magnificent moment

I just had to share this shot from last night on Farm Beach. We had actually finished the shoot, and I had the camera packed away when this burst of colour exploded across the sky. It was magnificent and truly magical.

proud as....

..... a peacock.

Meet Ben.

He's our gorgeous but confused male Peacock in full feather and shakes his thaaaang at everything but the Pea Hen. She totally ignores him, most of time. But every now and then, when he's strutting his stuff to one of the chooks, she comes up behind where he can't see for his elevated tail, and pecks him on the butt. That's deflates his ego quicker than you can blink.

 She definitely wears the pants out of  those two.

They are so fun to watch and have around. I had a photoshoot here one evening, and they both strolled down into the wild oat patch to see what we were up to. They hung around just to keep an eye on things. And when we finished in that spot, they walked alongside us to the next location. The kids loved them.

train spotting

I've been train spotting lately. The main reason for this sudden interest is the Eyre Writers wrote short prose for the Port Lincoln Camera Club members to select from and shoot it. Conversely we are submitting to them images for them to compose short poems with.

The prose I've chosen is this one

from paddock to port

laden with earth's liberal bounty

bound for foreign lands

clackity clack, clackity clack

full - coming here

empty -going back

the alloy conga

glides upon a ribbon of steel

playing follow the leader

written by Dennis Lightfoot

I've taken 2 images that I'm really happy with, but now I need to make the choice of which one to submit. It will be printed as a 8x12 inch and mounted along with the prose for display

Which one do you think??

cherish - this is the good stuff

A couple of years ago I took the kids up to the top of North Block to see what our patch of Australia looks like from a bird's point of view. I rang Kylie and she met us at the foot of the hill. So armed with the camera, bubbles for the kids and a picnic lunch, we spent a very pleasant time on top of the world.

With thanks to Kylie for allowing me to post this LO with her children in it!!  xx

wind-rowed canola

I went out in the paddock yesterday to photograph the very newly wind-rowed canola. In fact, the wind-rower was still working in the paddock when I was taking my shots lol. All the elements were there yesterday. The sun, the clouds, the fresh rows before they settle into the stubble and get windblown. I even commandeered Kym's ute so to use the tray for extra height.

shunting in the pre dawn light

Last Tuesday morning I spent some pre-dawn time around Lincoln with my dear friend Ann. The foreshores of this area are her playground with her camera. And as she's an early bird (something I definitely am not) she's sees so many things with that clean soft light of the new day.

Mind you, we were on our way to somewhere else when I spotted these three trains at the Grain Terminal. Ann didn't see them at all lol. So a quick u turn, out with the cameras on tripods and this is what I caught.  Then we took off to Kirton Point for that dawn image a couple of posts earlier.

Love the variety that Lincoln offers!!!!

splosh

Scrap Therapy
MY LO for the 'SHOOT IT, SCRAP IT' Action Photography challenge for November that went live tonight at Scrap Therapy. The paper used for the arrows is MME Lime Twist Fly a Kite-Spring-Zag Paper.

There's a couple of days left if you'd like to participate in the Action Photography Tutorial and Challenge that I've written for Scrap Therapy. You'll need to register in the forum (it's quick and easy) to load a photo into the  Action Photography challenge gallery, so you can use it in the 'Shoot it, Scrap it' challenge.

The idea is to get you to take photos according to the tutorial,  display the one that pleases you in the gallery and then use that same image in a LO challenge. 

It's a two step challenge.

Clear as mud???  :O)

cocktails by trev

Trev (Nat's 'Husband of the Year 2009') was the cocktail maestro for the EB weekend in Adelaide. Whatever our desire, he could whip it up. I recall that Ange and I gave him a bit of a work out on the Friday night. ;o)

I photographed each delicious one before sampling , sipping knocking them back. Yum. yum. yum. Last in bed and first to rise next morning. Go figure.

Scrapped for Scrap Therapy's Man of the Month. Basic Grey. BG used here is Hello Luscious - Raspberry Syrup and Hello Luscious - Honeyed. Also used is Cupcake - Mac'n'cheese. I've also used Prima Roses of Spain Anais.

kirton point sunrise

I stayed down in Lincoln after Camera Club on Monday with Ann to head out with her for a dawn shoot on Tuesday morning. As I'm a bit of a night owl, I sat up for a while processing shoots for my scrapbooking.


