mini-artasmic

I just had to share this with someone... this is an image you may recognise from a post back in January, printed onto a wooden block. Love it! Beautifully printed and really well finished, they come in a variety of formats and sizes, great for hanging on the wall (premade holes in the back for hooks or nails) or for desks, shelves etc etc....

It's so awesomely satisfying seeing my work in print! Watch this space; Sophie's coming to market!

18th February...moody....

This morning Matt and I went for a pre-work coffee on Blues Point Road in North Sydney.. t'was lovely!  This was just a quick couple of shots taken on the way to work, nothing like some oppressive cloud cover to start a Friday!

Going to the St George Open Air Cinema at Lady Macquaries Chair tonight to see Paul, so look out for the flip side shots next week!

Warrior Dash Glenworth Valley 12th February

Last weekend was messy in an unusual way...myself, Matt and Remi (fellow Redballoon-er) found our inner Warriors at the Warrior Dash in Glenworth Valley. A run that is a touch over 5km around the valley basin, with a couple of Army-Challenge style obstacles along the way and a lot of mud thrown in for good measure. There were prizes for the best costume, which some people took it more seriously than others, as you can see...



Ummm



Yes, I think it's a little inappropriate
and yes, I can see your *cough*



 The course had been trapped by several hundred people before our wave was released, so the swamps of mud were ridiulous by the time we got there... luckily we got one good piece of advice from a fellow Warrior the night before; tie your laces up REALLY tight!

The course comprisesd of rope nets, river crossings, mud pools and ditches, old cars and fire jumping... by the end of it and by the end of it, you looked like this:

  

By the time we finished wading through waist deep mud it was pretty cold and miserable, so we joined our fellow Warriors in the river for a quick wash, knocked back a free beer and headed home to a long hot shower. 

 

Happy Hens!

 

Communal Bathing



What I thought was a great touch was the shoe donation at the end. I certainly wasn't planning on taking mine home in that state!

 So come on guys, Get Your Warrior On!

Travelicious

For no other reason than I felt like a trip down memory lane...they brought a smile to my face on a rainy Tuesday.



San Gimignano - the doorway to my heart.



Firenze Duomo

Mucking about with long exposures out of our hostel window.
Best accomodation ever looking straight out onto the Duomo.
Yes, we'd been drinking.

On the boat off to Capri looking back at Amalfi. Not too shabby.

Capri. Look down onto my private boat. Honest.



Cook Island Renos



Freshuary

I put deep heat on my legs before I started writing this so my concentration and creativity has just flown out of the window and been replaced with an overwhelming hot & cold tingly sensation all the way from my hips to my toes.

That was a silly idea.

So how is everyone? I'm enjoying this cooler weather, seriously last week was just ridiculous...water was pretty nice though. After yoga on Saturday morning I had to revive myself at Curly...very pleasant temperature, could have stayed in a lot longer but sadly I had to go and get drunk in the Rocks with some of my favourite ladies. (Please note two things; One: Scientifically, the level of drunkeness is directly proportional to heat in Sydney on Saturday afternoon. Very hot, ergo, trying to convince Silver Service Taxi driver that taking us through the MacDonald's Drive in at Brookvale was safe for his leather seats, even when my esteemed colleague dropped all the burgers on the ground as the drive through lady hadned them over. Two: I didn't have MacDonalds.)

Le artist

Watcha paintin'?

The a photographic front, I'm gutted, I got a call about a three day event to go and shoot but I can't do it because I'll be locked away in an Ashram somewhere up north on a Yoga Retreat as part of my Teacher Training. Dagnamit.  Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

 

In other news, my legs still feel weird.

  

Just in case you hadn't noticed throughout this narration, these are pictures from Freshie. I love the rock on the headland...great place to watch the sunrise, makes you feel really out in the open.

The headland is nice and flat there as well, so I'm planning to start my yoga classes there. Outdoor Yoga - I'll get into the science another time, but it'll be awesome and it's bloody good for ya.

Alrighty-roo as you aussies say, that's enough from me today. Enjoy. Oh, and I'll give a prize to the first person that actually gets out of bed to come and see me one morning. Look out on Facebook for locations or email me....

