Don McLean, a piano man and a little lane called “Memory”…
Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward and sometimes the journey to get there is more important than the arrival.
My dear friend Tony plays piano. When I met him and Jim in 1983, I was a skinny blonde kid who had big dreams. And he played Piano. Ok, so he does so much more than that but for this story I will keep it simple. He plays piano. He is a producer…and in 1983 his home was filled with giraffes and pianos. I had just finished touring with LRB (the Johnny Farnham years) as the opening act. (yep everyone forgets the opening act right after the main act comes out on stage) I was invincible. I was a writer with Chappell at the time…and a singer. I had a journey to take and I jumped into it with eyes wide open and without preconceived ideas about how to get from A to B. No one told me I couldnt do it. I just did it. I went to Nashville. I met Tony. I met Jim. Life changed. We recorded an album for CBS. Life was magic. Tick Tock…time moves on. Things happen. We stay friends. They are the kind of people that are true friends forever. The kind that their word is their word…
Fast forward: Tony is touring with Don McLean. I have to go. I have to catch up. Emails back and forward. All set….two days to chat, catch up, hug, eat, relax, take photos…
So, Valentines day… I sit in the audience with my lovely husband Chris, and Don’s beautiful and talented wife (who’s work I have admired for a long time without putting the connection together with her name – doh- am I a dope) and I listen to Tony play. Not just Tony, but Jerry on drums who played for me on my album, and Ralph on Bass who also played on my album and I listen to the words and the music of an Icon. AN ICON, PEOPLE!!!!! The sound track of our lives. And at that moment I realised how blessed I have been. And how blessed I am. And how blessed I will continue to be. I was inspired again. Not to sing. I think that ship has sailed maybe. I will make imagery with the same passion that I made music. To also make imagery using music…hard to explain but I will try later… and to write again. I dont know what I will write, but I will write.
I cant show you images yet. Why? Because I am an idiot and left my bag behind with my card reader in it so I cant get images off the camera until I buy a new one tomorrow.
Images to come. Inspiration lives again, and yet again, it starts with Tony with a little help from Don and his amazing words.
2011 – here we come!!!!
I havent had a lot of free time to add to my blog lately. Some of this has been caused by my crazy schedule, floods, editing, and my addiction now to FB. The main reason is that it is easier to add images to FB than to my blog due to sizes. So, a catch up is required. So here they are…Nat and Neil’s wedding on the NSW coast and for some strange reason all my blog images are going really weird but if you click on each one they open up. More to come as soon as I can edit more for the blog and get my website guy to figure out what is going on with the blog thingy. I am not techie enough. LOL
Bundaberg Floods 30 December
We are an island. North cut off from South, East from West. I am blessed to not be under water but others are not so lucky. In the last two days of shooting our town, I have met some brave and inspiring folk that are facing an uncertain future. Sitting on a porch of a flooded unit with no electricity and no yard or garage left, a man told me that if he had a boat he would go fishing, and that all his life he had dreamed of living on the riverfront. “Million dollar views” he joked with me. I don’t think I would be quite so happy.
I have no idea if my shoot space over north is under water, and if it is, so would be the other businesses that I am blessed to share the space with. Most of my friends are safe. Some are locked in with water. Thank God i all I can say. I have only had one person mad at me for taking photos. She told her friend that I should be run over. What I don’t understand is the following:
People letting kids swim in the dirty and extremely dangerous water.
People in boats with no life jackets on zipping through the water around submerged cars
People wading through it just to get a better look
Things I am thankful for:
The SES
The police and fire service
THE SES!!!! I used to be a member until I had to become a full time dad carer, and i never had to go out in an emergency but they do the most amazing job…TOTALLY UNPAID! So please don’t make it harder for them.
So photos….I have been putting them up on FB but it is down so here are todays shots.
some of my recent family shoots
i have been blessed with some awesome and cool people to shoot. these are people that get me as a photographer and my vision. The following gallery is from my families folder….
and if I have missed you off my gallery, forgive me. I am pooped. Just let me know xxx You all rocked my world.
thank you to all of you and have a blessed and merry Christmas.
if wishes were raindrops…
If wishes were raindrops then Jamie and Sophie were given a million-trilliuon yesterday. ok, so usually when I say to my brides “look it wont rain, it will be sunny, i have a connection to the big guy and He wont let it rain…” the sun comes out in glorious eye watering spectacle.
Yesterday morning while driving to the bay at 5am in the morning i watched as deep black clouds washed in from the ocean. I whisper my prayer to God like I always do that the rain will stop and all will be perfect. I have packed all my props for their romance shoot, all vintage and not waterproof. I have my gear all ready, not very waterproof either. As I pull in to the driveway, I say it one more time for luck, and get out of my car with camera bag and make a mad dash to the front door, getting soaked as I run.
