Adieu, Adios.

Good morning, all my Faces and Places and Wide Open Spaces friends.

You are probably wondering where I’ve been…actually, scratch that, you’ve probably forgotten all about me!

I have shamelessly abandoned this blog due to the massive commitments of my other blog, The Paperbook Blog. I would like to say that I am determined to make more time for this blog, but we both know that’s just not true. So, it is with regret that I am shutting this bad boy down, to hopefully be re-opened again in the future.

I really suggest you pop over to The Paperbook Blog if you haven’t already, and check it out. I am currently publishing an online magazine out of that blog, called The Paperbook Collective. Click here for issue one. Issue two is due to be released in 48 hours time, so stay tuned.

Whether you are a photographer, a designer, an artist, writer or poet, your work could be featured in The Paperbook Collective. I accept submissions from all over the world, so there is no reason YOU can’t be included in issue three!!

For information on how to submit, visit this page.

Thank you all for your support of this humble blog, I hope to see you over at The Paperbook Blog soon.

But for now, I say adieu.

Cheers, jaydeashe.

Weekly Photo Challenge: In The Background.

Another day, another Daily Post Challenge. This one is awesome. It asks us to show photo’s with ourselves or others as the lesser part of the scene, a shadow or a reflection, essentially making the background the focus. I loved looking through my photos for examples of this, often pictures that have our shadow or reflection (accidently or on purpose) are cast aside as imperfect.

This photo was taken at Hunter’s Estate winery in New Zealand. It is a collection of antique wine tools, displayed in a glass cabinet. I became frustrated trying to get a good shot without my reflection, in this one you can see me, and my camera strap, quite clearly.     In this photo taken at Cloudy Bay winery, I was deliberately aiming to include our reflections. I thought it made an interesting image, seeing the back of the winery but also seeing us enjoying our wine tasting.

I took this photograph during a shift in a restaurant I used to work in. (I may have been slacking off somewhat) It is stacks of upturned silver wine buckets, ready for service. You can see my reflection, and my awesome uniform, in the bucket on the left of frame.

This is the silhouettes of my sister and I in Koh Chang, Thailand. We are not the focus but rather a piece of the background, fitting into the jigsaw puzzle of silhouettes against the sunset.  I took these photographs in the Toul Sleng genocide museum, Cambodia. You can faintly make out my reflection in  the glass.  The reflection of myself and the background make a chilling juxtaposition to the endless sadness and horror portrayed in these images.     On the boardwalk in Melaka, Malaysia, again nothing but a silhouette against the colours of the background and the sunset.

This is one of my favourite photographs that I have ever taken. I took this on a timer on my little point and shoot Olympus, five years ago in Kep, Cambodia. I perched the camera on a wall across the road, set the timer and sprinted to the edge of the footpath to get the shot. I kept having to adjust the zoom and the position, constantly terrified that someone would walk past and grab my camera while my back was turned. But the end result was worth it.

Travel Theme: The Four Elements

This weeks travel theme over at Where’s My Backpack is very intriguing…entitled The Four Elements, we have to come up with photographs representing Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This challenge has taken me on a trip through old photographs and old memories.

EARTH

Moreton Bay Fig Tree – Sydney Botanical Gardens

Tree growing through the rocks – Rabbit Island, Cambodia

AIR

Tui resting on its favourite flax plant – Taupo, New Zealand

Hang-gliders – Queenstown, New Zealand

WATER

Up to 220,000 litres of water rushes through the Huka Falls every second – Taupo, New Zealand

The awesome power of Huka Falls as seen from our helicopter tour – Taupo, New Zealand

  FIREFire-twirlers on the beach – Ko Samet, Thailand

      Huge burst of flames caused by the boys throwing their fire sticks into the air – Ko Samet, Thailand.

Daily Promt – The Black Swan

This is a exciting week, The Daily Post are providing a Daily Photo Challenge. Plenty of inspiration and excuses to post pictures…

Today’s (yesterday’s) challenge corresponds to that most holy day, Mother’s Day. A day for children to give back to their wonderful mother’s and say all those thank-you’s that don’t get said throughout the year.

So the challenge was to post a picture that says Mothering, and I don’t think I have seen anything more beautifully mothering, (and fathering), than these black swan’s and their tiny cygnet’s that I found last spring. They were such beautiful, enchanting, protective birds, letting me get close enough to take photo’s but no closer.  

They held up about six cars on either side with their casual jaunt across the road, but I don’t think anyone minded.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less travelled by,

And that had made all the difference.

– Robert Frost. State Highway – South Island, NZ.

Harihari Highway – South Island, NZ

Franz Josef Highway – South Island, NZ. The 309 Road – North Island, NZ.

Lake Hawea-Albert Town Road – South Island, NZ.

Rarangi Beach Road – South Island, NZ.