Spring in Araluen Botanic Park

Spring in Perth brings new sunshine and gentle cool breezes. It is also when flowers begin to blossom. Hearing the news that the wonderful Araluen Botanic Park is having financial and council problems, and that it may have to shut down next year, my family and I decided to go with a few friends to visit this wonderful park before it disappears like the many other tourist attractions we used to have in Perth.

This post is the beginning of a series of posts I will put up to showcase the wonderful flowers and settings in the park. Deep down I hope and pray that this wonderful park will continue to survive and to give us opportunities to enjoy its beauty and the beauty of the flowers therein.

Araluen Bontanic Park is well known for its Tulips collection. Every spring, the garden will inevitably be dressed by an array of colourful tulips from around the world. It is therefore, fitting, to present some of these wonderful flowers for all to share.





The Tulip (Poem by Ernestine Northover)

Tossing turban style contours, with an aloofness as one passes by,
Utilizing every charm it possesses, under a lupin blue cloudless sky,
Like a guardsman, gallantly standing, holding up his noble head high,
In rainbow colours, brilliant and stately, a vision to surely yield a sigh,
Ponder thus upon the regal tulip, it has pure beauty, you cannot deny.



Clean as a lady
cool as glass
fresh without
fragance
the tulip was.
(Poem By Humbert Wolfe 1924)

Photowalking in Dullsville

Well, it turned out that there are so much more about "Dullsville" that I have never known. I've lived in this beautiful city for some 20 years now and I often discovered "new places" that fascinate me.

This is an interesting month for me "photographically" speaking. 2 photowalks in 2 weeks. This is definitely the first time where I have done photowalking on consecutive weeks.

On the 15th Feb this month, a bunch of us went to the "historical" suburb of Guildford. Guildford is the only town in the Perth metropolitan area classified by the National Trust of Australia. Close to the Swan River and just 25 minutes drive east of Perth, Guildford is the gateway to the Swan Valley's new food and wine trail.

Here is an interesting read about Guildford from http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/WAGuildford.shtml:

"Given that it is now part of Greater Perth it is hard to imagine that its origins lie in Captain Stirling's determination to establish three settlements in the Swan River area - a port at Fremantle, an administrative centre at Perth, and a rural centre at Guildford. Thus the market town and inland port of Guildford is as old as Perth and Fremantle. There is even some evidence to support the idea that Guildford would have been Stirling's first choice for a settlement and certainly, when the Government established the first schools in the area in 1834 they appointed three teachers - one for Fremantle, one for Guildford and one for Perth."

No wonder so many historical buildings are being preserved in Guildford.

Here are some of the photos I took at the photowalking session:

Chinese spectacle for students on Chinese New Year Day

Students of Winthrop Primary School were treated to a colour lion dance performance this morning. The performance was held at an assembly and was organised as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations welcoming the Year of the Rat. Some pre-primary students donned the traditional chinese costume called qipao added to the festive mood.

The students marvelled at the acrobatic performance presented by the Chow Kwoon Yarn Yee Tong lion-dancing troupe.
The two lions even did a few laps around the assembly hall with students trying to touch them for "good luck" and picking up scraps of lettuces from the floor after the lions 'Picked the Green'.


The green here referred to the lettuces which were tied to a piece of string which also had a red packet attached. The string was hung on the wall some 2 to 3 meters high, and the lions 'ate' both leaves and red packet. Lying on the floor the leaves were 'chewed' by the lions while the ensemble played to a dramatic rolling crescendo. The lull was broken as the lion exploded back into activity while spitting out the lettuce leaves. This symbolic act of blessing by the lions, with the spitting out of the leaves, signified that there will be an abundance of blessings in the new year.

To sell or to give away photos - that's a difficult question

Recently I've done a shoot at the Perth's Biggest Office Party, a not for profit event that is run each year in the Perth CBD. Several thousand people turned up for music, fashion and of course beer to help support this years charities Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and The Greater Good Foundation. The highlight of the night was the fashion show showcasing fashion and jewelery from around Perth.

With all these interesting things happening, it was relatively easy to get some really great shots of the event, the models in the fashion parade and as well as the performers.



Now, here comes the big question... when I am being approached by the subjects who ask me for the photos, do I just give them freely or do I actually charge them a fee? The argument goes both ways. We can argue that I should give them freely as it was actually a non commissioned shoot. I was given a free press pass. Like many photographers there, I had access to many places which allowed me to capture some really amazing shots. As an amateur who is starting to go into freelance photography work, this was like serving my apprenticeship. So naturally, I would love to market myself and my service. Giving out free high resolution photos does seem to make sense.

Then again, I was told by my peers (other photographers, both professional and amateurs) by giving out free hi-res photos, I am actually responsible to help destroy the market. I can also see the logic to this side of the argument.

I really don't know which way I'll end up going, but right now, I feel that I should charge for the hi-res photos even if it mean just charging for a really small and nominal sum.

I will love to hear any comments from you readers about your views and opinion on this subject matter.

God's mercies are new every morning

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord. Great is Thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-24 says "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

A Lighthouse Unto Thy Feet

Jesus is a Lighthouse
A Tower in the dark
The One who holds the lantern
A great enduring Spark.

Like a flame that burns eternal
He’s a Torch, forever true
The One who holds the answers
When I don’t know what to do.

He’s the One who holds the candle
Over angry waves so steep
He’s the lifeline that doth save me
In a raging sea, so deep.

He’s a strong and steady Pilot
An answer to my plea
The One who throws the anchor
When I’m drifting out to sea

He’s a brightly shining Beacon
Always steady like a rock
A Fortress when I’m weary
A Harbor on life’s dock.

Jesus is a Lighthouse
In Him, I will abide
A Hand when I am weary
A never-ending Tide.

Author/Written By:
Marilyn Ferguson
©2006

Vintage Lighthouse Hosted on Zooomr

Poem "An Autumn Leaf"

An Autumn Leaf
by Frank Maguire

A leaf once green, a vibrant green
Laced with a silken gown
Now hangs it's head, a weary head
The leaf has turned to brown

A rushing wind, a bracing wind
That blows incessantly
The leaf is weak, so very weak
As it falls down from the tree

A spiral path, a weary path
Is woven without a sound
The sun it sleeps, a deepening sleep
As the leaf falls to the ground

A thought of life, a fragile life
Now hanging by a thread
A thought of death, a seasonal death
As the leaf will soon be dead

A bed of leaves, a grave of leaves
Lie motionless today
The summertime, has had it's time
Now Autumn is on it's way

----
This poem was found here:
http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/nature/poems.php?id=780587

More photos from the beautiful Williams Bay, Denmark.

This place is so beautiful and I couldn't help taking heaps of photos of the place. Trust me, I haven't done justice to this place.

These 2 photos are taken at section of the bay called the Elephant Cove, also known by Elephant Rocks (The rocks looked like elephants from high elevation).

Perhistoric Earth? Hosted on Zooomr

I took these 2 shots during sunset. It was a cloudy day and was drizzling a little.

My photo has been digged!

I was surprised too see a comment left on one of my photos in Flickr this morning. My photo has been digged by a photography blog called Fotodirt. More surprising was the kind comments left in the blog about this particular photo:


This shot was actually taken in colour. I adjusted the contrast, added vignetting and converted the photo into black and white. And the result is as such.

The colour version of this shot is as follow:

Boats and Yachts by ~The-autumn-leaf on deviantART

The fotodirt.com blog is actually quite an interesting site. It contains some great topics and discussion about photography. I believe any amateur photogs, photography buffs or aspiring to be professional can definitely learn heaps from the blog site.