With only 4 hours sleep under my belt we were up before the crack of dawn to shoot the beginning of the day.The sky looked so grey and so not promising. In fact we were elsewhere shooting when we saw gaps in the clouds. We hightailed it to Kirton Point just in time to catch this

I drove back home to photograph the last few Kindergym kids at 9.30am for their fundraising drive, That has proved to be very popular and the kids came out of the woodwork for their photos.  :O)


I then spontaneously went up to Lock to go to Shabby Chic Shack Scrapbooking with Sue Parsons to check out and resupply some scrappy stash. We made it back in time for me to pick up the kids from school, get them changed into their gear and took them round to Gymnastics. I co-coached on the floor with group 1 and group 2.


By the time we got home (around 6pm) I was pooped. I headed to bed around 10pm which is really early for me and I ended up with 9 hours of unbroken sleep. It has been a loooong time since I've done that, I must have needed it.   ;o)

I love it busy, and I get bored and awful twitchy if I don't have a few things on my plate. I do find it so hard to say no as well, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is my life and I love it!!!!!!!

eb july 2009

I've done a quick LO for the mid October challenge @ e2c

I've simplified the inspo even further by reducing it to one rectangular element and a white with one colour scheme. The story is the important bit and as there is a lot of it, the embellishing has been kept very minimal so has to not distract from it. I've taken the layering idea and used with a different approach.

click on it for a larger image

The journaling is the same as the LO below this post. I wanted to do something to showcase the story and this is what I came up with.

t :)

eb weekend - july 2009

Two years ago I had an awesome weekend in Adelaide at Nat & Trev's meeting the chooks I had got to know on the EB scrapbooking forum.

There is precious little embellishing on this LO as its all about the photos and the story is journalled on the back

(click on the pic for a larger view)

Journaling says


Well it happened. My long awaited, anticipated weekend in Adelaide where I catch up with 5 very good online friends. I 'met' them about a year ago on a scrapbooking forum. The girls all flew in from Melbourne, Tasmania and one from Perth  and we landed about the same time early Fri morning. Well that was the plan until I woke up at my Grandpa’s to discover I had set the phone alarm wrong.  My flight had        already left. So I had to laugh (what else could I do) and rescheduled.

We all stayed and scrapped with Nat and her very amazing hubbie, Trev, in their home. We had Lou and Wendy join us as well for the weekend. We coffeed, we shopped, we ate well, we opened the bar early, we talked a lot, we laughed a lot, we scrapped a bit and we slept a bit.

I didn’t think the plane would allow a trailer to be hitched on behind it, and the thought of down sizing what I needed to bring stash wise broke me into a cold sweat. I don't pre plan LOs. It all happens as it happens. So I had to either drive it all across or take none at all and fly. So I flew with the lappy, the camera and a toothbrush. (and a few necessaries like a change of clothes). I left plenty of room to bring    goodies home tho!!!

Trev was the cocktail guru from heaven. Whatever we desired, he was the man. He was voted ‘husband of the year’ from all of us. I am envious of Nat that she has a hubbie that is so encouraging and understanding about what this scrapping hobby really means to her. Thanks guys. You are AWESOME. (word of the weekend). Nat, you are unflappable.

I met the amazing Louise Nelson who joined us for the weekend. Her style is both unique and inspiring. To see her work and how she goes about it in real life was such a treat. Photos in the scrap mags do no justice to her creations. Louise had all the girls going nuts on           Glimmermist all weekend. I feel a connection with Louise and she thinks we are kindred spirits. Wow. What a compliment. She is truly an individual who lets no one put her in a box. That I do understand!! And she issued the toilet paper challenge. Who would have thought that crap wrap would look so good. Prima look-alike lollipop flowers, spiral blooms, colour blocking, twisted lengths wrapped around twigs.    Imagination was limitless this weekend.

Sonia won the TP challenge. And her LO was so cool. Hopefully she puts it on her blog so you can see. I hope her students were kind to her today (Monday). It was such a big weekend.

At long last I met Ange. She was so warm and welcoming on the forum where I met her. What she and her Mac baby cant do, well its just not worth doing.

