (ball's in your court LG) ... Pretty as a picture though ... funny that ...

265

~ Kingfisher (No relation to Kate) ~
.

.
This is the same little guy who appeared in posting # 269 ... he obviously enjoyed his celebrity status so much he has returned every day since to visit. Obviously a very young bird, he continues to be harrassed by the Myna's and now also a rogue Magpie who has joined the winged vigilante force determined to make his life a misery. I, of course, offer him consoling words and his own personal photo shoots ... he seems happy with that.

266
~ Lounge(ing) Lizard ~

.

.

One would assume this specimen to be a relative of the chap in the previous posting (267) ... Every bit as obliging as his brother, he sat REAL still and waited while I went about my business ... both have now replaced said snake on previously aforementioned Christmas card list ...

267

~ The Dragon's Lair ~
.

.
When I spotted this little guy he darted off so I took off after him ... He wasn't running from me I discovered, he was chasing a 2 metre snake who was also making a hasty retreat into the water ... the snake got away into the reeds, the dragon stopped and posed nicely ... I have posted him a thank you note for being so obliging .. as for the snake, he's off my Christmas Card list ...

268
~ Self Portrait - The Sequel ~

.

.

Someone once told me that I was no oil-painting ... well, thanks to PhotoShop, now I AM ! ... Pic was taken for a local newspaper press release via the trusty old Pentax 'point-and-click' camera mounted on the tripod. The tripod is heavy duty, the Pentax is not much bigger than a credit card ... yes, it looked extremely silly, hence the smirk in the pic :)

269

~ Houston, We Have a Problem ... ~
.

.
This Noisy Myna bird spent a great deal of his time today reminding the poor old Kookaburra that life wasn't meant to be easy ...

270
~ The Eagle Has Landed ~

.

.

Eric the Eagle (or is it Bob Hawk ?) on a maritime platform somewhere in Moreton Bay ... Owing to the distance (even with a quality zoom lense at full stretch), the focus was not as sharp as I would have liked, so the only thing to do was to stylise it ... quite liked the outcome ...

271

~ Something Old .... ~
.

.
Somebody's Grandma ... Just a little experimenting here ... Everybody seems to want old photos made new ... I like to be different :)

272
~ Global Warming ~

.

.
I really need to get out more ... still, I guess taking something mundane, boring and humdrum and breathing a bit of artistic life into it is more productive (and economical) than sitting around in a bar or cafe somewhere ?! :)

273

~ Web Wrap ~
.

.

Ever wondered what it would look like if you covered a spiders web with cling-wrap then hit it with a hair-dryer ? ... Well, now you know ...... :)

274
~ Fluoro Flora ~

.

.
All the wonderful colours of nature .. (and a few ring-ins) :)

275

~ Frond Memories ~
.

.

I was always told, "Blue and Green should never be seen" ... Just as well God never took that advice ! :)