Day 31 - A Knight

Here is my knight in shiny armour come to rescue me from this challenge, he had to stop and get his armour cleaned first.
Well, we have come to the end of the month (FINALLY) and although I've had enough it's been a real blast. Thank you to all you wonderful people who left me a comment, they kept me going when the going got a bit tough. To everyone who finished....CONGRATULATIONS!!!
To those who didn't make it, I hope you still had lots of fun...BRAVO!!!

Day 30 - Lungfish

Queensland lungfish are most strange, the only fish that have lungs. They are said to be a link to ancient animals. They can live for more than 50 years and get pretty big, up to 40 kilograms. I caught a huge old one out at a local river, it was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen (I let it go, of course, they are protected.) These critters I've been using are from a collection of Au and NZ wildlife called Yowie's put out by a chocolate company. They are inside an egg shaped choc and come in small pieces you put together. One day I'll sort them all out and sell them on e-bay and make a fortune ;-)

Day 29 - Medals

Some medals I won a few years ago at a state championships. (Pistol shooting - centre fire ladies match if you're curious.) I learnt a huge amount from pistol shooting, it involves discipline plus mental repetitions - the only way to get any good at it is to practice. Much the same as photography really, the more you shoot ;-) the more you develop and grow. A nice story goes with these medals, I went along to a workshop before the state finals were on, the coach there pulled me out of about 120 people and gave me such an encouraging pep talk. I'd happened to shoot a perfect score in almost dark conditions - it was because of that I entered and won.

Day 28 - Nestling

A sweet little nestling, waiting for it's mama or papa to come and feed it. No, it's not real, people just give me birdie stuff as they know I like anything with wings, which includes fairies and dragons :-)

Day 27 - K.C.'s Feather

This feather is from a Tawny Frogmouth Owl whom I had the privilege of raising from a tiny few days old. He fell out of his tree during a wild storm and 2 kids found him. I called him KC after their initials. As he grew, I had to teach him to hunt for his food, (mealy grubs, cockroaches - live ones, crickets, big moths and finally - live mice ) which I'd hide every dusk under leaves and some scattered dirt on the floor. He slept all day high up on a big branch in our large laundry. It was so hard not to pick him up and mother him, as he was very very cute when little. When he became old enough to fend for himself and was flying well I released him back into a suitable sheltered spot out of the city. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done!
Bonus shot of KC at about 2 months old, and yes he had the biggest bluest eyes you can possibly imagine.Answer to essjaynz - I was a native bird carer for 8-9 years, a registered ranger in Queensland's B.I.R.O (birds,injured,rescued,orphaned.)

Day 26 - Python

Another cute and cuddly Aussie critter. The carpet python are quite harmless to humans - in fact they make great pets, if you like that sort of thing. They are found all over Au - I've seen a few and even had an enormous one hung around my neck at a snake park - they are quite dry and warm to touch.

Day 25 - Eastern Quoll

You've all seen/heard of the usual Aussie animals, I thought this a great opportunity to show you some of the more rare ones. This is an Eastern Quoll, only found now days in the wild down in Tasmania. We are lucky enough here in my city to have some in a specially built enclosure in our nature center, but being nocturnal they are always asleep when I go to try and get a pic of them. They are the same size of a cat - they are mammals so females suckle/carry their young in a pouch for up to 10 weeks.

Day 24 - Red Hat Day

I was out having coffee with friends the other day and saw these red hats on top of some cup cakes, you know how you think? I should take this home and take a photo of it? Well, I did bring it home but forgot all about it till today - it's sitting on top of two coins, a quarter from the states on the left and a ten cent coin from Au. on the right to show how small it is. The rest - someone ate ;-)

Day 23 - Statue

This is my small but very sincere tribute to Lmorrow57 and the sizzling work she has been doing with her statuary theme. I've had this smiling Buddha for some time, he is just 6cm/two and a quarter inches tall so I had to try and make him seem taller.

Day 22 - Texting

Yes, it's texting, however in this text message is Clue C of the puzzle. You have to hold a mirror up to the screen to "see" it. Hopefully, then do it to solve the troublesome thing!
:-)

Day 21 - Miss Umbrella

I'd like you to meet Miss Umbrella, who is my roommate. She is usually very shy however I managed to persuade her to pose for me. I've now changed to the 36mm extension tube. Clue B - Used every day in everyones lives, from childhood.

Day 20 - The Vine Flower

Very cliche I know but I like it! This is a new vine in my garden, it's called Red Fantasy Mini and has amazing flowers, they are a deep red with very vibrant orange centers. Clue dropping time if you are still wondering what the puzzle is...Clue A - You're used to seeing it go forward, try backwards for a refreshing change.

