15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments The Wildlife in Borneo . . . 15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetthe wildlife in borneoShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageThe Wildlife in Borneo . . .The jungles in Borneo are really dense, dark and humid. You will find that some of the photos look as though they have been over-exposed, but in reality, it is just the humidity in the air. I have a photo of this at home - Glen enlarged it for me, and framed it! Don't ask me why - I think I look rather wasted there. Glen and I tried to race through the jungle. The climb to the top of the mountain is rated as a 1.5 hour climb... Glen and I have done it in 26 minutes... actually I was confident that I could do it in less than 20 and so I did! I held the record of taking 17 minutes to race to the top of Mt Silam, covering a distance of approx 4 kilometres through the jungle, up a mountain. I was getting really fit (My girlfriend was proud of me). This photo shows how dense and dark the jungle can be. It was so humid there... no, not because I hadn't cleaned my lenses. You can see how muddy it is in the jungle - I became quite dirty after many trips into the jungle. I think these trees are just as big as the Californian Redwoods. They might not be as old, but definitely just as big. This was taken with a 300mm lens, from 1.5 metres. The most amazing thing about them, is when they are scared, the curl up into little "marbles". It looks like a small bug, but it is actually at least 7cm long, which is actually quite big. I noticed in Borneo, most of the insects there were huge. The wingspan of the brown moth was about 15cm wide - huge! They are mostly active at night, which is quite common for creatures in the jungle. A couple of the girls stationed in the jungles, was stationed here. Not a wise decision, considering these girls were paranoid about the insects. (Note: in the photo below, I still had conjunctivitis) I had the red eyes for most of the trip. Big and beautiful, don't you think? You can see how big the black moth is compared to the size of the telephone. These plants were kind of special because each branch split into two, so by the end of it, they formed a hexagonal pattern. Below, are plants known as the "pitcher" plant. The pitcher plants are meat-eating plants - you have watch out not to fall into them because they will swallow you whole. If you just believed that, you are very gullible! *laugh* The pitcher plant, like other carnivorous plants, feed on insects. They have sweet-smelling nectar that attract the unsuspecting insect to it. When the insect lands, it finds the surface slippery and fall straight into the “pitcher”, where the plants juices drowns it and is digested by the plant. You may have heard of other type of carnivorous plants such as the Venus Fly Trap, and the Sundew plants. Yes, you see me holding the snake with a leaf. It was a poisonous snake, and I was worried about it's venom getting on my skin. For example a puff adder, contact with the venom numbs the skin. I was not familiar with the snakes in Borneo, and was not about to risk it. The tarantella was sitting inside the catering tent hunting. Everyone was looking at it and admiring it, which was pretty amazing, considering I know many people who would willingly kill a spider in sight. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Repeater Stations . . . 15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetrepeater stationsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageRepeater Stations . . .Here, you see Paul and I transporting some of the repeater stations by air. From Silam, we flew down to DFVC. We stayed there for three days before going back to Silam. I am at one of the repeater sites. Here, the top of one of the mountains was cleared, so we could safely land a helicopter there. Oh... did I forget to mention that I almost chopped one of my fingers in half at the repeater site? On top of my infected eye, I had another thing for the medical team to look at. The fingernail had been chopped in half and there was not much I could do about it except clean it up and try to avoid infections. The medical team was great there... they were extremely good. We had a few problems with some of the communications gear. Paul and Glen were handling it, and at times I tried to assist. The first few days had been really tough. The top of Silam is covered in clouds for most of the afternoons, so the solar panels are quite useless. A survey of the conditions made prior to the race was useless. If you ask any of the locals, they would have told us that the peak is always covered in clouds... but apparently no-one asked them!!! We had problems keeping the generators running - they were using more power than predicted and there was no sun on the top of Silam to recharge the batteries. The generator itself was a re-built petrol engine with a car alternator on it. We basically tried to use a system where we used a jerry can, cut holes into it, and relied on the force of gravity to transport the fuel to the generator. This design ended up working best for us. Our helicopter pilot sitting on the side there, just grinning... On the third day of the race, I hiked up the mountain three times. I was really tired and all I could think of was getting a bit of a rest and some food. I managed to get a bit once I got to Danum. In Danum I managed to get 6 hours sleep before someone woke me up and told me that the repeater had died in Silam... again all the cars had to leave in a convoy... so rush, rush to find my driver and managed (just) to get into the convoy! The road to Danum closes at 6.30pm and all the cars had to go in the convoy. The helicopter flew all of us to the top of the mountain, and waited there for us till we were finished. Glen quite often told the pilot, "You don't have to shut down, because we'll only be here for 5 minutes." Well... quite often, we were there for as long as an hour and half! (Don't worry, the pilot was sensible enough to shut down immediately... he got to know Glen very well.) I went up there often make sure that it was still running. It is much better getting a helicopter to fly me up there so that I can bring some fuel with me ! Glen has mostly been on top of the mountain getting the generator back online. We have to keep the generator running 24 hours per day until the end of the race. On the third night after the race started, one of the repeaters went dead. I had to hike up the mountain on the previous day as the generator had died. I did not leave the mountain until it was dark, so I had to climb down through the jungle in the dark! Fortunately I had my torch with me! Paul later gave me strict instructions to make sure that I leave the mountain so that I could be back at HQ while there was still light! I found out that I did not have any problems navigating at night... I even offered Paul to go back up when the repeater died! Anyhow, we ended up having to send the airborne repeater up! Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments The Competitors . . . 15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetthe competitorsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageThe Competitors . . .The competitors did not rest... three of the teams were half way through the 600 kilometre course after only three days... pretty amazing! Two of the teams were Australian. 18 teams were out of the race. At least 10 of these were due to medical problems. Hardly any people around here get enough sleep... the place is active 24 hours per day because there are always competitors coming in! I was keen to find out how the Danish team would turn out. At the beginning of the race, they were not very sociable. But by the end of the race, I think the tension of the race had gone, and I managed to have a chat with them. By the third day, the Danes are doing pretty well... they had a 22nd place! This was the mountain-bike leg of the race. The guy you see being transported to hospital in the helicopter (photos below), was doing this part of the race. He was rounding a corner on his bike and rode straight into a large branch. We had a lot of medical urgencies... we almost lost a guy with a punctured lung ! I got some great photos and helped getting the guy into the mobile hospital. There was a lot publicity on the website and through the media about it. Fortunately, he was only 15 minutes away from HQ, so it was possible for us to get him to the helicopter very quickly, and to the nearest hospital. Another leg of the race involved rowing in these “sampans”, a Malay term for “boat”. At some point, the teams in the race had to also split up - some of them swimming, some of them rowing, to complete the water leg of the race. Below, the competitors had to use a flying fox to cross the canyons. I managed to have a go at it - compared to rock-climbing... well, I found it pretty boring *smile*. I imagine most people would find it quite fun though. There are no places to climb here. I had hoped to take one of the helicopters to Madai Caves to check out the 200 metre abseil. The road to the Madai Caves lead directly through the tiny village of Gua Madai - a small cluster of homes, their wood bleached grey. The town’s main sources of income are tourism and birds’ nests. The nests are found high up the walls of the cave, tucked away in cracks and crevasses, and can command thousands of dollars. They are harvested about three times a year. My girlfriend mentioned trying "bird's nest soup" whilst I was there. She said normally the bird's nest they use belong to the swallow. It is a delicacy to many Asians, and similar to shark's fin soup - that is if you have tried it. Normally the nests are made out of the birds' saliva. There was so much rain at Silam that HQ was often flooded. Many of the competitors took the opportunity to get some sleep and the slept on whatever they could find. