Moon behind a Tree - Sky Watch Friday

Full Moon behind a Tree (Eucalyptus)
Sky Watch Friday

For some reason, whenever it came around to Sky Watch Friday, I automatically thought of a day-time sky. It never occurred to me until now that a moon landscape is actually a "Sky Watch" photo as well! So, today I have this photo I took the other night of a full Moon behind my gum tree (see my other moon / tree silhouette). I find the layer of cloud interesting in this picture - it serves to split the picture into two parts horizontally, while the tree splits the picture vertically. Not exactly the rule of thirds - maybe more like the rule of fourths!

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Dragonfly Insect - Wordless Wednesday

Dragonfly-like Insect clinging to a Eucalyptus leaf
Wordless Wednesday

Lacewing (nymphes myrmeleonides)

This Wordless Wednesday photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Easter Sunday

Life
Sun shining through green tree leaves
Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter Sunday. Easter, also called Pascha, is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.. Many non-religious cultural elements have become part of the holiday, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike.

Easter Eggs are a popular traditional food eaten on Easter Sunday. The egg is a symbol of the Resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.

Easter is termed a moveable feast because it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year, following the cycle of the moon. After several centuries of disagreement, all churches accepted the computation of the Alexandrian Church that Easter is the first Sunday after the first fourteenth day of the moon (the Paschal Full Moon) that is on or after the ecclesiastical vernal equinox.

Easter also refers to the season called Eastertide or the Easter Season, which lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. So don't stop eating chocolate after one day and think the party's over - you've got over 5 weeks of celebration to go!

Information from Wikipedia
This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

The Cross - Good Friday (Sky Watch)

The Cross
Good Friday
Sky Watch Friday

Today is Good Friday. Good Friday, also called Holy Friday or Great Friday, is the Friday before Easter (Easter always falls on a Sunday). It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus at Calvary. In many English speaking countries, hot cross buns are eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. This is the first day of the Easter Triduum, which begins on Holy Thursday night and ends on the evening of Easter Sunday.

Information from Wikipedia
This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Green Grass waving in the Breeze - Wordless Wednesday

Grass and Seed Heads waving in the breeze
Wordless Wednesday

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Three Leaf Clover (Shamrock) - St. Patrick's Day

Three-leafed Clover (also called a Shamrock)
St. Patrick's Day

March 17th - St. Patrick's Day. Today I thought I'd share with you a short history of St. Patrick. Some of you might know this already, but a lot of people haven't actually heard the reason we remember him on this day.

Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island. Legend credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God'. St. Patrick died in 493, and by the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.

In Australia we celebrate St. Patrick's day by wearing a Shamrock or green clothes, as many of the early inhabitants of Australia were from Ireland. If you come from another country, do you celebrate St. Pat's day as well?

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

Weird Clouds Hiding the Sun - Sky Watch Friday

Sun shining through a gap in the strange clouds
Sky Watch Friday

This sky actually looked quite bland when seen in real life, but I somehow felt the urge to take a photo of it. Maybe it was the framing with the tops of the houses at the bottom and the tree silhouette, but regardless of the reason I took the photo. This is what it turned out like. By focusing on the sun and adjusting the white balance for it, the clouds are made to look ominous and threatening, when they are far from it in reality!

This was shot with a 28mm (equivalent) lens, making it appear slightly "fish-eyed".

This Sky Watch Friday photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Reaching out - Pumpkin vine feeler

"Reaching Out"
Pumpkin vine feeler climbing along an Apricot twig
Wordless Wednesday

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.

Sunset in the Australian Bush - Sky Watch Friday

Sunset in the Australian Bush
Sky Watch Friday

I've got another Aussie Bush Sunset for you today. This photo is actually quite interesting, as it converges from a wide spanning vista to a single point - the Sun. But the way in which this happens in what really makes this photo unique. Most sunset photos will place the sun in or near the centre of the picture. In this image, however, the sun is thrown to the far right of the landscape, leaving room for the clouds and sky to fill most of the frame.

How do you like it?

This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera.

Spider Web in the Morning Sunlight - Wordless Wednesday

Spider web Close Up
Wordless Wednesday

This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera.