If you follow my G+, you’ve probably already seen most of these, but I wanted to blog them anyway, for those who haven’t fully sold their soul to Google just yet

This year, I am loving photographing the wildflowers more than ever and have even started using my tripod and devising new ways of protecting my delicate models from the sun and the wind. We are working on welcome signs and shelterhouse signs at Baldivis this time, so most of my work is being done there.

It is nearly wildflower season and some of the early ones are out. I spent yesterday morning looking around and taking some photos at Baldivis Reserve, in preparation for the next round of trail and shelter house signs we will be doing there. Looking forward to many more sessions to come, there is something harmonious and peaceful about photographing nature.

Bee orchid:

I’m in love with this one:

Pink native wisteria, an exciting find as it is not common like the purple variety, in our area anyway:

And boo!

Looking forward to going back and taking more … am hoping to convince myself to get up early and see what I find with a little frostiness and early morning light. Sleeping flowers most likely, as I would like to be, but maybe some interesting shots as well. Stay tuned ..

On the drive home to Perth, we decided to go take the coast road and stopped for a visit at the Pinnacles. We were just going to do a very brief stop and quick drive by but it cost $11 per car to get in so we decided to make the most of it. We visited the discovery centre then took the girls for a walk around the rocks. They loved them and it was a great break and of course a chance to take more photos!

My session this week chose to keep their blog preview private, so I don’t have anything to show. However, I was inspired to stop at a location I’ve been meaning to check out for a long time on the way home and take some photos.

I had been wanting to take the girls here for some environmental portraits, but maybe not:

!

Its wildflower season again and I’ve been taking photos here and there for the collection but not had a really good dedicated session. On Sunday I took Aylish with me for some one on one time and gave her the 350D to use. She was fantastic, spotting many flowers and taking lots of photos. But the trip was on her schedule, not mine, so I didn’t get to really stop and get all the shots I wanted.

With that in mind and also hoping to get more light for the hungry macro lens, I determined to set out after dropping the girls at school today. Got all my gear out and even went to the effort of taking the tripod. And then the camera started playing up! Realised it was an almost flat battery and that I didn’t have a spare on me! Being just slightly stubborn, I stayed anyway, turning the camera off and on when it stopped working, turned previews off and used manual focus. So I did manage to get some photos but just one that I want to share:

At first I thought it was a butterfly

Let’s hope this is all a very good lesson on charging the battery more regularly and making sure I have a backup!

We’ve been taking the dogs down to the dog beach in Rockingham, as its pretty quiet this time of year and the dogs love running in the sand.

I keep meaning to take my camera with me so yesterday I did and here are some of the shots. Must remember to take my camera out more often for random photos

Whee!

Ick

My favourite

Just another sunset in the west

The last photos taken for the Lake Richmond signs included some gorgeous little locals, the Slender Tree Frog and the Moaning Frog. I was struck by how amazing their eyes are.

This little tree frog was quite jumpy but he did manage to stay still long enough for a few photos.

This second shot gives a better perspective of how small he is.

The moaning frog was less active but had a bit of a cheeky look about her. This is her outside her home:

Thank you so much Leon and Helen for finding, catching and modelling the frogs for us and for your hospitality and thanks as always Christine for organising it

Like most people, I’m scared of snakes. Just like spiders, they send off this irrational fear response and the sight of one or even a sound that might be one slithering through the leaf litter makes me start to panic a little.

However, if I am looking at something through the lens of my camera, it loses its power to frighten me and all I concentrate on is how it’s fitting in the frame and how I can get a good shot. Which I discovered by leaning inside a snake enclosure at Armadale Reptile Park, to try and get a better shot of some dugites. And by leaning towards a tiger snake as it flattened its neck in annoyance at being disturbed!

So saying, I am no wildlife photographer and need much more practice if I’m to be any good at it. However, I really enjoyed pushing my boundaries getting these and think they turned out okay, all things considered:

Thanks Christine for organising the trip

Edited to add one more photo of the tiger snake, looking grumpy:

We took the girls down to the Rockingham foreshore on the weekend and just as we arrived there was this imposing cloud alone in the sky. I love these kinds of clouds, they remind me of angel wings. I took a few shots but before long it had stretched across the sky and then vanished.

I have been doing some photos of thrombolites and sedgelands for the DEC and local council, to be used on new interpretative signs at Lake Richmond. I can’t begin to explain how liberated doing this work is making me feel and am forever grateful to my friend Christine, who organised it.

Natural environments always draw me, but in the past I have wanted to photograph portraits in the landscape, not simply the environment itself. Which inevitably resulted in frustration that my models (aka my children) wouldn’t behave as I wanted (with some exceptions of happy “accidents” where what they wanted to do was actually perfect). Going into the environment and accepting it as it is, seeking its beauty rather than trying to force my own ideals is probably something most photographers instinctively do but for me is new and exciting.

I’ve not included the client photos in this blog post but just a couple of shots I took out of personal interest.  Old things like this always strike me as treasure.

These swans followed me around the lake and when I stopped for a time at the far end they started swimming back and forth in front of me, teasing each other and showing off. This isn’t a great shot but I thought they might be offended if I didn’t include them!