Wedge-Tailed Eagle

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Aquila audax

The Wedge Tailed Eagle is the largest bird of prey found in Australia. I've been trying to capture a set of decent images of this bird for over 3 years but have had very little luck in terms of good sightings. We spent last weekend (a 5 day long weekend!) in the Barrington Tops region of northern New South Wales. We stayed in a log cabin, which was nestled in a small valley on a 2000 acre property. Most of the property was bush and the terrain was hilly. It was perfect country for seeing Wedge Tailed Eagles.

More images inside.

26/52 - Wall-e Sees Red

Wall-e Sees Red

This week's entry for the project was a bit hurried. I just got back to Sydney after a five day long weekend and realised that I hadn't taken a shot for this week. I thought of shooting something relating to Easter but ditched the idea and went for Wall-e instead. I hadn't used the red gels for a while and thought I'd give them ago. I created the bokeh for this shot using marbles.

Setup shots after the jump.

Macro Bee

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

I pulled out the macro lens a few days ago to try my hand at photographing live insects. It was interesting to say the least. I had been photographing flowers with the lens earlier and had the extension tubes on. I was lazy and didn't bother taking it out which made photographing insects a bit harder. 

More shots after the jump.

25/52 - Whisk

Whisk

This weeks subject was a whisk which I found in the kitchen. I wasn't sure how I was going to use it initially and started experimenting with it to create bokeh. After shooting a number of frames with it, I decided to use the whisk itself as the main subject but shoot it with a shallow depth of field to try and make it look a bit "different". I had the macro lens on at the time and this made things a bit easier.

Lighting info after the jump.

Pink Gazania

A Pink Gazania

I played around with the macro lens and the extension tubes over the weekend to get used to using them. I found this Pink Gazania in the garden and decided to use it as a subject. It's actually quite a small flower and I was relatively happy with the results of my first macro shoot. However, I must admit, it took me a lot longer to find the name of the flower than to photograph it!

More photographs inside.

24/52 - Eton Mess

Eton Mess

We had Eton Mess over the weekend and it was a no brainer as far as what this weeks shot was going to be. The dish has been known by this name since the 19th century and is traditionally served at Eton college's annual cricket match against Winchester College.

Lighting info and setup shots after the jump.

The Roman Forum - Rome, Italy

The Temple of Saturn and the Forum - Rome, Italy

While in Rome, we joined a walking tour of the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum with the hope of getting to know a bit more about the history of the area. We joined a tour which was recommended by the people running the B&B we stayed at. We got off to a bad start as the guide got half an hour late and unfortunately things didn't get any better. The whole tour felt as though the guide was just regurgitating a script which she had memorised.

More photographs after the jump.

23/52 - Longines

Longines

I decided to use the macro lens to photograph my wife's watch as this week's shot for the project. I still haven't used the tripod for macro shots and it's pretty tough without it. The depth of field is so shallow that the slightest movement blurs the image. I used a straight-forward one light setup for this shot.

Setup shot, inside.

The Museum - Vatican City

The Stairs - Vatican Museum

The queues to get into the Vatican Museum are horrendously long. Fortunately we had booked our tickets with a tour operator and were able to walk right in without having to queue up. The Museum was packed when we got in but the crowds were moving and we were able to spend a fair bit of time inside.

More images from our visit inside.