I have not done one of these posts for a while but I took a few bird photos this month so here is another.

A flock of around 30 Musk Lorikeets hung around for a few days at the beginning of this month. They chattered from the tops of the gum trees in our property and swooped through the blue sky, moving to another tree. One group chattered and climbed in the dead branches at the top of the tree the galahs ring-barked.




We don't often see the Musk Lorikeets, which may be because they are not around most seasons but also because they blend in so well with the leaves even if they are there. They also sound similar to both Rainbow Lorikeets and Rosellas. So I may not even think to look and notice they were different. I was quite happy to catch a few in flight, which as they go so fast is quite difficult. Parrots are one of my favourite birds, they are so pretty and I really like it when I catch a glimpse of their colours flashing through the trees.

A few days after I got some photos of the Rainbow Lorikeets I heard another flock of birds in the tree, I can just see the top of it out the window, above my desk. This time Galahs filled the branches. The Galahs are not so special, as I see them flying over every day and all year around. They also ring bark trees and branches and those branches die and fall off and the trees also die just like the top of this one. Still it is amazing when a huge flock of the birds swoop low over me so that I can feel the wind of their passing.

Do you have any favourite birds?

We have new life in our saviour! What a blessed day, the day we remember how he defeated death. Easter is just a wonderful time of the year. It is also an excuse to take photos (not that I need excuses), so I did an Easter photo shoot of my littlest sister the other evening and she is just the cutest ever so I had to share the photos. 

I did a photo shoot of Ann last Easter with the same basket of chalk eggs, and since those eggs had survived a whole year without being used I decided we better do it again you can see last years post here. My photography and editing has improved since then. And of course I rarely took photos in RAW then, but all these were taken in RAW before I edited them and saved them as jpg. files. Sorry about all that technical talk for those of you who do not understand such things. You may now scroll down and enjoy the photos.

And for anyone who is interested in the photography side (technical talk) of these photos, as I said I took them all in RAW and then edited them in Lightroom. In these two last shots you can see the original shot in the corner and how it turned out after editing. 

You may have noticed that I took nearly all these photos with the camera facing towards the sun which would probably be a mistake if I was not taking them in RAW. But in a RAW file there is such a great range of information and I could bring back as much light as I wanted, and fix up the white balance to be nice and warm. And in this next shot actually make it look a bit hazy. RAW files always need editing, but the final result is so much better and they are much easier to edit without loosing any information than jpg. files are.

The main edits I have done to all these images were adding exposure, some to the whole photo and other parts just over Ann, also adding a little contrast and obviously sharpening them, as all RAW files need to be sharpened at least a little. Anyway I hope you enjoyed those photos, happy Easter!

Does your family have any Easter tradition?

Have you ever tried taking photos in RAW? or do you always shoot jpg. If you have not tried it you seriously should!

So, quite a few weeks back I was awarded the Liebster Award, which I have got before but I decided I would do it again anyway, but before I got around to doing it I was tagged yet again and now, if you are reading this, I have obviously got around to finally doing both of them in one post.

As always the procedure to follow is:

• Link back to the person who tagged you
• Answer 11 questions
• Try To Tag 11 bloggers
• Ask them 11 questions
• Let them know you've tagged them through social media
• Have Fun 
• And (in this case) answer the other 11 questions

I was tagged by both Susannah Joy from Frosted Woods Dreamer and Katie from Sparkly Ambitions. 

Susannah's Questions and my answers:

1. Generally speaking, how old do you think you should be when you get married? And how old do you want to be when you get married? God's timing is best. But I think it is good to be able to be married when young. As to how old do I want to be... I suppose that would be not much older. So lets say 21. 

2. What is your favourite thing about blogging? Taking photos for posts, and getting comments, and being able to connect with people from all over the world, it is really so amazing!

3. Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate? Coffee is definitely the worst. Oh wait, you meant which do I like the smell of most? That would be tea, just please don't make me drink it. Hot chocolate is okay to drink sometimes, but only when it has marshmallows floating in it because what is hot chocolate without marshmallows?

4. What is your favourite website? (Not a blog) That is a tricky one, can I say Goodreads? I go there a lot of the time to review and rate books I read. EVERY book I read gets some kind of review and ones I read ages ago usually just get ratings because I can't remember enough.

5. What's your favourite hobby? Photography, and if you say I can no longer count it as a hobby then I shall say just art in general, like sketching and photo-shopping.

