first attempt at making a gif, consists of 9 photographs taken on an unsteady tripod in the rain and animated in photoshop.

every passing minute is a chance to turn it all around:  vanilla sky

self less

palm beach

last weekend d and i went for a day trip to palm beach.  if you're british and recognise this beach you'll also know it as summer bay, from home and away.  last picture is end of the day back on the rooftops where we live for now in bondi.

it's been a month since we arrived.  we're still in sponsorship process, had a couple of offers and know the immigration website by heart almost so baby steps and we'll be there.

meanwhile since i can't work i've been committing myself to my photography.  initially i started this blog to get back into photography and start using it as a way to make a living.  tough career choice, it's all about 'not what you know but who you know' in this industry.  so extra tough since we moved here not knowing anyone.  the last few weeks i've spent researching photographers i enjoy, buying magazines, and cold calling the photographers or agencies.  very frustrating, most people don't want to know but it has been worth the 30 odd calls for the 1 helpful response.

i've joined model mayhem - a website which links photographers, models, make-up artists, stylists and designers etc.  and hope to be doing some test shoots in the near future to add photographs to my portfolio.   and led to the opportunity of helping out with a polaroid shoot for russh magazine's website.

through cold calling i met a very helpful and talented photographer for morning tea in bondi, who i hope to assist in the future.

i've also been entering more competitions such as photoartgallery i have 2 photos on page 114, 1 photo on page 118 and 1 photo on page 126-please vote if you get a minute!

and have been trying to improve my portfolio with the help of this very interesting blog belonging to julia trotti.  a process which has been taking a lot longer than i thought but i do have time on my side.  next job is to figure out a hosting site.  where i can just drop my photos in such as www.carbonmade.com or www.viewbook.com and pay a monthly fee or figuring out how to make one entirely myself using kompoZer which is a free equivalent of dreamweaver but a bit more complex.  please don't hesitate with any advice you may have..

multiplicity

venturing outside on the grassy area at bondi beach i decided to experiment with multiplicity within a self portrait.  multiplicity is pretty self explanatory - it is used to describe a picture when the subject or object in the photograph is multiplied.  This photograph consists of 3 different images, two images had a slow shutter of 1/10th of a second to show movement.  I layered the images in photoshop and deleted parts of the image so that all three figures would show through.  something to try if you have a few hours spare for photoshop - it's quite time consuming.

self-portrait/adding a watermark to your photo

you may have noticed i've started adding watermarks to my photographs.  unfortunately i have found some of my pictures in some unwanted places without any recognition of the author.  i don't mind people using my photographs as long as they link it back to my site or add my name but it is also nice to be asked.

well, rant over, if you want to add a watermark and copyright information to your photos, then i suggest you use this link.  it was one of the most simple and effective ways to watermark in photoshop that i found.

back to my photo, this is (another) self portrait.  as i haven't long moved to bondi i am quite short of models.  therefore i am exploring the world of self portraiture.  this will be the first winter for me in 4 years.  some of you may argue that a winter in sydney isn't quite winter but i can assure you it's getting quite cold though at least its not wet too...

dear australia

dear australia,

please let me in.  i promise not to go on welfare, or become a nuisance, and will work hard and contribute to society.  so please stop changing your migration laws and making it so difficult for me to live here.  i really don't want to live regionally right now, i want to take pictures.  let me stay in sydney.

louise