Which do you like?
And which makes you think?!

The sound of summer - sky larks singing high in the blue!
Poor birds have been struggling in this horrendous weather. I watched one two days ago in near gale force winds - try to rise singing, but gave up within seconds and dived back to the ground (sideways). I've been vainly trying to get a decent skylark image - but they are always way too far away . All these birds were a mere dot in the centre of the viewfinder and not one is a good stand-alone image, so I opted to combine them in this matrix, to give an impression of being serenaded by skylarks

New Zealanders usually commemorate ANZAC Day, rather than Armistice Day , but this year being the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, both days are being honoured.
Along with many communities, in celebration of the end of WW1, the churches in Riverton will be ringing their bells after 2 mins silence at 11 am. 
......but I am also  drawn to ponder 'for whom do the bells toll'  for me?
I am of the generation who have not personally lost any one close and I search for a meaning beyond lament, rememberance and respect.
Perhaps it is not so much "whom", but 'what'?
What about rooting out evil in my heart? About making the sacrifices needed to let go of grudges, much loved prejuduces and self interest? About pursuing a life that leads to reconcilliation, harmony and promoting the interests of others rather than myself?
I think I will ponder this as I listen to the bells on Sunday

Today has been incredibly stormy. Tried to get out for a little breath of fresh air in the evening, but misjudged it - quick bolt for the car again -;)

The Aparima mouth (Riverton, Southland, NZ)
Frequently frequented, and a place for thinking one's thoughts in peace......

Following on from an inspiring talk at our Southland Photographic Society by Dot Mulley recently, I have been inspired to give the photographing-out-of-a-car-window technique a go; it does become strangely compulsive! (And yes- there is also computer processing in this)

Going through some old images (and deleting heaps :),  I came across one taken  at Auckland zoo in 2011- through a glass viewing window.
The window being dirty and scratched + bright sunlight made it hard to get a decent image. However, I salvaged this one and with a bit of creative editing, I think it might be worth keeping  - what do you think? Question is who is viewing who??!!!

Last night I planned a dry run from the bacony of my house: I hoped to be able to do a time lapse of the lunar eclipse . . Given there's little chance of a clear view of the eclipse tonight, I thought I would share my efforts of an almost full supermoon on 30th Jan ;)
Crop sensor canon with 11mm lens . Images 5min interval over approx 5 hours , Iso 400, f/5  and 0.3sec. . Processed in LR and stacked in 'StarStax'. Fanciful foreground added afterwards to hide the ugly original. Started at 10.30 (still blue hour down here at that time), finished 3.30am. (Cabbage trees are real; water is not)
Lessons learned :-
1) Interval too short - moons overlap in the centre - will try 8 mins next time.
2) forgot to check focus  - grrr!!
3) over-exposed the moon - was hoping to pick up a few stars as well - but that didn't work at all.
4) Used f/5 hoping to get foreground usably in focus also - but better to have a wider aperture and shorter time, I think and if necesary take one seperate image focusing on foreground and blend afterwards.
5) pleased to see that moon travel over 5 hours when off the horizon DOES fit onto the one image (I hoped it would but wasn't sure) - AND- my battery did last the distance :) (don't have battery grip)
So this is the salvage image