7 June - Mysterious Tudor Towers

Happy to say I got my first Honours in Advanced Grade at camera club last night with this image.  I already posted this photo a while ago when I took it, but posted it in colour.  This time I played round with it a bit and quite like it this way - I think it makes it look rather mysterious!

4 June - Moon

Big yellowy orange moon tonight.  Made up for the super moon that I missed out on a few weeks ago.  Not much photography of late, lots of assignments due at the moment and over the next few weeks.

26th May - Another poppy....

Another Poppy photo.  I love this one.  The light was perfect.

25th May - Poppy

Taken at Kuirau Park a few weeks ago.  I never used to like these flowers, but they are amazing to photograph and I have found a few love for them!

23rd May - Lake Rotorua on a misty morning

Absolutely freezing morning this morning, but dropped the girls off at school and headed out to get some more Autumn photos for my project.  Couldn't resist stopping at the lake and taking a pic of the mist.  I added a sepia tone to it to give it some mood.  I saw this done by an amazing photographer I know - however the setting and image are no where near as good as hers!  This will do for me :)

22nd May - Lake Rotorua from Hamurana

Renee had to take some photos for her photography paper at school tonight so I thought I might as well take my camera along.  Pleased I did.  This is Lake Rotorua from Hamurana.  Always an amazing spot to take photos.

21st May - Leaves

More leaves, this time had to take some photos to turn into 3D images at polytech today.  Couldn't put those ones up on here as you need those special glasses to view them, but this is another leaf one I took to go towards my collection of leaf images for my final portfolio.

Mountains from Taupo - 20th May 2012

Another view of the Central Plateau mountains, this time from the lookout at Taupo.  From the left - Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. 

Mt Ruapehu - 20th May 2012

Renee and I had a trip to Wellington for badminton this weekend.  This was the view of Mt Ruapehu on the drive home.  One of my most favourite places on earth.

Autumn Leaf - May 2012

This is one of the photos I'm using as part of my photography assignment for polytech.  My proverb is "I will paint you in your own colours" and I've chosen to follow an Autumn leaf theme.

Easter Weekend - April 2012

Back in April Renee was part of the Northern New Zealand U17 badminton team that went to Hobart to play in the June Bevan U17 tournament.  The team won the event, here they are pictured with their medals and the June Bevan shield.

Day 39 - 08/02/2012

Last minute photo hot off the press.  Took this about 10 minutes ago.  With an hour and a half of today to spare!

Day 38 - 07/02/2012

Was trying my hand (and failing) at panning tonight.  Didn't work at all!  So in the end I ended up with this one.  Along the lines of 'Happy Feet' that I took last year, but I guess this one is Scooter Feet!  She enjoyed the time out scootering around the driveway with Mum watching. 

Day 37 - 06/02/2012

Still on my sunflower theme from the other day....  Love sunflowers, finally remembered to plant some in my garden this year.  I wanted to try masking the flower and taking out the light background in the top right, but ran out of time and couldn't follow my masking instructions properly!  Bad handwriting and missed a step or two along the way....  Oh well, another day.

Day 36 - 05/02/2012

Rather disappointed with todays effort.  Spent the day in Auckland at Renee's training and decided to stop at this spot on the way home as I've always wanted to stop and take a photo here.  Obviously 7pm in Feb is NOT a good time of the day for a photo.  Converted to Black and white and it's still boring.....

Day 35 - 04/02/2012

On the ball today!  Blue and yellow = nice complimentary colours.

Day 34 - 03/02/2012

Another last minute picture - I finished this last weekend after about 4 years in the making!  Good things take time, and Kaya is still young enough to like it - just need to get the edges done and it can then go into her room.

Day 33 - 02/02/2012

One day I am going to do my own dandelion project - inspired by Eva Polak.   However it needs more time than I could commit to it today.  Maybe I will give it a go over the weekend.  You may see more of these photos soon :)

Day 32 - 01/02/2012

First Camera Club meeting for the year tonight.  Was so busy with that that I forgot to take a photo - almost.  Must be a little bit busy with other things at the moment.  This is how I ended the night at home...