6. What's your favourite Bible verse? F-A-V-O-U-R-I-T-E, see that word, makes this very hard to answer, impossible in fact. I could give you some verses that I like so much I am currently memorizing. 

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

 Psalm 71:14

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 
Psalm 138:3

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." Isaiah 12:2

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 1 Corinthians 3:18

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8

7. Do you play any instruments? Nope, nope nopety nope.

8. What's your favourite season/time of year? Autumn, which is right now! Any other time when it is not stinking hot and preferably not too cold will also do... but wearing long jackets is a plus if it is rather cold.

9. Do you have any pets or animals? Chooks and a duck. The duck is an ancient useless Muscovy duck. One of my chooks (Speckled Sussex) is also old and almost useless, I have two Australorps and three Araucana.... and all the rest of my chooks died recently from various different illnesses....

10. What do you think you'll be doing in 10 years from now? I have no idea, lets just imagine a nice possibility though. I have a fair sized photography business, and a small family of my own, and in the spare time that I no longer have I am editing a book of mine for publication. Unlikely but we can dream, right?

11. What's your favourite book to read, and what's your favourite book in the Bible to read? I almost never re-read any books..... I have re-read The Lord of the Rings, and I will do so again. I have re-read a lot of kids books, and read some to my little brothers that I read to myself when little.... but they are not really favourites. Other than LOTR I can't think of any others I have re-read at the moment, so it must be my favourite. As for the Bible, I have re-read it a lot of times. I am always reading through Psalms or Proverbs though, because one chapter from those books is a great way to start the day. 

Katie's Questions and my answers:

1. What's your favourite hang out spot? It can be anywhere, from a special spot in your back yard to a nook in your bedroom. Where I am now, at my desk, it is kind of in a nook in the schoolroom. If I really want to imagine there is no one else around (impossible anywhere in this house) I get out my earphones and listen to an audio book while editing photos or something similar. Then I can just imagine I am alone. Other times I just wander around the yard, go see the chooks or go down to the big swing attached to one of the largest gum trees down the back.

2. What do you think your best day ever was? That is a hard question. I am not sure that day has come yet. Ultimately I think it will be when I see Jesus the first time... but maybe those days will only get better and better, which kinda makes this question harder to answer.

3. What's your idea of a perfect evening? Most fun evenings definitely involve watching a fun movie with my family, preferably one that I have not seen before. But sitting by the fire in winter listening to mummy read a really good chapter from the read aloud we sometimes have is also pretty much perfect.

4. Do you like Taco Bell? So I had to google what this mysterious 'Taco Bell' was, and it turns out it is a chain store/restaurant that I assume is quite common in America and there are apparently a few in Australia. But I have never heard of it before now. Infact I looked up Chain Stores in USA and got this result for Taco Bell "Leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain, with more than 5,800 restaurants in the US; serves tacos, burritos, signature Quesadillas, Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos etc"

Whatever all that meant... I probably would like it, but I probably would not like it. Although I like the taste of a lot of fast food and other places like that I don't like eating it because I can't help but think of all the horrible things that are probably in the food: preservatives, colours, flavours and stuff like that.

5. What's your top 3 favourite blogs? That is a hard question, I follow a lot of different kinds of blogs.... So my favourite book review blog is Paper Fury and I follow so many photography blogs but one I read today was Eliz Alex Photography and I also follow a lot of writing blogs and some other ones for the story the writer is posting on there but my favourite story at the moment is The Firewall Saga (PG rated, a lot of violence and weirdness, but an epic story so far) And that is three, there are so many more though, but those will have to suffice. 

6. Coffee or tea? Yes, let us outlaw coffee so that no one ever has to drink or smell it ever again!

7. What's a show you could binge watch all day long? The only 'show' as in tv show I watch is um.... Doctor Who and that is back with the 10th Doctor.  And I really would not want to spend a whole day watching that, or any tv show really. That would be a rather wasted day.... Unless, say, I was not feeling well. Still, reading a book could be more productive, but imagining I was so sick I could not concentrate on any book... I would like to sit and watch all of the hobbit and Lord of The Rings Movies or all of the Star Wars ones, that would be rather fun.

8. How about a movie that you could literally watch over and over? I would need Captain Literally to force me to watch anything over and over. There are some movies (like the Princess Bride, Bourne, Sound of Music and others I can't think of atm) I do like watching over and over but months and months apart please.

