RXA

Healesville Sanctuary

Originally uploaded by RXAphotos

At ten o’clock this morning I met David, Chris and Mel at the Blackburn Road shops near my current abode and we set off to Healesville Sanctuary. Today being the first of monthly photo shoots we will embark on the second Sunday of every month.

When we arrived at Healesville we got our gear ready and started shooting. The four of us went to all the animals and of course the “Birds of prey” demonstration. One of the employees came out after the show with Minerva the Owl and held her up for photo opportunities. Needless to say the four of us were quickly nicknamed the “paparazzi” by the employee and the nearby crowd. I would hazard and say that between us we captured about 150 photos of the owl. The employee wanted the owl to get used to the cameras and the noises they made so he was more than happy to hold Minerva there for about ten minutes.

After Healesville we went to the Maroondah Reservoir for some photo opportunities their. They were releasing some water into a lower dam so there was the opportunity for some flowing water shots. I made a valiant effort and ran up the hill to the lookout tower and was rewarded with some fantastic views and near cardiac arrest.

Finally with the light fading we all clambered into the car and set off home. A great day with the family and now I have six gigabytes of photos (701) to go through tonight.

Update: After the initial sweep of photos I have deleted 187 so I am now down to 584.

Mmmm … pie

Originally uploaded by RXAphotos

The title isn’t a typo … it was intentional. One of you will recognisie it.

Yesterday after returning Matthew in to the safe hands of his mother I ventured back to Glen Waverley and twiddled my thumbs before going for a walk to the local lake with the camera. I realised as I was flat on my stomach trying to get the angle right on a dandelion macro that I must be a little serious about this whole photography thing as I was generally ignoring the muttered comments made by passers by.

Upon return to the house, in a round about way, I was invited to dinner at Timbo and Selena’s. Not one to normally pass up a free feed, I grabbed the necessities for dinner at someones house (only one camera and my MacBook) and drove Baronia.

It had been a disgusting amount of time since Timbo and I last hung out. So it was great to catch up. Selena was her normal radiant self and it was fantastic discussing life with her again.

The dinner was superb (as you can very well see) and was followed by strawberry pancakes. Little do they know but I’ll be launching myself on their doorstep again shortly!

A funny thing from the night was realising that not only did they know a friend of mine (hi Fiona!) but I had sat next to her at Tim and Sel’s wedding! This was before I met her this year. The wedding photos proved the seating layout. Funny.

After taking Timbo through my digital work flow at his request, I packed up and headed home.

Great catching up with you again guys and Timbo, I’ll see you on the 23rd for the night shoot. Hamish, I know you read this blog. You are coming too.

Off to Healesville Sanctuary today so Chris can give his new lens a thrashing.