Day 31 - 31/01/2012

This one's for Janet.  I thought she would love Kaya's shoes that go with her Minnie Mouse dress.

Day 30 - 30/01/2012

Following on from yesterday's theme - today's photo is of our dinner - cooking as we speak, mind you, Kaya has already eaten the tomatoes.  It's great when the kids love fruit and veggies as much as they love lollies!  Shame I didn't have a nice cane basket to 'display' the veggies in, grass will do :)

Day 29 - 29/01/2012

Pretty exciting evening for Kaya.  Today was the first harvest day of Sweetcorn - she likes that almost as much as she likes strawberries!  Nothing better than out of the garden, into the pot and down the hatch - all within half an hour :)

Day 28 - 28/01/2012

We went to my mother-in-law's house in Tokoroa today.  After chopping and stacking all the wood Brett and Kaya decided to have a swim.  The pool was freezing, Kaya was like an ice block when she got out, I think that's why she's clinging to Dad to tight!

Photographer's worst nightmare today - left my memory card at home, lucky I wasn't going to a wedding!  So once again another photo from the iPhone....

Day 27 - 27/01/2012

Happy Chinese New Year!  This photo was taken on my iPhone (must learn how this camera on the phone works properly!)  I can't get it to take a good quality photo.  Anyway, they had a small celebration at work today.  Dancers, speeches, followed by delicious food!  YUM!

Day 26 - 26/01/2012

Federer - the best looking backhand in the game.  Love the one-handed backhand shot.  Shame he lost to Nadal, must have been a great game, I couldn't stay awake to watch it. Yep, it was late and I took a photo of the tv, because I'd run out of time to take a photo of anything else!

Day 25 - 25/01/2012

I finally think summer is here!

Day 24 - 24/01/2012

Was outside about to water plants when I came across this guy.  Was hard to get a good shot with fading light and a breeze blowing this guy around.  Couldn't get in close to his eyes as he was hanging this way up and close to the ground.

Day 23 - 23/01/2012

What's your flavour?  NZ Marmite vs. Australian Vegemite.  I'm a Marmite girl that's for sure.  Susanne, these jars will be packaged up and sent to Switzerland tomorrow for you to test :)

Day 22 - 22/01/2012

Kaya loves to blow bubbles.  Unfortunately she decided to fill the bottle back up with water, so this is about as far as the bubbles got.  She now understands that water doesn't create bubbles!

Day 21 - 21/01/2012

Kaya Mouse before we headed out to a birthday party today.

Day 20 - 20/01/2012

Debs and Marks wedding today.  Beautiful day and everything went like clockwork.  Without giving too much away before the bride and groom see their photos, here is a sneak peek of their rings.

Day 19 - 19/01/2012

I had to take Renee to Tauranga for badminton training tonight.  Was a gorgeous evening and had to stop in Ngongotaha to take a photo of this sunset just before we got home. 

Day 18 - 18/01/2012

I attended Mark and Debbie's wedding rehearsal today.  Afterwards I scouted around for some nice spots for formal photos afterwards.  The Rotorua Museum is such a beautiful building, so pleased it was restored all those years ago and not let go.

Day 17 - 17/01/2012

Does anyone know what sort of flower this is?  I thought it was kind of cute :)

Day 16 - 16/01/2012

It's taken me so long to post this one coz I don't like it :(

Day 15 - 15/01/2012

It seems that when I'm pushed for time I resort to flowers!  Thank god it's summer.

Day 14 - 14/01/2012

Nothing good on the photography front today - we went out for dinner and I got this rather cheesy photo of Kaya with her desert that she was rather impressed with, and managed to make her way through all but a few mouthfuls of this!  This photo was taken on my iPhone - definite difference in quality, especially in low light.

Day 13 - 13/01/2012

Another day, some more raindrops.....

Day 12 - 12/01/2012

Was talking over wedding photos with Debbie today and who pulls up?  A bride and groom in this cute old car.  I didn't want to impose too much, but managed to snap a photo of the cool old car.

