The photo below is a recent pic I had snapped at my garden in Belgrave (Belgrave, Australia)
‘Blue Cornflower’
As always, I am very grateful for the comments I had received on social media.
Comments:
Liz F. > Stunning ššš Ian W. > Beautiful Judith L. > Stunning colour John Colin P. > So vivid colourā¦what is it? Rosemary D. > It’s a cornflower. I planted some in Autumn, so come Spring I can take photos. Christine U. > Beautiful flower, thanks for sharing John. Lyn C. > Beautiful John, such a lovely colour. Clare R. > Stunning Margaret W. > That’s so pretty Jenny H. > Beautiful shot
Here are two photos that I had snapped in the past:
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PUFFING BILLY, TRAIN OF LIGHTS
Photographer, Kathie Thomas and I had been invited by Puffing Billy to photograph their dress rehearsal night for their Train of Lights event (to be active during the school holidays, June/July. It was a volunteers only night. I travelled on the train in the media carriage (with the crew of Channel Nine TV), whilst Kathie positioning herself on specific viewable roadside spots, adjacent to the railway track. (I joined her on the return trip from Gembrook to Lakeside in Emerald (Victoria, Australia). I edited 120 photos out of approx. 600.
Belgrave (Puffing Billy) railway station is situated in Belgrave, a suburb of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria. It is the inner terminal of the famous Puffing Billy heritage steam railway.
Belgrave (Puffing Billy) is adjacent to, and forms an interchange with, Belgrave suburban railway station, which is the outer terminal of the Belgrave line of Melbourne’s broad gauge (5 ft 3in) electric suburban network. The suburban station is accessible via a short footpath. Before this station was built, the original narrow gauge line ran from the original site of the narrow-gauge station (approximately where the existing Metro station car park is) to Selby station.
Here are 3 photos I wish to share:
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BELGRAVE LANTERN PARADE
The Belgrave Lantern Festival, in Victoria, Australia, is an annual celebration of the winter solstice, through community and creativity with a display of hundreds of homemade lanterns. The event takes place in the main street of Belgrave from around 5pm – 7:30pm and attracts thousands of visitors.
Here is a photo that I snapped last night:
Belgrave Lantern Parade 2022
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NEGATIVES TO DIGITAL PROJECT
PART 4
It is a slow process to digitize all my film negatives that I have in storage from my days of using my Olympus 35 mm camera, as well as the Kodak Instamatic Camera, back in the period of the 1970s to 1980s. It is a fun project I have thrown myself into!
Here is another photo I had snapped back in the 1970s:
āWalking On The Rocksā – near Mentone, Victoria, Australia.
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OLD CAMERAS
PART 5
Zeiss Ikon Camera Source: Time magazine, 8 August 1960
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PUFFING BILLY TRAIN
Here is another photo I had snapped the other night …
Puffing Billy Train
FINALLY
I love all aspects about photography hence this Newsletter. I wish to share things that I enjoy about this medium. If you like what you have read, please subscribe to receive future Newsletters š Comments are also nice to receive.
The Possums left the lemons but ate the peel/rind at my home garden in Belgrave (Victoria, Australia).
For overseas readers to this Newsletter, Possums eat the leaves, flowers and fruits of a wide variety of native and exotic trees and shrubs. The Common Brushtail Possum may also eat grass, fungi, bird’s eggs and baby birds. Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is about the size of a cat. It has large pointed ears, grey fur and a bushy black tail. (https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au)
Here is a photo that I snapped last year (March 24) of a Ringtail Possum.
‘Ringtail Possum’
In respect to the ‘lemon’ photo (above), here are some of the comments I received on social media in the last couple of days:
Jenny K. > They ate the leaves on my lemon tree John Weeks, Author > Destructive little buggers! Great to photograph though. Wendy W. > Maybe hungry little buggers? Sure they weren’t doing it to be spiteful and they have been here long before any of us. John Weeks > Absolutely, Wendy! Andy P. > They do that here too, the question is, would you use the peeled lemons? John Weeks > Nope! There are plenty more lemons on the tree. Marina D. > Crumbs, they must be desperate if theyāre eating lemon pith Lorena C. > Devils!! John Weeks > haha Bernadette S. > They are not sillyā¦the pith and peel is where most vitamins and minerals including high antioxidants and immune boosters. Why do you think citrus peel is the main component of Hydroxychloroquine? Animals know so much more than we do about staying healthy through winter. John Weeks > I couldn’t agree more, Bernadette. Chris J. > Bernadette Saulenier thatās why I have lemon with my tequila. Chris J. > For health reasons Bernadette S. > Chris, good on you, stick to your story. Chris J. > lol Chris J. > Put flashing solar lights on your tree. They wonāt touch it. Joan B. > Possums or Rats ? John Weeks > Nah.. it’s possums. I see them do it and let them carry on. Plenty more lemons for me to choose from. Joan B. > Comforting to know itās possums , l think l read somewhere that rats do it too. Kate L. > Thatās amazing haha! They did such a good job. I would think they had peeled them just for me so I can put them on some sugar pancakes āŗļø teamwork. Sally W. > I used to live in Ferny Creek. I had the best grapefruit treeā¦. the possums did the same with the peel! John Weeks > They sure got fine tastes, Sally. Colin P. > That was thoughtful of him John Weeks > That’s what I thought too, Colin. Tanya C. > The possums did this to our last lot of lemons. I must go & strip the latest lot of lemons