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Personal Favourites?

I have no particular favourite photos of 2020. They are all my favourites. Each month I choose a selection of photos that represent the main themes of my month and, as is often the case, many favourite-ish photos don’t make the cut. For the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Favorite Images of 2020, I’ve chosen a couple of those that didn’t fit my monthly narrative and two I published earlier this year. I wouldn’t exactly call them favourites but for personal reasons, they are ones I really like.

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Drum Roll Please

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you. It is also New Years day, so I thought this start of this new decade, which follows a very shitty year for many of us, needed a big number to ring it in. Still, I am ambivalent. because I love the tune I have selected but its history is complicated and it has been exploited in rather inappropriate and insensitive ways. At least in my opinion. I could write an essay about it but I won’t go into the details. Perhaps I’m overthinking this.

My choice to ring in the 2021 new year is Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s adaptation of Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. It seems appropriate that it is performed in an empty stadium. I dedicate my choice to all those who endured 2020 and survived and to all those who weren’t so lucky. I guess that’s everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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The Changing Seasons – December 2020

December in Canberra (Australia) – So many babies; so much grass; a lot of cutting, over-committed and Christmas.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am so very tired this month. I bet you know the feeling. It has been a long year and December has been super busy. Apart from the usual mundane activities, furniture shopping and mosaic production, I did get out a couple of times into my local area for relaxation. I was surprised by how many babies I saw. Tis the season I guess. Let’s look at some.

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The Spirit Of The Dance

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you. It also happens to be Christmas Day today and if you celebrate Christmas, or even if you don’t, I wish you peace and good health on this day and every day. I would also like to share with you a photo that represents my Christmas in Australia.

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Imagination Goes Mad

A few personal thoughts on the Sydney coronavirus outbreak. I’m not an expert. I don’t debate facts or fiction. Best go elsewhere if debate is what you are after.

Sars-Cov-2 has made a break for it again in Sydney, Australia, and we’re all pretty nervous. I bet the 83 people infected over the last week aren’t happy either. This new community outbreak has left many people’s Christmas plans in disarray. On the one hand, I am impressed by the amazing job the New South Wales (NSW) contract tracers have done to identify the chain(s) of infection in Sydney. Thank you, contract tracers! On the other hand, I know further outbreaks are inevitable but I am deeply unimpressed by the circumstances that apparently led to the outbreak in the first place.

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Tea Tune

Today we’ve been invited to join the lovely Su (aka Zimmerbitch) for a Christmas afternoon tea get-together and chat in the blogosphere. Pull up a chair wherever you are and join in some socially distant camaraderie. I’m often too disorganised and my kitchen too messy to join in with my own post, but today I am bursting with excitement and ready for show and tell. Last week, I went actual shopping and bought an outdoor lounge setting! I know. Very un-me. Couch shopping seems to be a Covid thing here in Australia.

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My Preciouses

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Precious Moments

It may come as a surprise to my readers that when I first started this blog some 3 or 4 years ago, I wasn’t at all interested in photography. I have now got thousands of photos and since I don’t have an electronic filing system, it is hard to find that “needle in a haystack” photo that I know would be perfect for a photo challenge. So today, I decided I would start from the back of my digital catalogue to select photos for the Precious Moments challenge. All but one of the photos are family snaps (including some images of family members that are now deceased). Where appropriate, I have included privacy screens (I’ve drawn in sunglasses) to protect the identity of the living. Let’s get started.

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“A” Is For Anarchy And Art

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Subjects That Begin with the Letter A.

I have one subject and two photos for this challenge. I have chosen Art as my subject, and more specifically, my art. This is my first foray into “protest” art. It seemed an appropriate, non-violent way to express my rage over the last two months. This piece was completed today.

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Passions Run Deep

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

In Australia, we had our warmest November on record and now we’ve drifted into summer. It’s a weird time. The entire Australian populace is on holiday, moving en masse around the countryside come hell or high water. Our biggest trading partner and (former?) comrade doesn’t want to talk to us anymore. Our ally and trading competitor is fighting an internal war while its citizens die in their thousands each day as its national leader abrogates any duty of care.

I’ve picked this song for its mournful and wistful tone. I wish it didn’t have to be like this. It doesn’t have to be like this. Let’s all be friends and leave love enough alone. Cue Doug Ashdown’s Winter in America.

Take care, everyone. Be kind to others and to yourself.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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My Best Birds

Hi there, I’ve been inspired by Brian from Bushboy’s World to participate in the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge hosted by Lisa from Eyes Wide Open. The topic of this week’s challenge is birds with a “B” in the title of their name. However, before I launch into it, I would just like to make a speech on wildlife photos.

First I would like to say that the wildlife photographers I’ve interacted with online have been unstinting in their kindness and helpfulness with suggestions for taking good wildlife photos. I’m incredibly appreciative of that, even if from time to time I feel a little intimidated because my gear is not the latest and greatest; I can’t (refuse?) to get up at daybreak to take advantage of the lovely soft morning light; I don’t plan; my backgrounds are often messy, etc. I guess one might describe me as a happy snapper who likes “nature” and who just goes with the flow. I’m a total opportunist, and sometimes I get lucky (well, maybe it isn’t all luck these days).

It is not that I don’t want to improve. I do, but that’s not my mission. Anyway, I want to encourage you whether or not you have a super-duper camera, whether or not your wildlife photos are entirely in focus or not, whether or not your subject is hidden by a busy background, etc, firstly, because it is fun, and secondly, one day you might take a shot of something that is interesting to you and that something interesting might be rare, endangered or even thought to be extinct and without your photo, we would never know. Never hope. No, I haven’t taken a photo of something thought to be extinct, but it could happen, if I’m in the right place at the right time.

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