Waverley Meadows Pre-school

Had an amazing opportunity to photograph a pre-school, the Waverley Meadows Pre-school. What I discovered is a school filled with lots of fun and warmth. It is a very colourful place with lots of teaching materials and activities for the kids. It has a large, well equipped outdoor games area, car park. It is next to a park and is a very secure aka safe environment for the kids.

Thank you so much Wendy for this job and accompanying me during the session. Thank you for the permission to photograph you and your kids. This is Wendy with her lovely kids. Love this pic! :)



















This is the chicken barn intended for the chickens I believe. However, it appeared that they prefer to congregate at this colourful playhouse above instead. Who can blame them?

I couldn't resist the temptation to get into the playhouse to snap a few close ups. I liked the experience and result, but am not sure if they share my feeling. ;)

Gecko in my house!

Found a giant dinosaur in my house the other day! Actually it is just a little household gecko about 16cm long (which might sound a little big for some but it is actually quite small given the length of the tail).

Gecko while very common in Asian countries is not one of my wife's favorite. Thinking that geckos live on insects and it was a rainy evening, I found a pretty long worm (over 20cm long) and put it into the container where I captured the gecko. I thought the gecko would be really happy with such a big meal, only to find out they don't feed on each other. Well, at least they were keeping each other company...

However, that combination almost got me evicted from my house! My own house!! :P

Anyway, I put them in the backyard and happy to say that no animal (or reptile or worm) was hurt in the process of taking these pictures. :)




I hope my flash didn't hurt its eyes. It was actually getting more and more comfortable (so it seems) to the camera after a few shots. Here it is saying hello and waving at the camera! :D

Collingwood Children's Farm on a Wet Day

Went to the Collingwood Children's Farm and the farmer's market couple of Saturdays ago. It was a wet day and we were worried if the farm was even open altogether. Thank goodness, it was, and we made it to watch and try milking cow. Given the wet weather, there was little horse ridding like we saw last time here.

Anyway, I was excited to see what the wet weather would offer... Took some pictures of the chickens there as well as a cat amongst other animals. Some of chicken pics are already posted here. Here are some others and I hope you like them.

I love the first picture, what a funny family. One of the little sheep really liked me, it kept trying to climb up on me..

I love cats but never photographed them before. This one looks amazing and was happy to pose to the camera! It was hiding in the stable with the horses away from the rain outside. :)




Thanks to the rain, some of the chickens, like this one here, looked like rock stars with styling gel and loads of attitude! All it needs is a pair of D&G shades like these! :D

More Christmas Parties

You have met this gentleman, Eric, before if you follow this blog. He is not pretending he is the chef. This man CAN cook like I have said before here. Not sure whether it is Eric or his sunnies, that made him look sooooo coool. Those Oakleys are wonderful! Didn't know you can make prescription lens for curved frames. I need to work hard and save money for a pair. $$$

Here, Esther is wearing the same sunnies. She looks real cool also and you can practically see everything on the stove - the satay and honey soy chicken wings, corn cobs and the lid we brought in a bid to help make sure the meat are well cooked without getting too burnt. I wish we brought a lid for ourselves also so won't have gotten sun burnt. The weather was amazingly good that day at Jells Park. After a cool, wet week, so many people rocked up for a barbie.

It is worth noting that these two good looking subjects were not posing for the camera. Must be those Oakleys! No, I don't get commission from Oakleys. :)

We also celebrated Andrew and Esther's birthday. Happy birthday Esther and Andrew. Andrew, hope you have a great holiday in Tassie. Almost missed this shot. The firework on the cake certainly goes fast and doesn't wait for anyone. They were nice cheese cakes from the Cheesecake Shop.

After a very full lunch, we went to see the lake. The lake was very murky, not sure if it is always like that. There were swarns, ducks and so on.

A dog was having lots of fun chasing ducks in the lake. Not sure if the ducks appreciated all the attention though. A translator told me this duck was screaming, "Get me out of the water, get me out of the water!" Not sure whether it was asking the right person though... it could end up on the dinning table. :P

Water Gymnastics?

These were taken at the Fairfield Boathouse. A very pretty place indeed.

Look at how amazing the water glide over the feathers of this duck. Please don't mistake the little white "dots" in these pics for noise. They are actually water droplets!

Question: Was this duck bathing under the warm summer sun of Melbourne? Was it performing Swan Lake because it saw me with my camera? Perhaps, it was scared by me, by the big chunk of metal (camera) in my hands, and because I shouted at the top of my lungs "FREEEEZE!!!"

Answer: Nop, the right answer is: 龜～波～氣～功～ (Kamehameha wave) from Dragon Balls! LOL!

Looks like I am not the only one interested also. Look at the duck watching attentively on the right. Perhaps, it would be better to photoshop it out of the pics... But I find this spectator so funny! :D Perhaps, it was saying to the exhibitionist, "you're despicable." LOL! :D

龜...
波...
氣...
功!!!

Butterflies & Meerkats at the Melbourne Zoo

It has been over a month since my last confession (I mean post). Been sick with a dry cough for over a month, and I just came back from a short holiday in Tasmania (which helped me to recover a great deal). Anyway, want to post a few pictures to share with everyone.

First topic is Melbourne Zoo. Those of you who followed my blog would know that I went there in March. One picture I sadly missed then was picture of butterflies. This was my priority one this time. Unfortunately, I quickly learnt that it was not easy. I don't have a macro lens, didn't know how to follow these butterflies and other useful information (I later learnt) for this kind of photography. Anyway, here is one of them. Hope you enjoy it. It has been enhanced.

The tiger and dolphin enclosures were closed but there were a number of other really interesting attractions like lion feeding, female elephants fighting over a male elephant. Watch out for them when you plan to visit the Melbourne Zoo.

I love the look of these little meerkats. They are real exhibitionists. Enjoy.

Bonding between man and animal

My wife and I went to the Collingwood Children's Farm for our 10th wedding anniversary on Saturday. It was a beautiful day. We saw cow milking, pigs, ducks, chickens, sheep, goat, guinea pigs, horses, lots of good natural produce, and many more. There were lots of families and kids also. We had an absolute ball there and vow to come back again soon. This one here is my favorite. It is a beautiful show of bonding between (wo)man and animal. Technical details: 200mm, 1/1000s, f/4, iso800, handheld. I guess I could have done with less speed and lower sensitivity thus less noise. However, the noise was actually quite pleasing given the good light condition.

Melbourne Zoo

Went to the Melbourne Zoo today to prepare for a work function. The weather was great despite a little rain in the middle of the day. Temperature was 27 degree celsius. The most challenging part was that my colleague and I were accompanied with his family including 2 small kids. This means I couldn't take my sweet time (well, I have to keep my mind on the job I was supposed to do as well... heehee.) But I must say they were really beautiful kids and they provided added photo interest on top of the animals.

I love this lion, it was not noticed by most, it was away from the "main stage" and I had to lean over the fence fully stretched to catch this great shot (sorry for blowing my own trumpet). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I wish the wire fence doesn't show up completely so it can be mistaken as a picture taken in the wild. Well, it is not that obvious in this small shrunk down picture... Anyway, I am not going to remove it digitally so you get the whole truth and nothing but the truth!