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Silam and Jungle Ops . . . 15. August 2000 10:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsilam and jungle opsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageSilam and Jungle Ops . . .It is so bloody hot in Silam! It must have been at least 40 degrees and 100% humidity! Silam was the overall headquarters, and Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) was referred to as Jungle Ops. Jungle Ops controlled all radio communications and conducted the race through the the jungle. From Kota Kinabalu, we flew to Lahad Datu and drove the rest of the way to Silam. Silam was the site of one of the repeater stations. We had to set up a HQ a few kilometres from this station... heaps of opportunities for a few walks in the jungle. The operation at Silam was huge!... I had never seen such a busy place before. The place was crawling with energy. It was bigger than any military operation I had ever seen! You would be amazed to see the logistics involved in this project ! At the time I did not have the time to take a lot of photos. We had many army trucks transporting the competitors' equipment - very good cooperation from the military. They helped out with the preparation and set-up of HQ, and with the transportation of fuel. This is the headquarters on the left. The whole Ecochallenge race is governed from this office. The map in the background contains the position of all the checkpoints at which the competitors have to go through. Both of the above photos are aerial shots of HQ and were taken from a helicopter. I managed to get a nice aerial shot of Silam HQ. The big white patch in the middle is where the competitors stored all their equipment. Just to the left are the containers from where the race is controlled. The 4 'finger-like' white pads on the right are the heli-pads. The long rectangle to the left is the eating area, and just above it is the hospital. Approaching DVFC in helicopter. This is actually a research centre in the middle of the jungle - commonly known as DVFC (Danum Valley Field Centre). DVFC is not normally accessible the tourists and the general public, only to researchers. DVFC is concerned about contamination into the jungle. Outside Jungle Ops HQ. The green boxes contain bottled drinking water. By the time the race was over, most of this had been consumed - quite amazing really, considering there were really only 10 people at Jungle Ops. During the competitors were not allowed any help from us, and that included the provision of drinking water. Paul with some of the radio equipment at Silam. He is standing next to the HQ matrix, which contained all the communications equipment for headquarters. Paul is also standing next to the only 2 beds in the HQ building. These were used by the radio operators to nap in between shifts. Below, you see me sitting in the catering tent at Silam. I think it must have been a good day, to have been sitting there, smiling... I am just guessing here, because obviously I did not take the photo, and I cannot remerber the place. Bad hair day? I did not have a shower for a very long time, and to hold my hair in place, I adopted various techniques, such as the sunglasses-hairband... This place is a breathing ground for tropical diseases! As you can see, my right eye is really red. I somehow managed to get conjunctivitis and did not know it was contagious. I did not want to trouble the medics as they were pretty tied up with the competitors. When my vision on the left eye was getting blurry and I had problems seeing what was in front of me, I was ordered to get it checked. Just as well I did! In Kota Kinabalu, I had the same problem on the other eye... at one point both my eyes were infected. It started on my left eye on the way to Kota Kinabalu in the plane ! It then spread to my right eye. The nurse at Silam told me that I should be careful because it could re-infect to my left eye. It started to look and feel a lot better after using the eyedrops that they gave me. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Preparations at the Magellan Hotel 15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetpreparations at the magellan hotelShare Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal Blog Portfolio Packages Contact About Home 31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments New Years Eve 2008 31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetnew years eveShare Every year both Kim and I have been in the Sydney harbour area to watch the fireworks on New Years Eve. But this year we decided to have a quiet new years eve just the two of us with a visit to the movies and then a nice dinner at home. We did however watch the fireworks from our balcony at midnight and it looked just as spectacular as previous years (I borrowed the photo above from another site). 27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Smiths Lake Christmas Trip 27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsmiths lake christmas tripShare Between Christmas and New year we drove with Kims family up to Smiths Lake (300km North of Sydney). We rented a house on the lake up there. We hired a tinny (small aluminium boat) a couple of days and went fishing and managed to catch a lot of breams (a lot too small to keep). Kims dad loves fishing and he quickly found out that in the morning and evening the fish were at the shore just outside the house. In the evening we cooked nice dinners and BBQ's and the cookaburras came to the balcony around dinner time to check if there were leftovers. We had a bit of fun with them as you can see. In the evenings we played Blackjack (Kim and I cleaned up) and had nice food and wine. Chong (The husband of Kims sister) showed his more feminine side. The rest of the time we spent at the beach playing in the waves and playing with Kims sisters kids. 25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Day 25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetchristmas dayShare Christmas day was celebrated with Kims family at her sisters house. A lot of people were there and everyone had been asked to bring some food. Kim had cooked Red Duck Curry the day before while I was preparing the Christmas Eve dinner. Again...lots of food, playing table tennis, jumping the trampoline and all the kids got to open their presents. 24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Eve 24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetchristmas eveShare Christmas even was celebrated in the traditional Danish way in the evening of the 24th December. Kim and I had invited some friends over to out new house and prepared the traditional roast duck, ris-a-la-mande and large tiger prawns for entrees. It was a nice evening and we didn't finish until well after midnight and all of us were really full by the time we finished dinner. There was a couple of kid and after dinner they got to open their Christmas presents. 