Posts from the ‘People’ Category
After 365….Archive 13
Drama Looming
Taken at Seal Rocks, NSW, Australia. I really liked the light in this one and the dramatic sky.
After 365…Archive 11
Waiting for the Right Moment
I watched this surfer for about 10 minutes as he stood waiting….waiting for the right moment.
This was taken up on the North Coast of NSW, Australia, back in December.
Day 354 Saturday 17th March 2012
End of the Season
Today, we went to Sydney so that my partner could play in the last game of the Summer waterpolo season. Unfortunately, his team lost today, but in my eyes he’s a winner and I am always very proud of him.
Day 347 Saturday 10th March 2012
Surfing Trio
This morning I woke up at 3am! Yes, you heard me right…3am on a Saturday! Too many things on my mind.
I decided to walk to my local beach to watch the sunrise and it was beautiful.
Avoca Beach is so incredibly beautiful and I must say, I have missed witnessing the sun rise over the ocean.
I was very tempted to put one of the sunrise shots up, but as there weren’t many clouds (not that I’m complaining about that….after all the rain we’ve had of late, a clear blue sky is welcome in my day, any day!), the sunrise wasn’t as atmospheric as I had hoped and I actually rather like this capture, of 3 surfers off for their morning surf. Felt rather envious of them actually.
Day 299 Sunday 22nd January 2012
Taking it Easy
Today, we decided to do some relaxing….we went to a local art market and I am thinking about selling some of my photography there.
The most relaxing part of today was when I took this photo, as I was in my hammock that I had just purchased and let me tell you now….it’s very very comfortable….I could get used to this!!
Day 295 Wednesday 18th January 2012
Last Night in Manly
Tonight is my last night in Manly. I have loved living here and truth be told, I am desperately going to miss it, but I can always come back and visit right? Besides, tomorrow, we start a new chapter in our lives….
This photo is of just some of the boxes that we have packed, rady for our move tomorrow. Afraid it’s not a lovely sunrise or us set, but it represents my life….right now.
Day 281 Wednesday 04th January 2012
USA v Australia Men’s Water Polo – Budgy Smugglers Water Polo ByThe Sea
Today was such a good day as we were fortunate to get tickets for the Budgy Smugglers Water Polo By The Sea match, which took place at Bondi Beach Sydney, NSW, Australia.
It was a friendly match, aiming to promote the sport. The match was held at the iconic pool Icebergs, water polo is never usually played here, so this was something special.
The match was against the men’s USA team and Australia won 10 – 7. With a crowd of over 2000 spectators including various Australian celebrities, it really was a fantastic event. Even more so, as the crowd also had kite surfers on the ocean entertaining them too!
Icebergs Pool, Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Day 263 Saturday 17th December 2011
Strength
Today, I spent the day with my partner in Sydney which was followed by me being a spectator for 2 hours as he played 2 consecutive games of water polo. I admire the strength and determination required by each player.
Day 249 Saturday 03rd December 2011
And so the festive season well and truly begins…
Tonight was such a good evening. I went to my partners work Christmas Party, which was held at Luna Park, Sydney. It was fancy dress and the theme was ‘uniform’. My choice, was to go as a Mime Artist – I wanted to do something a little different to the usual Nuns, Vicars, Doctors, Pilots, Nurses etc…
It was such a fun night and everyone made a really good effort, there were indeed all of the above uniforms, including a pregnant(real life pregnant) Nun and a Vicar, a Cross dressing Vicar, which in my opinion was one of the best costumes of the night, the image of him will stay with me for a loooooooong time.
Then there was my partner who went as a Pirate, not sure that a Pirates eye patch and a scarf around the head with a skull & crossbones is considered a uniform, but never the less, he looked really good.
There were others in school uniforms – lots of Pilots (I’m sure that this was probably a wishful thinking in another life kind of costume!)
They actually had a photo-booth there, so that you could take photographs of yourself (what a great idea)! Let me tell you, there were some very very funny photographs in that booth!
My entry today, is a photo of the photographs of me.
Hope they make you smile.
Haven’t had a fun night out like this in such a long time.
Day 246 Wednesday 30th November 2011
Last Day of Spring
Today is the last day of Spring, although it has actually felt like Summer for a while now (excluding last week, which was just awful weather wise).
I am so looking forward to Summer and all that it brings. People, in my humble opinion seem to be happier, more easy-going and just, well…more at peace.
There were so many people jogging along the beach this morning, most were kind enough to go behind me and not right in front of me as I was taking my photographs (although some do this and I sometimes think, I know that I don’t have the right of way or anything, but would it really be that difficult just to side-step me?) There’s one man who every single day does this – he walks right in front of me, even if I’m right on the waters edge barefoot, he will literally go through the water (in trainers I hasten to add), instead of going behind me and he never ever acknowledges me – most other people who I say good morning to – (I usually do this) they will reply with a good morning back to me, this guy however, he doesn’t want to know. Perhaps it’s because he’s so focused on what he’s doing, I don’t know. It’s now kind of become my mission to try to get some sort of acknowledgement from him – even if it’s “stop saying good morning to me lady!” I think if he said that to me, the next morning I’d say good evening, just to confuse him! 
Day 245 Tuesday 29th November 2011
Welcome to Today
Aaahhhh….I think this photo pretty much speaks for itself. How can a day get better than this? I literally ran across to the beach this morning to watch the sunrise – the clouds were so pretty, as they were lit up by the beautiful sun. I wish all of my day was like this!!
Enjoy!
