Category Archives: Photography

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On Being Different

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For at least the last four years, I have been getting notes from The Universe. Most of the time I rush past them when they show up in my inbox but occasionally one stops my finger from pressing the delete button too quickly.

This is the one I received yesterday.

Well, actually, Elizabeth, you were different.
You didn’t want a perfect life, a typical life, or even a normal life.
You wanted a one-of-a-kind.
How we doing?
~The Universe

If you asked, I would have to say that I think The Universe is doing alright by me.




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Hot Steppin It Through New Zealand Thermal Parks

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I’m moving quickly this morning before we leave for Wellington and wanted to give you a look at two thermal parks we had a chance to see recently. I wish I had more time to describe it in detail, but time is short so what I say will need to be as well.

If I were to say smelly, scalding, and beautiful in its varied colors and even the barren bits then you would have a pretty good idea of the experience. I forgot to say that there is a strong scent of rotten eggs in the air … overwhelmingly so in places, but worth seeing if you ever get the chance.

The dried surface can look crusty and firm, but can be very thin and dangerous in places. I have included a couple of shots of some who chose to disregard the signs to get a better shot. Although I am not always known for following the rules, on this occasion I did.

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Cathedral Cove And Other Places For Daydreaming

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While out walking a couple of days ago on our way to a place called Cathedral Cove, I spotted what looked like the perfect place to take a nap. From a distance I could see a place in the trees close enough to see and smell the sea, but not exposed in the way one would be on the beach.

We were walking past in a hurry to reach the beach when I told John that I was going back for a photograph. I told him that I wanted to be able to remember it so that if I had insomnia as I sometimes do, I could picture myself there in the grass and focus on that instead of whatever might be keeping me awake.

After a snap or two of the napping place under the trees,we set off once more in the direction of the white cliffs above.

We walked an easy and well maintained path that was shaded with Ferntrees so large that I felt as if we were in a jungle part of the time.

Once we were almost there, we climbed down a long series of steps until we reached the sand on the other side.

John wasted no time in popping out for a bit of sun and photographs, while I stayed closer to the rock wall in the shade.

Yep, that is me sitting in the shade in my hat and even though you can’t see it, I’m wearing a good bit of sunscreen too. If you look a the photo below you can get a glimpse through the cave.

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Manly Beach – Soft Sanded Surfer Heaven

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Elizabeth Harper & John Winchurch - Manly Beach, Australia

I posted the photo above on Facebook, but since not everyone has a FB account I thought I would share it here as well. I snapped this on Manly Beach when we took the ferry over from Circular Quay in Sydney. The wind was blustery that day with a storm approaching and we only had a moment to put our feet on the soft golden sand before the raindrops came to chase us off. Even though a storm was hovering just off shore while we watched, surfers were taking advantage of the waves.

Manly Beach Surfers

John Winchurch - Manly Beach, Australia

Here’s a look at Manly Beach from the other direction. There are huge trees near the beach that look like a type of pine and remind me of trees along the northwest coast of the US, but still are a bit different from any I’ve seen.

I’m typing in a coffee shop called Gloria Jean’s which has free wireless for one hour with a purchase. Free internet access is hard to find in Auckland so I have to keep things short. We’ve been paying for it in our room, but I tend to use it up too quickly as the download is limited and expensive.  Gloria Jean’s has good coffee, friendly staff, and yummy low-fat muffins, but my hour is almost up and it’s time to run off to see more of Auckland.

I will be back later to tell you about an amazing musician I met last night on Victoria Street here in Auckland. His name is Luke Hurley and you can hear and read more about him by clicking here.

His music was so good that after listening only long enough to snap a couple of photos, I paid $20 for a CD. We had a long listen back in our hotel room and loved it! Plus, I found out something very interesting in the minute or so that he paused to meet and speak with me. I’ll tell you next time when I have a minute to post.

Luke Hurley

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Amazing Auckland

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Auckland, New Zealand

I can’t stop to talk for long this morning as there is so much to see, but I just had to share this photograph from yesterday. We took a short ferry ride that gave me a chance to see the city of Auckland from a distance and it was stunning from every angle. I’ll be back in a bit with more photos hopefully later today.

