Eighty

Working nights lately on a labor of love. My beautiful Nana Joan, turned 80 recently. 

Click here and here to see older posts I've written about her. 

Soon we'll all (kids + grandkids + great grandkids) drive up to Forster, a beachside town on the north coast of New South Wales, and spend a few days away together. We've done this every year for over fifteen years now.

We all look forward to it so much. My Nana and Grandpa set the foundations early on for a family that loves and respects each other unconditionally. Lucky for us, we actually all really like each other and treasure this family of ours.

This year's trip will no doubt include, as always; a dinner at the local club, a lazy all day lunch by the lake, a visit to Grandpa's resting place, hitting up main street for coffee and a spot of shopping, the telling of countless stories and reminiscing, a thousand outfit changes for the growing rag-tag gang of mini's, lot's of laughing with and at each other, cabin hopping in the late afternoons to see who's up to what, hanging out on porches chatting. 

And this year, at some point, we'll all get together to watch this movie I'm making for her. A 'This is your life' style tribute to our beloved Matriarch. To celebrate her 80 years, her achievements, to show her just how much she has shaped all of our lives and how grateful we are for it.

So now, I burn the midnight oil and pull all of our stories into one. Painstakingly sorting through literally thousands of photo's, choosing music and editing. 

Some photo's below from a Christmas day in the early 80's. The days of eating pieces of watermelon bigger than your face, backyard cricket, when Dad's wore short shorts and had hair and the afternoon was spent cracking through the new presents and making up dance routines to Wham! in the loungeroom.

Belinda x

The Nursery

Feeling refreshed and inspired this week. Rich and I had such a wonderful weekend away down to the south coast, it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Attending Tim Coulson's photography workshop, aptly named 'The Nursery' on Saturday, completely exceeded my expectations. We were joined by a lovely small group of bloggers, crafters, designers, budding photographers and hobbyists in Tim's home. Tim's passion for people and photography just lights him up from the inside out. He shared his knowledge on the key technical elements of shooting but also how to connect with your subject and how important it is to be present, in order to see and capture those moments within moments (emotional shooting).

My tech-head husband, bless his stay-up socks, has tried many times over to teach me the technical stuff.  Some of it stuck but for the most part it was just a case of, waaaay too much information, too many options, where do you even begin?

What I've learned from Tim about shooting on manual is that I can keep it simple, stick to a couple of settings that work for most situations and train my mind to understand how the technical elements work together. It was a revelation! It's actually starting to make sense. After 'hundreds of days' of practice it will eventually become second nature and not get in the way of emotional shooting. I'm looking forward to that!

The thing about shooting on manual is the image is just so much better when you get it right. It's such a thrilling feeling too, I'm hooked!

These are some of my favorite images that Rich and I captured at the workshop's practical live shoot. We couldn't have asked for more, a breathtaking setting with magical afternoon light, beautiful subjects and expert guidance from Tim and his clever 'profesh photog' friends, Annette and Luisa.

On Sunday, we spent a gorgeous day in Berry. Keen to keep practicing what we had learnt, our cameras shot in manual all day. It was slow going, but I felt so empowered!

A huge thank you to the talented and generous Tim who is so willing to share his experience and knowledge with all of us. And to his (seriously) beautiful wife and son for having us in their home. The good news is, The Nursery may be coming to a town near you. I couldn't recommend it highly enough, I'm still smiling!

Thanks also to the group, it was so inspiring to spend a day learning and creating with lovely people. Rachel, Greer, Jodi, Roberta and Kelly have also blogged about their experience and shared their awesome photos. Check em out.

How clever are we! 

Proud as ;-)

Belinda x