12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kims dads Birthday 12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetkims dads birthdayShareEvery year on Kims dads birthday we celebrate with the family. Every couple brings a couple of dishes of food and we all share it. 18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Diving at Tulamben - Honeymoon in Bali 18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetdiving at tulambenShareOn our honeymoon in Bali I really wanted to do this scuba dive that was recommended to me by my friend Andy. It is this old wreck of a US cargo ship (USS liberty) that was torpedoed by the japanese in 1942 and then beached to save the men and the cargo. The wreck has since slided back into deeper water (during a volcanic eruption in 1962) and it now in 5 to 27 meters of water just off the coast. I did two dives on the wreck while Kim was snorkeling in the surface on top of the wreck and it is without a doubt the most amazing scuba diving experience I've had. The ship is huge and you can swim through the cargo hulls and there is an amazing variety of fish and corals on the wreck. I saw a 1.5 meter barracuda, a 1cm tall seahorse, a garden of eels and a great variety of other fish including a large school of travelly. I had my personal dive master for the day and I got him to take some photos and some video with his camera while we were diving. On the first dive we went all the way around the wreck (max depth 27 meters) and on the second we went through the wreck itself. Kim had a really good experience as well and really enjoyed the 30 degree warm water and managed to get her bum burnt while snorkeling for several hours. I think we'll both go back there if we get the chance. Click here to download video of me feeding fish Click here to download video of me diving 18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bali Honeymoon 18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetbali honeymoonShareOur Honeymoon day after the wedding went to Bali in Indonesia. We did have some hesitation going there considering that the Bali Bombers had been executed the week before and that the Australian government discouraged all travel there. The plane up there (and back) was only 25% full so plenty of space to get a good sleep. We stayed in Nusa Dua Westin....a nice hotel although the rooms are a bit small. On the first day we slept in and later in the day drove to Kuta to have a look around and do some shopping. Later in the evening we went to Jimbaran Bay for dinner. This is a whole beach where all the restaurants have put their tables and chairs out onto the beach itself...very romantic but quite expensive compared to local restaurants. The second day we hired a car to drive us to Ubud in the hills, Monkey Forest and later in the day down to a small place called Tanah Lot. Especially the last one was very nice around sunset and we ended up not getting back to our hotel until 8.30 in the evening much to the dismay of our driver. Dinner took place near the hotel and we found that the value of the food/prices was much better here. A couple of days later we went for another drive (In between we went to Tulamben...see posting below) up to some beautiful lakes and temples up on the north of the island as well as rice paddies and we had a really nice trip despite driving with the most grumpy driver. Time was running out and Kim felt that she hadn't spent enough time shopping so the last two days were spent shopping and sitting at the pool and on the beach. One evening we booked a really nice restaurant called "The Living Room" in Seminyak and I booked the whole outdoor area (cost a fortune) just so that we could have a romantic evening in the garden just the two of us with personal waiting staff. The week was way too short and we never got to do everything we wanted to do so I have a feel we will be coming back in the future. 17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wedding 17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetweddingShareOn Sunday the 16th November 2008 I got married to Kim. It was a fantastic day and thanks to family and friends joining us making this a very memorable day. My day started out (Kims started much earlier) in the morning with my Best Man (Andy) as well as a number of other friends coming over to my house picking up trays, organising ribbons on cars and picking up supplies for the wedding ceremony. Kim had earlier in the morning left the house to go to her dads place to get dressed and have hair and makeup done. Once we got the call saying that she was ready we drove over to her dads place and on the way there we were stopped by the police who insisted on breath testing us...sorry guys you were out too early, we hadn't started drinking yet. At Kims place I had to bribe my way in through the door before they would let me in...all part of the tradition. Once I was let in my friends carried the trays of fruit, wine and noodles upstairs and this was the first time I saw Kim looking absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. We then started the Tea Ceremony where we first had to pay respect to the elders by burning incense and then serve tea to the parents. In return they would then present us with red envelopes containing money and Kim's dad also gave Kim an old bracelet and ring that used to belong to her mum. After the Tea ceremony I drove down to La Perouse where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. We were a bit early so they were still getting ready. The wind was really strong so the garden arch needed wires to stay in place etc. Once all the guests has arrived (around 40-50) Kim arrived in Nancys car with her bridesmaid (Natalie) and the ceremony could begin. Kim and I had decided and written most of the ceremony ourselves and the celebrant presented it beautifully (and very loud). After the ceremony we had some drinks and snacks with out guests and then took pictures for the next couple of hours around La Perouse and Centenial Park. Later in the afternoon we went back to our house to relax and freshen up for an hour until we then went to the Reception. We had invited 80 guests and they all arrived (more or less). People were greated out the front where they were served canabes and drinks and there was a pianist playing a piano. People were then seated and once everyone were at the tables the bridal party was introduced. After the entrees My dad and Andy held their speeches (both very good and unfortunately mostly true) and after the main courses it was the turn of KC and myself. To everyones surprise we had arranged entertainment during the evening in the form of some drummers. Everyone was given a drum and had to participate in the drumming. This also involved us dancing as part of the entertainment. This was eventually followed by us cutting the wedding cake (a tower of cupcakes) a then dance the bridal walz. Kim had changed to a more practical dress for the bridal walz and she looked absolutely stunning in it. Because I'd been sunburnt during the day my face almost matched the dress. 15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Moved into the new house 15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmoved into the new houseShareEnd of October we moved settled and moved into the new house. Not without a bit of of drama as the previous owner wasn't out of the house at settlement...but by the end of the day she was fortunately gone.She was living there with three little boys (terrorists), so there was a number of smaller things that had been neglected and really needed some attention and there were a number of flaws around the place that needed fixing (it seems that the solution to every problem for the previous owners was silicone glue). Most of this is under control now thanks to my dad helping out while here for the wedding (see next posting). Both Kim and I have now moved all our things and I've put kim in charge of selecting what colours she would like the walls to be downstairs before we go out and buy furniture.We also need to get new lights downstairs as the ones there heat up and switch themselves off (cheap crap) so I may just as well do the ceiling now that I am at it. 15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Dad in Sydney 15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy dad in sydneyShareMy dad was in Sydney for our wedding and arrived on the 5th November just in time for us to also celebrate his birthday (We took him to his favourite steak house to get his favourite T-bone steak).It was great to have him here for the wedding as it would have been empty to not have any family members from my side at the wedding. It was also really sad that my mum couldn't come.We had just moved into the house week before so everything was still messy and there was a lot of things that needed fixing on the house. My dad was really helpful helping me out with a lot of the thing I'd never done before such as replacing tiles in the bathroom. He also changed the locks, fixed lights, painted walls, fixed doors, leaking taps etc. It gave us something to do together which was great for bonding. I just wish he'd been there a bit longer...but maybe I can convince him to come back to help me build a pergola.We also managed to do a bit of sightseeing around Sydney and it was great that he got a chance to meet Kims family. The wedding was something different for him and I think that he was pretty frustrated that he didn't know what the asian customs were (not a typical Danish wedding).He did give a really good speech at the wedding and I'm sorry to say that everything he said is true (although not everything was accurate). << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts12...717273747576777879...9394Older posts SearchInclude comments in search Newsletter Get notified when a new post is published. Enter your