Australia – fun down under in Sydney, part 1

I just returned from a 3 week trip to Australia, my sister and I visited Sydney and Melbourne. Didn’t feel like taking my Canon so the iPhone had to do. It takes a really great picture; here are some of my Sydney pictures.

This reminded me of the needle in Seattle

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I took lots of pictures on our ferry rides to the different beaches

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I’ll post some more from Sydney tomorrow.

Kris

 

DBG (Desert Botanical Gardens)

After my blue moon shoot I was able to get back to the Desert Botanical Gardens this morning and take a bunch of pictures.  My friend Georganna came with me and is the best teacher ever, her knowledge of how the dang camera works is great!

This little frog was stuck with all the people, trying to get back into the gardens

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Scary looking, but with amazing fruit

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Kind of looks like Jabba the Hut

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Three little cactus, just hanging out

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Love the drama of this plant!

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I like these little guys peeking over the wall

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Reminds me of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indy is stuck with the snakes

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Blue Moon

I went to a class last night at the Desert Botanical Gardens to take pictures during the Blue Moon.  Looking at my shots today, I realize I need a lot more practice with the night shots!  Here are a few that didn’t turn out too bad.

The moon is peeking through a structure out in the gardens.

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This is the moon between a bunch of trees, I was on a path looking up.

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Here is a cactus that had some interesting man-made light on it, lucky for me since I forgot my flashlight!

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I’m going to be taking pictures there again on Monday morning, I’m excited to see what I can get!

Trip to Tucson

I spent last week at my parent’s house in Tucson and had a blast!  Compared to the 115 temps in Phoenix, 100 was down right balmy.  My dad loves to garden, so I took some pictures around their house and out and about in their neighborhood.  I love the landscaping down there, a lot of it feels like we’re in the middle of the desert…

Some cool plants at the house

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Some ideas for my yard; I’ve got to get rid of the grass!

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Pictures around the neighborhood

I took some pictures around my street and hiking back on South Mountain, want to make sure I don’t forget everything I learned through my photography course!

This was on a cloudy day last week; here are some of my plants peeking over the backyard wall.

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A couple of gnomes that are super happy I’m growing some foliage in the front yard…

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The sky was so blue this morning, we’re back to the heat again!  The clouds made it not so bad, and since it was 6:30am I could still see the moon.

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Some wild-looking cactus, caught them on the way down the mountain.

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For some reason I was digging the street signs right by the hiking path 🙂

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I’m getting out of my comfort-zone next Saturday to wander around the different cities in the valley.  Received some great suggestions for fun places to shoot, I’m excited to see what I can find!

Evening pictures around the house

We’re supposed to have some rain, but all I’ve seen so far are clouds and dust!  I took a few pictures from my backyard of the changing sky tonight, it’s amazing how fast weather can change in Phoenix.  I thought this looked a little like the hole in the sky the Lorax flew through…

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In this one you can see the clouds coming in…

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On the other side of the house, a silhouette of South Mountain.

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More fun pictures from class

Here are some pictures I’ve taken in the last few weeks, which I like, but they didn’t really go with the themes of my homework assignments.

Flowers and a palm tree at my house – My dad has helped me with some plantings around the homestead.

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A cool water feature in downtown Gilbert

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Ahh, Joe’s BBQ!

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Of course there’s Burger King in Salt Lake, but there is also Sconecutter.  So delicious with honey butter!!

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This is a pretty industrial view of Salt Lake, right from my hotel window.

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A shot of the Utah State Capital.  My great grandpa was Secretary of State in Utah back in the 1920’s, so I have some history with this building!

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