National Competition at the Showgrounds 2012

 Yes "Changing Weather" finally got what it deserved: acceptance in the Open Colour section of the National Photographic Competition. This photograph was taken in central Hawaii and the amazing weather changes made me stop the car to snap what I could. In competitions before it had been discounted with 'unnatural colour' or and too much photoshop etc. when in actual fact I am one of the old fashioned photographers who doesn't even own a photoshop program. So There!
In the larger version one can spy the world's telescopes (at least 5 countries) sitting on the top of the mountain behind. An intersting turn of events saw us on top of that mountain the next night surrounded with snow and wearing clothing capable to protect us from the minus temperatures. I know I was too cold to try the manual telescope pointing at the night sky. AMAZING! Oh and the National  Comp.? yes I had seven photos accepted but not one winning a prize. The standard of photography is just stunning. Well worth a look.

From the top!

Here we are...I have managed to upload not only one collage but two! The first shows my interest in art...I wish I could paint like this but instead Picassa has helped me to transform my photographs to artistry-look alike. All phtographs taken from the helicopter as we circled the volcano mouth...and avoided hitting several others as they did their thing for their tourist customers.
Here, in the second collage is our trusted pilot, all of 20 years if I'm not mistaken but then life is like that...one must have faith in youth...not everyone of them is a one-punch testosterone driven terrorist. Which reminds me of a wonderful saying I heard yesterday :LIFE IS CHANCE WORKING AGAINST DESTINY!!!
So I must mention my stars today: "It is up to you whether you stay swimming in your little sea or you dive into the bigger ocean." I'm afraid I've decided that I don't respect the deeper ocean and so will stay where I am for the time being. But I might change my mind when and IF I ever receive my hardcopies of my memoir, KIN Deep and the inability to mourn. The end of the month is the promise...do I believe it?

Moving On!

Don't you feel like moving on, travelling...you know the itchie feet syndrome. Well I do. And when I do and can't do anything about it I look up my photographs.
These images are of some of our trips, twice now in Venice and once flying over active volcanoes in Hawaii. Doors had been removed from the helicopter so that we were free to...fall out?...no free to photograph without any obstructions.

Transport is the theme for this collage. The size of the passenger ship in these narrow waters caused me to hold my breath. Then the prison transport caught my interest not to mention the numerous private boats parked like we would our cars in front of people's abodes. Of course the ferries, the boat carrying the supplies and the usual gondolier could not be ignored. The picture of the volcanoes has disappeared. Next post it looks like....I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Talking Turkey

Almost everyone managed to come and recall our fantastic trip.(You can pay me later Dale and John) No seriously we all came together and enjoyed many laughs. No one had forgotten the fun we had sitting in our huge bus on our extensive road trip. Turkey and the people really surprised me with their friendliness, their interest in anything Australian and of course their positioning in the world ie. European Union.
One carpet dealer knew of Perth...his brother-in-law had been selling carpets there for twenty years...a continuing "SALE"...attracting many customers...he laughed mischieviously.  

Even our Scientist managed to keep a cheerful look on his face despite his red wine limit...he knew he was driving!

Thoughts of Turkey

 Today is the day Sunday 23/09/12 where we reunite with some our fellow tour members and think of our Turkey trip. We haven't so far seen each others photos but we have been able to access the Turkish Blog and read about some of the experiences.  The photos depict  Coppadoccia and our early morning balloon flight. The two other images introduce a "friend" I made and whose eyes (eye) I found irresistible. He did have two of them. I was supposed to be photographing the countryside and believe me I did just that but had to include my camel. This post was supposed to be all about flying high and it is if you look at my photo supporting Aussie rules in the blog sometime before this. Yes I am the original traitor and although I spent many years in Sydney I will be cheering on Hawthorn in the Grand final. And I feel no guilt! Back to the childhood...

 

 

 

Tom Boy days!

 Guess who was the model in those days? My eldest sister of course! And who was the Tom Boy? ME!!!! Of course...Cornelia Contag (MacErlean) about 12 years of age and riding the bike I dragged out of the Yarra River. A boy's bike with a cross bar...my precious possession! And our first house (and only one) in our new country, Australia. More in my memoir, KIN DEEP and the inability to mourn, available in paperback, hard copy or electronic reader.

At the orphanage!

This photo should have been uploaded with the last photo to give you an idea about the hrowth spurt I must have undergone ....but of course one can't say that it was due to the food offered at the church-run home at Sulzbach-Rosenberg. i do mention this separation from my mother and my sisters in my memoir KIN DEEP and the inability to mourn.
But it was a time of good cheer...the annual fancy dress carnival and my sisters thought dressing as a little boy was more appropriate for me. How could they have known at that young age that I would prefer to be a little boy in a family of 4 girls and a mother? My name then was Cornelia Contag...MacErlean and more, came later.

More memories!

 Who wouldn't offer the little girl in the front of the picture a new start in life? Yes that is me at the age of..3 or 4...Cornelia MacErlean...the cutest little girl then but now...?
I am risking posting these photographs because I know that my sisters didn't want me to publish photographs...they didn't want to be identified.
BUT if I can believe Stephen Fry according to his readings some smart person has suggested that all memoirs are opportunities for retribution or in other words, getting your own back! Or sometimes as is mentioned in my memoir, KIN DEEP and the inability to mourn, sometimes sentimentality can be mistaken for anger when it concerns someone you love. All true, I think now on reflection. It amazes me how writing can teach the writer alot about themselves. This I found having re-read my book Baggage. I thought I was writing a novel about strangers and their experiences but in fact there were lessons in the story meant for me. Amazing!