e-mail Please enter an e-mail address Please enter a valid e-mail Thank you Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal Blog Portfolio Packages Contact About Home 27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Hunter Valley 2010 27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweethunter valley 2010Share This long Anzac weekend we drove up to Hunter Valley with a couple of friends. Meeting up there we planned what wineries we were going to. Sasha had a couple in mind which was perfect as they were some Kim and I had never been been to before. The first place we stopped was Petersons...Joanne wanted to pick up some pink bubbly stuff (pink champagne). They have some wines there without preservatives which are really nice. On the way from one of the other places we drove past a new place called Noonji...sounded japanese and it was a new one, so we had to have a look at what they were doing. They had just opened up for tasting recently and as soon as we walked through the door we could tell that this husband and wife were doing things differently. We were welcomed and were told that this was table tasting, so we all sat down at the table. This was really good since it enabled us to taste five different vintages simultaneously (In other places you taste one vintage at a time). The prices were reasonable and they had a pretty good discount if you bought a case, so Kim and I ended up buying two cases of wine from here. After this we did some more sightseeing and tasting before we drove back to sydney. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station and someone has this cool car parked there. 26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wingello 26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetwingelloShare On Anzac day I went climbing with Andy and Dan at a new place called Wingello that we'd never been to before. Wingello is about two hours south of sydney towards Canberra. It is mostly sports climbing on ring bolts. This means that instead of placing protection you can clip pre-placed bolts. My finger is still injured so I am in reality unable to climb (pst...I did clean a climb on top rope but dont tell anyone). This meant that I spent most of the day belaying the others and taking some photos. On one of the easier scrambles I got to the top so that I could take some photos from the top. It is the first time I have tried to really try and take photos from the top and it was difficult. A lot of the photos were slightly blurred because it was hard to keep the lens steady in the available light when zooming in). Here are some of the photos from this climb that did turn out alright. Also being up high means that I could provide Dan with some instructions cleaning the anchor system. For his first try it wasn't pretty and he got the ropes in a big tangle. Eventually we got it sorted so that he could get down safely....but more practice is needed. After this we went further along the wall to so some easy/moderate climbs (16/17s). One one of the climbs Andy stuck his hand into a hole with a snake skin in it...this is his second snake incident. After this he refused to even get close to the hole (fair enough). He is now on the leader board 2:1...my incident was a brown snake crawling across my feet while belaying him years ago. Dan managed to also lead this climb which he was absolutely stoked about. We finished the climb just before the sun set and we managed to get out before just in time. The climb out was interesting at the easiest route is through this narrow and steep gully with fixed ropes and ladders (The fact that Dan was carrying his makeup bag and a 5 litre bottle of water didn't make it easier). 21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My nephews Porche Carrera GT 21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy nephews porche carrera gtShare Today I borrowed a couple of Toy cars from my nephew Ethan. I had to promise that I'd bring them back tomorrow. I wanted to have a play with using a single bare flash right above the car as a softbox. Because the flash is hanging right above the car just outside view) it has been dialed all the way back to 1/128th power (shooting at f/32, iso 200 @ 1/250) or I'd use detail. On the side just outside view I put a piece of white paper to reflect a little light onto the side of the car. The reflective surface is a glass chopping board from the kitchen. After a while I started also using a flash on the background using different gels. I found that orange and blue gels were the nicest. The Blue as a good contrast to the yello car. With the orange gel I could create a sunset type light by letting the light fall off quickly on the wall. The background if a white wall (except for the textured background which is a black backdrop). None of the photos below have had any photoshopping done to them (otherwise I would have removed those scratches on the windshield). 17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Flash balancing fun 17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetflash balancing exerciseShareKim was kind enough to let me take some photos of her. I have been studying some flash photography videos and articles and wanted to have a play with multiple flashes around dusk. The trick is to balance the ambient light with the light filled from the flash...especially tricky as the light constantly changes during the last 30 minutes of the day.So far I only have two wireless flash triggers to was was somewhat limited (ideally I would like to have three triggers).It was really good to be able to do some experimenting. For these photos I used one flash 45 degrees to the back and another 45 degrees in front. On the back I am using a CTO gel. In the beginning I was using one on the front one as well, but when I got home to look at the photos I could see that it was too warm (Lesson learnt that I should use the warm gels on the back). On the photos here there is no gel on the front flash only on the back.I would have liked to stay just a bit longer to play, but kim was getting a bit cold. With a more time I would have been able to enhance some of the zoom effects as seen in this photo:Definitely a trick I'll be using in the future...makes for some cool effects. At lot of the photos are actually quite nice, but the two above are my preferred ones. 17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Week 31, not long to go 17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetweek 31 not long to goShareIt is now week 31, so only 9-10 weeks until baby is due to arrive.Kim is getting a fair bit bigger and the baby is now very active. So far things looks good although Kim is worried that the boy will be a shortie like mummy. 11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Water fun 11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetwater funShare I read this article about how to take water photos in an easy way. The photos is taken using a bare flash firing onto a white background at 1/8th power. The blue colour is because I (on purpose) changed the white balance of the camera to Tungsten. I only had a shallow painting tray at my disposal. This paint residue in the bottom of the tray creates the pattern in the photo. I also couldn't get a nice formed drop pattern forming due to the drops hitting the bottom of the shallow tray unevenly. Lessons for next time: Use a deeper tray. Make it black so that no other colours penetrate and make dure the water can reach the edge of the tray. Next time I try I will use one of the large scanpans we have...I think it will be better suited. 