Cat came all the way from Tassie. Man, she is AWESOME!!! So quick with a one liner. And she discovered an SA secret. Fruit Chocs have now invaded Tasmania!!! ;oD

Donna travelled from Perth. She owns Mystical Scrapbooks. Donna is an wonderful lady. And we were lucky enough to meet and scrap with her sister too.

Wendy is Nat’s neighbour from over the road and was a fellow scrap sister!

We had a scrummy roast Pork with all the trimmings on Saturday night. Delish. And also on Saturday we headed out for a photoshoot by a blue wall. It was great to get outside and muck around a bit. Thanks to Trev for taking the group shots of us.

I can’t thank Nat, Trev and their daughter Jess for letting us all invade their home for the weekend. There was not a spot of space to spare in any room anywhere. Every room had mattresses, scrap stash or a bag in it.

I really hope this will happen again so we can all reconnect and reunite.

hiz kidz

I had a bit of a relax, chill out day today. I'm up to date with all the processing for photo shoots and I had the time to scrap a LO for Scrap Therapy's Man(ufacturer) of the Month. This month is Basic Grey. I've used the Basic Grey Dark Chocolate Chip Alphas on this one.

m&n

I had a family come visit for a shoot last weekend. Due to unfavourable weather this shoot was rescheduled several times, but FINALLY we had the perfect evening. The light was soft and the breeze dropped right out.

Mr Fix it

country

sophisticated

 blossom

 bond

 cuddle

 mwah  (isn't Dad's expression priceless!!) 

 sweetness

Mr

more over at Tiff Firth Photography on Facebook

stay tuned

I've been working on a photoshoot so I haven't scrapped, blogged or even got outside to take any shots.

But will post images of the photoshoot soon.

:O)

t

star of the week

Annie has me trained so well. Each time she is awarded a school award, she asks me with battering eyelashes if I can pleeeaaassseee scrap it for her.

Awww. Can't resist those lashes. I've kept all the awards the kids have collected and as I scrap in chronological order, I've just got to this one from 2 years ago.

Idea of the blocked months is from the current Creating Keepsakes, Deena West's article of scrapping 100 photos in one evening. Love this look so much. I can see myself repeating it down the track.

arachnoid

If you don't do spiders, don't scroll down

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This one was near death at my back door and that is the only reason why I got this close to it for this shot.
:O).   I don't 'do' spiders either but they are fascinating subjects to photograph.

After it 'passed on' (I was moving it around with a pen to make sure) the kids had a great close look at it under magnifying glass. They were mesmerised.

During the holidays they had the chance to handle a pet python (it still creeped me out) and I was pretty proud at how confident Sean got with it, holding it's body in his hands. They also cuddled a wombat, goooed all over a baby koala, but the snake really had both of their attention. Of course I spelled out very very clearly that this is NOT what we do with the snakes we see at home. I shoot those ones.

Wilderness Wanders care for orphaned natives and Amanda from their has very kindly offered wall space to hang the framed print of 'The Promise' to sell for me.

 How awesome is that. So while we were there, the kids had an experience with the native babies.

3 sprouts on the beach

We had the  PERFECT evening at Farm Beach last Thursday for the Photo Shoot. Mum had been collecting an assortment of props over the last few weeks for this.

When we finished the kids and Mum were so happy, so wet (not Mum) and so keen to do it all again. And yes, I got in the action and got wet too. How could I not, I love being a kid.

These are just but a few, and there's more to see on Tiff Firth Photography (3 sprouts on a beach) on Facebook.

sweetness

1000 yard stare

 solitude

 checking out the beach

surfer dude

 love

gift giver

I think the journaling says it all.

So love this girl.
xxx

Scrapped for Scrap Therapy's MAN(ufacturer) of the Month. Basic Grey.
BG products used are Wholly Cow Bel and Floral Border Rubons.

spring sunset over Kapinnie lakes

I think this has become my favourite spot. Besides only being 10 mins from home, it faces west. Perfect for sunsets reflected in the lake. And I can get on the other side of it for sunrise. Sweet. This is the same spot that I photographed that big storm front blowing in!!!

Laura and I headed out this evening while our men had a bushie with the kids, marshmellows and glowsticks. I hope the blokes shared them with the kids ;op

a little ray of sunshine

last rays of the day

blue hour

G's spring shoot

Wednesday was the perfect evening for G's spring shoot. The sun was sweet and the temperature was mild. 

Perfect.

What a beautiful woman.