back in the 1900's

This shoot was based at a ruin in the middle of a canola crop. The ruin gave the idea of dressups appropriate to the age of the ruin. There are shots with the ruin, but these ones I can reveal.

more images in this album from Tiff Firth Photography on Facebook

Every year (and this is our 6th year together) we do a special hand image. This is this year's idea.

an opportunity too good to miss

Whilst heading up a hill to photograph a property landscape for a client, one of the Aerotech Air Tractors was busy overhead.  What an opportunity too good to miss.

kapinnie yeelanna railway line

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The Kapinnie-Yeelanna railway line hasn't been in service for a long time. The narrow gauge line was put out of commission when it was deemed more economical for road trains to truck grain from the Kapinnie silos to Port Lincoln for shipping to the export markets.

When I was a kid I remember my Dad and a mate found a Put-Put Kalamazoo at the Yeelanna silos on a Saturday morning. With a bit of creative electrical rewiring and the battery out of their vehicle, they got the Kalamazoo going. So off they putted from Yeelanna to Kapinnie to watch the local Saturday cricket match. Apparently they had forgotten that paddock fencing had been strung across the tracks at different points as the track was no longer in use. They still got to Kapinnie for the cricket and back to Yeelanna later that night. I'm not sure how much is true or how much is creative storytelling that I've heard, but it makes for a great yarn.

what a week

What a jam packed week.
Venus Bay last weekend with the Camera Club Association. All the clubs on EP converged on Venus for a weekend of fun and photographic opportunities.

Dinghy

The Narrows

Back Beach

Boat Ramp

Fishing for their supper

Pelican

Painting with light

Murphy's Haystacks

Venus Bay Jetty with prawn boats

Monday was a day in Lincoln with the kids as they had a student free day. Hair cuts and sorting out modem issues. Hooray. My modem now works as it should. I've been hot spotting from my phone for the last month as the replacement modem continuously failed to activate.  Telstra Shop in Lincoln are my hero for the moment.

Tuesday was back to Lincoln for me. Bi-yearly mammogram, a visit to the Chiropractor and back in time for coaching the boys at the Gym Club.

Wednesday was a trip with the family to Adelaide to watch Mythbusters live on Stage. What a great show. The kids love science, Sean especially, so it was a wonderful opportunity to fan that flame for them.  They asked for a mother/daughter team to come up on stage, and Annie and I jumped up and down for that chance. And they noticed us. Yippeeee. I shook Adam and Jamie's hands, told them about our 'family fart competition' which was inspired by their flatulence segment. Annie and I were asked to interleave a couple of phone books and then Adam was suspended on harness with the phone books as part of the abseil line, to prove the point about pressure tension.

I also had a bunch of injections done at the Travel Doctor in readiness for my trip to Africa next year. One of the shots (Yellow Fever) I had to have done in Adelaide, so I had it done while I was in town instead of making an expensive special trip for it later on.

Thursday was visiting different family members and taking a tour around a collage with the kids in mind later on. Annie's so keen she wants to start at Year 9, instead of Year 10. That won't be happening, but I do love that she's really keen on the concept of collage. Me, on the other hand, is dreading it. My heart is already shredding just thinking about it.  :'(  
I will be sure to savor the next 3 years and try to stuff it full of memories for her.

Friday saw me on a hill by 9am taking a farm photo for a family to hang a 2 metre canvas in their home.  The countryside is looking at its absolute finest at the moment, with the golden canola richly in flower.

As I was making my way to the hill, I was able to capture this. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  Simplicity at it's finest.

Saturday morning found me on location by 8am for a family photoshoot. The location they had chosen need the morning sun for it to work and it was a brilliant morning. It wasn't cold at all, quite pleasant actually. I had the jumper off pretty quick and it was such a soft morning light.

By the time I had finished there, and scouted a location for a photoshoot later this week, I was a bit puffed, so a power nap was in order, before heading out to a 40th last night.

