Blue Mountains Lawson Dog Show

Before Christmas we had the privilege and joy of being the photographers for this dog show held in Lawson on the dog off-leash area. It rained from start to finish but no one seemed to care- least of all the dogs. There were smiles and wagging tails all round. We took so many beautiful photos. Here is just a selection:

 

Hipstamatic!


I said quite some time ago that I would do a post on Hipstamatic - the reason that I got an iPhone! So here it is. For those who don't already know, Hipstamatic is a camera app that allows you to take photos in square format with a variety of processing effects applied at the time of taking the photograph. You can purchase (for around 99 cents usually) extra 'lens' and 'film' packs to add to the app. Its a really cute retro style of photography. Once you get to know the different 'lenses' and 'film' types you can have a great time and create quite stunning images. I recently saw a photographic exhibition at the State Library of NSW where photographs of Afghanistan were all taken with this app! The photos were blown up really large and still looked great. (Sorry to the photographer whose name escapes me).

On my recent family road trip to Victoria, I decided to leave the DSLR and all the lenses at home and instead take my new FujiX20 (ooh lovely compact - more on that another day) and my iPhone.

I chose one film and lens set up and then took one photo a day that I posted on Facebook to let family and friends know what we were up to. Below are some of the photos from that trip. They are all straight out of camera:

Day 1: Goulburn - The Big Merino. It's been twenty years between visits to this big fella!

 

 

Day 2: Glenrowan - Ned Kelly's last stand

Or perhaps not...

Day 3: Melbourne - surprise, surprise it's raining!

 

Day 5: Werribee Open Range Zoo - we went specifically to find Yakini...all grown up. Very exciting day and a brilliant zoo!

 

 

 

Day 6: Melbourne. Had to grab a shot of this fabulous crochet- decorated bike in Morris and Sons

 

A bit blurred as it was inside an arcade that wasn't too bright- but sometimes you grab the shot when you can. After all, not all photography is fine art - sometimes it's a memory for your family. And with Hipstamatic you can get away with it (just a bit) as it adds to the retro feel.

 

Day 7: Phillip Island  - a bit of beach r&r for this mountain girl

 

(Note the sloping horizon! Choosing a border for the shot does mean there's not much you can do to fix it up! The only solution is to not make the mistake in the first place - note to self!)

 Day 10 Clunes: Staying here by virtue of cheap and cheerful accommodation - or serendipity perhaps. One of only 17 International book towns in the world. So I had to buy a whole bunch didn't I - it would be rude not to!

Day 11: Daylesford Cidery. That's one big dog!

Day 12: Sovereign Hill

Day 13: Bendigo. On arrival the sight of this yarn-bombed palm set the tone for a fabulous, colourful day.

Day 14: Echuca. Now I have to get the DVD of 'All the Rivers Run'! Great end to the trip

You can see that there are limits to the quality of the images in some circumstances (though the images here are resized for web and quite small so you aren't seeing them at their best quality)- eg indoor photography tends to be a bit grainy, but I find it so much more appealing than just the standard camera phone. Later, I'll post some other photos using different combinations to show what can be achieved)