This week blog post covers the shots taken last weekend in the Australian Botanical Gardens, Mount Annan South west of Sydney. This week I thought I may have had better luck on the mushroom front as we had a few days of decent rain here last week. But that was soon to be found to be not the case as I didn't find any yet again this week. So on with the bird shots for this week with a few floral shots thrown in to keep the speedlites running. 

First up this week, not the best shot but the best one so far of the Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) These birds are migratory and are only in the country from few months of the year. At the moment, I've spotted them in the woodland area and also in the connections gardens so seem to have made the gardens home for now. Look high in the tree tops for thee you will hear them before you see them most times, a very distinctive call. Still need to work on getting a better one of these, though they seem to be staying high up in the Canopy so not so easy so looks like it’s a waiting game for these. This one was taken in the woodland area. 

Next up I walked along the stolen generation walk and came across a small group of Variegated Fairy-wrens (Malurus lamberti) This one was happy to pose for a little bit. Very unlike these. They usually see you and are off. 

From there I headed up to the connections gardens hoping to find mushrooms there after n luck in the woodland area. But again, no luck. This first shot here’s of a common blackbird (Turdus merula) There’s a few of these about in the gardens but seem to be more in my garden.

So with no luck on the mushroom front and a few weeks now of carrying the speedlites about I thought I’d better put them to use before I forget how to use them So this first shots of Xanthorrhoea macronema, it’s like a mini grass tree. With one flash used in a small soft box of to the right, taken in full daylight, under exposed them re-light with the speedlite on low power to give the effect.  

This next version of the same shots after playing around a little in post processing to see what effect I could give it, this one I've toned down so only a little difference in appearance this time. 

While taking these a crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) was watching on. In this shot you can see the lighting conditions the last shot was taken in. It gives you an idea what you can do with the camera just playing with exposure and lighting. 

Next while I had the speedlites out and the 60D camera set for the Tripod I gave a Flannel Flower ((Actinotus helianthi) a go with the speedlites. Again same lighting conditions as the shot above. But concentrated the light on the one flower in this case. 

From there I took a walk down around the lake to see if anything interesting was going on there, only a few Little Pied Cormorants (Microcarbo melanoleucos) sitting around with this one having yawn. 

In the lake was another one, this one on a fishing expedition, thought looks like its catch was a bit small and should have been through back, it nearly was as it was dropped and had to have a quick dart to re-catch it. But made short work of that.  

The last shot for the week Was this rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) sitting amongst this bunch of flowering blossoms (Corymbia ficifolia) (I remembered this week to get the plant names) The colours of these flowers is so orange. The shot is ok but still not there so in this case I thought I’d try a little extra on it to see what I could do with it, after several attempts I like the last one best.  

The first is the original.

This next one added a painted effect while leaving the bird alone. Still not happy with it. 

So gave it another go picked a different style and this time added in a canvas texture to the shot making it look more like a canvas painting with again the bird bought back to the photo image untouched. Think its the best of the three here, feel free to add which one you prefer in the comments section at the bottom here on this post. 

Well thats it for this weeks blog post, and nearly the end of the year again. Next week I'll do my best of for the year picking my ten best shots as I've done the last few years. Not an easy task working out only ten images from the year, so we'll see what I come up with this year and how it compares to last year. 

Last week’s viewers of my blog were again world-wide with Russia again taking out the top spot for number of views well above anyone else with the USA next down by a factor of ten nearly then Australia, followed by France, Croatia then Italy. The number of views this week was down a little compared to last week, but still a health number of readers each week. 

Wishing every one a happy Christmas and a great new year out there no mater where you are. All the best of the new year. 

Thanks for dropping by my blog, this week, I'll be back next week wiht my best of shots from 2016. 

Glenn. 

G'day welcome to my blog, or welcome back if you a regular reader. 

For those that read this blog regularly you might be interested to know the last week there were readers from Russia, the United States, Australia, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. With Russia topping the number of views this week. 

So as usual this weeks blog will be a look at the shots I managed to take last weekend in the Australian Botanical Gardens, Mount Annan.

This week I ran my first photography workshop in the gardens, a Bird Photography workshop with nine participants, so a nice number for a first workshop. A great group of people with varying levels of skills. The weather was good for the day not to hot, and no wind, bright light so good for the faster shutter speeds so a good morning for Bird photography, all we needed was the birds to show up.

The Workshop started with going over some settings for Bird shots and how to get the best focus using a few methods, there was also a morning tea provided by the Melaleuca House.

The last few weeks I’ve been going over the walk each week working out where the birds are and out first stop was at the tree shown in the last few blog posts, however this week not so active, after the last few weeks a bit of a disappointment for me, we did manage to find a few Striated Pardalotes, but the Galahs and Corellas were not showing their faces in the hollows this day. So we moved off along the walk into the woodland. AS we started down the path a blue tonged Lizard was making its way along the path towards us, well it was till it say a group of photographers with long lenses and decided it wasn't somewhere it wanted to be. 

There we got lucky and managed to get a few shots of a Channel-billed Cuckoo. (Scythrops novaehollandiae) This one was into the woodlands a bit so not the cleanest of shots but still something different, so the morning improved from the first disappointment.

We continued along the path to the next large Gum tree with a hollow and this one for the last few months has had a Corella in residence in the hollow, again not this time. So the two places I pretty much was assured there would be some stationary birds to shoot to practice on turned out a blank.

From there we crossed the road and stopped at the small dam there for a group photo and spotted a little pied Cormorant in the trees on the other side of the bank of the dam.

