New Blog

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Yep - it's FINALLY up.

If you're one of the super cool people that have me linked on your page, please update links.

Sneak peek:

A Whole Month!

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I do have a few things to offer up in my defense though.

Firstly - who knew switching to Typepad would be so HARD! OMGosh! I thought it would be easier then blogger. So far... no way! I'm almost there though - honest. Just a few more things to add and then I'll be switching over. I think I'll have my first post as my Top Ten from 2006 - that way, I can look back in a year's time.

Secondly - my actions are ready to go. I just need to get Typepad up and running and we'll be off. I'm really excited about this because... I have a new one! I'm loving it...

As for my marketing, etc... well. It is coming along... seriously. I have a new logo and am working on my business cards and some post cards, pricing, collections and the typepad blog. I have a newborn shoot coming up and I have plans to get that one 'WoW' image... I'll post it when I get it.

Danny had his knee reconstruction 4 months before we'd expected it. It's put me It's made a lot of things fairly difficult but we'll make it through, we always do. He developed an infection but was very lucky that it moved down his leg, so his wound wasn't infected. That set him back a week or two on doing his exercises, etc. He's finally doing them now and he's started walking... tiny steps and with the crutches still on hand but not on the ground. We're looking at another 3 weeks with the crutches yet though. Then it's time to take it off and bend the knee - ouch!

Piper has asthma. She's had it forever. It never really played up in Queensland but does down here. This is the perfect time to mention how MUCH I miss Queensland - the wather, the life... Anyway, for the 2 winters that we've been back here, her asthma has flared up and she's needed ventalin on and off. This year though, she's been put on a preventative puffer twice a day and at the moment she's getting the ventalin four times a day.

I started helping out at my mum's shop again. My brother had a car accident. Nothing too serious but he had a really sore neck. I called her and asked if she needed help since he wasn't able to work and she said yes. Things are totally sh*t in that department though. I mean, on the work side they're fine. Personally... we're going down the drain. It hurts. Alot.

We've lost someone we thought was a really great family friend. I wont go into details here. I'll just say that he did something extremely inappropriate. It's really hard... he and Danny have been friends for 20+ years... he and I for 10+ years and he's always been around for the kids. It's so strange knowing that he wont be coming around anymore. Sometimes, people just suck, right?

My computer is having SERIOUS issues. Not sure if anyone remembers but I got a new Dell computer sometime in the second half of last year. I went with a Dell. I really liked that I could go on their site and 'build' my own computer. I really love it too... 250GB HD, 2GB RAM, Dual Core Processor. Well, in January I had issues. I kept getting the Blue Screen Of Death (otherwise known on the internet as BSOD). I called. They told me everything was fine. Two weeks later my hard drive crashed. I do have to say, they sent the tech out with my new hard drive very quickly.

About a month ago, everytime I tried opening, burning or tranferring one particular photo file, I'd get the BSOD. I ended up deleting the file and everything was fine, so I thought. (this is after spending a whole DAY backing up onto DVD - the poor thing was running so slowly).

A few days ago, same thing happens. It's grown from one file to three - all in the same folder. Ring Dell... 'oh, it's not OUR problem' - Grrrrr. Tech came out this afternoon. He was here for HOURS. Seriously, I got back from shopping at 4pm and he was here and I got home from mum's shop just past 7pm and he was still here... and he left sometime around 8pm. When he's leaving, he tells me that it's actually in worse condition then when he got here, that he doesn't know what's wrong with it, and that he's done working on it. WTF?!?!?!

Danny gets online tonight to do some research. We find out that a LOT of people have problems with the Dells sent out in 2006 with MY problem!!! Apparently, the only way to really fix the problem is to get a replacement but it's almost impossible to get Dell to admit it's their problem and to send the replacement. Ugh. So... tomorrow I'm going to call a few different places - Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs, etc and get some information. Then I'm calling Dell again. I'm really fired up about this too. I'm going to be forceful and I'm GOING to get this situation resolved. Will keep you updated.

I've not been online as much lately. I'm missing my online buddies on MSN and Hello and also at the message boards I go to. I love you aaaaaaaaaaaall! It's been ages since I've been able to really blog surf too.

Oh oh oh... I called my girl Stacia the other day! The quality of the line wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either - and it cost me NOTHING! It was so exciting! I was a giggly little school girl. I just lurve that southern accent. I think it's my favourite in the entire world. Stacia - love you, miss you, gonna call you again soon - hope your foot gets better soon :).