9. Favourite nail polish colour? Like brand and colour. I don't actually ever wear nail polish....ever.

10. Time travel forward or back in time? Can I come back again? If not, I shall go back, but not back too long ago, maybe 100 years. But if I can return, then I shall go as far forward as I dare and then come back and write the most realistic dystopian book EVER!

11. If you found a genie's lamp, what would be your 3 wishes? Well I suppose I could do all those unselfish things like stop all bad things, feed everyone in the world, and make Jesus return. That is actually a kinda boring answer though, a very boring answer. 

So assuming that the genie could not grant wishes for more wishes or anything that was not material... and being selfish, I would ask it for, a flying island with a giant library stocked with every book I will ever want, in the middle of some paddocks of horses. And an invisibility cloak because I have always wanted one of them and some way to fly up to my private island. Okay, I will share it with some people but they'd better not harm my books, otherwise....


Now I have to think of questions and award people. Well, I award any person to uses the word 'eyeball' in a comment and anyone else who wants a flying island or a giant library. If you don't want to do a post, just answer some of the questions in a comment.

Questions:
1. What do you sort your books by? Would you sort them differently if you had enough room?
2. How many centimeters long is your hair?
3. If you had a flying island would you share it with anyone? Who?
4. Have you ever dressed up medieval?
5. What was your favourite game to play when you were little?
6. What is your favourite board game?
7. How is your flying island normally attached/anchored to earth? 
8. What colour are your eyes? and what book character has eyes that colour?
9.What does your family cook on the BBQ? (and if you are American, do you know what a BBQ is?)
10. If you could bring back one item from a dream what would it be?
11. How do you tie your hair up?

So hopefully someone will answer some of them, I went to all the trouble of thinking of them. Come on, I know you want your own floating island! If you do do a post, link to it in the comments, and have fun.

I have not done one of these posts for.... way too long... so here is another. I find most awkward things funny so each thing is kinda both or just funny.

"Bend back, bend back, no not like that, back!" I say to Alice as I am trying to get her posing the way I wanted for a particular photo. Then I realized she was bending away from me but to the side... so "No bend backwards" I demonstrated "Like this." and she finally got it and now it is just funny so when I did some photos of my other sister Jane she of course sees how far backwards she can bend.... while playing her violin. She got a lot further than that photo but the next shot was a bit blurry.

As one of my sisters says when I am taking photos of them, "I like it how if you want to take the photo from a slightly different angle you don't actually move your feet you just bend and tip." Or something along those lines, apparently I look funny.

I go into the post office to pick up a parcel and the lady asks me “what is your address” I stare at her for a few seconds…. Why in the world did she ask that…. What is my address??? Then I realized I’d better answer… “Um 'enter my address',” I said it really fast, and wondered why she didn’t just ask for proof of identity. I think I much prefer that….. somehow when someone ask me a simple question on the spot I often completely lose the answer….

When mummy is cutting Jane's hair “Can you put you eyebrow down!” “See you're cutting it all wonky” (Because she has one eyebrow raised)

Getting this email three times…. bahhhhahaha! Oh, every time I re-read it! You could use it to start a story.

Greetings,

Kindly Accept & Acknowledge my Proposal!

I understand that through Internet is not the best way to link up with you
to inform you about this notification but because of the confidentiality
which my proposal demands. However, I have already sent you this same letter
one month ago, but I am not sure if it did get to you since I have not heard
from you, hence i am constrain to reach you through the Internet which has
been abused over the years. I wish to notify you again that your name was
mentioned as heir to the sum of 5,600, 000.00 sterling pounds. In the last
testament of our deceased client name now withed. I and my team of the Heir
Hunters Company in the United Kingdom are detectives assisting distant
relatives of people who have died with or without making any official will.

As the heir hunter's team of detective, the race is now on for us to track
down the often distant relatives in line for a windfall.  We came across
your profile and email while searching through genealogy database. Note as
the heir hunters our aim is to assist people claim there lost relative
fortune instead of the government or Bank MDS to use the money to in reach
their treasury. Please send an acknowledgment email to enable us process your
inheritance with all due verification process.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Gregory


Waking myself up at night multiple times because I was talking out loud while having dreams about double crossing dragons…. Not very nice dragons... they wanted to eat me, and one betrayed me… and it being a dream I don’t really remember much else.

