Tuesday 18 January 2011

Woo Hoo Hoo!! and Our Northern Travels {Photo Post - Zambia}



Great news woke me today.  I received an e mail from a publisher wanting to publish something I submitted a while back.  I have only ever submitted a few times & not been successful.  So today is an awesome day for me!  I will only be able to tell you what it is & where to find it in JULY - I know, isn't that awful???  To have to hold on to such wonderful news for so long - but there you have it - very good news for me! 

I feel like I'm riding on Cloud 9 - even the constant loss of internet signal today (for some reason-  that better be resolved soon please dear internet provider company!) cannot wipe the smile of my face ;-D  

Thank you to all my Facebook well-wishers - you girls clearly know what a huge rush it is to have some serious acknowledgement come your way.

***Photo-post below - Zambia - more photos to scrap - starting today! ***

I am well & truly sick of these photos already!   I have edited them down from 861 to 145 of the best & most relevant - all enhanced if required.  Fortunately my photography skills have obviously improved as there seems to be less & less need for any major editing but I do like to fiddle a bit with the saturation as I prefer a less garish look. 

I need to find a Photoshop action for this to save me repeating the same steps over & over.  {suggestions welcome!}
We stayed in the terracotta building attached to the church (the Sunday school & "cry" room), just across the lawn from the main house (white).  See the little buck that came right up to the security fencing at the end of the lawn?  Too sweet...
I needed to zoom in a little for these whilst on a drive to the "next door" neighbours - but they were literally 5 - 10 metres away from the car.
I love this pic of the zebras' rear-ends!  I have one of their fronts but didn't want to post every shot here.
Yes it really was THAT green - no colour-popping added I promise!
And the skies really were this BLUE - even without a filter on my lens! 
We took a trip into "town" about an hour away - but apart from a clinic, fuel station & general dealer any purchases are made there at the market, from vendors selling out of shacks.  The first sign of semi-civilisation is in the nation's capital, Lusaka, a 4 hour car journey away!
We stopped in at the local clinic {which has a few overnight beds & even an ICU}.  Just click on the images if you'd like to see more detail - like the free condoms - unfortunately HIV/AIDS is still rampant in these parts.
This poor man got very excited when we slowed down to photograph the charcoal the local people use to cook with - he thought I was buying a bag but was happy to "smile" & say "newspaper?!" when he saw my big camera resting on the window edge ;-D
She busied herself smothering Nutkin the cat...
and insisted I take a million photographs to prove it!
She reconnected with her youngest cousin, even though she hasn't seen her in half a decade.
The boys did "boy stuff" like swimming in the dam {and the neighbours pool}and...
Catching fish!  He was actually pretty horrified truth be told...
She "learnt to drive" - on a long, straight farm road - well, she learnt how to sit & hold the steering wheel with her foot on the accelerator...
She loved having 6 other people to play "30 Seconds!" with & we loved learning such a fun new board game.
He got to really "chill" {thanks to his phone not receiving e mails whilst we were there!}
And enjoyed some down time with his sis.
I got some time to click, click, click...
And have had a bit of fun editing since my return...
But most importantly we got to see them, the reason we went, and we enjoyed leisurely meals, baked home-made bread & actually got into the habit of going to bed just a wee bit earlier!!!

13 comments:

Nadia Cannizzo said...

wow! gorgeous photos. What an amazing time it sounds like. Cannot wait to see how you scrap these. :o)

Stefanie said...

Congrats!
July is 1/2 year to wait.
Great shots.
Love the green colour and life you captured.

Bente Fagerberg said...

Gorgeous photos Helen.
So excited to hear what news you have...But July...,-Seriously...!
I might have some very good news to tell myself soon. ....To be continued at the beginning of February!!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Seeing these photos is a great reminder of the great things we have here in Africa. The wildlife lovely, warm, long days. Stunning photos Helen.

Hayley said...

Oh wow...I have being dying to go to Zambia. I actually would love to visit most of the Southern African countries. I am so jealous!

Those pics of the greenery and the sky...amazing!

Africa is truly a beautiful continent!

Vicki said...

What an interesting variety of photos. Wish we had wildlife like that at our roadsides - even if it is zebra backsides. LOL. Congrats on your exciting news - very happy for you

Diana said...

Wonderful photos.
That photo of your little girl looks professional. That one is for blowing up and framing.
As for actions -- I cannot live without Pioneer Woman's free actions. I use "lovely" on almost every single photo, and the black & white is perfect.
I've been promising myself a set of Maggie Holmes' colour mix actions for a while now, and I will soon buy them ("buy" is the reason I haven't gotten them yet--don't want to spend the $$!)

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

First of all, congrats on your great achievement!
Next, thanks for sharing your lovely journal together with great pictures, I can see more gorgeous photos coming this way, thanks for sharing your beautiful work!

topkatnz said...

Congrats again on your exciting news:)

tania said...

Congrats on your wonderful news!!
Those sky photo is my favorite!!Absolutely STUNNING!!!
Your girls are beautiful and photos of the boys so precious:)
thanks for sharing so much of your african experience:)

Jessy Christopher said...

Congrats on your wonderful news and I can't wait for July!! So happy for you mate! Wowz on the photos, they are so beautifully taken!! You surely snapped alot of photos... totally understand sitting down to go through the pics! LOL! have a good week :)

Marilyn said...

Hi Helen!! Congratulation on the great news!!!
Oh my! Your photos are GREAT!!! I love the one with the zebras, the clouds, your girl is beautiful! I loved to know more about your country,
Thanks for sharing!! HUGS!!!

Sophia said...

Congrats on your news. Great photos, you really captured some great pics of Zambia...