The bride is up, and on the phone, and the groom, who is usually never there when I get there, is just getting up. Hmm photo op. Never had the bride and groom together the day of the I do, so get bride back into bed in her cute jammies and get shots of them. Sooo cute. Then little Josie starts calling from her bedroom. So daddy and mommy on their wedding day get their little angel up too. More photos. More unique wedding day. OMG I love this family. And Josie, well she wakes up all giggles and smiles. The perfect little flower girl.
I look out the window and it is still pouring. Moving from the ocean. Hard angry rain. The windows are open in the lounge room and the floor is a bit wet. They feed Josie and the groom leaves. Loads of kisses to capture of film. I follow the bride for her morning of running around in the pouring rain with Josie to get final bits and pieces done on their very Martha Stewart wedding. I think about another bride I shot recently who was very Martha too and I smile. I love my job. Now, God, Stop This Rain!!! Please.
We see the groom 3 more times and then the team arrive to make the bride even more perfect. Still Raining. OK, so maybe it is supposed to rain. Got to get plastic bags out. Down to using only one camera and my 50 lens. It is fast and works well under pressure. Too impossible to change cameras and lenses in the rain. One day when I am rich, I will have throw away 5d’s for rain. LOL
So, wedding is moved from the beach to the marquee and thanks again to the magic umbrella of my fabulous Maryborough bride, Sophie emerges from the cutest wedding car ever (named Des who was born in 1936.)
So, yes it rained and we were not able to do all the romance shots this week, but I have rescheduled with them to shoot that next week. Yes, we had to have a plan B, and yes my car just about got stuck in the mud when I was leaving, but…OMG I LOve my job and my brides and grooms and their “ands”. I love couture gowns. I love little flower girls that steal the bouquets off the big girls and try to give them to the groomsmen. Only thing is…next time I will have to pray harder. 
International Aperture Awards Silver Award.
Thank you to my fabulous couples that allow me to take them on my journey as a photographer and trust me with their wedding day imagery.
This is J & G starring in the “Perfect Wife.”
Mathew and Julia – teaser shots
another fabulous wedding. This one was held on Quoin Island off the coast of Gladstone.
so many images to go through but just wanted to put a couple up to share. xx
i am blessed with the most fantastic brides and grooms…art images still to come
story: Mathew and Julia were blessed to have a newly refurbished, extremely private and stunning location for their I Do’s. The team (makeup/hair/caterers) all caught the ferry to the island to make magic happen. My team were there a day earlier to ensure the shooting of the set up and the cool kangaroos that Julia knows by name.
our room faced the ocean and the pool (which the boys enjoyed.) The reception room was decorated by the bride and her girls (with the hand crafted table dec’s all done by bridesmaid Jenny) and a lot of work from Trudy the Maid of Honour. It was all hands on deck and they were amazing. a lot of work to make it magic.
The cake only just made it up the hill from the boat, and Coco the big roo took a liking to the brother of the groom, and with perfect weather and island magic, everything was perfect. PS. The bride arrived by the cutest little train in Australia. I will share shots soon. Promise.
If you are looking for the perfect place for your wedding, corporate getaway or just a romantic weekend, Quoin Island Resort is beautiful. Thanks Bob and Julie for making it the perfect spot for J&M’s I Do’s
awards…thank you brides and grooms for being so FAB!!!!!!
a couple of bronzes 
1940 to 2010 love is for-ever
what a love story… and what a dream to shoot them both…and their wedding albums are going to be so beautiful. thank you to Rachel and Jordon for chosing me to shoot your day. x
and again, couldn’t have made this magic happen without the skills of Megan Topham for hair and makeup.
one amazing wedding on Friday then another one on Saturday, then Sydney…
working on Rachel and Jordon’s images as we speak. What a blessing it was to shoot their day. And what a journey. From the day they walked into my studio looking for a wedding photographer, they trusted me with the whole bunch of things we did to make their experience amazing. First we shot their engagement in 1940. They fell in love with each other through lifetimes.
Then on the Friday before their wedding day we went back to 1947. Outside a little church in Gayndah dressed totally in 1947 clothing, we shot their first wedding. The following day, we shot 2010. I will share some of their shots shortly but I want to tell the story and I dont know if my blog is working for images. I am going to try it with another shot from teh following week. The story of Rachel and Jordon will be coming soon. It has to be perfect.
And it has to start at the beginning.