from our tree before the possums get them again. Iāll squeeze the juice from them & freeze it. Bernadette S. > Maybe leave the peels out near the tree if you are not using them so they can enjoy them Tanya C. > Bernadette, good idea! John Weeks > You mean you are going to venture out in the freezing cold to pick the lemons. Brrrr! Tanya C. > John, not tonight but I will tomorrow. Not that it will be much warmer. Jules L. > Helpful! Brunella C. > They made it easier for you Barry C. > They donāt touch ours Rhonda S. > They have been eating the rind of our Lisbon lemons for the past 6 years. The tree is huge and I get some lemons but Iām really peeved with the critters. John Weeks > That can be annoying alright, Rhonda. Jane G. > I wonder if leaving a wildlife safe net bunched up around the base of the tree at a distance they would find hard to jump might deter them?? Animals don’t like climbing on insecure things. Just a wild thought John Weeks > Jane, a good thought indeed! Thanks.. Debra S. > Yep – few years back they started eating the bark on the tree as well Just about killed it !!! So watch that you donāt take all the lemons off or they may start on the bark ! John Weeks > Debra, Good advice. Thanks. Alessandra P. > Debra, might be rats. Did that to our lime tree Lois R. > š² Ohhh naughty things!! Pam S. > Little devils – new fruit too I suppose Caroline B. > Bizarre! Our possums eat the inside of the oranges and leave all the peel. Linda S. > Caught them hovering about my Meyer lemon the other night, little buggers. If you have a dog that lives inside (or a friend with one) empty the vacuum cleaner bag around what you want to protect from possums and rabbits. The incursions stop straight away. May be an image of big cat and nature Femke K. > Linda, they’re hungry. Poor babies just need food. Linda S. > Femke, they are fat as. There’s loads of Lilly Pilly berries becoming ripe plus 2 acres of remnant bush they are able to eat whatever they like. I just don’t like sharing my lemons lol Femke K. > Linda, winter is a difficult time for them. They may be fat now. Sara G. > The ringtails on our property do that too š you need brushtails, theyāll eat the rest of it. Sonia M. > Did you a favour; saved you peeling them. Gilly M. > Yes. Mine are like this too! Stephen R. > Yes mine too Nikki W. > Ours get eaten too, but they never touch the grapefruit right next to it. Cheryl L. > They do that to my lemons too, lol. Femke K. > They seem to do it when bush food is a little hard to find Michelle M. > Happens a lot here too. Kathleen A. > They do that to us too but leave the skinless lemons hanging on the tree! Ilze G. > How considerate! Sandra A. > Freeze the insides (after washing them maybe?) John Weeks > Sandra, I got a lot of lemons on my tree to choose from, Sandra. Sandra A. > John, lucky. We have a Maya that doesn’t get enough sun! So not much fruit. Fortunately our resident possums are brushies! David F. > It will be rats, I have watched them eat the peel off my Myer lemons. Janine S. > Itās winter, they need the vitamins I guess. Sarah M. > At least your possums won’t get scurvy. That’s a plus. Gerran W. > Thatās happened to mine too. John H. > The recipe called for the “zest of a lemon” ! Tony T. > Ohhh those cheeky possums Alessandra P. > Rats debarked our lime tree John Weeks > Alessandra, not good. Wendy D. > They love the peel Paula E. > Mine too – I think it’s possums – they leave mine on the tree minus the peel Su R. > A little ringtail has been working on my lemons ā¦ draped them in wormwood and that seems to have kept her away for the momentā¦ Suzanne W. > Ours too, but yours must be hungry little fur balls Meg J. > How maddening discerning of them Catherine E. > Yep, āoursā have been doing the same for months. So annoying!! They actually leave the skinless lemons hanging on the tree! Canāt work out if thatās kind or not! š Gillian D. > B* possums! Nola M. > Possums or rats? John Weeks > Possums, Nola. Rosie B. > Yeah we always had possums eating the Lemon rinds on our tree Sue C. > They do that to mine too. John B. > A good possum will do that. Pamela L. > I like to share John Weeks > Pamela, sure thing Bruni A. > They wonāt get scurvy John š Nikky R. > That would be the Ringtail possums! They love lemon rind ā¤ļø John Weeks > yep! Nikky R. > John Weeks I love possums
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MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Currently I am going through a long and slow process of downsizing of what I have been collecting over the last 50 years, in particular, this week, my music cassette collection. Many of these cassettes can no longer be played so I had disposed them in the bin but before I did this I scanned the covers for memory sake.
One of things that I have been paying attention to is the photography that was applied to the cassette cover. So here are three examples of portraiture photography that was considered to highlight the music artists of these cassette albums. Sadly there was no credit for the photographers on the cassette cover.
‘Dionne Warwick – Friend In Love’‘The Best of Roberta flack’ – 1993‘Bonnie Tyler – Faster Than The Speed Of Night’
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NEGATIVES TO DIGITAL PROJECT – Part 3
Sorting through thousands of negatives of photos that I had snapped in the period of 1970-1980s.
āCrashing Waveā – Victoria – 1970s
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OLD CAMERAS – 004
‘Leitz Leica’ – Time Magazine, 28 July 1958
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DOG PHOTOGRAPHY
Here are recent photos that I had snapped of my friends’ dogs:
‘Poppy’‘Max’‘Jenna’
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FINALLY
I love all aspects about photography hence this Newsletter. I wish to share things that I enjoy about this medium. If you like what you have read, please subscribe to receive future Newsletters š Comments are also nice to receive.
John Weeks Photography 