Zac - 365/59

No photograph today, rather a scan of a self portrait by my talented son.

Softball - 365/58

I was playing around in PSE today to see how you can isolate some colours in a photo. I'm always disappointed that my snaps of the kids playing sport are ruined by parents in the shot. I couldn't ask them to move (!!) so I thought I would try highlighting the action with colour. It's quite a simple technique really.

I didn't like how creepy that guy looked in the background, he was a bit sharply in focus. So I managed to add a gaussian blur to take the focus off him a little.

And just one more because it has been fun. I'm enjoying the PSE blog where I'm finding out how to do a bit more with PSE.

Mt Taranaki - 365/57

To get home from Rotorua I drove to Hamilton, then flew to Wellington and then on to Dunedin. This is my view of Mt Taranaki out the window on the flight to Wellington.

Yes Minister - 365/56

Anne Tolley, the Minister for Education here in NZ opened the conference on Wednesday. I took this shot from the back of the room with my zoom lens but it still didn't come out as clear as I would have liked. But then a 'proper' photographer turned up to take some official shots of the Minister and his camera lens was HUGE. So I didn't feel so bad about this quality from my little camera.

Morning at the lake - 365/55

I went for a camera walk at 6 in the morning around the lake near the conference centre in Rotorua. The light was subdued and the steam rising from the lake made it look very mysterious.

Elizabethan style - 365/54

This Elizabethan styled building is right next to the conference centre in Rotorua, it houses a restaurant and a museum. Sort of seems out of place to me.

Rotorua - 365/53

After a 650am flight to Wellington I made it to Rotorua at 9:30am. We are here for two days to shoot a digital story at Otonga School. They have an exciting leadership programme where they are spreading leadership throughout the school so that by the time children reach year 6 they are able to take on increasing responsibility. They have realised that only giving the responsibilities to the senior children means that you are missing out the opportunity of helping students work with the key competencies to develop their leadership ability throughout school.

I will be here in Rotorua for the rest of the week for the Learning @ School conference run by CORE Education.

Monkey 365/52

Zac has always been a climber. Today we walked outside and looked across the Glen to see him about 15 metres at the top of the fir tree. I include the second photo to try and get some context. You can just see him peaking through the branches.

A day of sports - 365/51

Saturdays are a day of sport in our household. Today the boys played tennis, then cricket (shot of Zac batting and Josh bowling), Ashleigh played Softball (she's batting) and I threw in one of me playing netball but that was during the week.

Tree - 365/50

This is the view from my back deck. I like the way this tree stands tall and sparse up above the native bush that extends below it. Every day the ocean is a different colour depending on its mood and I often find this influences my own mood.

Home again - 365/49

I didn't get much of a chance to take photos today as I was in meetings all day and the weather in Wellington was drizzly. So this is the sun setting at the airport in Dunedin once I got home. I bought a uv filter for my camera today so I feel a bit more secure about keeping my lens safe.

A musing thought though... I don't know if I like this counting of days. It is scary to think that 49 days out of our year have already passed. This is something that is very common with teachers, we are always counting down our year, ten weeks a term, four terms a year etc...

Flying to Wellington - 365/48

I'm in Wellington for two days of meetings and got to watch the sunrise on my 6:50am flight from Dunedin. The colours were stunning.

Bee two - 365/47

Perseverance pays off. This image of the bee is much clearer. I increased my shutter speed and used a manual focus. But it is really hard to get a bee to pose for the picture!

Street performer - 365/46

Today's image was taken yesterday at the Dunedin Thieves Alley. This street performer was playing melodic, soothing music and the streets of central Dunedin were packed. Unfortunately the rain came down about thirty minutes later.

bee - 365/45

I'm having fun learning how to put my camera on manual settings. I can see this is an image I will have to keep practicing on to capture clearly. I need to set the shutter speed a bit faster I think to freeze the bee in motion.

This image illustrates my day. I had a lovely quiet day at home, tidying up and watching a video with my beloved (it is valentines day after all). Then after a 6.5km run, had pizza for tea. Bliss.

Bands 365/ 44

My daughter got these bands today to support Youthline. Confidence, Passion, Pride... was funny when we got home my son said, "Isn't pride one of the seven deadly sins?"

Dunedin harbour 365/43

I took this shot walking into town this morning to have breakfast with Jane. The harbour was so still and misty. Friday morning breakfasts at Nectar on George Street in Dunedin are one of my treats that get me through the week.

Fairies - 365/42

When I was little we used to call these floating seeds 'fairies'. The light reflecting off this one makes it look like a sparkler.

Drops - 365/41

Beads of water after the night's rain greeted me as I went to hang my bathers on the line after swimming this morning.

Hands up for learning - 365/40

The NZEI 'Hands up for learning' bus tour came to Dunedin today. By all accounts they did very well in the Octagon at lunch time gathering lots of signatures to support their campaign of having the National Standards trialed before implementation in schools.

Hands 365/39

When we first moved to NZ we all made a painting of our hands on canvas. As you can see we never finished it and we never put it up, but I love looking at the size of my kids hands when they were little.

Seal 365/38

We went to Brighton Beach for dinner last night and saw this little fellow having a lazy nap in the sun on the rocks. I managed to catch him mid yawn.

Fuschia 365/37

Walked into town with Ashleigh today to the farmers markets to get a delicious crepe for breakfast. A lovely woman with a French accent makes it all seem so authentic and the butterscotch sauce is to die for. Anyway, on the way in I have always admired these flowers.

Running - 365/36

Playing with long exposure and panning at the beach again. Need to keep practicing :).

Sunrise at St Clair 365/35

I know we are only supposed to pick one photo a day but today I couldn't choose between these and anyway, I'm a rebel. I got up early again and drove to St Clair Beach to watch the sunrise. In the second shot above I experimented with a longer shutter opening time which made the water look all soft. I didn't have my tripod though so I sat the camera on one of the poles but I quite like the funny angle of the photo.

Sunny days - 365/34

I went for a lovely walk up Frasers Gully this afternoon. The sun was shining and it was a relaxing way to end the day. I have found that this 365 challenge has made me live a healthier lifestyle. Previously I would get up, sit in front of the computer, and not move until the late hours of the evening when it was time for bed. Now I look forward to my daily photo walk. And surprise surprise, my work is still getting done even if I do take a break.

A new day dawns - 365/33

Today is the first day back at school and even though I'm not in a school anymore it always seems like a day full of possibilities and new beginnings. I got up early to catch the sunrise and to go swimming.

Frisbee - 365/32

I needed a break from work today so I followed my kids down the park and captured some shots of them in full flight.