Could I get fries with that pic?

Ok...I'm gonna scrap the one week post update. "What!? Why!? Not cool dude...", as I'm sure many of you might be saying, but I really don't have time to update it every week, HOWEVER, I will be updating it periodically, in weekly time intervals.

I suppose an explanation is in order as to why I haven't updated my blog; it's simple. I'm in university, I'm studying journalism and it's my final term of the year. The lecturers have banded together and have been dishing out assignments and tests all round. I've been busting my hump, bending over backwards and working late into the evening to meet deadlines and pass my tests.

Another reason for my absence is because we were blessed with glorious weather (for a brief period) which was absolutely perfect for this trigger happy tog (photographer [in training]).

 These photos were taken outside the Biological sciences department. Not only was I happy that the sun was out, but so were the bees.

Unfortunately, the little blighters are very - VERY, fast...and small. In order to capture these shots, I had to use macro lens filters and a very fast shutter speed

I also raised the ISO to 3600 so that the photos didn't come out dark due to the fast shutter speed.

The only thing that stopped me from continuing with my happy snapping of these busy honey producers was the fact that they had no desire to be photographed and were less than happy with having a giant lens shoved onto them.

So I focused my lens elsewhere and came across this. ^.

These beautiful flowers were also outside the Biological sciences department, the red captured my attention immediately and I couldn't help but  snap some pics. I couldn't get a very good shot here because the flowers were within a garden and I couldnt step on the other flowers, so I zoomed in to get this shot, unfortunately, it focused on the stigmas (the yellow bits). I couldn't take another shot because I had to get to a tutorial.

This however was taken on my way back to my residence. It looks like this plant is between some rocks...well, it isn't. Its a wall.

The very same plant was found growing on a tree amongst some fallen leaves which fell from the tree itself. I thought this image was quite picturesque, the colours were so beautiful I just couldn't resist.

And this beautiful specimen was found while I was on my way to a journalism lecture (I was almost late because of this, but it was worth it). If you look closely, there is a small insect sitting on one of the petals, try and find it haha.

If you found the bug in the previous picture, you will see it here, it's on the same petal; I dont think it moved at all while I was snapping away, its probably very photogenic.

Well, there you have it for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed the photos and the running commentary that went with it. Please feel free to add your two cents in the comments section below if you would like to critique my photos or give me some pointers. If you want to keep up with my posts and check out more of my photos in the future, subscribe to my blog.

Until next time
Snapshot

A story? What story?

One word, "Eish".

I know I said that I wasn't going to be tardy again in my last post, but I have a valid reason. I was sick...very sick...drinking soup sick.

I come before you as but a humble blogger to apologise sincerely for not updating as per my usual scheduled time. I had a lymph gland infection followed by a (brief) fierce fever which required lots of medication (and money unfortunately) and attention on my part; but I am honestly and truly better now, I sent that heinous pest packing and I don't think it will be rearing it's ugly head again soon.

Right, on to the knitty gritty that is my post...I've got nothing...well what did you expect from me? A miracle? No need to worry though, I shall regail you  with a wondrous tail of two kitties (as it were). A story, a life story, a snippet from my life (story) to be exact. I shall expose a scene from my life and paint the image with my words, a snapshot (pun intended) of time itself.

My father had  purchased a quad-bike (a four wheeled motorbike) for the family to enjoy. Naturally I wanted to wreak havoc upon the soft golden sand in the dunes (yes we have a house that is next to an ocean AND a desert) that lay not too far from our house. It was a 250CC (whatever the hell that means) automatic, petrol guzzling beast...and it was blue. Now I wasn't that well trained in the art of quad-biking, but I got the hang of it soon enough, and with my new found skills came an air of arrogance (which was ultimately my downfall) which I took to be boldness (same shit different toilet right?), then again I've always had an essence of madness about myself.

I drove that thing as if it were a bucking bronco, good times. But all good things must come to an end I guess.
My father and I had gone into the desert where he carefully surveyed my antics from the safety of his Landrover while I carved my way up and down the dunes (enjoying every second of it.).

It hadn't been more than about 20 minutes when the wind picked up and the sand started to blow, limiting my visibility (The wind tends to blow quite often along the coast, what a bummer). I decided to head up a dune and get a lay of the land before returning to my hawk-eyed pops. As I headed up the dune, a gust of wind picked the perfect moment to blow a few grains of sand into my helmet and into my eyes ultimately blinding me. Acting out of pure instinct, I hit the throttle (what an idiot) and flew over the dune. All I can say is "good hang time"; I felt as if I was in the air for a good four seconds during which time my vision returned; good thing it did since I saw myself jumping from the now makeshift aircraft I had created.

I wish I had been a better athlete, if I had, I might have been able to jump further from the bike; unfortunately I wasn't. I landed just a second before the bloody thing came crashing down on top of my head. If it wasn't for my helmet (which cracked by the way), I would not be here today typing out this terrifying tale to you.
I got up with a bit of a headache and a very painful right side of my chest (the handlebar hit my chest in the accident) and within seconds my dad was by my side. I still managed to drive the quad-bike home that day, but I never drove it again. I took that incident as a lesson that I wasn't ready to harness such awesome (and incredibly fun) power yet. We sold the bike and now all we've got are memories.

They were good times while they lasted, but like I said earlier, all good things must come to an end.
I guess the lesson, or lessons, are that you should never be over-confident with anything, humility above all else and that sometimes we aren't ready to handle the responsibility of certain things and must wait until we are mature enough before plunging head first into them.

Well, there you have it boys and girls, a snippet from my life, a tiny tale of a small mishap (definitely not the only one) that occurred in my life. I have many others (some people say I'm unlucky), but that will have to wait for another time, or if enough of you jelly-bellied readers decide to prod me for it (I MIGHT consider it.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post, I'll try to stick to my deadline next time haha, cheers.