Me, my Fuji, and the Melbourne Botanical Gardens
I'm loving my new Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Camera. When I was a teenager I carried a compact camera with me everywhere but the slr is a bit heavy and bulky to do that. The iPhone has been a stand in for a few years but, while it's better than nothing, it is a bit limited. So I saved my pennies (tax return) and bought myself a birthday present last year. My first slr was a Fuji, so my choice was swayed slightly by nostalgia. It goes in my handbag and when I go for a walk I can whip it out any time I see a flower or garden I want to photograph. If I'm on a dedicated garden walk I'll take the Canon with the 100mm macro. I might save up for a macro for the fuji but I'm pretty happy with what I can get with the 18-55mm lens.
I had a meeting on the other side of town last week and I walked back to the city afterwards via the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. Good thing I had the fuji in my bag so I could snap a few photos along the way.
My favourite pic of the day. See below for the 'before' shot. I had a class coming up on composition and design at RMIT and I wanted to add another example of 'filling the frame'. This one will do just nicely. I also like the lines and the colours. It just has nice 'feel' about it, don't ya reckon? I call it 'Shark Fin'.
It's an Agave. I initially thought it was a kind of cactus (cacti?), so I can show you how to photograph it but I'm not too good at plant identification. That's why it's handy having a horticulturist in the family to correct me. He's my big brother and you can ask him questions too if you have any. Here's his blog. He'll be our bus driver and resident green thumb on the Carnival of Flowers tour.
This is the 'before' shot of the one above it. A clump of agave with a playground on one side and the loo on the other.
Below are a few other shots from wandering through the gardens. And this was only a small section as I was passing through along one side, and it was the middle of the day, not exactly ideal for photography. I discovered a little Craft Cottage (no photos of it this time, the light was too harsh) and talked to the lovely folk about maybe running a photography group there.