The Waterlillies Special! ^o^

More waterlillies were in bloom this week, the dragonflies definitely did a good job in keeping their petals clean of pests :)

There is something delicate about these flowers...the waterlily and the lotus are considered flowers "that rise through mud yet retain their purity and beauty" in a chinese proverb. It is no wonder they are the flowers of the buddhas.

A day of sun, heat and lots of excitement

Another sunny day on Thursday, but no where near as hot as Friday the week before and the sunlight wasn't as intense (thank goodness!)

I am beginning to feel the limitation of my Canon IXUS 70, especially when I wasn't able to fully zoom into the lotus bud I wanted to shoot...or the flower that was growing behind a shrub....or the dragonfly that was sitting on a leafstalk in the middle of a pond... le sigh

I still got lots of beautiful shots though, but I know they can be better. Every time we go to the botanic gardens, it's a test for my little compact camera - to see what it can really achieve...but perhaps it's time for me to consider an upgrade? (I will meditate on this for 2 months to help making a decision)

With this week's shots, I'm especially pleased with the ladybug and the sunflower.

I've been trying to take a proper ladybug shot for a few weeks but their light reflecting shell have always been problem for my camera, this time though, we had some shade and judging by the outcome, the focus of the camera was just on the "unsuspecting" subject of interest.

Sunflowers are quite amazing, I never knew that each little flower in the center pad were a little curl...ahh if i could only get closer~~ :)

I will also be putting a waterlilly special after this ^o^

Heat on! Sydney

* Sydney was boiling on Friday last week... but that didn't stop us from taking more photos of the everchanging Botanic Gardens.

The waterlillies are starting to flower just as we expected, the lotus is on its way too~~ I can't wait to see the lotus pond this week, it'll be breathtaking!!

* What is it with sunlight and cameras? My photos turn out the best during cloudy days with little sunshine...on a hot and sunny day (like Friday)...most of my photos ended up being over exposed! >_< over 60 photos, now down to a handful~~ but then again I have become strict with my photo selection~

* After the heatwave over the weekend, I have decided to get a portable air conditioner...I think both the cats and myself will appreciate it when the next hot day comes~ Although I must say, seeing the cats glue their noses against the flyscreen for prolonged periods of time do give me the giggles :P

Water Lillies, yes please!

Today's photos were not as good as I'd like them to be which was a bit disappointing. It seems too much light could be bad for photos too - like today, the sun was beaming directly on the plants and colours like white and yellow reflects the light so well that they just appear as a white patch on the picture...

Still we got the good news that the water lillies will be blooming en mass in a week or two time...hopefully I will be able to upload some nice close up photos of water lillies. Lotus is also another flower I am waiting for...I imagine they will be ready in a week or so as well given the temperature...can't wait ^o^

We managed to take a few water lilly photos today (only a few was blooming) but they were in a pond and most of my photos didn't turn out so well since they are so far away.

~New Scratching Post~

Savior of my Sofa, best nail sharpener and exercising equipments for cats~~ And of course they love it :)

Rain, rain, jewellery for the plants

Today was a weird day weather wise...sunny one moment, pouring the next. Ahh well, water is good for the plants I guess

Luckily it didn't rain during the photo session and what's more we're given the opportunity to photograph all the plants with nice droplets of rain water all over their petals and leaves~~ The best kind of jewellery for plants, created by nature :P

Echo & the moth

Filmed this the other night...I was amazed how long Echo can stand on her hind legs :P she's usually quite wobbly... ^o^

Opened my first ever YouTube account just so I can load the video up~

Photos from Thurs 22/10/09

Some photos that I forgot to load from week before last ^_^

@ the Rose Garden on Thursday 29/10/09

The Rose Garden within the Royal Botanic Gardens have undergone massive transformation over the last 2 weeks from bare leafless branches to walls of various coloured petals.

Many of the roses fell victim to the invading aphid army and photos didn't turn out well. Still 44 out of 96 photos passed my initial cut ^_^

A few nice ones below.