Eucalyptus Trees

Eucalyptus trees are my favourite because of their wonderful fragrance! Of course they also provide delicious food for the koala bear.

Eucalyptus oil has many medicinal properties, and is just a great oil to have in your house. I use a few drops with my (unfragranced) washing powder to wash my clothes and it makes them smell very fresh. A few drops on a cotton wool ball, or wipe makes your toilet smell nice and fresh as well.

How do you use eucalyptus oil or any other essential oil? Please share your tips. Thank you!

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Roadtrip USA

Beautiful Heather

Encounter during a bike ride through the forest. It was stunning and it smelt very nice with the warmth of the sun shining on it all day.

Taken with smartphone.

Let there be Light

Merry Christmas – Happy Holidays – Season’s Greetings!

 

Jellies

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California they have an array of jellies, or jellyfish as they are also called. They are fascinating and fun to watch and have a calming effect, the way they slowly float and move around in the water. The beautiful blue background also helps. I had wanted to post a video, so you could enjoy this calming quality too, but unfortunately WordPress does not let me import mp4’s. I have yet to figure out how I can do this, and will post the video once I have found out. Meanwhile, any tips for this are very welcome!

This one is a rather special one, or so I have been told, as it lives in the total dark (hence if was difficult to photograph). I like how you can see the eye and how it looks like an unidentified flying you know what, and in that respect the white stripe of light in the middle conjures up the words: “Beam me up Scotty”. Lastly, I like the face on the right observing this wonderful jelly.

I would like to add that the mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.

Sanctuary

In the first year of the Bachelor’s degree we had an assignment called Asylum/Sanctuary. We had to choose one or the other, and then find a place which represented our choice, so we could practice our newly learnt technical skills. I chose Sanctuary and went to a Tibetan Buddhist Centre, which is described as a “peaceful and beautiful oasis in the city”. It was indeed very peaceful and quiet with lots of native pukeko’s walking around the grounds. 

This is one of the Pukeko’s and for this one and the next photo
I practiced “panning”. It did not quite work, because both subjects have blurry feet, but it was a good start.

For this last image of the prayer wheel I practiced showing movement, whereby the subject is blurry and the background stays in focus. My settings were 1/6, F3.5 and ISO 100 and I did not have a tripod with me, which would have been better with such a slow shutter speed.
I could have easily used a higher ISO setting, so that I could have used a smaller aperture to get the background more in focus.

Still, I enjoy looking back at these images and that’s why I am posting them!

 

Hamurana Spring and Stream

There was a lot of rain during Christmas, but that did not deter me from visiting Hamurana Spring, the deepest natural fresh water spring on the North Island of New Zealand. The walk took me along the beautiful Hamurana Stream, which in summer is home to rainbow trout. The slow drizzle of the rain and the mist added to the peacefulness and serenity of this place. Happy New Year!

Fashion Designer in the Making

This girl had chosen to wear two different shoes, and the dress she wears was made by the girl herself, her mother told me. I am attracted by the composition, and the combination of the colours and the lines. It will probably not fit in a series, but the sense of stillness, and the spirit of this girl move me.

Xi Hu – West Lake

There is a sense of calm in this photo by Auckland based photographer Marc McFadyen. It is a great example of stillness in an image and it inspires me to continue with my idea of photographing “stillness”. This image was taken in 2006, and in 2011 West Lake was made a UNESCO’s World Heritage site. The freshwater lake is located in the city of Hangzhou in Eastern China.