Sunny day and love everywhere
Congratulations to two very beautiful people. Steve and Roxanne held hands and gave each other their hearts yesterday and I was the lucky photographer asked to capture their love with my camera. What a blessing! Congrats you two.!!!! It really was a beautiful day. perfect sky. perfect dress. and tears of joy everywhere. oh yes and one sexy car.
I am having problems with my blog not letting me attach images and my computer guy s looking into it so there will be images to view on FB.
student or teacher…
This week I am blessed to have Alister, a Gin Gin year 10 student, working with me in my studio for work experience. Megan and I worked a big shoot yesterday and we threw Alister in the deep end. It was a sink or swim thing. He impressed the heck out of Megan and I. Things that stood out were his knowledge of cameras, light, details, and his amazing ability to be extremely professional. The clients: a law firm with a busy shoot run sheet. Not once did Alister slow down. I didn’t even see him eat lunch!
Small businesses look for people to come into their business to add something. It is so rare to find someone that just fits. It is even harder to find someone that gets what you are doing. I am blessed to have three such people: my husband who is my second for weddings and my first for life, my makeup genius Megan Topham who is beyond amazing, and now Alister (al-is-a-star) whose parents must be so proud of the young man they have raised. Thanks team. Your rock!
And back to teacher or student, yesterday I was both. 
Reflections
My favorite saying is by Gulliume Apolinaire from 1880 and it is
“Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew.”
This month is start of the busiest wedding season I have ever had for my little studio. When I started shooting people, I told someone that there was no way in heck I would ever want to be a wedding photographer. No way in HECK! I had a little studio in Bellbowrie and shot horses and horse people. Then, for no particular reason that I can think of, I ran away from home (from Bellbowrie in Brisbane to Bargara Beach. My poor hubby thought I was insane when I called him and said that I wanted to move here and open a proper studio. He tried to move here but couldn’t so now I am here and he is there and I shoot weddings.
I have also been told by one of the greatest wedding photographers ever to hold a camera “to be different, never settle and always strive for better than yesterday.” I used to think that to be a success in this business you had to be young, hip, wear cool jeans and hang out with the the in-crowd. I was wrong. To be successful, you have to be good enough to inspire people to pay you for what you do, and love what you give them. And boy have I been blessed by fantastic clients. What a year! This time last year, I was saving up to go to Africa. Got the Malaria shots, bought the tickets, but ended up in Nashville instead. This time next year, I want to shoot an Indian wedding in India, go to Italy, and shoot more amazing couples.
So this is a round about way of saying thank you to all my clients this year, and last year, and the year before. I have shot beautiful expensive horses, gorgeous brides in exquisite gowns, handsome grooms that love the brides in exquisite gowns, my granddaughter, fabulous food, ex-prime ministers, governor generals, aeroplanes, cars, houses, babies, bellies, ladies in lingerie, “Now I Lay me Down” babies, old buildings, cattle stations, sheep stations, race days and wedding days. I woke up this morning thankful for what I do every day for a job.
So again, thank you all for loving each other enough to want to have a photo to show that love. And thank you all for allowing me to be a part of your world. It is an honour.
G & J wow…yep, just wow….
It is funny how you can start off a day with one set of expectations and then magic happens and everything changes. That happened today. One of my beautiful wedding couples allowed me to be creative with them today and all I can say is WOW – I am so blessed with my clients. They rocked, the locations were amazing and we ended up using a whole bunch of places that weren’t on my menu but so glad for it. So here are a couple of my couple. And again, WOW! I love my job when magic happens.
les amants marchent dans provence
Thank you cards after the wedding
I think its is a lovely way to say thanks to family with a lovely personal card like this one…
a cool thing happened on the walk around the city
i got arty farty
Two Quotes for today:
You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. ~Wayne Gretzky
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. ~William Faulkner
Went to Sydney looking for music, love and art…
and found all three. Funny thing too, I dont do landscapes and stuff like that but Sydney has so much that is awesome to photograph that I couldnt help it.
it is the small things that are the really big things
The small things are so often dismissed as not important at all but they are the really important things that make the fabric of who we are. This weekend has been a sad one for my fab Megan. Her Nana passed away. The blessing was that Megan was there with her. A small thing, but so important. Then I had a all from my friend Faye to see if I could photograph a wee angel at the hospital. This is part of my Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep photography, and it is always so sad for the mummy and daddy and all the family. To have an image is another small thing but it will be a really big thing later.
Small things are easy to carry in your heart. They sometimes can fit in the palm of your hand, and often don’t cost anything but their meaning and value is huge.
My quote for today:
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa