Photo Catch Up

This is a catch-up post today because my computer crashed on Monday so I've had to make do with the laptop.  The PC is probably trying to tell me it needs to retire but I think I can squeeze a bit more out of it while I save up for its replacement.  (Update:  It seems the mother board is causing the problem so the news is not good.)

Tuesday I spotted a group of young Harlequin Beetles in a tree at our front verandah so here we go with another close-up shot.

It was an overcast day with flat light so a bit of fill flash was needed.  The beetles invade the tree every year and are just as colourful as the flowers.  Shot with the 7D and 100mm macro lens hand held.

The weather was not much better when we took a trip to the city yesterday (Wednesday) to take a look at the Annie Leibovitz: A Photographers Life 1990-2005 photography exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art.  It was an interesting exhibition with a mix of her professional work blended with personal "family snaps" style photography showing that even the pros are happy to take ordinary "record shots" for no other reason than to record special moments in life.  The photos on display showed happy times in the photograper's life as well as sad times as she recorded the last days of her dear friend Susan Sontag as well as her father.

Before we entered the exhibition I took the opportunity to take a couple of shots of the P&O cruise liner Aurora docked at Circular Quay.  I liked this one best and hope you like it as well.

The Live View feature of the 7D was put to good use as the camera was held low to get the shot I wanted.  Contrast was increased in CS5 to deal with the flat lighting and get a bit of detail in the clouds.  I would have liked the Opera House arches to be in full view but it was the lines formed by the mooring ropes and the shape of the ship's bow that I was after and the Opera House just adds a touch of location.