6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Tasmania - Easter 2010 6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweettasmania easter 2010ShareDuring the Easter Break Kim and I made a trip to Tasmania. This was to be our last holiday together before the baby arrives. Tasmania is an island south of Australia about 1.5 times larger than Denmark. The east coast is lightly populated and the west coast is mainly national parks and forests. We had rented a car to make it easier for us to get around and the first place we headed to was Cradle Mountains national park. This is probably one of the most iconic places in Tasmania and every Australian has seen the pictures of the mountain itself. The drive there was full of contrast. There has always been of criticism of the lumber industries in Tasmania and when you see the methods they use to cut down trees then it is easy to see why. They don't do selective cutting, they instead pretty much bulldoze whole areas which then take many decades to recover. One of the days there we did a number of walks within the park and around the lakes. Kim is 7 months pregnant and did really well although walking a bit slower than normal. We also did some walks to some of the lookouts and waterfalls in the park. I did have some time to experiment with some photos along the way. I really wanted to see some of the wildlife in the park, but unfortunately most of the animals are nocturnal (only out at night). The park had a bus going through the park at night time costing $50 for the two of us. We spoke to the driver and he said that we would not be able to leave the bus at any time. I really wanted to be able to get off the bus at take some wildlife photos so we instead decided to drive our rental car through the park late at night. We wouldn't have the luxury of the nighttime lights and the local knowledge of where to spot certain animals but we thought that the bus would be staying on the same road as we did anyhow. It turned out to be a really good idea. We managed to spot lots of Possums, Wallaby's (a small Kangaroo) and Wombats. We even spotted Quolls and a Tasmanian Devil. May has later told me that the frog in the photo is a 'Southern Brown Tree Frog' and that she keeps one of them as a pet. Below is photos of the animals we spotted: (The closeup photos of the Tasmanian devil and the Quoll I've borrowed, but the rest are my own photos.) After this we drove to Freycinet national park on the east coast. Along the way we stopped at a few scenic spots and wineries. One of the places we stopped was a place called Devils Gullet. It would have been really spectacular had it not been for the dense fog. It was a fairly long drive getting there and I was pretty buggered by the time we arrived to the B&B after driving most of the day with just a few stops on the way to rest and take photos. The sun started to set and I rushed Kim down to the beach in from of the place we were staying to take some portraits using some creative lighting. She wasn't too keen as the wind was a bit cold and we missed the actual sunset by just a couple of minutes. I did however manage to take a couple of photos of her. In the evening we went to a very nice restaurant called 'The edge' very close to the B&B. This turned out to the be highlight in terms of meals during the trip. It was very nice. On the way to the restaurant we spotted a Tasmanian owl and afterwards we did a drive through the national park spotting more Quolls, Possums and Wallabies. The next day we decided to do a number of other walks. The first one of the day included climbing up to the top of this saddle between two mountain tops to get a magnificent view of Wineglass Bay. The climb itself was spectacular in itself as the mountains are formed by this pink coloured granite (I was looking for climbing routes, but most of the granite looked completely barren of any holds...some lunatic would probably come and prove otherwise). Along the trail we we spotted a baby Black snake, a couple of Lizards and birds. We also made a drive up to 'Friendly Beach' where we took a lot of photos. This beach was mostly deserted apart from a couple of walkers and surfers. At sunset we drove to Honeymoon bay to get some scenic shots using the colour of the setting sun against the pink granite as well as some normal sunset photos. In the evening we had a clear sky with lots of stars. Because of the light population of Tasmania there is not a lot of city lights to disturb the stars gazing. It has been years ago since I was able to lie down and just look at the stars to see if I could spot any satellites moving across the sky (this evening I spotted 2). I used the opportunity to after dinner drive back to Honeymoon bay to do some star trail photography. I left Kim in the car as she didn't want to make the walk down to the beach in the dark without a torch. I did take two photos down there using a 30 minute exposure (the maximum my camera allows & @f4.0). They turned out reasonable okay considering what camera they are taken with (Nikon D50). Next day it was back to Sydney. We left Freycinet at 8.30am in the morning and I was stressing that we wouldn't make it back to the airport in time...but we did! 14. March 2010 08:17 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Week 25 14. March 2010 08:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetweek 25ShareIt is now week 25 and almost the third trimester. Kim is certainly getting a lot bigger these days but is still very active with swimming, yoga and walking (According to Kim baby is very active too). Both baby and mum are so far doing fine.They say that most of the growth is in the third trimester...she could be huge! We have finished painting the baby room and we have bought the most essential furniture such as a cot, a chest of drawers, car seats etc. It is now up to Kim to decorate the room so that it looks nice. 13. March 2010 09:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Taste of Sydney 13. March 2010 09:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweettaste of sydneyShareToday Kim and I met up with Sasha and his wife to go to 'Taste of Sydney'. This is an annual event where the premier restaurants of sydney and food and wine producers showcase their food and wine.This year it was held in Centennial park which is the largest park in sydney which is pretty convenient for us.At the event they had what the call 'Chef's table'. This is where you can sit down with the chefs of some of the premier restaurants and they will tell you about their restaurants, their food and you can ask them questions. In the mean time they were serving us seafood, wine and cheese (I discovered a new cheese that I in particular really liked).They also had showcases where some of the chefs from some of sydney best restaurants show you how to cook different dishes. We went to one session where we saw Matt Moran from Aria prepare a lovely cured trout. This was cured like Gravad laks using salt, sugar, coreander and fennel and then cured a secod time using dijon mustard and dill. The different restaurants were also having some of their food for sale. Some of it was quite nice (I had a nice yellowfin tuna), but I don't think it was a proper representation of their food. It is difficult to prepare and cook in large quantities without access to proper kitchen facilities, so most of the food was more fancy fast food. 10. March 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments King Lear 10. March 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetking learShareLast weekend Kim and I went to see King Lear at the Sydney Opera House. Kim had managed to get cheap preview tickets on the third row from the stage which is pretty unheard of.The play wasn't anything fancy in terms of stage production, costumes or anything (Actually some of the actors were wearing fairly modern denim jeans).On the side of the stage they had positioned a drumkit and a girl was banging away all throughout the first half of the performance. I found this very distracting and annoying since I was already trying hard to concentrate on understanding the old Shakespearean English.During the second half they moved the drumkit off the stage, so I must say that I actually started to enjoy the play a lot more.Given that we got pretty cheap tickets I found the evening pretty good value, but I don't think I'd pay full price for this one. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts12...646566676869707172...9394Older posts SearchInclude comments in search Newsletter Get notified when a new post is published. Enter your e-mail Please enter an e-mail address Please enter a valid e-mail Thank you
31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments New Years Eve 2008 31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetnew years eveShare Every year both Kim and I have been in the Sydney harbour area to watch the fireworks on New Years Eve. But this year we decided to have a quiet new years eve just the two of us with a visit to the movies and then a nice dinner at home. We did however watch the fireworks from our balcony at midnight and it looked just as spectacular as previous years (I borrowed the photo above from another site).
27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Smiths Lake Christmas Trip 27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsmiths lake christmas tripShare Between Christmas and New year we drove with Kims family up to Smiths Lake (300km North of Sydney). We rented a house on the lake up there. We hired a tinny (small aluminium boat) a couple of days and went fishing and managed to catch a lot of breams (a lot too small to keep). Kims dad loves fishing and he quickly found out that in the morning and evening the fish were at the shore just outside the house. In the evening we cooked nice dinners and BBQ's and the cookaburras came to the balcony around dinner time to check if there were leftovers. We had a bit of fun with them as you can see. In the evenings we played Blackjack (Kim and I cleaned up) and had nice food and wine. Chong (The husband of Kims sister) showed his more feminine side. The rest of the time we spent at the beach playing in the waves and playing with Kims sisters kids.