Day 19 - The Wish Box

This tiny wooden carved box is a wishing box, a dear friend brought it back from Alaska for me. You write out a wish and put it in the box next to your bed, and every night you wish upon it. Yes, it does work, the first wish I made came true in one week. Well, the second one astounded me and worked the very next day! Wow! Wonderful!

Day 18 - Childs Play

Yes it's a small part of a xylophone - I thought it so colourful I just had to shoot it. I'm really impressed with the extension tubes, they were a tad bit expensive but I'm happy I invested in them. An essential extra in any ones camera bag!

Day 17 - A Dotty Chook

I had a wide choice of subjects for today, I ended up with this one as she is so cheekily perky. I bought them (I have a red one too) in the US on holiday. Chicken=chook in Au. More fun with lighting - even with macro pics the lighting is very important.
Here are the pair of them, I'm not sure where I found them, it may have been in Olympia WA as I was there for a few dayys and had time to shop. The bodies are made of hard paper like material and the rest is metal.

Day 16 - Tom's Zebra

Thanks must go to the imaginative Tom and his colourful images for this idea, I was running out! Just as a small twist, I did this zebra in B&W - macro animals are hard to come by in this household.

Day 15 - An Arty Abstract

I wanted to get an abstract effect on this one, this would be something I'd paint if I could paint - PS did it for me!!! It's looking down into a glass, the type with a bubble bottom.
Wow we are half way home, 15 down, 15 to go!!!

Day 14 - Kim's Bubbles

This is my tribute to Kimbomac, for all the outstanding photographic work she has been doing for this challenge. It's bubbles (liquids) on glass in sepia (for her beautiful family gallery.)
:-)

Day 13 - Falling Charms

A charm bracelet - it's all pewter - somehow it got a goldish tone to it, I think it's from a reflection off some drapes nearby.
I tried to make it look like it was falling.

Day 12 - Lady of the Light

I wanted to try some more back lighting, but this one turned into moody side lighting. She is made of glass and has pride of place on my desk when I need an extra lamp. I tried in the wee hours of this morning to get some shots ( like 40-50) of her back lit but gave up. Tried again this morning and with one go got this one, I like it with the deep shadows and highlights.

Day 11 - A Purple Bird?

Starting today and for 9 more days I'll be using a 20mm macro extension tube. This is what my bird Tori would look like if I could paint his grey feathers purple, did I mention I love purple?

Day 10 - A Dainty Fairy

I'm trying a few back lit subjects - it's much harder with macro than an ordinary lens. I lit the fairy with one candle behind her and two leds either side. She's been dropped and broken a few times, but is a very tough little fairy, thank goodness for superglue!

Day 9 - Miniature & Pink

This is a plant in my new garden, a sweet little miniature ground hugging gem. It's an Australian native, called Grevillea "Pink Midget". To give you an idea of the size of the flowers, they are about the size of your toothbrush.

Here it is with some US coins to show you the size of the tiny flowers. Got to love them as grevillea flowers drip with necter and the birds flock to them.

Day 8 - Da Slinky Snake

Time for a B&W - this one turned out a bit graphic too. It's the slippery looking handle of a white mesh evening bag - though here it does look a bit like a snake.

Day 7 - Smokey

I've always found it fascinating to watch smoke from incense or a wood burning fire. As it's a bit hot here to try a wood burning fire, I had to settle today with incense. No cropping, I only adjusted the colour tone and curves.

Day 6 - Treasure

My favorite pair of earrings, bought at a weekend craft market for $2.
A girls got to have some pretty jewels to wear, just for fun.

Day 5 - Stacked

A bit of an abstract - 6 knives stacked and taken from their ends. The amount of fluff that showed up was amazing, something you have to watch out for with macro pics, so I made it darker than I'd have liked.

Day 4 - Emerging

This leafy plant is grown more for the dark stripy purple leaves than it's flowers, here is a new leaf emerging. I've no idea what it's called, but I love it.

Day 3 - Flames

The flames from 4 matches, and no I didn't set off the smoke alarm. Why is it fun playing with matches?

Day 2 - 2009 Polished

This was taken in daylight, a 10 second long exposure to get the dripping and lush purple nail polish effect.

Take 2

I didn't realize till I'd looked closer that the first Owl was a bit blurry - no doubt due to my clammy hands all over my reading glasses (heck it was 38C here today.) That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for the comments 'cause I'd never have known, I like this one better. I think I've improved the lighting too. Just one owl through glass with drops on top.