Two Black Dogs

As the sun rises

twoblackdoggies — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:05:39 +0000

“If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Signs

twoblackdoggies — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:37:46 +0000

Cee’s latest Fun Foto Challenge is all about signs this week and when travelling it is easy to find a variety of styles from the very elaborate to the functional and instructional type. One of my favourites from our travels in Europe is the ‘Slow down your on vacation’ sign, we spotted it in Assisi and we had been on the road for about 6 weeks and were feeling a little tired.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bridges

twoblackdoggies — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:59:08 +0000

Phew! Just made it

I wanted to participate in the latest Fun Foto Challenge from Cee but had completely forgotten about it, the week has flown by and it is now almost 9pm on Friday night and surely the next challenge must be just around the corner. Photographing bridges is quite a common theme in my travel photography, from small rocky footbridges (wish I could find that photo) to large steel constructions and I know that should I ever return to these places then I will photograph them again, just can’t help myself.

The train stops before going over the viaduct and lets everyone off so they can walk across the bridge to the other side, the train then slowly moves forward and everyone is poised to take photos.

" data-medium-file="http://twoblackdoggies.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dunedintaierigorgetraind.jpg?w=200" data-large-file="http://twoblackdoggies.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dunedintaierigorgetraind.jpg?w=640" width="100" height="150" src="http://twoblackdoggies.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dunedintaierigorgetraind.jpg?w=100&h=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Taieri Gorge Railway, Dunedin NZ" />

Happy Friday!

Travel theme: Light

twoblackdoggies — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:39:22 +0000

…and Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack says “let there be light!” for this week’s travel theme.

Mr G Dogathon 100

twoblackdoggies — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:00:59 +0000

I first came across the work of talented artist Graham Hoete aka Mr G in 2011, at that time he was on a mission to paint 100 dog portraits in 12 months and had painted a beautiful portrait of famous pit bull Daddy from the Dog Whisperer. Mr G is now in Australia and painting portraits for Aussie dogs including a 4 storey high portrait of a dog in Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach, bull breeds feature strongly and I can’t wait to see the end result. Check out Mr G’s work on facebook, you may even be able to get him to do a portrait of your dog

Mr G Dogathon 100.

Mr G Dogathon 100 painting dog portraits in Sydney. Source: https://www.facebook.com/DOGATHON100

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up

twoblackdoggies — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:06:21 +0000

As we go about our daily lives the tendency to look down rather than up is strong and it can prevent us from seeing some unusual and wonderful things. A friend and I spent a weekend in Melbourne, most of our time was spent chatting, shopping and eating so we never noticed the interesting sculptures sitting above the traffic lights until our last day in the city. There was one on all four traffic lights at the intersection (hence four pics instead of the usual one), you only had to look up.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Which ways – Featuring steps or stairs

twoblackdoggies — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:35:28 +0000

This week Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge focuses on steps or stairs and if there is one thing that we discovered on our trip to Europe was that there were plenty of stairs to climb.

Such a beautiful Autumn morning

twoblackdoggies — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 05:59:56 +0000

This morning we are up early, before the sun rises and long before our two black doggies usually get out of bed. Outside the air is cool, inside the aroma of freshly brewed coffee motivates me to get moving and get dressed for a trip to the beach. You may well wonder why anyone would want to go to the beach while it is cold and dark, but with a beautiful day forecast we know the temperature will rise and it is a perfect time to practice my photography and capture a sunrise. Eventually excitement reaches the dogs and they happily sit on the back seat of the car with tongues out and the drool slowing dripping onto the console and window sill of the door. As we cross the bridge that takes us towards the beach they start to fidget as familiar smells and sounds reach them, both are itching to stretch their legs on the sand, splash about in the waves and maybe roll in something dead and smelly.

I set up my tripod in a couple of different spots, clicking away madly whilst the dogs take turns dashing across the sand, retrieving sticks and balls for my husband. Soon Maxi joins me for a rest, at her age there is less dashing and more strolling, she still loves to paddle in the surf and can never resist digging holes in the soft sand. Only one other photographer has joined me on the beach, we aren’t at the most picturesque spot on the coast nor the most popular place for surfing so for many there is probably no reason to venture onto the sand, camera in hand, but for me and our little family it is the perfect place.

Looking back I realise that I should have focused more on the clouds as the rays of sunlight peeked through, experimenting with capturing the motion of the waves and the reflections distracted me yet I am happy with these few images that I am sharing with you and hope that you will be too.

Travel theme: Benches

twoblackdoggies — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:34:54 +0000

Thank goodness for travel themes and photo challenges, my travels and spare time have been quite limited of late so I’ve been taking inspiration from others to come up with content for my blog. Benches is the latest travel theme for photographs from Where’s my backpack? and I’ve managed to find a few suitable images to share.

The love seat, Via dell’Amore, Cinque Terre

Hubby relaxing in a park near the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

Hubby napping after walking around Versaille all day

Bench seat in Varenna

Enjoying a beer on bench seats at the top of a mountain in Bavaria

Coffee in Luxembourg Gardens, Paris

Chillin’ in Amsterdam

Hubby resting on a park bench in the Boboli Gardens, Florence

Sensing a pattern? My dear Hubby loves travel but after being dragged from pillar to post wherever we went he needed some down time and who am I to complain, it allows me time to wander in peace and to also get some shots of him snoozing in some very amazing places

Travel theme: Pale

twoblackdoggies — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 03:52:39 +0000

Embracing the pale in my travel photographs was an interesting activity, pale often has such negative connotations but seeing the beauty in pale is actually very easy, there is something so appealing about delicate white blooms, snow on a mountain and the lightness of colour as the sun sets and rises.