Ironing the wrong pile of clothes…. What’s more, I normally like ironing except when it is silky material of fancy clothes and the three things I ironed were just that kind of thing. (I have a job for some of the morning, one day a week, doing some household stuff for a neighbour) But anyway those clothes were sitting where I had been told the ironing would be so I just assumed they were what I was meant to iron. Later I ironed the right basket of clothes that had still been sitting up on its perch near the roof (where I can’t reach). And the basket was FULL, it took me two hours to get it all done…. And that is no exaggeration because I get paid per hour so I had to notice how long it took.

For the Summer Reading club this year I was in the adults section and I knew that I had over 200 hours/100 tickets in the prize draw and they read out some stats first. I can’t quite remember now but they said there were eight hundred and something hours ( I think hours, but I at the time I had forgotten that there are two hours to a ticket) reading time done by the adults and I realized just what a huge portion of that number was me since there were about 40 adults participating…… needless to say I won the person who read the most in that category. So many of those hours came from audio books which I have decided are almost as good as real books they are just “invisible books” which really sounds quite cool.

Jane     (she said I should include that one, just like that on its own, and I suppose because she said it that makes it worthy to be included.)

Taking photos of my sister during a ‘professional’ photo shoot I was doing of her, but needing to get down low…. I was half lying on the ground but being careful not to lie on the lens in my pocket (yes as Jane said “You have big pockets”) So I was resting on my knees and elbows and groaning while taking the photos and telling Alice to smile and trying to hide from the low sun behind her all at the same time… and the grass was itchy.

Me during a photo shoot…. Normally I am fairly shy, but not when I am being professional. The husband of my client was talking and talking to the owner of the winery we were shooting at, she had called him a few times, finally I yelled at him across the car park “'his name' you are paying me to take your photos so you better be in some of them” …… And I just did it and it was not embarrassing, but something like that normally would be just so awkward and I probably would not do it, but holding my camera gives me super powers!

When I am so sure there was something else to add to this post but can no longer remember it.

What Awkward and Funny things have happened in your family recently?

The Giveaway has ended, congratulations to the three winners, Sarah W, Cait G, and Bonnie! You should each be receiving your bookmark in a week or so because I posted them today. 

Why three and not the two I originally said? Well you can thank Sarah, she decided she only wanted one so I drew (well raffelcopter randomly picked/did whatever it does) another person. And more is always just more fun.

A cool fact: Each winner was from a different country. We had one from Australia (the best country of all) one from New Zealand (just across the ditch from us) and one from way off in that distant and wild country called America or the US or whatever they call themselves.

And some time in the future we shall be able to see some more photos of one of the bookmarks because Cait promised to take some photos with it in a book she will review in the future, and if you are interested in reading book reviews that are both funny and informative you should probably check out her blog Paper Fury.

If you wanted to you can also check out Bonnie's lovely and purple Blog, Bonnie's Blessings.

As for the lovely Sarah, I don't think she has a blog, at least one I could find. But you can find her on Google+.

And now my 504th post is done.

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I can't believe I did not realize that the creature on the cover is a griffin and not a giant eagle. I rate Orphan Song at 4.5, there is nothing wrong with the book or content, but it just was not as amazing as some. 

Anyway, Orphan's Song by Gillian Bronte Adams is book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, and book two is being released soon so you can read this one now and you won't have long at all to wait for book two!

Who Will Keep the Song Alive?

Every generation has a Songkeeper – one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one.

When Birdie's song draws the attention of a dangerous Khelari soldier, she is kidnapped and thrust into a world of ancient secrets and betrayals. Rescued by her old friend, traveling peddler Amos McElhenny, Birdie flees the clutches of her enemies in pursuit of the truth behind the Song’s power.

Ky is a street–wise thief and a member of the Underground—a group of orphans banded together to survive . . . and to fight the Khelari. Haunted by a tragic raid, Ky joins Birdie and Amos in hopes of a new life beyond the reach of the soldiers. But the enemy is closing in, and when Amos’ shadowed past threatens to undo them all, Birdie is forced to face the destiny that awaits her as the Songkeeper of Leira.

I have so much trouble deciding if I should start reviews with the good or the bad or in this case the not so good. I think I will start with that because then I can end on a positive note.

Not so good: Orphan's Song is a fantasy book and they do a lot of traveling, but there IS NO MAP. Which I count a great fault in any book of this kind. They did a lot of traveling but although I was not confused a map would have improved this book so much.

