Amazing Grace - The Splendour of Light [Sun bursting through clouds]

Amazing Grace - Sun Bursting through clouds and trees
Sun bursting through clouds

Recently I watched the movie “Amazing Grace”, an excellent movie about the abolishment of the slave trade in 18th century England. It follows the political work of William Wilberforce, a politician in the House of Commons. This photo reminds me of the theme of the movie – through all evils and tribulations of this world, God and goodness will triumph. The bright Sun, shrouded by cloud, seems to be bursting forth from its corner of the sky, spreading the Light to all corners of the globe.

This photo gains its impressive and triumphant effect mainly because of the parabolic nature of the image – the picture seems to have been taken with a “fish eye” lens, creating an effect of bulging in the centre. Surprisingly, I took this photo with a simple point-and-shoot Kodak C330 digital camera, and didn’t use a fish eye lens at all!

The trees in this photo create a natural frame for the picture. The gum tree (eucalyptus) is slightly offset from the left edge of the photo, so your eye tends to be drawn towards the left hand side of the picture.

On the whole, this picture conveys a sense of suspended movement and the glorious splendour of light. This picture, with its symbolism of light and goodness, is a reminder to us all to have hope for the triumph of good over evil.

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

Related Photos:
Dry Australian Landscape - the Aussie Bliss
Morning Sun
Sunset Vista

Life on a smaller scale [Mushrooms in Grass]

These two small groups of mushrooms are the type that spring up immediately after some rain, and then disappear as quickly as they came. Although we have had a lot of rain here lately, I actually took these photos a few years ago when the Kodak C330 was new. These photos depict two different types of mushroom, one group short with a slight brownish tint to their "caps", or "heads", and the other tall and thin, with flatter, white caps. I think this photo conveys a sense of silent, stealthy growth - the mushrooms appear to be "still life", but all the while they are quietly growing underfoot.

The first of these two photos has the popular "bi-focal" arrangement - two major subjects dominate the picture, complementing each other and providing an interesting field in which the eye can play. On the left, we have the tight bunch of 4 small mushrooms, while on the right a sprig of grass splays out, leading our eyes in the opposite direction.

In the second photo, the mushrooms seem to be straining upwards, as if they aren't content with their meager height and wish to lift to more lofty realms. The grass too seems to be following it, pointing skywards, following the lead of it's overshadowing companions. The green grass and pale white stems of the mushrooms contrast sharply, and bring an extra aspect to an otherwise monotonous image.

Both these pictures share a common theme, of still life, of nature, of minute activity in the undergrowth. Most of all, they demonstrate the wonder of God's creation, yet again, and remind us humans that we are not the only living things on this earth.

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 camera.

Lazy Sunday [Bearded Dragon Lizard]

Lazy Sunday - A Bearded Dragon Lizard in the Sun

Lazy Lizard Lies in the Sun

Recently I was walking around a friend's property, mostly Australian semi-rural bushland, when I came across this little creature. Although he looks frightening, the Bearded Dragon lizard is practically harmless, and refused to move a muscle even when we picked him up! Before moving him, I snapped this shot at an unusual angle. The detail in this photo is amazing when viewed full-screen, especially around the lizard's head - you can see every small spike and inflection in his scaly skin. Although, as I said, these lizards are practically harmless, they can give you a nasty bite if provoked, so don't go picking them up!

This shot really makes you think. Whenever anybody looks at this picture they tend to automatically tilt their head counter-clockwise 90 degrees and look up and down the lizard's body. That's because of the unusual composition and depth of field in this photo.

The Bearded Dragon's head forms the primary focus-point in the image, with the beady eye attracting attention at the top of the head, and the split bark of the log leading the eye towards the dragon's frill further down.

I think the strangest thing about this photo is that you keep trying to turn sideways to look the lizard in the eye. The way the log and lizard combine to create an interesting "tilt" to the image helps to attract attention and create uniqueness. Just don't look at this picture too long - you might permanently bend your neck!

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

Related Photos:
A Hen-pecked Chook's Feathers
Another Hairy Caterpillar Photo
Prawns, Anyone? (Prawn Heads)

The Blossom of the Pond [Water Lily Flower]

Pink water lily with water droplets in pond

Water Lily

This Water Lily blossom is yet another example of nature's wondrous beauty. As with all flowers of this sort, the soft pink petals seem to serve as a showcase for the bright yellow center of the flower. Each petal has a delicate adornment of water droplets which help to bring time and depth to the photo. The background of lily-pads help show the close-up nature of the image. This photo was taken at Singleton, NSW, Australia. It shows a completely different aspect of Australia's natural heritage than the Dry Landscape shown before.

This photo is really just a point-and-shoot picture - there are no special compositional techniques used, no fancy aperture or shutter-speed adjustments, just a simple fill-the-frame photo from about 15cm away. The only noteworthy aspect of this photo's composition is the familiar "concentric focus" theme coming through again - the main curves in the picture converge on the central subject of the image.

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

Related Photos:
Sunflower Close-up
Balloon Vine Flower with Water Droplets
Soft-focus Flower

Dry Australian Landscape - The real Aussie Bliss?

Australian Grazing Field - a Dry Landscape

Dry Australian Landscape

When I saw this photo, I immediately thought of the Windows XP desktop background "Bliss" that many will know so well. It depicts an artificially green meadow with a perfect sky in the background, and some distant mountains. Well, this photo shows a far from perfect landscape, with the dry, parched grass and hot looking sky, but I suppose you could call this the "Aussie Bliss". This photo was taken near Goondiwindi, in Queensland, Australia.

This photo differs from the "rule of thirds" we have been seeing lately - the photo is plainly comprised of two sections split vertically by the tree line. Both the curve of the clouds and the pattern of the grass incline the viewer's attention towards the center-right of the picture, meeting the horizon as it reaches the edge of the image.

The main feeling conveyed by this picture seems to be one of dryness, of a starved countryside that is deprived of it's utmost source of vitality. Yet the image also conveys a sense of beauty in itself, as if to say that no matter what happens, nature still retains it's equilibrium of life.

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 camera.

Related Photos:
"English Countryside"
Alternative Bliss Wallpaper 1
Alternative Bliss Wallpaper 2