Reptiles and wildlife macro

This week we attended a reptile and wildlife macro workshop with Canon collective. We used some canon cameras with 100mm macro lenses that were set up in stations with speedlite flashes and various reflective surfaces to enable us to have some fun shooting these beautiful creatures. As we don't usually use flashes in our photography it was interesting to see how lighting makes such a difference to the final result. 

Here below are photos of Tardini, the magnificent tree frog, Goldilocks, the Darwin Carpet Python and Squirt, the Macquarie turtle. They weren't always happy to stay still so we had to be patient and manoeuvre ourselves into the best position to capture our models. We were pretty happy with some of the results. 

Leanne: top left, bottom right
Justine: top right, bottom left

Water

It's been a little while but yesterday we headed off into the city. We love that Sydney has so much water. There's pools for swimming, fountains for birds and of course our beautiful harbour which was sparkling in the spring sunshine. 

Top left, bottom left - Leanne
Top right, bottom right - Justine

Vivid

Last night we went to Vivid, which is a festival of light, music and ideas.

Canon ran a photography walk where we were are able to borrow a Canon 80D and be shown a few tips on how to get some good shots of Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

 The lights were amazing and we were taken to some less crowded areas around the harbour to play around with long exposures, double exposures, and slow shutter speeds, using our tripods. We were completely out of our comfort zone as neither of us has done very much night photography,  but with a small group and a patient instructor we both got some photos we were really happy with.

Here are our two take of Vivid....

Top left, top right- Leanne
Bottom left, bottom right- Justine

Bradley's Head to Chowder Bay walk

We had a wonderful walk yesterday, we went from Bradley's Head to Chowder Bay in Mosman. It was a very humid and damp day, lots of puddles and brow mopping but it was lovely to be so close to the harbour and marvel yet again at the beauty of Sydney as we chatted along the way. 

Top left and bottom left - Leanne

Top right and bottom right - Justine

Sydney tower

This week we were out & about in Sydney. We decided at the spur of the moment to go to to the top of Sydney tower, mostly as a way to avoid the torrential rain burst that caught us unprepared. With squelchy, water soaked shoes & wet shirts we made our way to the top of the tower. Fortunately the rain didn't last and we had an amazing 360 degree view of Sydney.

So much to see! We took a lot of photos and had a tricky time deciding which ones to put in the grid. It's interesting that the usual Sydney icons didn't make the cut. The Opera house was obscured by a tall building & we just didn't get a good photo of the Harbour Bridge.

These are our two takes from Sydney tower.

top left, top right- Justine

bottom left,  bottom right- Leanne 

January 2017

After a bit of a break we are back with a new project for Two Takes. 

As photographers we're fascinated by the idea that 2 people can be in the same place at the same time but notice & view things quite differently. We usually get together once a month, so each time we do we'll share a grid of 4 photos that show our different perspectives-2 photos from Justine & 2 from Leanne.

 This week we went to Nielson Park in Vaucluse where we swam, had coffee, sat on a rock in the shade, chatted, had some lunch & took some photos. 

Top left, bottom right: Leanne
Top right, bottom left: Justine

Numbers

Sometimes even just looking at everyday items and house numbers can add inspiration for numbers.

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right

Numbers

Matching number sevens.

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right

Numbers

Once you start looking for numbers you can see them everywhere, three men playing cards at Bondi beach and the number three.

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right.

seascape

For our final week of landscapes we thought we'd move to the sea- beautiful blues with layers of sea, clouds and sky.

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right

The pathway

I always think the use of paths in photographs draws you in and makes you want to see what is at the end, to take a walk into the photograph, don't you think?

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right.

Landscape

Rail and road into the distance..... Tracks taking us through the dry and sparse landscape of Western Australia and a road leading us to a patch of morning light through the trees in the Hunter Valley.

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right

Landscapes

For the month of July we are doing landscapes and are starting with two views of the Australian landscape - one of the wheat fields and one of the beach with both landscapes showing an impending storm.

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right.

Autumn colours

I love the deep reds of these autumn leaves and the way the afternoon sunlight shines through them. Such a beautiful time of year.

Leanne's is on the left and Justin's is on the right

More colours of autumn

Luckily the sun shines during our autumn months and it highlights the beautiful reds and oranges in the autumn leaves.

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right.

Autumn on the wall

 I love the look of autumn leaves against a wall, the vibrant colours and patterns of climbing plants are really striking.

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right

Autumn in Sydney

Autumn is definitely here in Sydney as elsewhere in the world you are beginning your summers. The autumn leaves of the liquid amber tree make such good subjects.

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right

Pelicans

Such interesting birds that we often see by the the water. Apparently their beaks can hold more than their belly can. 

Justine's is on the left and Leanne's is on the right

Cute animals

It's hard to resist a picture of a cute little Burmese kitten don't you think? and who can resist the funny face of an alpaca?

Leanne's is on the left and Justine's is on the right

Pets

Our pets are such wonderful company, part of the family really. I wonder whether they would look so calm and relaxed if they were side by side in real life. 

Justine's is on the left (Rex) and Leanne's is on the right (Poppy)