Friday’s Florals: The Last of the Kowhai

Thanks for visiting

Wordless Wednesday: In Flight

Cee’s Oddball Photo Challenge: Giant Kowhai

Good morning from another sunny Hastings day.

It is Monday for me and that means this challenge by Cee’s Photography. This is a giant Kowhai flower sculpture at Napier.  I hadn’t been in the CBD there for a while and now there are a few sculptures around.  This is one of them.  I took this photo at the Art Deco Weekend as you can see that even the men get into the fashion.

Thanks for visiting.

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #10

https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/cees-oddball-photo-challenge-2015-week-10-youve-got-a-fat-tire/

Travel Theme: Freedom

Good morning from a wet and soggy Hastings.  Summer has taken a break and autumn decided to come back so it is cold as well.

I was talking to my daughter the other night as to why I always write about the weather and why I say ‘good morning’.  Hastings, Napier and Gisborne are the first cities to see the new day which is why I say  good morning from Hastings.  And the weather update?  Well it goes back to when I was overseas and when I wrote my letters back home it was a case of if you don’t know what to write about, there is always the weather.  You can always write something about how cold or warm it has been and it can fill up at least half a page or the aerogramme which is what I used to use.  I certainly didn’t want to tell my family everything!

Anyway onto Ailsa’s challenge this week which is Freedom.

Travel theme: Freedom

To start with an iconic kiwi bird the Tui among the kowhai.

Then this blackbird.

And lastly a couple of sparrows.

So why these photos.  Last week I posted a couple of photos for Steve’s Snap & Zap challenge of some parrots held captive in the aviaries at Cornwall Park.  While these photos are all of birds flying around in freedom.  I much prefer to take photos of birds in their natural habitats than in cages.

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/travel-theme-freedom/

Travel Theme: Freedom – Seagulls in Flight

Thanks for visiting.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Yellow

Good morning from a very bright sunny Hastings morning.  A huge change from what we have been having all week.  I’m not complaining.

This week we have the colour yellow for Cee’s challenge.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Yellow

So the first photo is of our native bird the tui surrounded by the yellow kowhai flowers which they just can’t get enough of.

These two photos were taken with my iPhone 5S and edited with Tangled FX.

Finally a splash of colour against the water.

http://irisgreenwald.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/cees-fun-foto-challenge-the-color-yellow/

http://nowathome.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/cees-fun-foto-challenge-the-color-yellow/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Yellow (Ducks)

http://geophiliac.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/cees-fun-foto-yellow/

Thanks for visiting.

The Daily Post: Spring

Good morning from a rather cold and chilly Hastings morning.

The prompt from The Daily Post today is spring. Well here in the southern hemisphere we are well into autumn and driving around yesterday I noticed the lovely autumn colours of the trees now losing their leaves.

So for this post it was a matter of diving into my archives for some photos taken last spring.

So for the first two photos I have gone for a New Zealand theme.  We always know when spring has arrived and the native bush goes gold with these golden flowers.  They are a very sweet flower and very popular with all the birdlife.

Then there are the usual blossoms.

And I can’t forget the daffodils.

Here are some other great posts for this challenge.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/spring-2/

Spring and Here is my Bearded Iris of the Day

http://irisgreenwald.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/weekly-photo-challenge-spring/

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/33200/

Step Into Christmas? No, Spring Into Summer…!

Travel Theme: Yellow

Good morning from a grey and miserable day here in Hastings.

So to brighten up my day again I have gone for the challenge by Where’s my backpack? and the theme this week is yellow.  And to keep up with my kiwi theme as well I have gone for New Zealand natives for both fauna and florals.

These photos were taken last spring when the kowhai were out in full bloom.  They are a popular flower for a lot of the birds but in particular for the tui.  The tui is also called the parson bird as it has a small tuft of white feathers under it’s beak just like a ministers collar.

I could also put this in the Look Up, Look Down challenge by Debbie at Travel with Intent.  As here are some photos of the reflections of the tree in the stream beneath it.  The colours were amazing.

I spent a lot of time around here.

For more information about this challenge check out this blog

Travel theme: Yellow

And some other great blogs:

http://shyraven23.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/travel-theme-yellow/

http://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/travel-theme-yellow/

http://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/travel-theme-yellow/

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/travel-theme-yellow/

http://geophiliac.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/travel-theme-yellow/

Not So Mellow Yellows

http://scrapydo.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/yellow-travel-theme/Thanks for visiting.

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge: HIGH

Good morning from a wet Hastings day.  Last night we had a good thunderstorm.  Not what we normally get but it was fun. So now it is still raining.  We need the rain so I don’t mind.

This week’s A Word in Your Ear challenge is ‘High’.  I hate heights so I have gone for photos looking high up into the trees.  So I focused on a New Zealand theme with our native Tuis.  They are also called Parson Birds as they have a small tuft of white feathers under their beaks.  Last spring I spent a lot of time looking high up into the  tree canopies trying to get some decent photos of them.  It took a few attempts but I got some good ones in the end.  They are rather aggressive birds and I saw them chasing off the smaller sparrows from their favourite tree – the Kowhai.  I have edited them all with the vintage filters on FX Photostudio Pro.

The app was able to keep the colours of the tail feathers will giving a warm tone to the background.

Here you can see the Kowhai flowers that the Tuis love.  Also the white feathers are shown off in the photo on the right.

I just posterised this photo for a different affect.