Warning: LOTS of photos - so you might want to set this post to load, go get a cuppa, then come back and peruse them

So as Ive mentioned I went away for a week last week, just for rest time, and of course I took my camera. Now I should mention that Im by no means a landscape photographer, and I always prefer to do detail shots within the wider landscape, but I tried. So dont expect anything stunning - but it is much easier to take nice shots when youve got glorious scenery.

I went down south (of Western Australia) to the Southern Forests area. I love it down there.. I love tall trees, lots of birds, rolling green pasturelands, mist and wind and no other sound surrounding you except for bird calls, the wind in the trees, the river flowing, and the sound of your own breathe. It was amazing. I found a nice little hideaway, was there all by myself and it was so relaxing and nice. Not often you can wake up at 2pm and not worry about it because you dont need to BE anywhere or do anything.

I also discovered that I terrible at starting fires, except with the help of lots of fire starters! hehehe Once that bits over, Im fine!! And luckily I figured it out as well, since it was stormy and raining and bit get quite cold over night - the daily temperature was about 10*C, which wasnt too bad actually. But a fire and hot water bottle made sleeping much cozier

Ok.. without further ado, some photos. And there are PLENTY!

My little hide-away

Oh and did I mention I love clouds? There are LOTS of cloud photos!

And the green pastures started.

Youd have to admit being a cow in this landscape wouldnt be too hard a life!

I like how the three of them look identical

And I love this lone tree on the hill shot - I should post a shot Ive got very similar to this that I took a few years ago.

A shot I took one misty night

And then the other part of the trip was the glorious trees of the Karri Forest. I cant describe how much I love trees - and these are just gorgeous.

And the native birds - these little birds are wrens, and are SOOOOO fast - so many shots they are there for one, and then not for the next!

More clouds - the glorious sunset, in one of my favourite areas - Ballingup!


And Ive decided I want this house - isnt it cute, and what a spot!!

And there are some birds that I captured around the gardens of the cottage - there were HEAPS more around, but these were the most obliging It was a great challenge to get these, but it brings back my desire of when I was younger to be a wildlife photographer - I couldve happily sat in wait for ever to get shots

I did attempt some emu-stalking, because I did see some on the property I was staying at, but I obviously wasnt as quiet and stealthy as I thought, because they evaded me. hehehe However, not one to waste the opportunity, I took some detail shots!

One thing that I had to do when I was down south is climb the Bicentennial Tree. Ive done it once before, but wanted to do it again - and one day I will get around to climbing the other two. For those who dont know what Im talking about, there are three trees within the Pemberton area that were used as fire lookouts, and the person on watch climbed to the top to watch for fires that mightve broken out in the bush. They are now open to the public to climb them, but they are certainly not for the faint hearted, those afraid of heights, or who like to be attached to a safety rope at heights

Another warning - if you dont like heights, even looking at pictures of them, scroll down a little bit.

I of course, have NO fear of heights at all! I have a healthy and perfectly reasonable fear of falling, but thats just to ensure my feet step correctly

The Bicentennial Tree from the ground - to the very top is about 75m. Its the tallest one - hence why I chose to climb it.

Your “steps”. Yes, they are metal rods hammered into the tree, with wire mesh around the outside.. and nothing beneath you if you slip.


Me half way up

The view from the first platform

Someone else climbing up

The view from the very top platform, looking out over the rest of the trees.

And a shot looking back down from the manhole of the first platform.

The last day trip I did before I returned home, was to head down to Windy Harbour, which is about 1hr south of Pemberton. I initially thought Id never been there before, but I had a sense of dejavu as I drove down there, and I know I have been there before, but I couldnt remember exactly When. Its a lovely place - lots of colourful holiday wood huts and ocean and bush.

Now remember what I said about me not being a landscape photographer - hence why I put a couple of these up because I couldnt decide which ones I preferred. Lovely scenery makes it easier though!

And one final cloud shot - simply because I love it.

