Bega Main street at night

Bega Main street at night, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Seafood Platter from Ocean Beach Hotel, Shellharbour NSW 2528 Australia

Seafood Platter from Ocean Beach Hotel, Shellharbour NSW 2528 Australia, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Seafood platter for one actually fed two!
Mum and I enjoyed our lunch together at the Ocean Beach Hotel.

hermit crab eating a corn thin

hermit crab eating a corn thin, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Can't talk - eating!

My pet land hermit crab

My pet land hermit crab, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

You have no idea how difficult it is to get a clear photo with a land hermit crab and a macro lens! These little critters move FAST and have a habit of running away from the camera.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Wollongong Botanic Gardens

Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Wollongong Botanic Gardens, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

On Friday I went to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Wollongong Botanic Gardens. I met Michael Connor who dressed up as the Mad Hatter. I took many photos of him and have since learned more about him and the wonderful job he does at the discovery center.

Here's a blurb from a Canberra education site:

Michael Connor
Discovery Centre
Wollongong Botanic Gardens
Wollongong, New South Wales

Michael Connor established the Discovery Centre at Wollongong Botanic Garden a number of years ago. This educational service caters to a wide range of visitors from early childhood to university level. The Discovery Centre programs are linked to school curriculum and are based on hands on experiences in the garden.

In his role as Coordinator of Education at Wollongong Botanic Garden Michael has designed and implemented a program of environmental drama at the Botanic Garden. This has involved writing, producing and performing plays for children. Michael has used drama as an exciting and effective tool for environmental education. The plays include Captain Compost, Let's Save the Planet, Clean up Your Act, Bushfire Madness, No More Dodos and Tree Talk.

He has taken these plays on the road as part of a program called 'Theatre in A Wheelbarrow'. The wheelbarrow has visited local schools, community centres, State Forests and National Parks, but has also appeared in major Australian cities including Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra

Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Wollongong Botanic Gardens

Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Wollongong Botanic Gardens, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Children creating cities and making room for parks as part of 'Alice saves the Environment' at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Philip Russell aka the professor

Philip Russell aka the professor, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

this is lucky phil aka the professor
Back in 1968 Phil travelled to Japan with his family and in Yokohama he purchased a Pentax Spotmatic camera which I adopted in 2000. A few years later he purchased a Pentax KM in Singapore which came with a Asahi Pentax SMC 1:1.8/55 lens. Today I decided to remove the SMC lens from the Spotmatic and try it on my Pentax istDL dslr. WOW! I love the f1.8-22 range! It doesn't have any zoom capabilities but it is great for macro and portraits.

Scrapbook page of Adrian and Siobhan

Scrapbook page of Adrian and Siobhan, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Silver Turban Seashell

Silver Turban Seashell, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Jay 'On The Shore' at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival

Jay 'On The Shore' at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

We talked about photography and then we photographed each other. Fun in the sun on the beach in Thirroul

fake ttv mosaic

ttv mosaic, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

1. Untitled, 2. lemon macro against pink background, 3. Seashell macro with frame and processing, 4. thirroul beach, 5. St Brigid - through the lens, 6. palm, 7. Philip with waiter at Lowenbrau German Beer hall, The Rocks, Sydney, 8. Lions at Taronga Park Zoo - lomo, 9. yellow flower - TTV style




Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Caterpillar macro - isn't he cute?

Caterpillar macro - isn't he cute?, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

I was taking some photos of rainbow lorikeets and grevillea flowers when I noticed this cute little fella!

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Adjusting Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 cameraAF - AREA

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Adjusting Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 cameraAF - AREA, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

A screenshot from the FujiFinepix s5600 Manual pages 64 and 65 for easy reference

www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/bin/S5200ownermanu...

More tutorials at www.vanessapikerussell.com

Selecting AF modes - CENTER and AREA

Selecting AF modes - CENTER and AREA, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

screenshot from the FujiFinepix s5600 Manual pages 64 and 65 for easy reference
If you are taking a series of photographs where you want the camera AF to be off-center then consider using the AF-AREA funciton of the FujiFinepix s5600/s5200 camera. You can now move the little crosshair to focus on the focal point (in this photo the bud of a cactus) but in other photos I place the AF - AREA to the sky or a darker part of the photo to reduce blown out skies or overblown highlights.


www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/bin/S5200ownermanu...

