Day 16: $8 well spent

I walked past a colleague's office at work today, noticed her beautiful bunch of roses and remembered her telling me that she buys herself a bunch of flowers every week to put on her desk at work. I thought that was a lovely idea, although one I don't afford myself very often.

Striding home listening to Bloc Party 'Banquet' I decided to go and buy myself a bunch of flowers to brighten up the lounge. I think i'll treat myself more often, there's something uplifting about flowers. So that brings me to today's photo.

On a side note, I walked past a guy wearing a 'Hugs not war' t-shirt on the street the other day and couldn't help but wonder what he would do if I/someone actually went up to him and hugged him. Would he connect it with the t-shirt or think you were crazy? I have worn a slogan t-shirt before that said 'happy' or something and I remember a train guard making a cheerful remark at me and for whole minute I had no idea what he was talking about!

Day 14: Photos of the day

Walking through Surry Hills today I decided to document some of nature's defiances against the urban landscape. Again, I will go back with my SLR and re-shoot some of these. I just chose one of them to post.

I went to Balmain with friends today and stopped off at Adriano Zumbo to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say I wasn't disappointed! I had a New York Eclair. The filling was like a cheesecake - divine.

Day 13: Photos of the day - peep show

I walked through the back streets of Chippendale on the way to the Eveleigh farmers market today and found some great buildings to photograph. I am going to go back with my SLR but took a few with my iPhone in the mean time (ok the middle one was taken by Carl but it was my vision). I had a bit of a play around in Photoshop to experiment with different looks.

The photo below was taken in Ultimo, I walked past a closed gate and the image of a woman caught my eye and made me do a double take. You could just see her through a tiny gap and it reminded me of the idea of a peep show. I desaturated the gate and added camera blur.

The frangipane cake was from the Black Star bakery in Newtown, very tasty indeed!

Day 12: The best toy to be attached to a vehicle ever?

It's been a busy few days with the Soundgarden gig on Wednesday and Australia Day yesterday. It's been nice to just kick back tonight and watch the tennis.

Soundgarden, Sydney Entertainment Centre 25 March 2012

Soundgarden, Sydney Entertainment Centre 25 March 2012

Australia Day spread 26 January 2012

The best toy to be attached to a vehicle ever?

Day 10: A photo a day

Went to see Soundgarden perform at Sydney Entertainment Centre tonight. There are several photos I would like to upload today but I need to sort through them. I took lots of photos on my phone of the gig and whilst they are a far cry away from my band photography, I always like looking at the lighting from afar.

I took this photo on my way home from the gig. I expect the lights are part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in China Town.

Day 9: A photo a day - favour

The wedding favour I was given on Saturday was two of these. Very tasty, made me want to branch out into making cookies. I'm going to make some macadamia Anzac biscuits for Australia Day on Thursday.

Day 8: A photo a day - Lucy Goosey

I almost didn't upload a photo today, again I'm not very happy with the ones I took but as I was about to go to bed I felt like I was letting myself down for not committing to it. So I have decided to change the rules. I will take at least a photo a day but the photo I upload will not necessarily be that photo. I am going to re-visit some of my old photos and edit them slightly.

Today's photo is one that makes me smile. I took it at Wicton Farm when I was on holiday with my family a couple of years ago. This goose was in the garden of the farm house we were staying in.

Day 7: A photo a day - Dasher

Meet Dasher, he's 14.5 years old and lives on Crown Street in Surry Hills. He sits outside his house and gets a lot of attention from passers by. He greeted Carl by licking his hands!

Day 6: A photo a day - blood

I caught my ankle shaving this morning and as much as it stung I liked watching the patterns forming on my leg as the blood ran down it. Mixed with water it looked like watercolour paint. I tried to stop the bleeding but it started again and when my leg was dry I liked watching the way the blood pooled and caught the light. This may all sound very morbid or strange but there was something aesthetically pleasing about it so I decided to play around taking a few photos.

