Cockatoo Overload

Taking the ferry from Manly into Circular Quay is not only one of the quickest ways to get there by public transport, but also an absolutely gorgeous ride.  Going through the harbor on a sunny day is beautifully picturesque, and definitely worthy of a photo or two.  There was a slight problem when I looked down at my camera to try and escape the obnoxiously loud and awkwardly publicly affectionate german speaking couple next to me... I forgot a memory card in my camera!  Sweet!  It killed me to have to buy yet another one (I already 28 gigs worth of memory cards) which was extremely overpriced and such a limited selection, but I needed it at the time :(  After trekking up and down quite a few blocks in search of a memory card, I made my way to Sydney's Botanical Gardens, passing through the Opera House along the way.  Last time I was here, it was just as beautiful.  I was with my friend Jeff and we were basically attacked by cockatoo's, so when I didn't see any at first I was a bit upset.  That was until a scraggly dude came over with a backpack full of peanuts and they FLOCKED to him, sometimes having 6 or 7 big birds sitting all over him.  The cockatoo's can be a little agressive as I found out, when taking photos of them as they were charging at me and jumping at my lens!  So I snagged some photos of that, some other tourists feeding them with the dude's peanuts, and headed into North Sydney to meet up with Mads for some errands.  I've been going out with my camera and just one lens lately, instead of bringing multiple ones to cover different types of shots.  I feel it makes you a better photographer and forces you to become more creative with limited equipment for a certain shot.  Today I brought my favorite lens, the 85mm f/1.4.  Best part of the day, about 50 tandori flavored chicken wings I cooked for dinner :) Mmmmm.

a little edit to the opera house's amazing architecture

a lorikeet in the Botanical Gardens eating some lunch.  these guys are SO LOUD and seem to harmonize outside my house every day an hour before sunset for feeding.

one of the many cockatoo's i photographed

and i'm just a bit obsessed with the background of this one.  my 85mm lens wide open makes some smooth silky circles for a killer backdrop :)