We’re having a great time here and I wish I could could drop more images into this post, but my online access is limited so I can only leave you with a taste for now and the promise of more to come.

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Things That Fly In Sydney – Birds, Bats, & Qantas Airlines

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If asked what I found most interesting during our three days in Sydney you might find it a bit different to hear that I was completely intrigued by the airborne creatures and not the traditional sights more familiar to most.

While I found images like the famous bridge and Sydney Opera House good for a photo opportunity or two, it was the birds and bats of Sydney that captivated me.

We flew into Sydney on a Qantas flight with seats near the wing so the engine was in my line of sight for much of the flight. I noted to John that our plane had Roll Royce engines which was unlike any airplane that I had flown on in the past.

Rolls Royce Engine On Our Qantas Flight

I was a bit alarmed to see that the day after we arrived another Qantas flight out of London headed to Sydney had a problem with its Rolls Royce engine where pieces of it fell off. I hate flying anyway so I did a bit of obsessing about our flight in December when we fly on Qantas from New Zealand to America before deciding to leave it to the Qantas folks to sort it out. Everything about our Qantas experience personally has been good so I am going to go with the assumption that our flight home for the holiday’s will be as well.

Going back to my topic of birds and bats, this little bird kept trying to steal my banana bread when we first arrived. We had stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat in the  Botanic Garden on our walk to our hotel room and I was amazed by the bird sounds and sights all around us.

Sitting with our backpacks while John went inside for our coffee, I saw something that looked unusual from my chair in the shade and I could barely wait for him to come back so I could move in for a closer look.

Fox-faced bats were everywhere and I sought out a volunteer the next day who gave me an education regarding these bats and the problems they are causing for the park with tree destruction as well as the safe way they intend to relocate many of them to another location. They are protected and as I learned, play an important role in plant pollination.

Rainbow Lorikeet

The Rainbow Lorikeets I saw were using their brush-tipped tongues to get to the nectar in the pink flowers above. According to the people who work in the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, the nectar ferments in the heat and makes the already noisy and gregarious birds even more vocal as it makes them a bit drunk.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

This was just one of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos that we saw all over Sydney. I was surprised at first, but quickly became used to seeing these large noisy birds that can live up to 100 years.

I will be back with more fun things to share about Sydney a bit later as it’s time to explore Auckland, New Zealand where we woke up to blue skies and a view of the water this morning.

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My Experience With A Fearless Fox In London

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You hear about urban foxes living in London and sometimes you see shocking news stories about fearless fox attacks like the one last June that went after twin girls who were sleeping in their beds. You may have seen video footage as I have like the one shown here, but despite all that it can be hard to imagine them roaming the London streets.

That changed for me last month when John and I spotted one after leaving my sister Margaret at her London hotel for the evening. We had just dropped her off after my day-long birthday celebration and were walking past a small hotel with cars parked in a partially open garage when I spotted the bold one you see on the roof of a car.

London Fox 2010

I took about 20 photographs while using the flash with little to no response from the fox.

We were standing on the sidewalk about 20 feet away and I was more nervous than the fox seemed to be.

In this shot you can see the fox just before he or she decides to move along.

After standing up and having a slow stretch, the fox walks down the front of the car and goes off through the garage in search of perhaps … a late night snack.

This photo taken the next morning shows the distance from the sidewalk to the car. While doing research for this post, I discovered an article citing a report released a few days ago that said in March of last year, 11 Penguins at the London Zoo had been killed by fox who had managed to get into their enclosure.

Before the attack on the twin girls last June, I would not have thought much about the possible danger of having them around, but I was reminded by the articles I read that they are still wild animals even if some of them like the one we encountered do not seem wild at a glance.

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Public Displays Of Affection – When Is It Too Much?

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While in London last month with my sister, we had a walk along the Thames after John arrived on my birthday. With only two days left on our visit, John took us on a walking tour to some of the places we had not managed to see during our time in London. We saw and photographed a great many interesting places and things on our walk, but the couple below turned out to be the oddest of the day for me.

 

Public Affection On London Street

 

As we turned from the river and went down a nearby street, I was surprised to see a couple about my age having what was clearly an intimate moment in a public place, in the middle of the afternoon. My sister Margaret and I had been walking with our cameras in hand the whole day and as we approached and they did not move, I could not help but snap a photo or two.

This slightly blurry one gives you another look at just how absorbed they were in their connection. Her eyes were closed and he seemed  to be talking to her as we passed, but softly with words that only she could hear.

I took this image after I looked back and saw that their position had not changed.

Immediately after that, a couple walked by and I caught their expression just after they had given the couple a surprised look. I wish I could have gotten their initial expression especially that of the woman who looked rather shocked to see this private moment happening within a few feet of her.

When I turned back for a last look, I half expected to see they might have moved apart, but they were still there behaving as if the world was not passing by. John and I discussed it later and thought that perhaps they might have been having an affair and had no time to go to a place to carry on privately.

I don’t think of myself as a prude, but I do think that some things should be done without the benefit of an audience. What about you …would this have caught you off guard as it did me or would it have not even rated a second glance on your internal shock meter?

For the record, I asked John this morning what he thought and he said he was amused rather than shocked and thought the couple were as he put it, ” … probably grabbing a quick snog because he had to go home to his wife.” If that is so then my blogging about it may not be the best thing for the couple, but a good one for a wife who might need a better understanding of her husband’s latest project at work.

 

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There Is Something Free At Printemps In Paris

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Printemps department store in Paris is filled with all types of marvelous items most of which exceeded the amount I wished to spend when I was there recently with my sister Margaret. Everything in the store has a price tag and even a trip to the loo for a bathroom break cost a euro, but there was one thing that could be had there for free. You have seen it before if you saw a post I wrote a few weeks ago. If you missed it, let me just say that what you get for free at Printemps is an amazing view of the Paris skyline.

I snapped this photograph on a walkway between two of the Printemps buildings. Click on it to get a clear look at the two window cleaners on the upper right side of the image.

This is from the other side of the walkway. I had my Canon G11 set in Color Accent mode which in this case was set to pick up the color red.

Here you can see a small gathering of people trying to catch the perfect shot from the rooftop terrace.

 

Another image from the rooftop.

I know I have completely disregarded the rule of thirds but I don’t care. I like this shot with the abundance of clouds and sky.

More big sky along with the ever familiar Eiffel Tower.

There is ample space to have a rest from your shopping or sightseeing and there is a small restaurant on the same level serving light snacks and drinks. Anne from Anne In Oxfordshire visits friends in Paris fairly often and was curious as to where I had managed to capture images like those above. I told her when she asked in a comment that I was saving the location for another post, but now that I’ve done the big reveal I wonder if anyone worked it out before today.

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The Street Of The Fishing Cat-The Narrowest Street In Paris

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While rushing past what looked like a tiny alley between two buildings in Paris, I saw the eye-catching image painted on the wall in front of me. Intrigued, I snapped a couple of photographs making sure to include the street name which loosely made a little sense to me … cat, fish, huh?

I was truthfully too interested in getting a proper photograph to consider that this narrow street was in fact even considered a street until much later when doing my research online.

What I saw was colorful umbrella and the shadow figure of a what appeared to be a man with a shadow cat. I did not realize until I had snapped a couple of shots that the red line in front of the cat was a fishing pole.

There’s more to this story though.

When I snapped the first image, it looked like the one below.

This was my initial shot which I took very quickly. I was thinking that even though I was in a hurry, I wanted a shot of this interesting scene. One look at the ugly graffiti covered box and the missing wall plaster on either side of it forced a quick evaluation of what I might do to get the best shot.

I noticed the lamp post that had been over exposed by my flash for the first time when I looked at the image in review on the camera and then after adjusting the flash, I moved over a few steps and snapped the image below before taking the final one in the first image above where you can see the cat waiting with the fishing line.

By using what was available to hide the damaged wall, it added greatly to the shot and reminded me in a way of a Gene Kelly moment from the movie, Singing in the Rain.

It is always interesting to me how a slight change in perspective can greatly alter your view.