PHOTOS I should have included in my memoir!

The top left hand corner shows my mother at 21years of age. It is a page of her driver's licence. You will notice the Nazi stamp of approval.


My mother's adopted parents on their wedding day below...rather my mother the adopted child of the Baron and Baroness of Ziegesar ...the black sheep...as the story unfolds.











The Baron is wearing the uniform of an officer in the Prussian army...hence the headware!
And in the photo below, my great grandparents pose with my mother's stepmother before her marriage to the Baron.
Everyone is looking a little grim but those were the days where smiling into the camera was not the thing to do. Besides my grandfather had failed to return from the war, he had been shot down by the French, so everyone had reason to wonder about the future.
My mother's little black and white dog refused to look at the camera too...perhaps it was his time to be fed?...Who knows? This will not be revealed in my memoir. But I do regret not to have included these photos in my book "KIN DEEP and the inability to mourn" by Cornelia MacErlean.

Footie time!

This is the second time I have written this...keep your fingers crossed and I might be able to publish this time. this picture does not say it all. The real truth is revealed in my memoir but this photo in the Melbourne newspaper does show me as  a keen fan of Aussie Rules. now the immediate reaction may be...did they have Aussie Rules then?...centuries ago?...Of course they did! I am the one wearing the sailor's cap...where I got it I can't remember...but I was a bit of a TOMBOY . I was the only girl playing football and cricket with the local boys in the park behind my house...until all hours of the day and night.

Turkish reunion

 It has been almost a year since our fantastic trip to Turkey. Some of the tour members have had the great idea to hold a get together and reminisce over a bite to eat. the hot topic I know will be of one couple Anne and Steven getting married next weekend in Adelaide. Hence I thought this photo most appropriate. I found the characters irresistible when I spied  the picture above our bed in one of the hotels. I don't know the name of the artist but I do know that a sense of humor is essential  in marriage. Whatever you do, Anne and Steven , keep laughing!!!!

Spring in Kings Park

 Surprise, surprise!!! I knew I was capturing a ladybug but was doubly surprised and pleased when on viewing the picture on my computer I found a couple of them creating offspring. What a reward for patience! Of course it is Spring so what is the surprise about that?
 The other pleasing surprise is that 7 of my photographs have been accepted in the National Photographic competition at the Show Grounds in Claremont...the Show starting on the 22nd of September. I didn't win a prize but being accepted is almost as good.
 The grande BOAB...actually this is a young one I couldn't resist...it is situated with a South Perth background COOL!

Nature at work in Pemberton WA

 I can't put a name to these plants but I'll leave that to the better informed. I should have used my telephoto lens but I was too lazy to open my backpack to get it out. This is something photography teaches you....patience and effort...to be able to.....perhaps another time...I wish I was more determined! And particular! And ...and...perhaps another time. It is never too late so I am told.


 There is beauty in all things even if .....

 These are my favourites. With a little help from PICASSA I could transform an out of focus bee at work into a work of art.
 This little bee is in focus...not so much here as in my album but you get the idea.

The Pemberton Spring

 A change from the Spring flowers for you. I discovered the Cascades...and what a win that was. You are the first to see my photos...I hope you like them as much as I do. I do think this is the best waterfall of the three I photographed but it is very subjective of course.
I walked ten kms in the bush with my backpack carrying two cameras and a long lens (just in case) stopping every few minutes photographing irresistible aspects of nature only to end up with shooting pain down both legs. Something tells me I overdid it...the exercise I mean...but as you can see by the pictures it was well worth it.
 The first photograph depicts the lower falls...not as exciting as the ones taken higher up where the waterfall originates.
And what now? I am back in the city and ...waiting ...and waiting. Oh please if you are there God ( I know you are not) help my hardcopies to find me...and soon...no...NOW!
If any one reads this in the Muslim countries...Australia is not America even if we are giving them a helping hand in Iraq and Afghanistan...actually we are sacrificing our young men and women for what? You? So you can blow up our Embassies? I don't think so!!!! Calm...be calm...let the running waters and the colours of the Spring flowers relax you...even if our "wild
flowers" are just that "WILD". MMM! That could be the subject of my next BLOG entry.
Leaving this area blank doesn't seem right. So I will fill it...with...The sorry state of our Boom State! The mining industry is on a downward slide just when we were having a BOOM too. Here I go again...being serious...stop it! I will. I'll write about my latest read..the radio series of our expat in London...Clive James...oh dear and I did enjoy his childhood years in bookform...but this? No, it makes me pleased that he escaped to London. But if he left because Australia couldn't give him what he wanted why does he keep harping on about being Australian? ON! ON! Publisher! ON! ON! I will be patient! Like the rush of the Cascades!

Weekend in Spring!

 I'm back! And what a springy weekend it was! I hope you appreciate these flowers to draw you into the feeling. Actually these photos were taken on father's day in Araluen and what a fantastic presentation it was. I love looking at these pictures. The sight of them is enough to lift my spirits.
Why be so low you might ask? Well I am still chanting the old refrain...waiting...waiting...waiting...yes waiting for my hard copies of my memoir Kin Deep and the inability to mourn...I have been patient for over one week now...please...please let it be soon. Several people have read my novel and come back to me very surprised...you are a great story teller...you must write more...I can't wait till you publish again...I couldn't put the book down...it stopped me from doing my housework! Oh boy! Was I chuffed to hear this! So, if only I could receive my hardcopies I could plan the dates of my book launches. If Only!