After a few shots there we moved down towards the stolen generation memorial area, where there is always plenty of bird life about as its one of the usual water locations in the gardens.

This is where last week I found the Scarlet Honeyeater, and again there was a few about so quite a few got some shots of these here.

From there we started to make our way back to the plant bank with a few stops along the way.

At one stop a Kookaburra was in the trees after it had caught a mouse so a few got shots with the Kookaburra with the mouse in its beak.

From there we stopped briefly at the dam opposite the plant bank to see if there was anything interesting there, a couple of young Dusky Moorhens about, that was about it on the day. Then we made our way back to the room for a wrap up of the morning, so for a first up workshop a few disappointments from my side, regarding the birds co-operating but still some good opportunities and everyone said that they gained something from the morning so It seemed to go well. We’ll see where it goes from here.

After the Photography workshop I went back out into the gardens to get some shots for myself, I ran into a few of the workshop participants so we did some more shots. 

First up I managed to capture this white faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) in flight as it took of from the Dam opposite the plant bank. (Now they come out after the workshop.)

Then I saw this Lace Monitor Lizard as I was walking long the side of the dam, Well actually a Willie Wagtail pointed it out to me they don't like these about, most birds set of their alarm calls when these are about and I've seen them be moved on by Cockatoos who don't like the thought of these raiding there nests for eggs. 

Its here I ran in to the first of the participants after the workshop, so they both got a few shots of the monitor up the tree as well.  

While we were shooting the Lace Monitor a Purple swamp hen (Porphyrio porphyrio) was sitting in a tree, usually see these in the edges of the waterways in the gardens not so often up the tree. So something a little different. 

We moved back along the path and the Scarlet Honeyeaters (Myzomela sanguinolenta) were about so I managed a few better shots than last weeks shot, still not happy with these yet so still need to get a good one of these. 

From there I moved back along the path and found this Yellow faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops).

I did go back to the hollow beside the road and just to rub it in the Long-billed Corella was back at its post guarding its hollow. I was happy to run into one of the other participants there as well so at least one found out that I was telling the truth there. 

Last up for he week this shot of a Red-browed Finch (Neochmia teporalis) Just watching the world go by.

So that wraps up this weeks shots from the Australian Botanical Gardens and a run down on my first photography workshop. With luck there will be more in the coming year. 

Thanks for dropping by my blog this week, feel free to leave comments in the comment section of the blog post, good to see its getting a global reach. 

I'll be back next week with more. 

Glenn

This weeks blog post is a a walk thought the shots taken this weekend in the Australian Botanical Gardens, Mount Annan. 

Next Saturday morning  (10th Dec) will be my first photography workshop held in the gardens and I did a trial walk through this weekend of the walk we'll be taking in the gardens. So the first set of shots are shots taken form the walk we will be doing then later on I went a little further and got a few extra shots for the week. 

This first set of shots is taken just near the plant bank, a small group of gum trees with several hollows has a lot of interest. This first shot shows a Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossis Haematodus) at a hollow a few minutes before a Red-rumped parrot came out of it. 

This shot shows a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets investigating a different hollow in the same tree, this one is the home to a pair of Galahs and their young.

This shots of one of the Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) standing watch. 

Opposite these trees is the woodland area of the gardens with Cumberland plain woodland. This shot of an Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides) was taken from the trees looking in tot her woodland through the trees, The bird was a fair way off so this one’s pretty heavily cropped so starting to lose the quality in this image. 

The young Galah stuck its head just out of the hollow to see whats going on around and what all the fuss was about, so with luck this weekend it will be a lot more active and showing it self off to the world. 

Not to miss out this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) also came in to get its portrait taken, these aren't always the best with the white bird against a light background so getting the exposure right is critical for these ones. 

The parent Galahs were content to just sit around and doing a spot of feather maintenance. as seen in this shot.

This ones of a White-plumed Honeyeater, currently building its nest not that far of the main walking track, You can see all the spiderweb its been collecting to build its nest with under its beak and across its chest. 

Next up is a series of shots of a Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) The first two shots are taken and the background is a bit distracting with all the branches behind, but then it moved on to a second branch where I got a cleaner shot with less distraction in the background.

Laughing Kookaburra

Next up A Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta), I've caught a glimpse of this one in the past but never managed a shot, not the best shot, but clearly the scarlet Honeyeater, these ones are high up in the canopy and don't stay still for long, but there were a few about so hopefully we'll be in luck next weekend. 

This ones of a Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) young in the dam opposite the plant bank. 

After the test walk checking out the timing of the walk I went up to the main lakes near the visitors centre The usual lake inhabitants were there. This ones of the common Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata). 

Next up an Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) in its reed nest in the lake. 

One of the young Little Pied Cormorants (Microcarbo melanoleucos) has made its way out in the lake this week so this ones on one of its first venture so hasn't had time to get its feathers dirty yet. 

This ones of a Hardhead (Aythya australis) (White eyed duck) taking a bath in the middle of the lake.

By then I thought that was it for the day so was heading to the car. In the Carpark I ran across these Musk Lorikeets first time I've got a shot of these in the gardens, so two new birds this week now down to 66 birds to go in the gardens now. 

So that's it for this weeks shots, a little late getting this one out due to preparing the presentation and training notes for the Bird photography work shop, The works shops now over now, next blog post I'll tell you how it went. 

So that's it for this weeks blog. Thanks for dropping by my blog.

Glenn.