Feburary 3rd...silver lining

This morning was supposed to be my guilt-free lay in after yoga last night, but as Matt was getting ready for boot camp I just had a feeling that there was something worth getting up for....boy was I right!

This is in no way meant to be a flippant or disrespectful about the current situation in QLD, but Cyclone Yasi can't be all bad if he/she sends clouds my way that produce colours like this.

Awesomeness.

To be completely honest I may have gone a little nuts with the taking of the photographs this morning, and then couldn't decide which ones I like best, so there are plenty more...here. I am aware that this is overkill and probably detracts from the overall effect (affect?! someone help...) but in the 4 months I've been doing this, I haven't had many mornings like this. So sue me. Actually, don't.

Here's a couple more random shots from this morning, just to add a social nature to the post.

Unimpressed.

This is a couple of the Boot Camp brigade, some of you may recognise the one in blue. Points will be awarded for suggestions on what the Asian lady is thinking. She doesn't do boot camp.  

Bobby's on the beat. Kinda.

  

Enjoying a morning swim?



More lost and found



Mirror

Stroll





'Stralia Day... DY

I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me what the Australia Day tradition is, aside from having the day off to go to the beach and drink copious amounts in dangerously high heat.

For those of you who didn't witness the crazy, random sea mist that completely swamped the coastline in the morning, here are a few shots....

Always ready



Washed up

 

Dee Why Panoramic

I'm also experimenting with square format and a few frame techniques in preparation for taking the plunge in to the commercial world of selling my images...comments welcome.
 

January 23rd ...Luca, Matteo and Sofia's Christening

As I mentioned last week, I shot Rosemarie & Andre's beautiful children being christened last weekend at St Mary's Church, Concord. All three of them were ridiculously photogenic, everyone was so lovely and I'm absolutley thrilled with the results.

Here are a couple of my favourites, but click here to see more online...

                           

Curl Curl...Curly Run Swim Chat Shoot

Rock Pool Headland Cloud

I’ve very pleased with myself for making the trek down to Curly on Friday to explore the strange new land of South Curl Curl beach at dawn. Actually, it’s neither strange nor new as the trek is about 3 kilometres and my winter runs take me past at dawn frequently. Anyway, major brownie points go to…absolutely no one, you’re all very lazy and none of you came to see me. (Half a brownie point goes to Heidi for almost coming down, well done…kind of.)

Ken's Bike

The most exciting thing about this shoot on Friday morning was using the new camera. Abusive cries of “Geek!” go unheard fellow blogites. This piece of equipment is the coolest thing I have ever owned, so I stand proudly and declare, “I love The D7000”.

How hot was this weekend?! I got to enjoy some of it, but I seemed to spend a lot of time doing stupid things like learning to do a backward bend until my foot touches my the back of my head. Why you ask… just because. In case you were wondering, I can do that now.

Fools Gold

I also had another photo shoot on Saturday, this time for the new yoga instructors and therapists at the Bikram Studio at Brookvale. I think I got some pretty good results, and with the help of Paul, the Studio manager there, we did a pretty good job of getting the ‘real essence’ out of everyone. There are a couple that I’m really please with, being Burnie’s and Phee’s, which I will post in a few days when I’ve edited them.

Boxing Tony

The best part of this getting up at dawn thing is the random people you meet. Tony was stood by the pool practicing his boxing skills, don’t get in his way, he floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee! I also met a friend of his, Ken…to be honest, I think he was drunk. He was Irish, so he probably was.

Lost

This morning I did Boot Camp with Matt and a few other early morning reprobates and there was a small Asian lady on the boardwalk near us who was feeding the sea gulls bread. Every time we would run past the birds would flap about a bit in a temporary panic as birds do and the woman would shout at us “Horrible Lady! There are people trying to eat here!” and other slightly psychotic, warped things of that nature.

Swoop

Now I don’t mean to be judgemental or cinical at 6.30 in the morning, but come on!! One; they are sea gulls. Two; feeding them bread is socially irresponsible and bad for their health. Three; they are sea gulls. Four; I think she should seek professional help. I should clear my conscience by admitting that we may have provoked the situation slightly by purposely running through the birds and shouting as we innocently jogged past. I’m on the express train to hell, first class.

Just for the record, no, the bird isn't fake.