Team up Mobile Challenge - Shape

Boy I had fun with this challenge ... the numbers speak for themselves!!!

Although it was my choice I am going to do Superhero's photo first (otherwise I fear it maybe lost in the numbers ... LoL) ... his certainly has the shock factor to it :-) What happened was it was D-day and he still didn't have a pic, then he was walking along and saw something odd, and it was a shape ... but he couldn't get close enough to it so leaned in, didn't see the 'electric fencing" sign (for readers / viewers in countries outside of SA this is a normal occurance on boundary walls to have electrified fencing, supposed to keep the baddies out but it doesn't work, they still get in as shocking as that may seem ... LoL ... oh my I am so corny!!) ... anyyyyyyway ... so he leaned in and click zap thud ... pic shock hit the floor in that order ...LoL ... oh what passion will drive you to do. here is the result ... be warned ... it is shocking!!

Seriously ... who hangs a mirror ball from their tree?

Ok so I have had so much fun with this topic, and a lot of my pic were inspired by our last theme of point of view, I tried to get some pics from a different point if view ... leave a comment to see if you can guess what some of them are:
1)

2)

3)

4) I really am fascinated by this shape but can't seem to get the shot I want,

I am not overly thrilled by the way either turned out ... but I don't not like them either.

Ok now I did some ordinary recognisable objects ... there are shapes in everything!

And I sneaked this one in right at the very last minute of the deadline, it didn't come out exactly how I had envisaged, but I like the candle :-)

Safe to say I enjoyed this challenge :-)

Be reminded that these pics are taken with the trusty old mobile phone!

I am grateful for .... Time

Time is a funny thing! We are either wishing it would slow down or wishing it away and no matter which one we are wishing for we are always praying for more time ... Time is just never enough!

I may not be able to claim the wisdom of years, but I have learnt all to well that time is precious, life may be the longest thing we do but the moments that make up life are often to fleeting. People pass on, move on or drift off, the clock never stops ticking and even good times have to pass to make way for other times, other moments and other memories.

We all guilty of waiting for the right time, is there a right time? What makes now not the right time and another time a better time ... how do you know a better time will come?

Time is precious ... time is now ... Carpe Diem!

Enjoy the moments and savour them for soon that time too will pass, and all too quickly, but good times will come around again.

Don't be guilty of wishing time away, sometimes we are so busy wishing time away that we miss the time we are having. Save those time wasting wishes for wishes worth having!

When bad times come your way, that time will pass all too quickly too and we need the bad times to appreciate the good times. Beauty too can be found in the broken.

And good times need to be safe guarded and treasured for it is the memory of those times that carry you through.And they too pass way to quickly but they too come around again.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR TIME!

Team up Mobile Challenge - Point of View

I am playing catch up here, I have been away for the last week and while I haven't stopped looking for the next topic or pic I have been away from my PC, limited mails and what not. I am sure the rest of the family have said or are saying "aaaahhhh bliss" but for me it is like my right arms has been severed off ... I love my "technology" ... it is my connection with the rest of the world :-)

Here are the results of last weeks Mobile challenge ... it was Superhero's theme so he gets to showcase first. He chose the theme "Point of View"

He was sitting outside his office, having a break and he looked up, he had his point of view photo. The moss, the bark and the tree towering over caught his eye :-)

Mine was taken in the zip of the moment, it was either the day I got the topic or the very next day and I was sitting in the car, saw the clock tower (as I have so many times before) but this time I thought of it from a different point of view ...

We both took our photo's low down looking up ... but on Saturday while visiting Driving Creek Railways one of the pottery works caught my eye, I was looking at it and I thought what would it look like if I change my point of view ...

Do you know what it is? before looking can you take a guess?

Did you think something like this? ...

Bet you no :-)

So there is a lesson there, if you don't like something try change your point of view, it can alter it quite substantially.

The next challenge is already taking shape ... I am having so much fun with it, and have to thank my superhero because this challenge has really helped inspire for the this next one. It's all about looking at things just a little differently.

Ok that's me on this one ... what do you think so far?

PS: Superhero used ye ol trusty BB, me my faithful Vodafone - mobile phone only remember.

Team up mobile phone challenge - Element

Hey, this week was my topic, I had the idea of doing for pics, earth / wind / fire / water .... but as you can tell I have been too busy flying in helicopters and stuff ... LoL

My topic so my pic first:

On my way to my heli trip I found this beautiful sculpture with the sun beating off it, metal is an ELEMENT on the periodic table so there is my element, very pretty I think :-) Once again taken with my humble little Vodafone 856

Next up is superhero:

It is his little peanut, what a cutie she is!!! In her ELEMENT when doing what she loves second most (Daddy being first most of course) climbing and exploring and being a child ... gotta love free range children :-) And as always this was taken with the trusty ol' BB

So another week down and another set of great pics proving how the camera doth not maketh the photographer. Tune in next week when we change our point of view a little.

I am grateful for .... DREAMS!!!

I must be the luckiest person alive ... well most days I am :-) I have had a dream come true twice in 1 week, yep exactly 7 days apart. My dream to fly in a helicopter.

This morning I had a "flip in a chopper" that left me breathless, it was exactly what is referred to in the saying "life is not about how many breaths we take but how many moments that take our breath away". The flight took me from the Taranaki port to the summit of Mt Taranaki.

Not everyday you get to see the crater of a volcano from the air above ...

And every which way the helicopter flew the views were completely spectacular ...