There were twists and surprises, except I was not surprised by them and I guessed them. I think most were guessable because the book was just a bit cliché. The prologue was very similar to so many other story beginnings or prologues I have read. The rest of the story was a little cliché too but saying that not overly so and not at all borrowed from other books, but just kinda what is expected.

There is no bad content whatsoever unless you count the bit of violence.... but I don't remember it being overly descriptive either.

Good and just totally amazing: Orphan's Song had me turning pages, it never dragged. There was a lot of mystery hanging around the story that was slowly revealed, but I knew just enough to keep me happy, (which I would not have known without the prologue so maybe that was good after all). There was quite a few hints of the interesting history of the world, but no info dumps.

The world building was really well done (except no map.... how is that possible?) Even things like other unusual creatures the book would mention were done well. It would not describe them overly leaving mostly everything to the imagination, but it would tell enough. The magic or Song power or whatever was quite cool too.

And finally the characters! The thief Ky was very well developed and all the underground everything. And the back story of that which we learn parts of during the book is intriguing. As for Amos, I could picture him so well, he is not a character I will forget despite him falling into the grumpy won't tell you anything mentor category. Even the animals, the Griffin and George were rather good and also mysterious.

The very hidden analogy was lovely too, making the book allover special and just such an enjoyable read.

The ending felt right. Although it is a cliff hanger and I had been told by my sister how horrible it was it did not seem to bad. I guess I was expecting something a lot more worse. I know of a lot of other characters that have escaped out of the situation they are stuck in now so although it is a cliffhanger it is good and not all that bad, but I do want the next book. 

I highly recommend that you read this book. And then pre-order the next one.

And because book photos........ are photos of books... 

As you can see I liked the little owl bookmark, so I had to make one for myself too... and I used it while reading this book!

So don't forget to enter into the bookmark giveaway if you have not already because this is the last day.

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I am part of the Songkeeper Launch Team! Songkeeper is the second book in Gillian Bronte Adams Songkeeper Chronicles. And it is a really fun launch team because it is competitive and there are all these things we can do to get points. One of them is drawing fan art, and I really like drawing but don't do it often enough so this is a perfect excuse! I chose Ky Huntyr, because he is one of my favourite characters from Orphan Song, the first book. Actually I don't know who is my favourite I like a lot of them.

I shall be doing a book review of Orphan Song shortly and then one of Songkeeper after that. They are both Fantasy, Christian Fiction, books.

And don't forget to enter into my giveaway if you have not already!

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My sister Alice has just started hew own business, Alice May Web Design. So we drove to a falling apart farm just down our road that some friends of ours used to own. I have all these memories of that place back when it was a bit more stable.... Alice of course needed some lovely photos that she can use on her website, conveniently she has me as her sister. 

We had beautiful golden light for the photos and a few cows had been kind enough to eat the grass short in some places. My sister Jane was our replacement reflector holder, Alice is usually my assistant when I am doing photo shoots, but obviously it is hard to assist at your own shoot. Jane made a rather noisy reflector holder, but at least she did not drop my reflector in any of the cow pats which the afore mentioned beasts had left rather inconveniently in a lot of places we almost stepped. 

I must say my photography is still improving, as are my editing skills. And when I started doing photos professional I had almost no idea about how to pose people.....

In one of the places I took some shots, I had Alice sitting on some stairs.... although what is the definition of stairs. A set of steps leading from one floor of a building to another, typically inside the building. Okay these were outside and the led to a hole in the stairs and the leading part felt like they were going to lead straight to the ground before they even got to the hole.  Amazingly they decided that they would leave that for another day. 

The old sheds were perfect backdrops, the red cow shed one being my favorite. We got a huge variety of shots in the glorious afternoon light.

And Jane was there so we had some laughs... Especially over me, who while taking some photos around these ones, I was kinda lying on the grass groaning because of the uncomfortable position and because of the itchy grass. Alice and Jane found that amusing!

I don't often take photos with so much glare, but I really liked how these few turned out. I simply took them into the sun, so the glare is the sunlight actually on the lens. Oh and one of the lens flairs is added in the portrait photo.

I also have a bit of an obsession with vignetting photos and these two last shots looked so good with that bit of vignette added.

Which is your favourite shot?

Don't forget to enter into the giveaway!

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