Category: Personal
Summer
Christmas Breakfast Buddies
Merry Christmas from me, them and a cafe in Carlton North…
This is what happens when you tell your friends to look at you like they love you…
This is what they look like when they look at the people they really DO love!
my fifteen minutes
So a few of you have asked me about my recent foray into the world of International Ukulele Stardom. So here it is (apologies for those of you who have been bombarded with this already).
I really wanted to learn the ukulele and there’s nothing like a public challenge to get the job done. My colleagues at Igloo (eskimos) challenged me to learn a song in a week and they wanted to publish the results for the world to see. I had four evenings to go from zero to hero. Who would have thought learning 3 chords would be so hard? Somehow I managed to pull it off. When I had to prove I had learnt a whole song, I was overwhelmed to find that an entire backing band had been assembled to support me.
It was amazing. I felt like such a rock star and all warm and fuzzy. So here it is (you may recognise the studio from previous shots)
You can check out the behind the scenes shots and the back story on the gloo.
Might as well JUMP!
so we’d finished a fun shoot in a nice hotel room, what else was a girl to do?
Beach Loving Byron
Hey kids! So you will have noticed I’ve been on holidays recently in Queensland and Byron Bay. While I was in Byron it took a lot of energy to tear myself away from the beach, my book (Lady Chatterly’s Lover – oh er!) and drinking pear cider, but I did. For one afternoon only. And all I managed was to take some photos!
But before you hate me, I’ve developed an awesome case of man flu since I’ve been back which I’m SURE makes up for the relaxing times while I was away. The beach was quite amazing in Byron, with a deep area of compact wet shiny sand before the rolling waves. This patch was as smooth as glass and made beautiful reflections, so much so that I have turned the top picture upside down (see the tiny people in the bottom left corner?). I really wanted to play with the pictures and the reflections but was on my own. I’ll go back though – I’ll let you all know when I need models.
Anyhoo, I’ve been trying out some things with Facebook this evening and need to test them out so here are some shots from Byron Bay for you to look at while I do some techy like things in the background. Enjoy.
Sam and the baby (Utz)
While I was in Brisbane for the AIPP HOTD Conference I stayed with good friends of mine Sam & Stu. I’ve known Stu since we were uni students with notions of being famous rock stars (anyone heard of the band Willy and the Vas Deferens? Nah, didn’t think so). And I’ve known Sam since Stu brought her to the UK a few years ago. They’re a firecracker combo, possibly the chirpiest people I’ve ever met. EVER. These kids are made of sunshine and double rainbows. That’s right DOUBLE RAINBOWS.
We stayed in an awesome holiday village as their house was damaged in the recent floods. They were lucky enough to move all of their belongings out before it hit (they packed their entire house in 15 hours folks – and Sam is HEAVILY pregnant, how amazing is that?). Despite their recent upheaval and heartache, they greeted me with open arms, smiles that blind you with their radiance, and welcomed me into their home/holiday village. I soon realised that while I know them both, I didn’t know their story.
“Stu, how did you meet Sam?” I asked. ”At a conference” was his reply.
“Reeeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyyyyyyy?” I was about to go to a conference…..but thats another story.
I had an ace, but brief time with Sam and Stu, suggested a few names for their first child (Utz is my suggestion, not sure they’ll go for it, perhaps it will have to be the working title of the pregnancy?) and shot these images of Sam while I was there.
Brisneyland and other fun things
Brisneyland!
(Well, the Gold Coast in these pictures.) I’ve just returned from an incredible break in Queensland. I’ve seen the bright lights and sunny beaches of the Gold Coast, snuck over the border to New South Wales for a bit of beach loving in Byron Bay then back to Brisbane for the AIPP’s Hair of the Dog conference.
The conference has set my normally buzzing head spinning anew with ideas, inspiration and massive respect for a bunch of talented people I met (I may have dribbled on a couple of photographers).
Now to wash some clothes, buy some food for the house and generally get myself together again (do I have to? I want to take pictures!).
Inspiration
I found one of those cards in the post yesterday that says “please come and collect a package…” which always gets me a little excited, I LOVE snail mail. A. Lot.
When I was about 11 a dear friend of mine moved to another state and so began a long and creative pen pal friendship. We would decorate and colour in envelopes (to an extreme that only an 11 year old can do), paint the outside of parcel boxes and generally just post each other little rays of sunshine. And we kept it going for years.
As a result I still love to decorate snail mail and to receive a special package, well, that’s better than Christmas. So, when I went to the post office today to pick up what I thought might have been some mundane online shopping, I was surprised when I received this little beauty. Upon opening the standard brown cardboard box, I was met with this:
It was a package from my friend and talented motion graphics maker Matt. Hurrah! Look at all the little characters that had been charged with the delivery of my present. How very very cool. You can see some more of Matt’s work here. (and if you are in the position to do so, you should commission him).
When I got to the present itself… hooly dooly! An Oliver Jeffers book (I am a little bit in love with his work), and it was signed. To ME.
Matt you are truly awesome. Thank you so much. I’ll have to think of an equally awesome present to surprise you with. Oh, and I still have all of those letters from my friend. They are beautiful.
Christmas in the Country
Mum and I had a quiet Christmas this year, staying in a holiday house in Gellibrand. Having grown up in Western Australia where the only wildlife that can take the heat is a kangaroo and the odd shark, I was pretty excited to see these furry bundles just snoozing, unperturbed by the gawking humans, within arms reach. They all seemed to hang out near the Cape Otway Light Station, I guess they like lighthouses (“you don’t like lighthouses – you suck” Drinking out of cups – You Tube it!).
On my list to Santa next year. A Koala.
Walking Home
So, I try to walk as much as possible, and when the golden hour is upon us and the sun is shining, I practically skip home. Today, I had my camera and the world just seemed rosy.