We walked around the Rocks yesterday. Lots of activity, not so much photo ops. Just posting this one. It isn't the greatest, but I liked the way it showed the vibrancy of the area. Going to the zoo today, hoping to get some good shots there!

Greg and I were able to rally after our nap and walked around Sydney Harbour. We had dinner at this little Italian place right on the water, right at sunset! Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what shutter speed I needed to use for night photography so my photos tended to be grainy...or as photographers say, they have a lot of noise! What can I say, my fault for not checking things before we left the hotel.

Loved the Sydney Opera House, such a unique shape!

While sitting in the Dubai airport I noticed this arched window. Loved the typical Arabian Architecture so I decided to take a photo...hated it! It was so boring. Then I was thinking, what is drawing my eye to the window? Realized the pattern in the wooden carvings on the interior of the window were doing it. So I experimented by cropping and changing the photo to B&W. Ended up loving this one...go figure!

Greg and I are flying to Australia tomorrow morning really early. We'll be there traveling around for about 3 weeks. I'll be taking tons of photos, however, don't expect me to post them frequently!

Tried to post these pics yesterday, but the computer wasn't working. Just some photos I took on my walk on the beach. I'm constantly trying to capture birds, but the closer I get the faster they run or fly. This little guy was cooperating because he was hungry! Added some closeups of shells. Love the shells in Oman!

I'm still trying to play with the depth of field in my photos.These photos were taken at my dear friend, Jessie's house. Jessie always has an amazing garden, even here where it gets so hot. It was pretty breezy when I was taking these photos, so not as many turned out as I had hoped. Hope you enjoy!

This week we were to experiment with the fstop, which affects the depth of field. "Smaller the fstop, the larger the depth of field". So I tried lining up these shot glasses to do my homework. Got mixed results, I liked the light and reflection, but don't feel I got the crisp focus I wanted. Possibly because the room was too dark? Just not sure. All I know is I wanted to take a shot out of each of those glasses by the time I finished!

Went to the beach to take photos yesterday while Greg was on duty. Thursday is our Saturday so I expected to see lots of people. I'll never get used to how few people spend time at the beach here. Coming from Southern California where any nice day means beach is crowded, this still amazes me. There was one man and his son, an Omani family, and random Indian/Pakistani workers. All in all I saw about 12 people down there. My luck at photo taking was about as dismal. The coiled razor wire is the boundary to a yard for a house on the beach. I liked the rustiness of the wire. We live near a "fishing village" in Oman and I see the boats going out all the time. Loved how this boat was getting so much air! Both photos were cropped for better composition. I also added fill light to the fisherman's photo to bring out more of the features of the men in the photo.

I'm taking a photography course to learn the ins and outs of the DSLR. We get homework every week. Last week we were working on shutter speed and how changing it can capture or freeze movement. So my focus on these photos was to capture water in motion and too freeze that motion. It takes a fast shutter speed to do this. These are my first attempts and I loved the effect. Never mind that I took tons of shots to get these ones! Isn't the dog adorable. I still need more practice on photos showing movement. Another day!!!

I went to Malwahleh Fruit and Vegetable Market yesterday. One of the great things about living overseas is the ability to go to these types of outdoor markets. There are so many different types of vegetables and fruits I had never heard of before coming here. You would never believe how many types of eggplant there are! I went by myself, which was very adventurous of me. Of course, all of the workers at the stalls were calling out to me to purchase their vegetables. They were really gracious about letting me take photos of their stalls. It was fun, because they all wanted there photos taken too. I'm not sure what they thought I would do with them, but I took the photos anyway. Most of the workers were from India and Pakistan and they love having their picture taken. I have to be very careful and ask Omanis as they normally don't like to have their photos taken. Each culture is so unique!

Unfortunately, after uploading my photos to the computer I dropped my brand new Canon 60D on the hard tile floor. Urrgghh! So far I know I broke the UV filter, I'm hoping that's all. For some reason I can't get the darn filter off the lens.

Muttrah Souq photos. The top is one of my favorites. However, I would like to get proficient at an editing software to remove the background. Even though it is blurred, it is still distracting. Another favorite is the one with the wheels and pots, I love how the light was shining in.

Yesterday I went to Muttrah Souq, our marketplace here in Muscat. I wanted to really practice with my camera so I went by myself. This is a photo of the Kummars Omani men wear with their dishdashes. This hat is worn daily and they come in all different colors and designs. I cropped this photo to get rid of the shelf and price tag!

I tried posting more photos, but it took so long I gave up. Our internet is really slow here, and it comes and goes. Will try to post pictures again later.

Sunflowers make me so happy! There's just something about how big and flashy they are...

This is my first photo on my blog which will chronicle the next year in my life. I'm participating in the 365 day project to improve my photography skills. Basically I will be taking a photo (or 2, or 3, or 100!) a day for 365 days. I'm hoping to see improvement in my photographs as well as learn the ins and outs of my new DSLR camera. I'm currently taking a class to learn the basics of the DSLR and have progressed to no longer using the automatic setting (thanks Angela!!!) If anyone out there follows my blog, I hope you enjoy my journey!