25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Day 25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetchristmas dayShare Christmas day was celebrated with Kims family at her sisters house. A lot of people were there and everyone had been asked to bring some food. Kim had cooked Red Duck Curry the day before while I was preparing the Christmas Eve dinner. Again...lots of food, playing table tennis, jumping the trampoline and all the kids got to open their presents.
24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Eve 24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetchristmas eveShare Christmas even was celebrated in the traditional Danish way in the evening of the 24th December. Kim and I had invited some friends over to out new house and prepared the traditional roast duck, ris-a-la-mande and large tiger prawns for entrees. It was a nice evening and we didn't finish until well after midnight and all of us were really full by the time we finished dinner. There was a couple of kid and after dinner they got to open their Christmas presents.
12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kims dads Birthday 12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetkims dads birthdayShareEvery year on Kims dads birthday we celebrate with the family. Every couple brings a couple of dishes of food and we all share it.
18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Diving at Tulamben - Honeymoon in Bali 18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetdiving at tulambenShareOn our honeymoon in Bali I really wanted to do this scuba dive that was recommended to me by my friend Andy. It is this old wreck of a US cargo ship (USS liberty) that was torpedoed by the japanese in 1942 and then beached to save the men and the cargo. The wreck has since slided back into deeper water (during a volcanic eruption in 1962) and it now in 5 to 27 meters of water just off the coast. I did two dives on the wreck while Kim was snorkeling in the surface on top of the wreck and it is without a doubt the most amazing scuba diving experience I've had. The ship is huge and you can swim through the cargo hulls and there is an amazing variety of fish and corals on the wreck. I saw a 1.5 meter barracuda, a 1cm tall seahorse, a garden of eels and a great variety of other fish including a large school of travelly. I had my personal dive master for the day and I got him to take some photos and some video with his camera while we were diving. On the first dive we went all the way around the wreck (max depth 27 meters) and on the second we went through the wreck itself. Kim had a really good experience as well and really enjoyed the 30 degree warm water and managed to get her bum burnt while snorkeling for several hours. I think we'll both go back there if we get the chance. Click here to download video of me feeding fish Click here to download video of me diving
18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bali Honeymoon 18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetbali honeymoonShareOur Honeymoon day after the wedding went to Bali in Indonesia. We did have some hesitation going there considering that the Bali Bombers had been executed the week before and that the Australian government discouraged all travel there. The plane up there (and back) was only 25% full so plenty of space to get a good sleep. We stayed in Nusa Dua Westin....a nice hotel although the rooms are a bit small. On the first day we slept in and later in the day drove to Kuta to have a look around and do some shopping. Later in the evening we went to Jimbaran Bay for dinner. This is a whole beach where all the restaurants have put their tables and chairs out onto the beach itself...very romantic but quite expensive compared to local restaurants. The second day we hired a car to drive us to Ubud in the hills, Monkey Forest and later in the day down to a small place called Tanah Lot. Especially the last one was very nice around sunset and we ended up not getting back to our hotel until 8.30 in the evening much to the dismay of our driver. Dinner took place near the hotel and we found that the value of the food/prices was much better here. A couple of days later we went for another drive (In between we went to Tulamben...see posting below) up to some beautiful lakes and temples up on the north of the island as well as rice paddies and we had a really nice trip despite driving with the most grumpy driver. Time was running out and Kim felt that she hadn't spent enough time shopping so the last two days were spent shopping and sitting at the pool and on the beach. One evening we booked a really nice restaurant called "The Living Room" in Seminyak and I booked the whole outdoor area (cost a fortune) just so that we could have a romantic evening in the garden just the two of us with personal waiting staff. The week was way too short and we never got to do everything we wanted to do so I have a feel we will be coming back in the future.
17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wedding 17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetweddingShareOn Sunday the 16th November 2008 I got married to Kim. It was a fantastic day and thanks to family and friends joining us making this a very memorable day. My day started out (Kims started much earlier) in the morning with my Best Man (Andy) as well as a number of other friends coming over to my house picking up trays, organising ribbons on cars and picking up supplies for the wedding ceremony. Kim had earlier in the morning left the house to go to her dads place to get dressed and have hair and makeup done. Once we got the call saying that she was ready we drove over to her dads place and on the way there we were stopped by the police who insisted on breath testing us...sorry guys you were out too early, we hadn't started drinking yet. At Kims place I had to bribe my way in through the door before they would let me in...all part of the tradition. Once I was let in my friends carried the trays of fruit, wine and noodles upstairs and this was the first time I saw Kim looking absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. We then started the Tea Ceremony where we first had to pay respect to the elders by burning incense and then serve tea to the parents. In return they would then present us with red envelopes containing money and Kim's dad also gave Kim an old bracelet and ring that used to belong to her mum. After the Tea ceremony I drove down to La Perouse where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. We were a bit early so they were still getting ready. The wind was really strong so the garden arch needed wires to stay in place etc. Once all the guests has arrived (around 40-50) Kim arrived in Nancys car with her bridesmaid (Natalie) and the ceremony could begin. Kim and I had decided and written most of the ceremony ourselves and the celebrant presented it beautifully (and very loud). After the ceremony we had some drinks and snacks with out guests and then took pictures for the next couple of hours around La Perouse and Centenial Park. Later in the afternoon we went back to our house to relax and freshen up for an hour until we then went to the Reception. We had invited 80 guests and they all arrived (more or less). People were greated out the front where they were served canabes and drinks and there was a pianist playing a piano. People were then seated and once everyone were at the tables the bridal party was introduced. After the entrees My dad and Andy held their speeches (both very good and unfortunately mostly true) and after the main courses it was the turn of KC and myself. To everyones surprise we had arranged entertainment during the evening in the form of some drummers. Everyone was given a drum and had to participate in the drumming. This also involved us dancing as part of the entertainment. This was eventually followed by us cutting the wedding cake (a tower of cupcakes) a then dance the bridal walz. Kim had changed to a more practical dress for the bridal walz and she looked absolutely stunning in it. Because I'd been sunburnt during the day my face almost matched the dress.
15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Moved into the new house 15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmoved into the new houseShareEnd of October we moved settled and moved into the new house. Not without a bit of of drama as the previous owner wasn't out of the house at settlement...but by the end of the day she was fortunately gone.She was living there with three little boys (terrorists), so there was a number of smaller things that had been neglected and really needed some attention and there were a number of flaws around the place that needed fixing (it seems that the solution to every problem for the previous owners was silicone glue). Most of this is under control now thanks to my dad helping out while here for the wedding (see next posting). Both Kim and I have now moved all our things and I've put kim in charge of selecting what colours she would like the walls to be downstairs before we go out and buy furniture.We also need to get new lights downstairs as the ones there heat up and switch themselves off (cheap crap) so I may just as well do the ceiling now that I am at it.