Today was a perfect nothing day for the kids. They're a bit congested with a cold/flu and a day off to recover was exactly what they needed. I mowed the house yard on the ride on while they vegged in pj's while going through a box of tissues. Poor little mites.

Right now I should be in the middle of post production for the family shoot yesterday, but I really wanted to get one shot done for me to post on here.  And that's this one,

Oh and one last detail. We lost our beloved Sandy a few months ago. She was the kids' cat, and she was such a cuddlepot. Kym's not a fan of cats at all, hence our 'flat cat' stickers on our windshields of our vehicles, but I don't mind them.  We collected a kitten a couple of weeks ago (Sandy's half sister from a recent litter), and brought Munchkin home. Next morning I let her out of the shed and I stepped inside the house for a moment to get the flea collar and she was gone.  I called and called with no luck. We had to go. The kids were due for the school bus and I had things to go to. When I came home later that day, I called and called. Still no Munchkin. I rang the family that we got her from in case she was heading back that way, I rang the council in case someone found her somewhere, and all but gave up hope of ever seeing her again.

Would you believe, 2 weeks later a photo of her popped up onto the local community Facebook page to ask who had lost a female kitten. She was found in Cummins, some 9kms away by road and probably about 7kms as the crow flies. I'm thinking she might have hitchhiked a ride in under one of the vehicles and somehow survived 2 weeks as a frightened little 4 month old kitten in a totally unfamiliar environment.  Its definitely her, as the family where she came from, have seen her here since I brought her back home, and they've confirmed that, yep, its Munchkin.  Needless to say she's used up a few of her 9 lives and we check the vehicles before we leave the yard.  Now to get rid of feral cat number 11 that has arrived in Munchkin's absence.

And that's a wrap.

its never too cold for icecream

It doesn't seem to matter what the temperature is,whether its hot in the summer, or damn chilly in the winter, icecream covers all seasons.

~ still here ~

I've been around but madly busy. I had my desk cleared and was about to launch into scrapbooking as much as I could before the spring photography sessions swing into top gear. And then I put my hand up to help someone with a project to be ready for the Golf Club's 50th Birthday.

I'm so glad she decided to delegate as just the bit I did to help took 18 hours complete. And she already had the bones of it in place. There would have been no way she would have that job done on time, with the other things on her plate. So it was nice to be able to help her out.

The saga with the feet has a happy resolution. YAY!!!   I've been fitted with custom orthotics and I've played two lots of 18 holes of golf with any problems at all. In fact they feel just fantastic. No pain killers, no swelling, no burning, no numbness. Just plain ol' feet that I can now not rule my life. Thank Goodness.

I took 4 kids up to the Cleve Field Days today for the Cummins/Port Lincoln Combined bands. They did really really well. Their timing was great, the music was clear and everyone came off with smiles.

Tomorrow night is Port Lincoln for scrapping, Friday is Venus Bay for the weekend, Monday is Port Lincoln, Wednesday and Thursday is Adelaide. Looking forward to that trip.   (details later)  :)  So out a fair bit over the next few days.

There's other things happening in the background that are a bit boringly pedestrian to blog about but they all seen to soak up my time. Just busy being busy. I think if someone asked me for a job description I would have to say 'full time volunteer'.

Stay well.

- hero -

the words say it all in this one.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero.

I am strong and wise,

and I know no fear.

But the truth is plain to see,

She was sent to rescue me.

I see who I want to be,

in my daughter's eyes.

the kit

A trip through memory lane regarding my photographic kit back in July 2010.  The Canon 50D was my second camera back then. Jumping forward to the present I've made my way up to Pro Level Canon 5D MKII which I sold on to upgrade to the Canon 5D MKIII (full sensor) and I have a second camera in the bag which is the 7D (crop sensor). I'm hearing rumours of the 7D MKII coming soon, which if the noise issue has been addressed, I will probably look seriously adding to the kit.  The 7D will go Annie's way as she's showing interest in the camera lately.