Iconic Sydney - Australia

Harbour Bridge - Sydney, Australia

I hadn't taken any photographs for sometime so decided to get out with the camera over the weekend. I drove down to Milson's Point to photograph the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. My shot list for the night included a panoramic photograph of both icons. I also tried a new 2:1 ratio on the photograph above and thought it came out pretty well.

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Macro Daisy

Daisy

I hadn't used the macro lens for a while so decided to pull it out earlier this afternoon. As usual, I didn't have any particular subject in mind and decided to photograph whatever I found. These small Daisies seem to be all over the place at the moment so I photographed a few of them.

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Thermal Pools - Rotorua, New Zealand

Thermal Pools - Rotorua, New Zealand

A few months ago we were in New Zealand for a short holiday. We spent most of our time in Auckland but did drive up to Rotorua to see the thermal pools, the main tourist attraction of the area. It was a 3 hour drive from Auckland and gave us an opportunity to see some of the stunning countryside which NewZealand is famous for.

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Hindagala Temple - Kandy, Sri Lanka

The Hindagala Temple - Kandy, Sri Lanka

The Hindagala temple is an ancient cave temple famous for the art which adorns its ceilings and walls. Most of the paintings date back to the 18th century but there are a few poorly preserved paintings which are said to be from the 5th century. The temple itself was a hermitage used by meditating Buddhist monks for centuries.

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Indian Peafowl - Yala, Sri Lanka

Indian Peacock (Pavo cristatus) - Yala, Sri Lanka

Indian Peafowl are a common sight in the dry zone jungles of Sri Lanka and are probably one of the most easily recognisable birds in the area. The male has an unmistakable train of elongated blue and green upper tail covert feathers and a metallic blue crown and neck. The female doesn't have the train of feathers or the same bright plumage.

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Little Green Bee-eater - Sri Lanka

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Yala, Sri Lanka

The Little Green Bee-eater is a common sight throughout Sri Lanka's dry zone and can often be heard twittering in open grasslands. Its Blue/Green chin makes it easy to differentiate this species from other Bee-eaters found in Sri Lanka (Blue-tailed Bee-Eater, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater and the European Bee-eater).

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Three-spot Grass Yellow - Sri Lanka

Three-spot Grass Yellow (Eurema blanda) - Thalangama, Sri Lanka

The Three-spot Grass Yellow is a common butterfly belonging to the Pieridae family. It's range covers both the wet and dry zones of Sri Lanka. I've photographed this species in Thalangama, Yala and Anuradhapura on a number of occasions.

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More Leopards - Sri Lanka

Leopard - Yala, Sri Lanka

I've still got a number of photographs of Leopard taken in Sri Lanka which I have not had a chance to share until now. The photograph above was our ninth and last sighting of a Leopard in Yala. We saw it on the further side of an open plain near the entrance to the park. We watched it for about ten or fifteen minutes while it walked over, crossed the road and disappeared into the undergrowth.

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Green Skimmer - Yala, Sri Lanka

Green Skimmer (Ortherum sabina sabina) - Yala, Sri Lanka

Between the morning and afternoon drives through the Yala national park I spent some time experimenting with my macro lens. I'm still getting the hang of using it but it was very early days in Yala. Fortunately the harsh midday light ruled out the need for a flash and simplified things for me.

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