15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Dad in Sydney 15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy dad in sydneyShareMy dad was in Sydney for our wedding and arrived on the 5th November just in time for us to also celebrate his birthday (We took him to his favourite steak house to get his favourite T-bone steak).It was great to have him here for the wedding as it would have been empty to not have any family members from my side at the wedding. It was also really sad that my mum couldn't come.We had just moved into the house week before so everything was still messy and there was a lot of things that needed fixing on the house. My dad was really helpful helping me out with a lot of the thing I'd never done before such as replacing tiles in the bathroom. He also changed the locks, fixed lights, painted walls, fixed doors, leaking taps etc. It gave us something to do together which was great for bonding. I just wish he'd been there a bit longer...but maybe I can convince him to come back to help me build a pergola.We also managed to do a bit of sightseeing around Sydney and it was great that he got a chance to meet Kims family. The wedding was something different for him and I think that he was pretty frustrated that he didn't know what the asian customs were (not a typical Danish wedding).He did give a really good speech at the wedding and I'm sorry to say that everything he said is true (although not everything was accurate).
27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Hunter Valley 2010 27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweethunter valley 2010Share This long Anzac weekend we drove up to Hunter Valley with a couple of friends. Meeting up there we planned what wineries we were going to. Sasha had a couple in mind which was perfect as they were some Kim and I had never been been to before. The first place we stopped was Petersons...Joanne wanted to pick up some pink bubbly stuff (pink champagne). They have some wines there without preservatives which are really nice. On the way from one of the other places we drove past a new place called Noonji...sounded japanese and it was a new one, so we had to have a look at what they were doing. They had just opened up for tasting recently and as soon as we walked through the door we could tell that this husband and wife were doing things differently. We were welcomed and were told that this was table tasting, so we all sat down at the table. This was really good since it enabled us to taste five different vintages simultaneously (In other places you taste one vintage at a time). The prices were reasonable and they had a pretty good discount if you bought a case, so Kim and I ended up buying two cases of wine from here. After this we did some more sightseeing and tasting before we drove back to sydney. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station and someone has this cool car parked there.
26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wingello 26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetwingelloShare On Anzac day I went climbing with Andy and Dan at a new place called Wingello that we'd never been to before. Wingello is about two hours south of sydney towards Canberra. It is mostly sports climbing on ring bolts. This means that instead of placing protection you can clip pre-placed bolts. My finger is still injured so I am in reality unable to climb (pst...I did clean a climb on top rope but dont tell anyone). This meant that I spent most of the day belaying the others and taking some photos. On one of the easier scrambles I got to the top so that I could take some photos from the top. It is the first time I have tried to really try and take photos from the top and it was difficult. A lot of the photos were slightly blurred because it was hard to keep the lens steady in the available light when zooming in). Here are some of the photos from this climb that did turn out alright. Also being up high means that I could provide Dan with some instructions cleaning the anchor system. For his first try it wasn't pretty and he got the ropes in a big tangle. Eventually we got it sorted so that he could get down safely....but more practice is needed. After this we went further along the wall to so some easy/moderate climbs (16/17s). One one of the climbs Andy stuck his hand into a hole with a snake skin in it...this is his second snake incident. After this he refused to even get close to the hole (fair enough). He is now on the leader board 2:1...my incident was a brown snake crawling across my feet while belaying him years ago. Dan managed to also lead this climb which he was absolutely stoked about. We finished the climb just before the sun set and we managed to get out before just in time. The climb out was interesting at the easiest route is through this narrow and steep gully with fixed ropes and ladders (The fact that Dan was carrying his makeup bag and a 5 litre bottle of water didn't make it easier).
21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My nephews Porche Carrera GT 21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy nephews porche carrera gtShare Today I borrowed a couple of Toy cars from my nephew Ethan. I had to promise that I'd bring them back tomorrow. I wanted to have a play with using a single bare flash right above the car as a softbox. Because the flash is hanging right above the car just outside view) it has been dialed all the way back to 1/128th power (shooting at f/32, iso 200 @ 1/250) or I'd use detail. On the side just outside view I put a piece of white paper to reflect a little light onto the side of the car. The reflective surface is a glass chopping board from the kitchen. After a while I started also using a flash on the background using different gels. I found that orange and blue gels were the nicest. The Blue as a good contrast to the yello car. With the orange gel I could create a sunset type light by letting the light fall off quickly on the wall. The background if a white wall (except for the textured background which is a black backdrop). None of the photos below have had any photoshopping done to them (otherwise I would have removed those scratches on the windshield).
17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Flash balancing fun 17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetflash balancing exerciseShareKim was kind enough to let me take some photos of her. I have been studying some flash photography videos and articles and wanted to have a play with multiple flashes around dusk. The trick is to balance the ambient light with the light filled from the flash...especially tricky as the light constantly changes during the last 30 minutes of the day.So far I only have two wireless flash triggers to was was somewhat limited (ideally I would like to have three triggers).It was really good to be able to do some experimenting. For these photos I used one flash 45 degrees to the back and another 45 degrees in front. On the back I am using a CTO gel. In the beginning I was using one on the front one as well, but when I got home to look at the photos I could see that it was too warm (Lesson learnt that I should use the warm gels on the back). On the photos here there is no gel on the front flash only on the back.I would have liked to stay just a bit longer to play, but kim was getting a bit cold. With a more time I would have been able to enhance some of the zoom effects as seen in this photo:Definitely a trick I'll be using in the future...makes for some cool effects. At lot of the photos are actually quite nice, but the two above are my preferred ones.
17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Week 31, not long to go 17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetweek 31 not long to goShareIt is now week 31, so only 9-10 weeks until baby is due to arrive.Kim is getting a fair bit bigger and the baby is now very active. So far things looks good although Kim is worried that the boy will be a shortie like mummy.
11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Water fun 11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetwater funShare I read this article about how to take water photos in an easy way. The photos is taken using a bare flash firing onto a white background at 1/8th power. The blue colour is because I (on purpose) changed the white balance of the camera to Tungsten. I only had a shallow painting tray at my disposal. This paint residue in the bottom of the tray creates the pattern in the photo. I also couldn't get a nice formed drop pattern forming due to the drops hitting the bottom of the shallow tray unevenly. Lessons for next time: Use a deeper tray. Make it black so that no other colours penetrate and make dure the water can reach the edge of the tray. Next time I try I will use one of the large scanpans we have...I think it will be better suited.
