I unfortunately had not really picked up a camera and take photos for much of 2025, despite me wanting to escape from the daily grind and do what I really enjoy. Thankfully I did find the time to do just that in early August.

I've always wanted to photograph the Californian Redwoods in East Warburton ever since I saw an Instagram post about it after the COVID lockdowns. I'm a sucker for symmetry in nature, having been to the Valley of Liquid Amber some years back with my wife and kids to take photos of the kidlets throwing golden autumn leaves in the air. And so I made a plan to drive early one Sunday August morning, to try and catch the sunrise and golden light beamng through the colossal redwood trees.

Many moons ago I had bought a Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6 lens brand new with some Christmas and birthday money, hoping that I could use the lens to dabble in some wildlife and bird photography. After purchasing a tough hard plastic protective case and some insulating foam cut out in the shape of the lens, I stowed this monster of a lens away, ready to be taken out the next time I go birding.

About 3 years go by however, and I haven't really used the lens. I occasionally got it out of storage and played around with it, checking that it still works fine and that there's no mould on the glass. But taking a proper photo with it was something that I hadn't gotten around to doing – until recently.

I couldn't help but choose this wonderful photo that I took of a peacock on full display, with its plumage extended and filling the frame of the shot, as the first photo to place on my new blog, Haritography.com!

Back in January 2020, we were driving towards Philip Island for our summer family vacation, when we decided to stop by at the Maru Koala and Animal Park, in Grantville, VIC. It's a lovely family-oriented animal park, and the kids loved interacting with animals such as wallabies and the llamas, even if they didn't want anything to do with you – one actually spat in our faces. After touring the park, listening to the zookeepers educate us all on the daily habits of the koala and having a bite to eat, we decided to get back on the road again to reach our holiday destination.