So there ends my massive post. Apologies for those who have dial up!
I would highly recommend a break to everyone if you have the chance to take one. I know this was overdue for myself, and even 4 nights away was fantastic - I wouldve loved to stay there forever, but my friends told me they would come find me and bring me home eventually. hehehe

I promise that tomorrow I shall return the calls and emails I received whilst I was away.

xox
-e-

Im heading down south for a few days, leaving tomorrow, so shall be out of the office until next week. Im taking a whole week off - wow!

So since I will be on a break, I may or may not answer my mobile, but definitely please leave me a message and I will get back to you when I return.

I will return to work Monday 21st July 2008.

Stay safe.
xox

I went to watch my gorgeous nephew at his school assembly last week, since he had one of the more “lead” roles in his classes school assembly play. He was the Wolfey And he did a GREAT JOB!!! My family did a great showing - my parents, myself and my two brothers showed up (dad and uncle), and also our good family friends.

And he received TWO awards! WOOHOO!!

With his dad (my eldest bro).

Later in the day I caught these two shots showing the strange weather - it was forecast to be stormy, yet where I was it was bright and shining sun.

As I drove though I did see this image of the sun being encroached upon by the dark storm clouds, so I had to click it. Note to others: Do as I say, not as I do - dont photograph whilst driving… *blush* )

oooooooh looky

I LOVE nice stationary, plus I have a thing for nicely bound, old and old-looking books. So it was always going to be a bad decision for me to walk into the binders store two days ago looking for a journal, rather than buying a cheap notebook from officeworks (although I probably wouldve walked out of there with heaps of funky things as well!).

I couldn’t help myself - its sooooo nice! They had the option of buying the cover separately and then you just buy the block of paper each time you need to replace it, but I like the bound book too much. Its got luxurious thick paper, professionally bound and it just feels lovely.

Besides, I think its important to have a book you look forward to writing in! Makes it much more enjoyable, and Im much more likely to keep writing.

As promised, Im going to be posting some more shots from Mel & Tim’s wedding.. and gee there are sooo many nice ones Im having trouble keeping them down to a easy viewable number There are also HEAPS of details, so excuse me while I indulge in my love for detail shots!

Mel & Tim, thankyou for allowing me to be part of your wedding day. Your love and happiness was so lovely to be around, and it shines through all the photos. I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon, and I will be in contact when you get back.

Love,

Erinna
xox

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Starting off, the weather for the day was predicted to be stormy and wet, and it didnt disapoint, however the first thing I saw when I walked out of my house in the morning was this:

A full and vibrant rainbow greeted me to the day, and I knew it was going to be fantastic.

Heading to Mel’s house, we were greeted by a bride running early! Wow! And LOTS of yummy details.

I love these ones of Mel - these are my favourites, but there are so many more I could put up!

Tim waiting patiently at the church

I love Wesley Church, because its just beautiful, including the stain glass windows, each showing a different scene.

Kudos to Christine for 2nd shooting for me on Saturday and capturing this shot from the balcony of the church.

They were so happy to be married, and you couldnt stop them smiling after they exchanged vows and rings.

Because of the weather, we had organised to take some unique shots at an antique store in Guildford. A BIIIG thanks to the owners of the Curio Warehouse for letting us use their space!

And the fantastic bridal party included Andrea(Tims sister) and Dave, who’s wedding I photographed last year.

Because the weather was so fine, I decided on a quick stop around the corner to get some shots of just Mel & Tim. This is completely impromptu - I love it, they both look so happy and content!

We then headed to Caversham House, where we got a few shots in the gardens and the waterfall, and then headed in for the reception. Again, lots of details!

And one final one

And just for a final point of interest. A behind the scenes image that Christine shot - the things I do to get the shot… yes, yes I am crouched on Mel’s kitchen bench.. my foot in her kitchen sink - my shoes were off, promise!

Whilst I am downloading and backing up the rest of the images we shot yesterday, this one caught my eye, so I had to put it up here cos I love it! More very soon, I promise.