6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Tasmania - Easter 2010 6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweettasmania easter 2010ShareDuring the Easter Break Kim and I made a trip to Tasmania. This was to be our last holiday together before the baby arrives. Tasmania is an island south of Australia about 1.5 times larger than Denmark. The east coast is lightly populated and the west coast is mainly national parks and forests. We had rented a car to make it easier for us to get around and the first place we headed to was Cradle Mountains national park. This is probably one of the most iconic places in Tasmania and every Australian has seen the pictures of the mountain itself. The drive there was full of contrast. There has always been of criticism of the lumber industries in Tasmania and when you see the methods they use to cut down trees then it is easy to see why. They don't do selective cutting, they instead pretty much bulldoze whole areas which then take many decades to recover. One of the days there we did a number of walks within the park and around the lakes. Kim is 7 months pregnant and did really well although walking a bit slower than normal. We also did some walks to some of the lookouts and waterfalls in the park. I did have some time to experiment with some photos along the way. I really wanted to see some of the wildlife in the park, but unfortunately most of the animals are nocturnal (only out at night). The park had a bus going through the park at night time costing $50 for the two of us. We spoke to the driver and he said that we would not be able to leave the bus at any time. I really wanted to be able to get off the bus at take some wildlife photos so we instead decided to drive our rental car through the park late at night. We wouldn't have the luxury of the nighttime lights and the local knowledge of where to spot certain animals but we thought that the bus would be staying on the same road as we did anyhow. It turned out to be a really good idea. We managed to spot lots of Possums, Wallaby's (a small Kangaroo) and Wombats. We even spotted Quolls and a Tasmanian Devil. May has later told me that the frog in the photo is a 'Southern Brown Tree Frog' and that she keeps one of them as a pet. Below is photos of the animals we spotted: (The closeup photos of the Tasmanian devil and the Quoll I've borrowed, but the rest are my own photos.) After this we drove to Freycinet national park on the east coast. Along the way we stopped at a few scenic spots and wineries. One of the places we stopped was a place called Devils Gullet. It would have been really spectacular had it not been for the dense fog. It was a fairly long drive getting there and I was pretty buggered by the time we arrived to the B&B after driving most of the day with just a few stops on the way to rest and take photos. The sun started to set and I rushed Kim down to the beach in from of the place we were staying to take some portraits using some creative lighting. She wasn't too keen as the wind was a bit cold and we missed the actual sunset by just a couple of minutes. I did however manage to take a couple of photos of her. In the evening we went to a very nice restaurant called 'The edge' very close to the B&B. This turned out to the be highlight in terms of meals during the trip. It was very nice. On the way to the restaurant we spotted a Tasmanian owl and afterwards we did a drive through the national park spotting more Quolls, Possums and Wallabies. The next day we decided to do a number of other walks. The first one of the day included climbing up to the top of this saddle between two mountain tops to get a magnificent view of Wineglass Bay. The climb itself was spectacular in itself as the mountains are formed by this pink coloured granite (I was looking for climbing routes, but most of the granite looked completely barren of any holds...some lunatic would probably come and prove otherwise). Along the trail we we spotted a baby Black snake, a couple of Lizards and birds. We also made a drive up to 'Friendly Beach' where we took a lot of photos. This beach was mostly deserted apart from a couple of walkers and surfers. At sunset we drove to Honeymoon bay to get some scenic shots using the colour of the setting sun against the pink granite as well as some normal sunset photos. In the evening we had a clear sky with lots of stars. Because of the light population of Tasmania there is not a lot of city lights to disturb the stars gazing. It has been years ago since I was able to lie down and just look at the stars to see if I could spot any satellites moving across the sky (this evening I spotted 2). I used the opportunity to after dinner drive back to Honeymoon bay to do some star trail photography. I left Kim in the car as she didn't want to make the walk down to the beach in the dark without a torch. I did take two photos down there using a 30 minute exposure (the maximum my camera allows & @f4.0). They turned out reasonable okay considering what camera they are taken with (Nikon D50). Next day it was back to Sydney. We left Freycinet at 8.30am in the morning and I was stressing that we wouldn't make it back to the airport in time...but we did!
14. March 2010 08:17 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Week 25 14. March 2010 08:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetweek 25ShareIt is now week 25 and almost the third trimester. Kim is certainly getting a lot bigger these days but is still very active with swimming, yoga and walking (According to Kim baby is very active too). Both baby and mum are so far doing fine.They say that most of the growth is in the third trimester...she could be huge! We have finished painting the baby room and we have bought the most essential furniture such as a cot, a chest of drawers, car seats etc. It is now up to Kim to decorate the room so that it looks nice.
13. March 2010 09:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Taste of Sydney 13. March 2010 09:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweettaste of sydneyShareToday Kim and I met up with Sasha and his wife to go to 'Taste of Sydney'. This is an annual event where the premier restaurants of sydney and food and wine producers showcase their food and wine.This year it was held in Centennial park which is the largest park in sydney which is pretty convenient for us.At the event they had what the call 'Chef's table'. This is where you can sit down with the chefs of some of the premier restaurants and they will tell you about their restaurants, their food and you can ask them questions. In the mean time they were serving us seafood, wine and cheese (I discovered a new cheese that I in particular really liked).They also had showcases where some of the chefs from some of sydney best restaurants show you how to cook different dishes. We went to one session where we saw Matt Moran from Aria prepare a lovely cured trout. This was cured like Gravad laks using salt, sugar, coreander and fennel and then cured a secod time using dijon mustard and dill. The different restaurants were also having some of their food for sale. Some of it was quite nice (I had a nice yellowfin tuna), but I don't think it was a proper representation of their food. It is difficult to prepare and cook in large quantities without access to proper kitchen facilities, so most of the food was more fancy fast food.
10. March 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments King Lear 10. March 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetking learShareLast weekend Kim and I went to see King Lear at the Sydney Opera House. Kim had managed to get cheap preview tickets on the third row from the stage which is pretty unheard of.The play wasn't anything fancy in terms of stage production, costumes or anything (Actually some of the actors were wearing fairly modern denim jeans).On the side of the stage they had positioned a drumkit and a girl was banging away all throughout the first half of the performance. I found this very distracting and annoying since I was already trying hard to concentrate on understanding the old Shakespearean English.During the second half they moved the drumkit off the stage, so I must say that I actually started to enjoy the play a lot more.Given that we got pretty cheap tickets I found the evening pretty good value, but I don't think I'd pay full price for this one.