On the other end of the scale I went to a wedding today. I didn't take many photos but I actually preferred my blood shot to any of the ones I took there.

Day 5: Photo(s) of the day

I was walking home from Newtown (there seems to be a theme here, it's on my way home that I start thinking 'I must take a photo today!') when I stopped to watch some people playing football in the park and noticed the plants that were starting to creep through the rusting metal bars. It made me think of someone reaching their hand through a prison cell's bars. 

I started thinking about the restrictions that humans put on themselves (myself included) and the ones others put on us. I thought about how I love the way that you can try and build a pavement over a tree trunk or a wall next to grass but nature will just be like 'Ok, I can see what you've done there but I'm going to keep growing anway'. 

One of the things I miss about university is no longer having projects to force myself to think creatively. I have decided to create my own project documenting nature's feats against the urban landscape. 

On a side note, I was walking past an electronic gate as it was closing from left to right and I had a sudden urge to sneak through before it closed Indian Jones stylee. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. I had no desire to get into the car park on the other side, I just wanted the thrill of the challenge! 

Day 4: A photo a day

Music is such a powerful thing. Walking across the park on my way into the city after work my attention immediately switched to a brass band that suddenly started up. It was a dress rehearsal for a performance that was part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. My mood was suddenly uplifted. Unfortunately I don't know what the song was but it is quite a famous one. It goes "Da da da da da da da, da da da da da da". Ok, you're never going to get it but I'm hoping if I hum it to someone that might know (Nat, if you're reading this, my bet is on you!). I stood and watched the dancers and band. It's amazing how fast music can change your mood.

I had a second musical experience after my shopping trip (I didn't find a wedding outfit sadly). There was a busker outside Zara, he was fantastic on the guitar. The sort of person who always draws a crowd. I watched a child looking up at him as he played. By the look of it they had a bit of a moment so I thought i'd try and capture it in a photo. It pains me to upload all of these photos that would normally just be throw away ones but I'm trying to stick to my photo a day and in the days, weeks and months that follow hopefully i'll be able to upload photos that i'm proud of.

Day 3: A photo a day

I left work today to a beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine and it put me in the mood to buy myself a bunch of flowers to brighten up the flat.

I got home and felt compelled to dust off my SLR and photograph them on the balcony. I'm not especially happy with the result but it felt like reacquainting myself with an old friend or putting my favourite winter coat on after a year in the wardrobe.

One thing I did notice which I don't often is the 1.6x crop that my camera has. I framed this photo to include the edges of the flowers but it has cropped them to the point where I don't like the composition. It made me want a full frame sensor even more!

On a side note, I had a great evening rock climbing (my new thing for Wednesdays). I conquored a really high wall and after walking out of there with arms like rubber I feel like i've accomplished something. So much so that on the way home I decided I deserved a burger and chips! Back to being healthy tomorrow!

Day 2

I enjoyed today's photo session. I started looking around for inspiration on my walk home from work for photo number 2 and noticed an art installation next to the building site in Central Park near Broadway. I could have spent ages taking photos from all different angles catching the light in different ways. I didn't like to limit myself to one photo so today you have two.

Something that made me smile today - hearing someone playing the theme song to the Disney film Beauty and the Beast on the flute.

A photo a day

It's that time of year again when we start to think about our new year's resolutions. I have quite a few this year but one of them as suggested by my yoga teacher Nikola was to take a photograph a day and upload it to my blog. It has been a while since I focused on my photography so I'm hoping this will inspire me to spend more with my SLR and the aim is to upgrade to a 5D MK II by the end of the year. Baby steps...today's photo was taken on my iPhone.

Sometimes I will merely be documenting things that made me smile, and other times I will take more time to compose my shots using my SLR.

The first time I saw this sign around the corner from my flat I had to do a double take. Surely this is offensive? No? I soon realised the shop itself was called 'Chubby Girl'!

Something that made me smile this morning were the bubbles that gently flew out of my washing up liquid bottle as I was doing the dishes. There's something tranquil about watching bubbles fall...