Life is Funny...

A funny nice thing has happened to me in the last few weeks. You may remember that I put it out in the world that I was not going to try and make a business out of my photography....it is all about me blah blah blah. 

I have since been contacted to do family photos on the beach - a friend of a friend of a friend saw my photos of the dancers at the beach and wanted photos of her family at the same location. I had to quickly come up with a price for my services because she insisted on paying.

Then I got a random call from a lady asking if I can take photos of a painting she want to sell. I will doing this work this week. She also wants a printed copy of the photo.

Finally one of my boys (casual labor hire) has asked me to shoot his wedding in February. I said I would do it for petrol money....but no they want to pay me a fair price.....

I am saving all the money I get from my photography....it is going towards my UK trip (or another lens)

These images are a few from the family at the beach. 

I am meeting some wonderful people along the way. I love what I do

Family visits

I had 2 days full of family this week and surprisingly I enjoyed all of it.
My niece turned 16 and celebrated with a high tea at home, I doubt I would have gone if she had wanted to have it a fancy restaurant or cafe. I am not a fan of stuffing myself on cake and tiny sandwiches and calling it afternoon tea and I certainly can't justify spent $50.00 to do so (this is an average price at the better quality restaurants) .
My sister spent days baking and making...she loves to cook so this was not a chore, little cakes, sausage rolls, mini quiche, scones (these were awesome), finger sandwiches and of course the birthday cake.
After cake and tea, we headed to the beach for fish and chips with surrogate family so they could say goodbye to #2 daughter before her overseas adventure.

Canberra Cousin and her family are holidaying on the Gold Coast for a week, with not a lot of time and a busy schedule full of theme parks and beach days. It was decided the best time for me to visit was the day they arrived, it is a 2 hour each way drive for me so I went early to spend some time taking photos. I lived on the Gold Coast for 5 years before marriage (I usually describe my time on the coast as my misspent youth...I did meet HWMBO then so it wasn't all bad). Obviously it has changed so much since I lived there, I have visited a few times but rarely to I have wander time. I had never been to the very end of the spit, this is where I headed with my camera. I want to go back...I didn't have enough time. I walked out on a rock pier and looked back towards surfers paradise. I think the photo show how beautiful it was. I would like to go back and walk all the pier (although I am not sure I can, as it is used for sand dredging).

it was a lovely afternoon with CC and her family, the boys are both delightful but very strong will and mischievous. I was keen to get photos of them on the beach in the afternoon light, they wanted to go the to pool. As it is often very cold in Canberra there is not much pool weather. We worked a bit of a compromise, pool  - beach - pool - dinner. I got photos I wanted and the boys got what they wanted.

After a dinner of pizza and pasta, Master 4 year old announced that he was tired and going to bed and so was his Brother 8 year old. Mum and Dad looked at each other with surprise and said 'goodnight'. Apparently bed time is known as struggle time. The boys went to bed and were asleep within 1/2 hour. I hope they make this a habit. CC is 5 months pregnant and could do with less stress (baby is due on my birthday and her fathers, my beloved Uncle - I was born on his 21st birthday so we have a special bond)

Website is coming along nicely, I hope to be finished in a few weeks. Isn't it funny how things start to flow once you start....one day I will master the art of starting. 

I have a paying photography gig this weekend and the good thing about it is I am working at the same time - I think this is called double jobbing. UQ Book Fair have hired me to do professional photos for marketing. YEAH ME, I am planning my website while I am doing the business one. It is hard for me not to do mine first because it is more fun for me. Photos of Book Fair next week.

Riverfire and family gatherings

Saturday night #2 &#3 and I braved the crowds to go to our first ever Riverfire  fireworks night. If you believe the TV reports so did 500,000 other people. I almost believe, I don't think I have seen that many people in one spot EVER.

LG (Lighting Guy) was the one who suggested we meet up and take some more photos (after the success of the laser night)...he stood us up, something about a better offer with less people.

We got to Southbank about 5pm ***three hours too late to get a good spot*** the black hawk helicopters where hovering either side of Victoria Bridge this looked like a good place to be. We pushed our way through the crowd managing to get a space for one person on the rail of the bridge looking directly at the lighting barge. As soon as the Black Hawks left so did half the people -I could have told them there was no room at southbank....I didn't I set up my tripod and spread out in my prime position. 

We waited two hours for 20mins of fireworks... was it worth it? Hell yes. I got some great photos, the music was loud, the crowd was in awe. Will I do it again? Maybe not. 

Southbank before the show

It took an hour to get back to the car, basically we just moved with the flow of the people until we got to the train station, where we were crammed in like sardines. I am sure this was quicker than if we had parked closed to the city... 



Daughter # 1 asked me to take her and BF to the airport early this morning, meaning a sleep over last night. Sister wanted to come and meet Lilly (my baby Golden Retriever), other family friends wanted to catch up before school started back. So we had 17 people for a BBQ yesterday. 

It was a spontaneous get together that turned into a great night.  I often find the less notice you give people when planning a night out or get together, the best chance you have of getting them to attend - no time to think of a reason not to if you already commit. No time for a better offer to come up. ***Don't get me wrong I am a big planner and would prefer everything organised weeks in advance, I have come to an understanding of how social events work after a few fails*** 

Lots of food was cooked and consumed, I was pretty spot on with my salads this time, only had a small amount of lettuce and stuff left. 

I am not really feeling chatty now so I will come back tomorrow with photos of a beautiful 3 year old who helped me with my spaghetti challenge photos.

Oh I have to pick the challenge for the Flickr group winners challenge this month.
I have an idea, I doubt I will be able to get an entry in as it is not my thing. A lot of the other members will like it and it is a good chance for me to get out and experiment

Natural light/sun flare. (I was going to do night photography, decided not to as this is a favorite of mine and everyone knows it)

Till tomorrow Bye