May-be some autumn colours

I had high hopes for photography this month. It started well with Chris and Dale's wedding, with some beautiful colours up at Kurrajong Heights in the Blue Mountains. Then there was Olympic Park for a night, then later in the month an evening out on Sydney Harbour. I was hoping to get a lot more photos of those delicious autumn colours, but as was the case last month I have been flat out with uni work again! In fact, on my way to work there are two beautiful deciduous trees, and they have slowly tortured me throughout the month - gradually losing more and more leaves as time passes. But I digress - this is what May did provide me with:

Location: Lane Cove River, Hunter Hill
(F9.0, 1/800, ISO 400, 95mm focal length)

A photo of Dad, rowing to shore to pick me up before we head of for an evening on the harbour. I had my camera out taking a few photos of the sunset while I was waiting, and it just so happened that the path he took while rowing ended up being very well framed. Plus he turned his head just at the right moment! Plus I have to admit that the sunset was enhanced a fair bit by the fact that there seemed to be a lot of backburning going on in the leadup to the bushfire season...

Location: Olympic Park
(F8.0, 5 sec, ISO 400, 23mm focal length)

One of my Olympic Park photos, taken from near the Homebush Bay Brewery looking back towards to railway station. I think the thing I really like about this photo is the fact that I wouldn't normally look twice at a park bench,  but with this one - the converging lines from the trees, some early autumn colours, the patterns of the tiles... I think it all worked really well :)

The first of three photos I took at Chris and Dale's wedding. I think there's still a sense of season with this one, the leaves are kind of wiltered, plus I reduced the vibrance and saturation as well to make it feel a little 'colder'. Like the park bench in the previous photo, I normally wouldn't look twice at a tap - but this one just got my attention. I think it's the paint which has dried on the handle - even though it's not exactly an old, worn-out tap I think it still tells a story. Granted it's probably not an exciting story, but a story nonetheless!

Location: Kurrajong Heights, Upper Blue Mountains
(F9.0, 1/250, ISO 400, 54mm focal length)

So I have to say that it is looking like this will be my best autumn photo this year - not because I don't think I'm going to take a better one of those lovely autumn leaves, but because I don't know if I'll get the chance before they're gone! Once again this was taken at the wedding venue - the Turpentine Tree at Kurrajong. The garden was scattered with hanging lanterns, mainly placed around the lake. In retrospect, I wish i had played a bit more with the reflection of the autumn colours in the water! That might give me something to do in the school holidays - look for reflection photos...

Location: Kurrajong Heights, Upper Blue Mountains
(F9.0, 1/320, ISO 400, 54mm focal length)

From left to right: Steve, Chris and Charles. Taken the day after the wedding during the garden party, with Chris sporting his brand new wedding band! It's far from a professional wedding photo, but I think it just really captured the moment. I think there's just the right amount of 'stuff' in the background as well - a couple of lanterns, some food and wine on the table, a hint of autumn colours...

The sixth image that scraped in this month was another one from Olympic Park. Funnily enough, I spend the majority of the time there taking movement shots - in particular zooming while the camera was exposed. I was letting it expose enough so that you could see details of lights, buildings, etc., but then slowly zooming in to get a pattern of light trails. I admit they looked good on the screen on the back of my camera - just not so much on my computer screen at home! I am however, quite happy with this photo - once again there are congerging lines which draw focus down the path, but I think the main subject of the solar panels and light frame keep bringing the focus back to the foreground. I think this was the only photo of the month that didn't really convey a sense of season?!


So as is custom, that brings my month to a close. Now it's time to get back to uni assignments! The only thing I know for certain this month is that I have a week away somewhere with school to look foward to (it's looking like the Gold Coast, despite earlier promises of a snow trip... But hey, being paid to holiday on the Gold Coast isn't exactly doing it tough either!), and then of course there will be school holidays at the end of the month. I will probably be lucky to get my camera out at all during the first half of June, but I'm looking forward to making up for it when I get a bit more free time to play with!