one person's craziness is another persons reality: tim burton

model: alexandra bromley
hair and make up: lisa boswell

moon flare and birthday cake

I haven't done a diary type post for a while so if you're interested in the life of an english twenty something living in sydney then read on.

The last couple of months have been quite stressful, and crazy busy and as a result have completely flown by.  D (on the right, above) and I have been going backwards and forwards and backwards again trying to get d sponsored so meanwhile I've been studying away to keep us in Australia. I'm still working as a photographers assistant but it's pretty sporadic, and trying to fit it around college is pretty tricky so I've had to pick up more consistent work and am now working part time in the photography department of a retail store.  It's tough.  Going from a job earning loads of money to not having much at all is a hard transition to make but it will be worth it in the end and I'm glad I've experienced high paid work early on as it made me realise how much more important it is to chase something that you love for work.

Last weekend was my birthday and it was beautiful.  A good friend of mine was lucky enough to grow up in the basin, on the northern beaches of sydney.  Our birthdays are a few days apart so to celebrate a group of amazing people spent the weekend camping there.  We spent the day kayaking around the lagoon, climbing the waterfall as high as we could go, feeding the wild wallabies and eating lots of chocolate birthday cake followed by drinks and drinking games around the fire pit. Amazing, and a well needed break.  It made me miss travelling but we vowed to do a trip like this once a month to see more of Australia and generally spend more time enjoying life.  These are some long exposures I took around the fire pit - love the moon flare.

fairytale forest

Some of you may have already seen these photos from my Facebook page but I completely forgot to put them up here so here they are. This is Sabrina from Elite models, a fairy tale themed shoot I did one or two months back in centennial park, sydney.  Make up by Bekka Handley.

Thank you for all the lovely comments you've been leaving me and to those who have already voted for my photo, for those that haven't, I have entered a competition and really need public votes to get through to the finals.  Only the top five highest ranked photographs get through and I'm currently in the top eight.  So please please vote, all you have to do is click here and then click 'like' under the photo next to my name.  I need about 140 more votes in the next 3 days so if everyone who read this over the weekend voted I would make it.   Thank you all in advance!

midnight sun

model: alexandra bromley
make up: lisa boswell

so many photos still to come from the shoot with alex and lisa almost two saturdays ago, what a great poser she was.  i'm going through a black and white phase and am tempted to convert them all but i suppose a splash of colour's nice too - which do you prefer?

i'm also prepping for tomorrow which is a big day, it's my first time shooting a wedding and i'm super excited - maybe a little nervous... so here's hoping the rain in sydney will stop for the photos but umbrellas are on the ready just incase, wish me luck.

sneak peak...

model: alexandra bromley
make up artist: lisa boswell

i love tim burton movies and had wanted to do a tim burton inspired shoot for a while so when alex asked me to take photographs for her portfolio i suggested we base the shoot upon this theme.  this is the first photo from the series taken the saturday before last but i'm still trying to catch up with all the editing after a busy assessment week at college.  alex was an amazing model, she's also a dancer so she was very aware of her body and the shapes she was creating.  she really could pose beautifully.  the location is angel place, right in the city centre, it was unbelievable.  birdcages were strung across, hanging between the buildings, i'm sure you'll know the place if you passed by but it is quite hidden considering it's in the very centre of sydney.  it was part of an art project which they decided to keep and there were also speakers projecting bird tweets to set the scene.  i did struggle a bit though, since the birdcages were hung so high i found i had to shoot upwards to get the cages in shot and there were also tourists, construction workers and later security guards to battle with too.

last shoot out photos

you can see everyone else's photos from the shootout now, click here to see julia's blog and also the links to check out everyone else's photographs.  it's amazing how we were all photographing the same model but the style of photography is so completely different.

also please don't forget to vote if you haven't already, i need to get to 350 likes every vote counts:
http://www.pedestrian.tv/ray-ban-photography-awards/vote/social/2149

thanks to those of you who have already voted, i really appreciate it :)

free curves for a little support

remember these photos?  well i've entered them into a photography competition put on by ray ban and  could really do with your help.  they've both past the first round and now the second round is public vote.  i have to be in the top 5 of public choice in each category to get in the final round (so far it's in the top 12) all i need is for you to click 'like' under my photo on this link ***here***.  if you feel really committed to the cause please feel free to vote for the second photo here too and as a thank you for liking my photos just leave your email or private message me on my Facebook page and i'll send you two of my favourite curves that i made to use with photoshop.  this would really really help me it's awesome exposure.  thanking you so much in advance...

shoot out photos

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more photos from the shootout with julia trotti, modelled by ayesha jane.  i cannot believe two weeks have passed by already!  i still have so much to edit, including a tim burton inspired shoot from last weekend which i can't wait to start. the workload with college has gone up 'heaps' as the the ozzies would say and i've also started a part time job last week because i haven't found assisting work to be very consistent. can't complain though, it's nice to be so busy...

first shoot out photos

first photos from the shoot on saturday but oh how i wish i had more time to edit photos theres's just so much assessment stuff for college right now and work in between..
model: ayesha jaye.
make up artist: ally cussell
shoot organiser: julia trotti
clothes: suzi rose

shoot out day

this saturday just past i had the wonderful opportunity of attending a shoot out day that the very talented Julia Trotti had organised.  there were ten of us photographing one model, Ayesha Jaye who was made up by make up artist, Ally Cussell and wearing the beautiful designs of Suzi Rose.  through the heat and the sunburn we got some great photos and it was amazing to meet so many photographers, can't wait to see everyone's photographic interpretation.  for now here's some behind the scenes shots, finished photos to come soon...

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.
Albert Einstein

not all those who wander are lost

the path through the trees

 model: cassie l prats
 location: bicentennial park, sydney

nothing worth anything comes easy

first flight

the greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. michelangelo.

model: bekka handley

you make my dopamine levels go all silly.

model: d