Day 11 - 11/01/2012

Pressure was on today to find time to get a photo.  Not the best of efforts today, not totally happy with this one, but I told you I'd give you one a day!

DAY 10 - 10/01/2012

Well this weather isn't really making me want to venture out too far!  I thought a Water Lily was quite appropriate for today - still raining more than not and found these on a pond by the Polynesian Spa.  I only took a couple of photos today as it was still raining quite hard and only had a few minutes to get a photo before I headed back to work. 

Day 9 - 09/01/2012

I had to go into town today and pay some bills.  I went round by the Government Gardens to see what I could find and here was Mumma Duck and her babies on one of the ponds.  I wish I had longer to sit and watch them, could only spare 5 minutes before I had to head back to the office.

Day 8 - 08/01/2012

The weather really did pack in yesterday afternoon so we headed home early today.  This river was just off the side of the road coming back through National Park.  Weather was really crap today but the light was ok for this photo.

Day 7 - 07/01/2012

Today Brett and I did the Tongariro Crossing.  It's 19.4km of hard work but well worth it when you are rewarded with amazing views.  This is the third time I've done the crossing, not the best day I've done it on - but not the worst either!  We were lucky enough to have an amazing view to eat our lunch in front of.  The weather for the most part was misty and damp, but not cold or windy.  It took us a little over 7 hours to complete and were lucky enough to walk out the end of the the track straight onto our bus that had just pulled up.  Within four minutes we were on our way back to our car.  The track starts and ends in totally different places, so most people catch one of the many buses into the start and out from the finish of the track.

This photo is of Mt Ngauruhoe, also known as Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  It is a dormant volcano and has not erupted since 1977.  The first time I did the crossing we climbed to the top crater rim and had amazing views over to Lake Taupo and beyond - would need to be a lot fitter than I am now to attempt that again!

Day 6 - 06/01/2012

Today we travelled down to National Park and found ourselves accommodation at a local lodge.  We went for a drive up the road to the Whakapapa skifields and it was right on dusk.  Got some lovely photos from up there.  It is a really beautiful place.  There is something about the National Park area that I really love but have no idea what it is.  Just nature at it's best I guess....
Today's photo is looking west from the slopes of Mt Ruapehu - the mountain in the distance is Mt Taranaki/Egmont.

Day 5 - 05/01/2012

Was looking at my tree before and trying to tell myself it is time to take it down for another year.  Then I spotted this guy amongst the decorations - he is one of my favourites - bought him at M&M's World in Orlando, Florida.  Literally wall to floor M&M's - heaven!  I picked up a couple of cute decorations to bring home with me and this is one of them.

PS: my next update will be about Sunday night if I'm not too tired.  We are going to attempt the Tongariro Crossing on Saturday (weather permitting but looking ever so slightly 'OK' at the moment), heading down to National Park tomorrow evening.  Home Sunday sometime.  Depending on how many photos I take will determine when I post on here next!  Have a good weekend everyone.

Day 4 - 04/01/2012

I asked for a nice photo of my girls next to the Christmas tree before I take it down for another year and this is what I get....

Day 3 - 03/01/2012

Bit of a sad day today - had to say goodbye to Dad and Audrey and send them back to Shaky Christchurch.  I will miss them a lot.  This photo is of their plane just taking off - day three over and out...

Day 2 - 02/01/2012

We've just got back from Wingspan - a local sanctuary for the Birds of Prey.  We got to see Ozzie (pictured) in action.  He was very active and sometimes only flying within inches of our heads - very impressive!  If you're ever in Rotorua you should make this a place to go on your list.

Day two down, I don't think I will be lucky enough to get photos like this one every day of the year!

PS: If you want to see a bigger version of the photos just click on the image - Ozzie's much more impressive on a grander scale!

Day 1 - 01/01/2012.

So - Day 1.  Well I didn't venture far today - it has rained so hard here over the past few days I am left wondering if it is in fact summer!  Here is today's image - a Gladioli from my garden, complete with fresh raindrops.  One photo down, 364 to go :-)