Rose flower tea. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Friday flowers
Month: June 2017
DP Photo Challenge: the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning
Monarch butterfly almost ready to emerge from chrysalis. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
It is a special privilege to observe nature at work. Over this past summer, the milkweed that the Big T and I planted attracted record numbers of monarch butterflies. When it became clear that most of the caterpillars were falling prey to wasps and praying manti, the Big T built a butterfly sanctuary. This meant that not only did dozens of caterpillars survive to emerge as viable butterflies, but that we had ring-side seats to one of nature’s most beautiful shows.
We watched and documented the transition from egg to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly — right up to the moment our “babies” flew away for their winter hibernation.
The old and the new … and the not quite what it seems
Out-building at Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2017. Edited with Snapseed.
The Bois & Charbons (wood & coal) sign-writing on this Melbourne building suggests advertising from another age.
The building is part of the Abbotsford Convent Arts Centre, though it is neglected and apparently unused. When I took the photo, I did wonder how a French coal merchant came to have premises within an Australian convent, but stranger things have undoubtedly happened.
Although I took the shot over a year ago, I’ve largely ignored it. The presence of air-conditioning units, steel barrels, and other signs of modernity detract from the assumed authenticity of a piece of Melbourne’s past. They interrupt a nostalgic, romanticized reading of the scene.
What changed my mind is knowing that the Bois & Charbons signage is fake. It was painted in 1987 when the building was used in as a location in the filming of a TV series about Nancy Wake, a WWII heroine of the French Resistance.
Over-laying the fantasy with another layer of imagining. Bois and Charbons; film location and out-building at Abbotsford Convent Arts Centre, Melbourne. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed and Stackables.
As a medium, photography allows and encourages us to play with notions of reality and authenticity.
Something we all need to remember when we consider the old idiom “a picture paints a thousand words.”
Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge is hosted at Lens and Pens by Sally.
Wordless Wednesday
First lemons off our tree. Timely as the Big T is poorly and in need of honey and lemon drinks. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
The Changing Seasons: June 2017
The last leaf. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
It’s mid-winter here; although some days you would be totally forgiven for believing it’s still summer.
Herald Island and the upper Waitemata Harbour, from Greenhithe Bridge. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
As the mist lifts, blue sky is revealed. Greenhithe, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Rockpool, Langs Beach, Northland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Rockpool, Langs Beach, Northland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Late afternoon, Hamilton’s Gap, Awhitu Peninsula. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Sunrise, Greenhithe Bridge, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Days that began in heavy mist have ended with us barefoot and t-shirt clad on a beach.
Wharf, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Sunrise on a misty morning, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Rowers, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Greenhithe sunrise. From Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Bringing in the boats. Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Herald Island and the upper Waitemata Harbour, from Greenhithe Bridge. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Late afternoon, Hamilton’s Gap, Awhitu Peninsula. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Lone quad-biker, on the beach at Hamilton’s Gap, Awhitu Peninsula. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Late afternoon, Hamilton’s Gap, Awhitu Peninsula. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Late afternoon, Hamilton’s Gap, Awhitu Peninsula. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
If there is a theme (or perhaps an obsession) in this month’s photos, it is light. Harsh light, filtered light, reflected light — or just the focus on a single object in the dark.
Arum lily. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
The Changing Seasons is a blogging challenge hosted by Cardinal Guzman with two versions: the original (V1) which is purely photographic and the new version (V2) where you can allow yourself to be more artistic and post a painting, a recipe, a digital manipulation, or simply just one photo that you think represents the month.
These are the rules, but they’re not written in stone – you can always improvise, mix & match to suit your own liking:
The Changing Seasons V1:
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery.
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
The Changing Seasons V2:
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
Regular random: five minutes with the makings of a great dressing
Garlic, ginger, coriander, lime … some of the ingredients in Sarah Tiong’s Asian Vinaigrette. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with food programmes on television. I liked quite a few of the old-school “celebrity-chef-cooks-for-the-cameras” shows — especially those involving Rick Stein and the late Keith Floyd. I also loved Two Fat Ladies, with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright, and anything with Anthony Bourdain — but that was never about the cooking.
I don’t like talent-quest TV and programmes that require a commitment to regular viewing, so shows like MasterChef pose a dilemma. Will my love of food overcome my reluctance to a) watch competitive cooking and b) buy-in for the duration?
I spy … fresh coriander all ready to use. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
With the current series of MasterChef Australia at episode 24 in NZ — and not even half way through — I’m at the stage of dipping in on the nights when the contestants are making original dishes as individuals, rather than team challenges and replications of guest chefs’ creations. These are the episodes that offer the most interesting food ideas.
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Asian vinaigrette ingredients. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Which is a very roundabout way of saying that my Five Minutes of Random this week were spent with the ingredients for a fantastic Asian Vinaigrette that I saw Sarah Tiong make a couple of weeks ago on MasterChef. She served it with Pan-fried Barramundi and Bok Choy. (recipe here). It looked so yummy!
… And tasted fantastic, though I replaced the barramundi with tofu because it was raining so hard I really didn’t feel like going shopping.
And though this is not strictly a #RegularRandom shot — here’s my completed dish.
Pan-fried tofu with braised bok-choy and Asian Vinaigrette. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Five Minutes of Random (the RegularRandom challenge), is hosted by Desley Jane at Musings of a Frequently Flying Scientist.
Six Word Saturday: a beach day for the hardy
More rain to come. Mairangi Bay beach, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Friday flowers
Statice; seen at the Auckland Wintergardens. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
DP Photo Challenge: transient, take 2
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
On the transience continuum, it seems to me that wedding photos probably fall towards the “permanent” end. They are often professionally commissioned, expensive, and record one of life’s Big Moments.
So what I like about these photos is that they capture the transient moments behind the scenes; the stylists and photographers whose presence is essential, but of necessity, invisible.
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
In this case, there were a bunch of other brides and grooms, all with their own stylists and photographers, having their photos taken at the same time and place. They arrived en masse — wedding photography tourism.
I found it a little sad that moments which would be permanently recorded as some of the most special in these couples’ lives were being shared only with relative strangers; transients.
Waiting for their turn; one wedding party is being prepared for their photo shoot, while another is being processed. Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
DP Photo Challenge: transient
Image: Su Leslie, 2014
Image: Su Leslie, 2014
Image: Su Leslie, 2016
Image: Su Leslie, 2016
Image: Su Leslie, 2016
“The beauty of this day doesn’t depend on its lasting forever.”
― Marty Rubin
Zimmerbitch 