More tutorials at www.vanessapikerussell.com

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Using Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 cameraAF - AREA

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Using Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 cameraAF - AREA, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

If you are taking a series of photographs where you want the camera AF to be off-center then consider using the AF-AREA funciton of the FujiFinepix s5600/s5200 camera. You can now move the little crosshair to focus on the focal point (in this photo the bud of a cactus) but in other photos I place the AF - AREA to the sky or a darker part of the photo to reduce blown out skies or overblown highlights.

If you are wanting to add bokkeh or depth of field to a photo it often helps to focus on something close to the camera and slightly zoom in or focus on something in the background, leaving the foreground slightly out of focus.

More tutorials at www.vanessapikerussell.com

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Using Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 camera - AF - CENTER

FujiFinepix s5600 Tutorial - Using Area Focus Mode with FujiFinepix s5600 camera - AF - CENTER, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Using Area Focus Mode to create DOF with FujiFinepix s5600 camera. In this image CENTER AF is set. The camera will focus on what is in the center of the screen. You can adjust this by moving the camera to focus on what you want to be the focus and then half-pressing the button to lock the focus and then moving the camera to frame your subject properly then press the button all the way down. An easier way to do this is with the AF - Area Focus (next image)

If you are wanting to add bokkeh or depth of field to a photo it often helps to focus on something close to the camera and slightly zoom in or focus on something in the background, leaving the foreground slightly out of focus.


More tutorials at www.vanessapikerussell.com

Autumn leaves me feeling cold

autumn leaves, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Today it was very cold and rain spoiled my plans to have a picnic in the botanic gardens. On the plus side, I did take some photographs of strawberries, chocolate easter eggs, lemon and lime and some fish I had for lunch

Easter Egg chocolates with ripe juicy strawberries macro

Easter Egg chocolates with ripe juicy strawberries macro, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Happy Easter!
Take a tip from me and try some strawberries wrapped in chocolate!

Sculptures On The Shore - Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival April 1st

Sculptures On The Shore - Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival April 1st 2007 NSW 2516 Australia, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Jay photographs a sculpture - On The Shore - Thirroul Seaside and Arts

Jay photographs a sculpture - On The Shore - Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival NSW 2516 Australia, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

Fleet - On The Shore - Art on the beach at Thirroul Seaside Arts

Fleet - On The Shore - Art on the beach at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival, Thirroul NSW 2515 Australia, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

The winning 'On The Shore' entrant was a fleet of ships made from recycled materials.

Pond Skater Bin Monster by Ron Vale - part of the On The Shore art

Pond Skater Bin Monster by Ron Vale - part of the On The Shore art installation at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

"Go on! You have a go. Pull the string to feed the bin monster! You know you want to!"

Heard at Thirroul's 'On The Shore' sculpture by the beach walk on Sunday

Do you Moo? Well now I do! I ordered 100 moo cards and they arrived yesterday. Whee!

Do you Moo? Well now I do! I ordered 100 moo cards and they arrived yesterday. Whee!, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

100 mini cards in a cute little box

On The Shore art on the beach at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival,

On The Shore art on the beach at Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival, Thirroul NSW 2515 Australia, originally uploaded by vanessapr.

I took hundreds of photos yesterday at the Thirroul Seaside Arts festival.
You can view them here or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilcrabbygal

'Hang Over, Northern Suburbs' is a painting by local illawarra artist

'Hang Over, Northern Suburbs' is a painting by local illawarra artist Robyn Te Velde which exhibited March 31st and April 1st at Anitas Theatre., originally uploaded by vanessapr.

The Art Prize and Exhibition 2007 is part of the Thirroul Seaside Arts Festival - a wonderful annual event located in Thirroul, an hour south of Sydney and twenty minutes north of Wollongong.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D-qrEn863c