My Daughter and I Visit the City

I have this drive to create and constantly challenge myself.  I’m bursting with ideas, and feel like I have to put them somewhere. It’s a great thing but it actually hurts my head sometimes. It can lead to unproductively too, when I have so much going on in my head, I can’t capitalise on anything at all.

The key to combating this is twofold:

1. Realising that I can’t capitalise on all the things I want to and letting go of projects that aren’t realistic.

2. Enjoying creative time but putting up some form of time frame (or I get totally lost in it).

Canon Island

Photography is something I enjoy. I’m not a brilliant photographer by any stretch, but I enjoy seeing what life looks like through the camera lens. I guess for me, it’s helps me see the moments.  When Canon Australia asked me to be part of a the Cannon Island Blogger challenge, I thought it would be a wonderful to challenge myself to think of photography in terms of interpretation.

The idea is to submit 5 photographs over a 10 week period.  Below are the themes I’m working on:

Entry 1. Urban Island
Entry 2. Desert Island
Entry 3. Dessert Island
Entry 4. Eye Land
Entry 5. My Land

I like this comp because it’s less about technique and more about creativity.  I’m using a Canon Powershot SX 40 HS to take the photographs.

My Daughter and I Visit the City

I like to allocate special time alone, with each of my four children, and it was my 10-year-old daughter’s turn.  After seeing a movie, we drove into Brisbane City to look at the Christmas tree in George Square, the window displays at the Myer Centre, then over over to Southbank to overlook the buzz of the city across the river. We finished the night at Mt Cootha, spotting all the places we had been. It was an absolutely fabulous night for both of us. It was magical!

{George Square Chrismtas Tree — Brisbane}

{Christmas Window Displays — Myer Centre, Brisbane}

{South Bank, Brisbane}

{Looking at Brisbane City from Southbank}

{View from Mt Cootha (the large circle shape is where we were)}

If you are looking for an activity idea for an older child (or even as a family), looking at the city lights is brilliant! We had an awesome time.

The Photo I submitted — Urban Island

For me, the word urban describes the city where people work and visit.  And suburban is where people live and create their lives.

The city is full of activity. It is chaos and structure come together.  From across the river, Brisbane city looked like an island of light. I settled on this photo because it was interesting and a little absract. For me, it captures so much of what urban means.

Energy fills the black void of night with a blur of colour.   The pace is fast yet there’s a definite sense of structure – an aspect of focus — that holds the picture together.  People are busy; vehicles are busy; boats are busy; yet they all seem to know where they are going.  It’s the marriage of activity, and order, with a little bit of magic thrown in.

The Competition

4 other bloggers are joining me on this challenge.

Pip from Meet me at Mikes

Bec from Inside Cuisine

Kirsty from Kootoyoo

Brooke from Brooke vs The World

Now, I’m pretty shocking at these sorts of competitions because I want everyone to win. HA! Although the final prize is awesome, the main reason I’m doing this is to challenge myself to think creatively about photography and because it’s fun!

If you do want to vote for my photo, just follow these instructions:

1. Head over to the Canon Australia facebook page o

2. On the left hand side there is an Canon Island button. Press.

3. Press continue and then when the challenge page comes up, press on the Challenge 1 tab, and click ‘vote for entry’ under my profile and follow the prompts.

Oh, and for voting, you could win yourself a Canon Powershot!

Thank you!

Other Photography Posts

Photographing Kids — Getting Them to Smile for the Camera

Photographing Kids — Capturing a Child’s Essence

Photographing Kids — Rule of Thirds 

Photographing Kids — The Background

Photographing Kids — Setting Up a Shoot

Photographing Kids — Perspective

Making the Most of Your Mobile Phone Camera

Visit my Photography Gallery

Visit my Mobile Phone Gallery

Tagged as: Canon Powershot SX 40 HS