This Thursday

As I gulped down the first of my anti-malarial tablets this morning it all became 10 times more real and I figured now was the time to share the news I've been dying to tell.

Do you remember in my post about George and Crystal how I shared about my desire to go back to Papua New Guinea one day? Back to a place that holds a special place in my memories. No. Back to a place that holds a special place in my heart. 

Well as it turns out I'm heading back. Much sooner than I ever would have anticipated. In fact I leave this Thursday! That's right in two short days *insert excited squeal here* I'll be heading back to the international airport to jump on a plane bound for PNG.

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More specifically I'll be heading to Mougulu in the Western Province. This is where my grandparents have worked and lived (off and on) for... well... as long as I've known them - plus a whole lot longer. They have built an airstrip, a school, a hospital, translated the Bible into the native language and a whole lot more. To think about everything they have accomplished is mind boggling to say the least. Pretty amazing people hey?

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For me Mougulu is... the words escape me currently. Hopefully I'll find them while I'm away so I can accurately convey all that it was, all that it is to me. Suffice to say it's a place of memories (both good and not so great) and a place of much significance and history - not only for me but for a lot of people.

This all has really only come together since I've been back from New Zealand and to be honest my brain has taken a little bit to catch up. I keep walking around (and now packing my bag) in a bit of an excited daze with my brain on a constant loop of "I'm going to PNG. I'm going to PNG! I'M GOING TO PNG!!!!" To say my excitement level is sky-high is a complete understatement.

I'm so excited about everything about this trip not the least of which is the amazing photographic opportunities. My camera and my favorite lenses will be making the trip with me for sure. As if there was ever a question. There is such phenomenal beauty up there I simply cannot wait to capture as much of it as I can. So you can bet when I get back there will be a few posts about my time away. 

I'm so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to go back to such an important place. Again words fail me when I try to express how grateful I am. Just to say my excitement levels are matched only by the level of my appreciation for the chance to go back.

So for two weeks starting this Thursday my Twitter shall fall silent, my Instagram will not be updated, my emails will go unanswered and Facebook will never know what's on my mind. As a pretty avid social media sharer it will certainly be strange to go silent for two weeks but the experience will be more than worth it. So I hope you can bare with me and stick with me through the two weeks radio silence... I look forward to telling you all about it when I return.

Until my next post I hope this finds you safe and happy.

Last Thursday

So... Words and pictures, right? That's the goal. Let's see how it goes...

In case you didn't know I'm quite the music fan. My little music mix CD (yes CD... you do remember those?) keeps me company whenever I hop in my car and my mobile phone handily doubles as my personal music player. 

And while I like and appreciate a wide variety of music (though some would disagree) I always seem to circle back to... well I'm not quite sure what to call it really. Soulful, acoustic, singer/songwriter, kinda mellow (at times), meaningful, one-person-with-an-acoustic-guitar kinda vibe genre? Music shouldn't be in a box anyway. But that's what I listen to the most.

Anyway last Thursday I headed to the Dowse Bar to surround myself with the incredible talents of Mr Stu Larsen, Mr Luke Thompson and Mr Chris Simmons. I first heard Stu Larsen at a Passenger gig a long while back (if you haven't heard of Passenger then you are truly missing out!) And when I found out Stu was doing a headliner at the Passenger gig earlier this year I knew that was something I couldn't pass up. I am ever so glad that I went! Plus I got to hear to new-to-me artists who will be featuring on my playlist for sure.

My camera accompanied me (of course... really would you expect nothing less?) on this lovely evening out. So I thought I'd share some of my pics from the night... Do yourself a favor - as you're looking at these pics press play on the little video below to listen to Luke Thompson's song 'Water' to get the full effect: 

 

I was sorely tempted to make all the photos black and white. Who knows I may yet do just that. There's something about black and white photography. It's like it just strips away the detractions so you can really focus on the heart of the image... Or at least that's what I think.

I am falling more and more in love with live music photography. I've had the chance to take my camera along to a few gigs so far this year and there's just something about this type of photography that makes my heart...sing (pun intended). So if you're a musician looking to get some photos done don't been shy about giving me a call!

So that was my Thursday night... Filled with stunning and soulful music and a little bit of photography thrown in for good measure. Kinda perfect if you ask me. I can't wait to share my next post which is some news I've been dying to share so stay tuned!

