Roma

While I organise some photos from this year, a few bonus ones from the '09 Roma/Injune trip.

Canberra Zoo pt.1

For those who know me, it's hardly a shock to hear that I love photographing animals. Because I'm nothing if not complicated, birds, lizards and bugs creep me out, but other than that I'm a big fan of animals. On last years road trip there was never a doubt we'd stop for at least one zoo.

Canberra Zoo has some amazing animals, but it has its downsides, too. There used to be tigons, where they've gone no one quite knows. There are suddenly far more lions than there used to be: three different enclosures side by side where there used to be lions, tigons and a tiger. This isn't actually a bad thing, I am a fan of big cats, it just startled me. The snow leopard enclosure is fencing and scratched up plastic, meaning it's pretty hard to get a decent image, especially when they spend their days in hiding. The king cheetah seems to be gone, too, though they have an invisible ninja serval now which I'm slightly desperate to see.

And, God, emus. I agree with Ross Noble: they are 6 foot feather dusters and no good can come of them. I love them when Uncle Peter draws them, other than that, not so much. It's cruel to make me walk past two of the demonic turkeys to see the pumas. And worse, they sense fear. They were waiting right outside the gate leading to the puma enclosure staring at me. Evilly. I would rather climb in with any of the big cats than go near emus.

But, all whining of emus and scratchy plastic aside, I had a great day. A lot of the photos seem slightly depressing, though, which is odd. Lots of primates looking wide eyed from behind the fencing. And for those paying close attention, yes, the snow leopard has only one eye.

Big learning for the day: snakes like sequins. I'm trying to remember the type of snake; the largest ones they have at the zoo for those who know the place, and one of them was utterly fascinated by both the large lens I was using and the way the sequins on my dress caught the light. It's highly unnerving to have a large snake suddenly rise up above your head and stare at you while you're crouched low trying to take a shot, even if there is glass separating you.

This is one of the young alligators. I love the toothy grin and the eye contact. I was very glad it was awake as we walked past.

This is one of my favourite images, even if technically it's not that great. It's a red panda. The light was crazy the day we were at the zoo, flitting between low light and harsh glare. About a second before I took the photo, the lighting changed, and the red panda moved. I really don't know what it is about the picture I love so much, but since I've pretty much given up on the top ten list, at least let it be known that this was one that was always going to make the final cut.

For the life of me, I can't remember what this little sweetie is called. Cotton topped something or other. This is one of those images where scratched up plastic made it hard (hence the little specks everywhere and the inability to get it perfectly sharp), though overall I think it adds to the effect.

Six foot turkey of doom. Not one of the ones that stalked me. A random passerby turkey of doom.

And finally, the snow leopard. Because I'm biased, and both times I've been to the zoo, I kept going back to see if they'd come out of hiding. Just before we had to leave, one had. And it absolutely made my day/week. I think the silver lining for the scratched plastic is that, even though the images aren't as sharp as I'd like (sigh), it's managed to somehow look almost like these have been drawn rather than photographed. I've cropped, touched up the colours somewhat, or converted to b&w, and played about a little with sharpening, but the drawn look isn't deliberately done, it's just how the images turned out through the plastic.

The wedding

Originally, I was going to start this year off with a top ten images of 2009 list, but I can't. I've spent two days narrowing down the list, and I still have 78 contenders. Instead, some wedding photos.

There is so much I could say about Ang and Josh's wedding. I took far too many photos from a professional photog viewpoint; but given Ang is one of my dearest friends (and Josh is pretty awesome his own self), well, there's no such thing as too many, is there?

It was a beautiful day. Incredibly hot; there was a run to Maccas for some Frozen Cokes, and lots of hijacking fans from other rooms to try and stay cool. A storm passed through a few hours before the (outdoor) ceremony, so the day ended with a spectacular orange sunset- just enough time to snap a few photos of the couple before the reception began.

I love this type of wedding. The perfect blend of crazy and traditional. So many chances for candid photography, so litte time.

KBP v2.0

For those who are followers of KBP, you'll notice a bit of a change.

Everything is gone. Every post, every image. Everything. It's taken a bit of thought, but it's a new year, and hopefully a new blog, and the best way to begin is always with a clean, empty slate.

Consider this the cleaning of the slate.