I think that must catch me up. LoL If you've read this far - here's a photo for you. Not my usual thing...

Ciao!

Exciting new things...

going on.

I've deleted my old photo a day blog. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't keep it up. I thought I was going really well but I got behind and I'm anal and couldn't post after I'd missed one day. So now, it's gone.

I've got a new typepad blog coming very soon. I'll probably still post my personal stuff here for a while but all my session will be posted there once it goes up.

Actions - woo hoo! Thanks to everyone that has asked about my actions. I gives me such a thrill every single time I'm asked. Once the new blog goes up, I'll have my actions ready for sale. They'll be available seperately and in a bundle. I'm really excited about this!

I also have something else I'm working on at the moment. I should have it worked out in the next week or 2. This one will be more for the Aussies but is totally available to everyone.

I've also decided that I've got to stop sitting around and being afraid to approach people about shoots. I know that I can do this and I want to do it, more then anything... so I'm in the middle of putting together a marketing plan and excited about implementing it.

So yeah... lots of new exciting stuff going on for me at the moment!

And I just have to say a special hello to one of my favourite Americans ever! Stacia babe, I love you and I sooooooooo miss chatting with you. Good news? We just upgraded to high speed internet and have invested in a broadband phone!!! I'll be able to call you soon!

A Teaser...

Love this red door...

Searching out new locations... determined to find 'spots' in my town that I can use for an entire shoot, and still get a wide variety of backgrounds.
Will be posting more in a few days... I love these photos of Jadzia though and couldn't resist posting them.

I'm having calibration issues so if you see funky colour or anything, let me know!

Weather change

It's turned cold here over the last week or so. Autumn is definitely in the air. I hate the cold weather. I don't mind cooler weather, but here... winter is winter. Freezing cold chilly winds, etc.

On the bright side, that meant it was time to start buying jumpers - that's sweaters for you Americans.
Got this gorgeous jumper from The Pumpkin Patch. I don't usually shop there because it's a bit more expensive then I like... but a once off is ok, right?

These were taken at the end of the day... not the best light. She asked though, and how could I resist?

Was playing with the blur filter here... and 2 photos up. The one 2 up was using the zoom blur and this one was using the radial blur. Don't think I used them properly but I see potential...

Cheeky monkey...

Looking at this face you wouldn't think that it was HER idea for the mini shoot, would you? Playing with textures. I think they could be fun too :)

So... as you're all enjoying the signs of spring... think of me over here, turning cold and about to battle the WPS (Winter Photography Slump).

Jessie's Back!!!

I didn't break her!

LooK --->

Jess was always my favourite model... agreed to have photos taken almost anytime and would let me experiment and posed so well...
Then I broke her :(
I'd posed her so often that she couldn't act naturally anymore.

Every photo I got of her was fake, forced and uninspiring...

So I gave up for a while... still took happy snaps and all but nothing serious.

The other night I was showing a friend some of my favourites from this year on Hello and we both noticed that I hadn't taken many of Jess at all this year.

Also, her birthday is next month and she's having her party here (YES!) so we decided on photo invites. She was going to use one of the photos taken in October but she's changed a lot since then and I wanted to see if we could get something fresher...

I happen to think we NAILED it! And I'm sooooo freakin' happy with them.

I love colour... it's so bright, happy, fun... out there...

but I'm really lovin' B&W lately too.

This one just blows me away....

Remember - she's only 11 years old! She turns 12 at the end of next month.

We spent about 20 mintues on this shoot... definitely not more then 30. It was all natural light, with a reflector. We had a brick wall for the background. I had quite a few other 'good' shots but next to these they just looked pale... she also thinks she's older then she is and tries to pose more suggestively... she KNOWS that I don't allow this and she also knows upfront that I'll delete any like that (why do I take them? Sometimes she moves just as I click or I don't realise until after I've clicked)

For processing... all the colour ones are with my Colour BAM! action, plus a new skin technique I'm trying to get right. The B&Ws are my own conversion. I burnt a vignette onto each of them. They're all in camera crops too... except that I cropped a little of the ends to be 5x7.

A shoot - start to finish...

When I get to do a photo shoot with Pacey I know I have to be prepared because it wont last long. This time, it was about 5 minutes only...

We start with the nice shot...

Then we get the first funny shot...
He loves showing off his muscles - can you see them?

Next he has to 'twirl' like his big sister...

Right here, he was singing "picking flowers for my mummmmmmy"

Awwwwwwwww....

aaaaaaaaand - we're done!