There are sooo many more and I will put up more soon.

I am SOOOOO excited!!!!!

Not only do I have a wonderful wedding on tomorrow, which despite thunder storm warnings will be amazing (stayed tuned for this one folks, its going to be sooo funky), and even thunder storms will be great images, on Sunday one of my all time favourite musical artists is performing in Perth.

With classics such as Juicy Juicy Green Grass and Newspaper Mama, it can be only person.

Peter Combe, the best kids musical performer when I was growing up, is touring Australia doing 18+ gigs for all the now-grown kids he performed for in the 80s/90s. Its going to be GREAT FUN!

Details of the Perth and Freo gig are here. Be quick if you want to go, since his last one sold out (I dont have to worry about that though - already got my tickets!).
Official Peter Combe site
Peter Combe Myspace

And if you think Ive got a few screws lose for getting so excited about seeing a childrens performer and dancing around to simple corny lyrics, its not that often you get to relive your childhood, and for SOOO many of us, my brothers and I included, Peter Combe was a big part of that! I dont know if I will be taking my big camera, but I probably will take a small one, so I promise to post some pics!

However, first up is Mel & Tim’s wedding tomorrow, and Im off to one of our locations to ensure we will all fit and stay out of the rain!

xox

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Oh! and if you have not already done so, please take the time to let me know who you are, using the poll option to the left. Thank you!
-e-

I took this shot a few weeks back (well.. June 9th to be precise - after all the storms).. the day had been cold and wet and cloudy and windy.. of course I love that stormy weather so I’m not complaining. For those who dont know my house, my office is in the front room, so I have a great view out the front of the house, and I had the curtains drawn back to watch the weather (safely tucked up warm in front of my computer). Towards the afternoon the clouds parted, the wind dissipated and the sun shone through and lit up the gum tree that is out the front. I LOVE that wet look with glistening leaves and dripping stems. I quickly picked up my big lens, sat at my desk and shot off a few frames.. sounds lazy I know, but it was COLD outside and I knew if I took the time to find shoes and head out the front, the light would’ve gone… sure enough, after 10frames, the clouds came back over and we didn’t see the sun again for a few more days.

There are times when I dont bother picking up the camera to capture these moments, thinking I will remember them, or when Im just too slow, but Im so happy that I did take the time for this shot because I just think its magical. It was just a friendly reminder I suppose to take time out to enjoy the amazing moments that occur everyday.

oooh how exciting! I luuurve parcels, as Im sure everyone does! Ive been waiting for a parcel for a few days now, so I cant wait to go pick it up (it said after 3pm… an hour to go!)

I know what it is, but I want to keep you all guessing until I pick it up! Any ideas?
—-

Back from the post office, and I dont know about anyone else, but when I get a parcel, it takes a lot of will power on my behalf to not open it in the car before I leave the shops, let alone in the post office itself… and today, I did not have that willpower!

So for the past 30mins Ive been playing with the parcel!
Whats the difference between these two images? They were taken with the same lens (my 50mm)… None of this images have been cropped in Photoshop.

No, its not a macro lens.. but filters! I was playing around with some at Mark & Kate’s wedding and decided that I wanted some of my own. There are four of them, going from x1 thru to x10… and this is what happens when you put ALL of them on at the same time! Just cos I could

I put my ring to show the comparison.. and heres a shot to show just how close I could get with the camera for that shot (oh the joys of having two cameras )

And one more shot of my ring set just to show you how cool this is!!

Never thought Id look at a ring photo and think about having to dust them!

Ok.. so I was going through Kate & Mark’s photos again, and cant believe I missed this image when I was going through.

Some images are great with just a little basic tweaking, contrast, colour etc, whereas others are perfectly suited for a bit more lovin’ in Photoshop.. like this one! And I dont do it very often, but I couldnt resist.

What do you think?

Did i mention how much I loved this dress?