This is Mt Ruapehu Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, all active volcanoes as seen from Mt Taranaki

Here is the northern Taranaki coastline heading towards Waitomo region

New Plymouth ... once voted the best city in the world ♥

Port Taranaki with Paritutu ... been there climbed that, no major feat in comparison to the giant beside it ... that too is a on my bucket list, I too will climb it :-)

Yep it is easy to say I AM GRATEFUL FOR dreams, for without them they could never come true!!!!

Team up mobile phone challenge - Intimate

So here is number 2 in my new Team Up challenge, using only mobile (cell) phones. It was Superhero's topic, he chose INTIMATE, and it was a challenge, so since he chose his pic features first:

He calls it "Intimate times"
(all alone in the bath, candle light and intimate thoughts)

I am super impressed with how this pic turned out, how is this for freaky: check the candle light, it is just a haze of light, now look at the reflection in the bath ... beautiful don't you think. I am amazed how well this turned out considering it was taken with his cellphone, usually low lighting leaves the picture grainy ... WELL DONE SUPERHERO :-)

Mine needs little introduction somewhat cliche in fact:

I have to give credit to my brave model, I was running out of time so so while at the pools with my girls today a young handsome guy was trying to be noticed by a friend (a really young friend ok, keep your thoughts clean please) anyway so I said great get him to hold your hand for my pic so I can get sorted please, and she did .... Thanks hun :-)

So that's this one done, gotta think up the next one now.

I am grateful for ... so many things!!

Wow, just had an amazing weekend FULL with new experiences!!! I love new experiences, who doesn't right?

We have just come back from a trip to the the Great Lake Taupo, yet another beautiful part of my world. Sometimes when I look around this beautiful country I feel like I am in a lost paradise, of course I am not, of course it is quite a populated lost paradise ... ok maybe it is not a lost paradise as much as it is just paradise! What makes it even better is being able to share it with family from back home. (of course my weekend away will explain why I am late with the blog - so keep stay tuned later this week for the next in my mobile photo challenge).

Here are some of my weekend away snaps ...

First one up is a just because kinda photo ... I would love to be a bird, the freedom to roam and explore where ever and whenever!

Next up ended up being somewhat of a pic by chance, I was out on the deck one night taking a pics of the lake, the full moon had turned the lake into a beautiful silver, anyway, I turned my camera upwards just to see how many of the stars I could actually capture, I slowed my shutter speed right down to a couple of seconds, and as it happens a plane flew right through my frame ... what are the chances when you are in the middle of nowhere? This photo reminds me of that song "lets pretend that aeroplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars ... coz I could really use a wish right now ... "

These stones stacked up could resemble anything really, most things hang in the balance .... that aside it is really pretty :-)

While walking through the trout farm this spiders web caught my eye, we have a lot of these fine little webs ALL over the place, they even form on your car!!

Here is another ...

This wooden shed in the middle of nothingness reminded me of a book I once read "The Shack"

Here is another that reminded me of a book I read ... this one called "This property is condemned" ... I read it ages ago in school.

Again with me and my sunrises!!! How amazingly beautiful is this one? Yes yes they are all so amazingly beautiful in their own right ... but this one is from Easter Sunday, just seemed so fitting to me :-)

A beacon of light, showing us the way ... this I took during a fishing excursion, my first time fishing, it was a great morning, and yes we caught dinner :-) No toasting "to the one that got away" for us!!

Last and certainly not least, in my weekend FULL of highlights is the ultimate ... I got my first flip in a helicopter. Thanks to cousin Ashton, and along with Kim! It was AWESOME!!!! This was taken at the aero club while waiting for Ashton to arrive.

My girls are most certainly lucky too, here I am 34 years old and fishing for the first time and finally getting my life long wish of a flip in a helicopter and at 7 and 5 yrs they get to do both! I am truly GRATEFUL FOR the chance to share these experiences with them.

Team up ... a new challenge ... fresh

My new challenge is fun! But like all things I have to explain the history to understand how we got to do it. My team up partner and I have been friends for some time now. He is like a Graphic Design Guru!!! to me anyway. He lost everything a couple of years back in a fire that burnt down his house ... and at the time he was extending his talents to photography. Of course he lost his camera in the fire too .... so when I asked why he wasn't continuing with developing his new found passion he used this as his excuse. 

Any photographer can tell you a fancy camera doesn't make you any more a photographer than owning a stethoscope makes you a doctor ... is that a real saying? If it isn't than it should be :-) Anyway my point is whether you are driven by talent or passion or whatever you still learn and develop and that only comes through practice.

So with the absence of a camera I proposed we do the team up challenge, same as I did before with my sis, only this time we were only allowed to use our mobile phones ... me my humble little Vodafone 856, and him his BB.

It is a challenge alright for us both, for me switching from doing my usual photo's with my Canon to then trying to get my winning shot with my cell phone, but it is great for developing and eye for a picture and learning what will work. And it is proof you don't need the latest and greatest to be the best.

So with that in mind here is this weeks pictures for our first topic "FRESH"

Mine ... it is my little bit of sanity in a cup (my other little bit of sanity comes in a bottle ... LoL) ... our local coffee van that frequents my work every day to brew me up a FRESH mocha



And Superhero's pic is very indicative of where he is in his life ... the pic is a FRESH new beginning ...



So that is the first mobile pics for the new challenge ... hope you enjoy watching us grow and develop our mobile photographic skills. Next time I am going to share something really intimate with you ... stay tuned!