Come Fly With Me

It was a cold, cold August day on Saturday & one that was better suited to more sedentary indoor activities. However, we were minding our grand-daughter Heidi & so, given that she is a 'speed freak', it was off to Fighter World, located at the Williamtown RAAF Base. Newcastle Airport is also co-located with the RAAF Base & so there is also a high level of commercial activity. One real big bonus is Fighter World is located within the boundary of the airport & has an excellent observation deck just a couple of hundred metres from the main runway & while we were there, we were lucky enough to observe a Virgin Blue 737 - 8BK (VH - VOB 'Matilda Blue') coming into land.

Heidi had such a ball, sitting in the cockpits pretending to fly & playing with the old radar panels. Once again I was thankful that my low light photography is now at an acceptable level & I'm not reliant on the flash to get great indoor shots (although I am still saving up for a proper hotshoe flash ... anyone got a spare $600!)

After a couple of hours wandering around the displays & watching the activity around Newcastle Airport, we decided to head to Stockton, to catch the ferry across to Newcastle & walk down to Nobby's Beach. Once again Newcastle Harbour provided a stunning backdrop to my photographs as I chased Heidi up & down The Foreshore. When we got to the beach, I experimented with taking 'portrait' shots from different angles , instead of the usual 'stand up & stare' shot. Out of all the shots I took, I just fell in love with the one below. Just a tip for photographers, always be alert, kids, sand & DSLR camera's, are not a real good combination.