 

Words And Pictures

Words And Pictures

I miss words… 

There was a time not too long ago when I used to write every day. I devoured books like they were about to disappear. I wrote pages and pages of poetry and short stories… A novel or two are lurking on one of my many hard drives somewhere. An Ernest Hemmingway, Charlotte Bronte or Edgar Allen Poe I most certainly am not. But I loved it (still do) and worked hard to foster a certain level of eloquent expression.

As I got more and more into photography it all shifted slightly. Instead of a regular reading of Pride and Prejudice I started reading manuals, technical analysis, pages and pages of spec sheets and blog after blog after blog (after blog!) of everything photography related. Don’t misunderstand. I do not regret this at all. Not one bit. Not in the slightest. It allowed me to grow and develop in my chosen career (and what I believe is my calling). I truly believe giving myself this time to totally immerse myself in all things photography has been completely invaluable.

Long time readers of this little ol’ blog would have no doubt noticed the shift. Way back when I started blogging I wrote phenomenally long (entirely too long now that I read them back) posts with maybe one or two pictures that I felt emphasised my point. I shared poetry (admittedly the majority of it was cringe worthy) that seemed to pour out onto the electronic page. Fast-forward four years (I can’t believe I’ve had this little space of the internet for four years!) to my post about my recent adventure in New Zealand where my written highlights section was lack-lustre at best.

So it’s apparent that it’s high time to find a bit of balance. Words and pictures. Pictures and words. The two can co-exist and complement each other quite nicely. I have found and am developing my visual voice and it’s time to circle back and (re)discover and deepen my writing style. Prose and photography coming together to help me tell whatever tale I wish. I shan’t be sacrificing one for the other. But rather fostering the growth of both my passions simultaneously. I hope that this blog will contain prose and photography intertwining seamlessly together to tell my stories.

Why am I sharing this on such a public forum? I honestly don't know. Maybe to keep myself accountable? Maybe to let you my lovely readers know that the structure and content of my posts may (hopefully) change a little? Maybe just as a little reminder to myself that my 'writer' side is important as well as my 'photographer' side. In any event that's what I've been thinking about lately.

Life is all about balance and sometimes you just need to recalibrate things a bit (or at least that's what I find). I'm excited to start (really) writing again and figuring out how to work it in with my photography. Luckily there are a plethora of photography blogs out there who write exceptionally well as well as taking phenomenal photos.

So that's what's been on my mind. 

I have a some exciting news to share but I think that will wait for another post. In the meantime I hope you're having a wonderful week!

A Week Away

Like I said in my last post (all the way back on September the 21st - where does the time go?) I recently headed off to New Zealand for a week's holiday...

And, my oh my, what a beautiful country! It felt like there was a picture-perfect-postcard moment every 5 minutes. My camera's defiantly got a work out on that little trip that's for sure. Spending a week traveling around the North Island with my marvelous mum was all kinds of fantastic! She's one of the best traveling buddies this girl could ask for.

I was planning to write up a day-by-day posts but then I thought it would be better to condense it down to my favorite-favorite images with a little highlights write up. So here goes:

Highlights:- mum and I spending the majority of the week laughing (sometimes til tears ran down my face), stunning scenery, learning a bit about Maori culture, the Redwood forest, geysers and tulips at Rotorua, seeing a real live Kiwi (the bird... but I did meet heaps of Kiwi people too!), my mispronunciation of almost every single town (it was decided that I should probably never share any of these with a New Zealander), winding roads, the themed gardens in Hamilton, going up Sky Tower in Auckland while mum waited safely on the ground - not such a fan of heights is my mum, taking photos of the majestic wonder of everything that is New Zealand and last but certainly not least spending some quality time with my mum.

Most of the places we stayed at had little to no internet connection which was a little bit of a bummer as I had planned on sharing more as I traveled along on my Twitter and Instagram feeds. But that's okay... Note to everyone heading overseas though - check that your mobile phone doesn't automatically connect to mobile data when Wi-Fi isn't in range. Just got my phone bill and OUCH!

All in all it was a magnificent week away and New Zealand is most defiantly on my 'must visit again sometime soon' list. I don't think I'd ever get bored of the place! My two instant cameras made the trip with me and once I can figure out how to get a decent quality scan I'll be sure to share a few of my instant pics of NZ. There are some really lovely ones in the collection. So keep an eye out for that!

Thanks for reading about my break away. I'd love to know what your favorite picture of the bunch is! Until next time my lovely readers... Take care