Hawke's Bay. It's promised to be about 26 degrees today and you can't build a snowman in that weather.

Just this minute taken delivery of my new camera, I can't wait to unpack it and give it a spin.

Post edited 5:31 pm – 7th December 10 by annmarie

Love the photos 'ME'. The sea looks so inviting. Was the photo of the flower taken with your new camera? Is the flower an Allium or Hyacinth? It's very pretty.

Here are my photos for today. We went for a walk along our local canal. Much of the canal was frozen, and the ice looked very thick. You would not want to walk on it, even though the ducks were. It's been even colder today – it hasn't risen above freezing – but I have to say I love it. I don't know if I would enjoy Christmas if it was not cold and preferably snowing.

No the new camera hasn't got a memory card as yet, I am going out shortly to get one.

This is the nearest I get to snow, this is a typical winter's day and the snow is on the ranges behind Hawkes Bay. This picture was tyaken from the middle of Havelock North, and As you can see we don't do winters, they have no appeal.

Ann Marie, Today I bought two memory cards so this afternoon i was able to go outside for a play. This is a couple of shots I took in the garden, the clarity of the colours are unbelievable. The second picture is a panorama sweep shot, the camera stitched several pictures together. I have needed to shrink it to get it on this site, this is a feature I am looking forward to using when I go to Australia in early March.

Ann Marie, we have an apartment in the same design, built on to the rear of the house. The 'L' plate is for my youngest grandson who is learning to drive, the car is my daughters. The plastic fencing is to keep her two Labradors off newly sewn grass seed. The pool is lovely, currently sitting on 18 degrees, my daughter uses this to exercise her legs on most days.

The camera is the latest release from Sony, it's an NEX 5 D. The camera comes with a pancake lens, used for those two pictures, and a telephoto lens. The Sony memory cards are extra (and expensive) plus I have purchased a spare battery, which is a must. I believe in the UK this model, which isn't yet on general release (it's only available through a Sony shop) retails with the extras at about eight hundred pounds. Believe me it's worth every cent.

Well your camera sound like a really great bit of kit. I have to say I don't want to spend that much. I'm looking at the Canon EOS 450D Digital SLR Camera. It was £769.99 but it's come down in price and now is only £479.99. I don't really want to spend over £500. I know you get what you pay for but I think the Canon will do all I want it to do.

I love the photo of the bee and the Hebe. I think it's very apt. Aren't the bees that collect the pollen males, so you get a he bee? You definitely passed your challenge.

Post edited 8:53 am – 11th December 10 by Me.

The Sony NEX range is an entirely new concept in photography and it is certainly very rewarding for an enthusiast. This has all the ease of use of a point and shoot camera, with the ability to change lenses as with an SLR. On top of that (if that isn't enough) it has the ability to shoot movies at blue ray standard also movies in 3D, if you have a suitable television.

The camera has several very useful features such as the sweep panorama as shown above, and if wishing to take a picture in a dark area it will shoot six pictures in one second, then merge them together to form a single shot. Another mode allows the camera to shoot three pictures all with different aperture settings, this will catch the dark, the bright and the mid range colours and again merge them into one. The results are stunning.

Not sure if hobby is the right word, I would say 'interest'. I visit some wonderful places in my travels and I love to take pictures of gardens, animals, birds and insects. My main hobbies are fishing, golf, gardening, raising cold water fish, and looking after my wife … when she will let me. When I return to Australia in March 2011, I will hopefully capture some pictures worth putting on here.

Until I bought this new model I used a Canon SX 200 IS, a beautiful little camera, I also have a Sony Cyber Shot I keep permanently in the car so I can take the occasional opportunistic shot when it just happens along.

We have a really weird and sunderful sunset this evening, almost frightening, just taken this picture.

I really love the sound of you new camera 'ME'. But I do think for me I would never use some of the facilities like making movies. I'm not into moving things. But I can see it could be great fun. I have to say your sunset is amazing. It's like the sky is on fire. I have to say the 6 shot and 3 shot and merging sound very interesting. I will have to do some more thinking before I get my new camera. The one thing I do know is that I don't want to make films.

I once held great hopes for making home movies, especially as i lived in the countryside with many beautiful happenings to record. Taking the movies was not a problem, however, the software to remove unwanted scenes and then joining all the shots together was a pain in the sit-upon. I sold the camera a year later and also made a substantial loss.

Ann Marie, if you are interested in the camera, then have a look at the Sony NEX 3, this has all the features I have mentioned but with lesser features regarding movie making. I like the interchangeable lenses and I have a fish-eye lens on my wish list, now this could be fun.

I like the 'Trademe' site. Sadly, it's the same with everything you buy today. Once you walk out of the shop, the value goes down.

I was hoping to get my new camera before the VAT goes up in January but I think I will leave it until the new year now and I will just have to swallow the VAT increase. I like the sound of the fish-eye lens. I think you could have a lot of fun with it.

Gosh this photo is even better than the last one. I can't get over the colours. Amazing!