Learning to look up

I’m on a pathway of learning to love what I am, what I have and who I am.

It’s not that I won’t be trying to improve, but I’ve come to realise that I waste a great deal of energy lamenting what is NOT present in my life, my body and my immediate world.

Of course this is destructive, wasteful and poor management of energy, among other things!

So it is a year of moving forward, perhaps not without fear, but THROUGH fear. Yes, I do that every year. I guess I want to leap a little further, a little higher, be airborne a little longer.

Perhaps I have already learnt to trust myself more and that it’s ok to spread my wings further without knowing what will happen.

What will happen is life – as always – abundant with the full spectrum of emotions and experiences.

I’m a private person and sometimes that prevents me from exposing myself as utterly as art does. It also leaves me feeling as though I have nothing to “say”.

So rather than concerning myself too much with that, I will just BE.

So here is me, trying something new, learning to look up at the abundant sky – simultaneously reminding me how minuscule and integral I am.

I hope you enjoy…

 

 

 

 

‘Whatever You Do, Don’t panic!’

You may remember a dancer I photographed in an earlier blog, Rain Francis.

She has her own dance company Rain and Lucky Dance Theatre. They recently performed at the Short and Sweet Festival in Melbourne.

I was delighted to be asked to take some photos at one of their rehearsals and see the work come together in it’s final stages.

Rain’s dancers, Erynne, Jessica and Hanna worked hard  – and some of these stills capture the incredible work that happens in SECONDS,  in a dance piece.

All the talent and hard yakka that went into this piece, is evident in it’s powerful result. It was inspiring to be present for this convergence of experience with expression.

And the audience must have agreed, as Rain and Lucky Dance Theatre won the People’s Choice Award. Congratulations!!

Here’s a glimpse into a choreographer’s work of art, with the help of 3 dancers.

And if you missed it, you still have a chance to see it at the Variety Gala on Dec 9th! Book now!

Spring has sprung!

 

After more than a year in my new home, my garden is still giving me great surprises with what comes up in each new season.

It’s hard not to get out the macro lens and show my appreciation, so I have done it again, focussing this time on a gorgeous purple bulb that seemed to shoot up out of nowhere!

It reminds me to keep on keeping on, as you never know what is around the corner. So here is a little visual thank you to the universe that is my garden, doing it’s own amazing thing.

And may we all continue to do our own amazing thing, even if it takes getting through those winters to rise up and greet the sunshine with everything we have to offer.

And we all DO have something to offer!

 

 

 

 

 

Desert skin

 

 

A little less on the leaping side of life…..   this series is an ode to the less joyous mysteries of life.

For when your body feels alien to you, when pain sends you into another reality and even your own skin feels stained and repulsive.

For when you feel old, dry and lifeless.

May you find hydration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Leaping for life

It’s a new series about LEAPING FOR LIFE!

It’s about the joy, the hard work, the play and the fun of being a dancer.

And who better to give you a taste test, than dancer/performer Danica Lani.

She can outlast a room full of bouncing children leaping off tables and dancing the night away. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

She’s a life coach too, so she can guide you in how to get more out of YOU!

So step forward into this lively world with me, it will become an exhibition of shots you have not seen yet!!

Love life.

Interviewed by Abc Open, Alison Shirley

Things are quite exciting right now.

Just a few months ago I took a big leap, in moving from Melbourne city where there is plenty to inspire and encourage creativity, and the place is really well KNOWN to me, to going rural.

I moved to Ballarat, despite the warnings!… All that means is that I am renowned for being a summer girl and B’rat is known for it’s harsh winters. Ouch!

Ballarat is also a beautiful town, proud of it’s gold rush history and abundant in inspiring landscape and architecture.

Since being here, I have been able to focus more on my creativity and making a mission of allowing myself to PLAY.

A short time ago I was contacted by ABC Open producer, Marc Eiden, who said he’d been enjoying reading my blog.

That in itself was a great affirmation, but he also mentioned wanting to interview me about shooting macro and writing blogs, in order to inform and inspire others with their macro photography.

Well I certainly hope it does exactly that! Inspiring others to move forward and get their creative buzz going is one of my favourite things!

Doing your own creative or artistic thing, is often a world of unrecognised hard work and dedication, but a wonderful teacher of mine always said, “You must do what you love and the rest will come.”

If I ever doubted her, I consider this experience with Marc at the Abc as a reminder to have more faith. And to just keep doing what you love!!

I have also entered the Up Close competition, which you will find at the ABC Open site, so perhaps some of you out there also have something you want to put forward….. Go for it!

The secret look of plants from ABC Open Ballarat on Vimeo.

For when life Succs

I know, it’s Christmas season.
A time renowned for joy, celebration and reunion.

But in looking more closely (with my macro lens) at a beautiful plant that I received as a gift recently, my thoughts go to those people I love whose Christmases are tarnished by deep sorrow and longing, reflection and agonising grief.

Hence it’s the succulent that grabs me. It has a remarkable ability to withstand “unfavourable” circumstances.
It remains plump and full of water, while temperatures soar internally.
Remarkably, it creates it’s own humidity with a waxy, hairy or spiny outer surface that reduces the air movement near it’s surface.

So if you don’t appear like others this Christmas, if you need to retain water or become more spiky on the surface, or create your own micro-habitat to survive, I’m thinking of you.

And I am wholeheartedly grateful for all that I have not lost.

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Rain and Shine

Recently I attended a Choreographic workshop at Chunky Move studios.

There I met a dancer by the name of Rain Francis.

I had an idea for a portrait and after seeing Rain perform in Melenie Crowe’s ‘Duality’, it seemed that she might be just the right person for the shoot.

So as dark as they are, it was Rain’s shine that inspired these images.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

What’s new is old

I’m in a new town

In actual fact, it’s really an old town, with a colourful history – only new to me.

What I notice and admire in a new town, is old things.

Many times in the man made and in the natural world, I admire age.

Age, ageing, aged.

It occurs to me as it often does, that we as humans too often don’t allow ourselves a similar kind of admiration.

So this series is in appreciation of age and it’s beauty.

It’s colour, vibrancy, complexity and detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Cooking up a good story”

My dad chuckled as he told me I was “Cooking up a good story”, his dad-joke being a pun on the fate of my relative, the Reverend Thomas Baker. I believe that he was my maternal Grandfather’s Uncle.

He became known as “Boots”, because that is all that was left of him after a tribe in Fiji made a meal of him, in 1867!

In other news, my great great grandmother, who was the lady of the house and eloped to Australia with the butler, was given a recipe book by her aunt, dated 1858.

Can you see how these stories might inspire some integration?

To add a little of the modern touch, x-ray images of my own and my family’s body parts make a ghostly appearance.

So far they are looking a little like this….

So, we shall see where this project goes, but we do know how the story ends.

Again the body and it’s amazing myriad of experiences and sensations is my ultimate inspiration for my photographic artwork.

More later…