Articles in “Random Photographs”

Just because.

We have two frangipani trees, a pink one out the front:

And the more conventional yellowy-white one out the back:

Unfortunately, the only flowers on the second tree haven’t quite opened yet and are high on the plant.

But they have their own unique charm for all that:

Brisbane really is the city of jacarandas. This time of year, this suburb, at least, is entirely purple.

And, not having done my undergraduate degree at The University of Queensland, I’m spared the sense of creeping horror that they evoke in those who have, to whom jacarandas mean exams and final assessment.

I just love the colour.

He looks a little thinner or younger than the last one.

But he’s equally cute.

Of course, he’s also further away than the last one, so the photo isn’t as clear. But that’s kookaburras for you: selfish things.

I am going to update properly, but, in the interim, I’m so impressed with how pretty my bougainvillea is looking this spring (well, what passes for spring in Brisbane) that I felt it deserved its own degree of Internet celebrity.

(I call it “my” bougainvillea, but the only reason it’s flourishing is because I never do anything to it, ever. If I did, it would die.)

Three interesting points about these pictures:

1. All three were taken from the same location, on various degrees of zoom. The camera was positioned about two metres from the actual plant, but the zoom function is fabulous.

2. I completely stuffed my ankle (or re-stuffed, really, by aggravating whatever damage I caused falling down the stairs on Sunday morning) taking these pictures: firstly, by assuming that, despite the swelling, it was healed enough for me to trot down the garden in the high-heeled wedges that were lying around rather than bothering to put sensible shoes on and, secondly, by kneeling on it to get a better angle on the plant. Now it really hurts again and I think the swelling’s gone up.

3. Nobody tell Nick that I had to take the batteries out of his camera to get these pictures off my own camera, because mine had gone flat. Okay? I’m sure he’ll never find out about it.

I’ve not received an official letter, as yet.

But the thesis is uploaded to the library site/digital theses project (and remind me to tell you about that debacle some day). Apparently, since it was uploaded yesterday, that should be the official date of award.

It’s printed and bound (and, yes, there was a debacle there, too, but not the printery’s fault: they’ve been awesome).

And it’s sitting on the shelf at home, next to the M.Phil.

This is the most self-aggrandising blog post I’ve ever written. And that’s saying something.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to put my education to good use (having a drink), by spending my evening in quiet, scholarly pursuits (having another drink), thus contributing to the overall state of knowledge in the world (maybe even having a third drink).

But they’re all so cute! At least this one’s not a lizard:

He was a little shy, though, and flew away every time I moved off the verandah to try and get a closer shot.

Hurray for the zoom function and for convenient verandah railings that can double as makeshift tripods.

It’s been a lovely, cold, rainy weekend, so I nipped out to take some pictures in the garden.

Morning glory photographs so beautifully; it must be those big, smooth blossoms.

When I came to photograph the bougainvillea, though, the camera insisted that I needed to raise the flash, which led to some odd effects.

So we have bougainvillea without the flash:

And exactly the same flowers with the flash, which makes it look as though they were photographed at night.

I rather like the effect, though.

But I have to ask people’s opinions.

Is it my imagination, or is this lizard actually eyeing me with contempt?

I know lizards are enigmatic creatures, but there’s just something in this one’s eye that says, “You? You are so not worth moving for.”

I suppose spending your days lying around in the sun pretending to be a dragon would generate a certain arrogance.

I realise that this doesn’t count as a real update but, thanks to the advice Heretic gave on the super-macro post, I’m getting better at using the function.

It is a volatile function, highly susceptible to shaking and losing focus. But these were taken on the Portrait setting, rather than Manual, so the camera dealt with its own shutter speed and ISO setting, and by using a bag of rice to help stabilise the camera.

A small print:

(The entire print is 10 by 15 cm, but the section included here is roughly 4 by 6 cm.)

My watch:

(I love the detail on that one, especially on the second hand, which was moving as I took the photograph.)

And, finally, some funky beads, in two different levels of close-up:

Some day, I might become bored with my camera and stop posting pictures of irrelevant objects on the blog. But, for now, I can only say, “Sorry! I’ll update properly soon.”

Thanks to a conversation with my baby brother, who has the same camera as I have, I’ve been made aware that my camera has a super macro function.

So, naturally, I immediately took some pictures of the Warhammer miniatures. I mean, what else was super macro invented for?

For the record, this miniature measure 4 cm from the top of the axe (which isn’t even visible in these pictures) to his feet.

The section of him visible in these pictures is 2.5 cm, total.

Sure, they’re not the best super macro photographs around. The super macro function is only available as a manual setting, which means I have to play around with the shutter speed and the ISO setting myself—and I’m not familiar enough with either the camera or with manual photography to be confident with doing that.

But I’m still fairly impressed that the camera can do this. (Mind, I need a tripod. My hands aren’t steady enough to manage super macro without some support.)

I mean, I took one look at these, and said to Nick, “Wow, this miniature is quite dusty.”

And it is.

If you look extremely closely.

I call this series “World’s Most Awesome Lizard, Who Was So Busy Sunning Himself On What Might Be Charitably Called A Barbeque That He Didn’t Care How Close I Came With The Camera.”

Too long?

Spotted in the back garden while I was having an early morning cigarette:

Who’s a pretty boy, then?

Would you like a cracker?

Would you like me to stop patronising you? Okay, then.

And I had to include this one:

Because a bird eating with its feet is adorable.