Manly Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Day 244 Monday 28th November 2011
I’m Not the Only One to Watch the Sun
It’s just before 6:00am, getting ready for another working week. So pleased that I was able to see the sunrise this morning – it sets me up for a good week, well in my eyes it does anyway.
It seems that today, I wasn’t the only one to enjoy the sunrise.
Day 235 Saturday 18th November 2011
Water polo
Late afternoon today, I went to watch my partner and his team play water polo in an outdoor pool, here in Sydney. The outside temp today was 32 degrees – pretty hot!
This is actually a photograph that I took of him, I am rather happy with this photo, because it’s so different for me and really captured the essence of the game. It’s by no means an easy game to play and he played 2 games straight (2 hours in total). His team won, which is of course good news.
Day 214 Saturday 29th October 2011
Playtime
Today, we stopped off in a small park on our way home, so that I could take some photographs of a different area of Sydney Harbour, I ended up instead taking photographs of him playing on the swings 
This is a really different kind of shot for me.
Day 196 Tuesday 11th October 2011
Rowing at Sunrise
Before starting my day at work, I woke up early to watch the sunrise and felt all the better for it. I felt rather envious of the people rowing in this photograph, what a fabulous way to start your day! – almost as good as mine
Day 174 Monday 19th September 2011
Kite-Surfers a Plenty
I was worried today, as I had no inspiration for taking any photographs and on my way home, on the fast ferry, I sat and hoped that there would be something worth taking a photograph of in Manly.
Upon arriving in Manly, I walked over to the main beach and started to walk home. As the day was drawing to an end, I looked out at the ocean and saw so many kite-surfers making good use of the wind, that had steadily picked up during the day.
I loved watching them and wished that I was out there, doing the same thing as them. Who knows….maybe one day.
Day 173 Sunday 18th September 2011
kayaking to Cogra Bay
Today, was such a wonderful day, I absolutely loved it. A very dear friend of mine and her husband invited my partner and I over to her weekend home at Cogra Bay for lunch, on the Hawkesbury River (in Sydney). You can only get to Cogra Bay by boat, there are no roads.
We decided to go over to Cogra Bay on our double kayak. As its tidal there, we checked the times of high tide and at 11:45am we headed off.
It was so peaceful, the paddle over. The water was calm and the air was so still, hardly a breeze. It was perfect! Whilst paddling over, we saw 7 large jellyfish – about 10 inches in diameter, they looked so beautiful, a beautiful light red colour.
We followed the coastline and around the point we went, to see several jetties, which we paddled past and there I saw my friend, standing on their jetty, waving to us.
Armed with a bottle of wine and our little bag of supplies (oh and my camera, which isn’t waterproof btw) we made our way on to land.
Up the steps we went and in to their lovely little home we had a beautiful lunch, talked, laughed and just enjoyed the good company and beautiful surroundings.
My friend (and her gorgeous dog) showed us around afterwards. The views were stunning and to be honest, I didn’t want to leave. However, we knew that time was against us – due to it being tidal.
Whilst we were having lunch the southerly wind really picked up, thankfully we weren’t going against it, but we would be going against the tide.
I mentioned earlier, how calm the water was going over, on the way back, it was a different story! It wasn’t terrible, but it was hard work. We made it back to our starting point but the only problem we had, was the point of land that we had launched ourselves from was now surrounded by wet, muddy very slippery rocks, some covered in razor-sharp oyster shells.
My partner got out of the kayak first. He had a bit of a wobble on the rocks, as they were slippery, but he managed to stay upright. Me on the other hand, well lets just say, I looked like a pig in mud by the end of it! Every time I tried to stand up, I slipped. My flip-flops (thongs) had no grip what so ever and bare foot was even worse. In the end, my partner had to come and be my knight in shining over and keep me up! I couldn’t stop laughing. I literally had tears rolling down my face, from laughing so much, which of course, didn’t help the situation.
Eventually I made it to dry land, but as I was covered in so much mud (lol) and as our car is pretty new, I sat on a towel in the car with my legs/feet in a big blue Ikea bag!
Day 133 Tuesday 09th August 2011
The Big Issue
Another beautiful sunrise en route to work.
After a long, busy day at work, I was waiting for a bus, one which I don’t usually go on and I met a man who sells The Big Issue. He was in a wheelchair and was waiting for a bus too. He couldn’t speak, however, he had this amazing machine which he carried on his lap, where he could type words, he could see the words he wrote on one little screen and I could look at a screen that faced me. Holding a $10 note in my hand (I’d planned to tell him to keep the change) – they sell for just over $5) I asked him if I could buy a copy of the Big Issue, he proceeded to type that he had sold out and wouldn’t be getting any more copies until Saturday. I said that it was good that he had sold out…. I gave him the money anyway.
He then started to point to his eyes and then at mine, but I didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say, so I asked him.He then went to his brilliant machine and typed I had eyes that looked cross (meaning angry) I said no, I’m not cross, just tired. He then started to laugh and proceeded to type some more…He then said that my eyes were cross life his wife!! He couldn’t stop laughing, nor could I. We ended up catching the same bus and I sat next to him and for around 40 minutes we ‘chatted’.
I found out that his name is Howard, he’s been selling the Big Issue for 13 years and has been married for 26 years….with him saying that, I said it’s no wonder his wife looks cross – if she’s been married that long, I said with a cheeky smile….again, he couldn’t stop laughing.
His wife is type 1 diabetic and is also in a wheelchair.
I asked him whether he wanted me to tell him when we got to his destination, but he replied that he knew his way around…I then answered – more than me…and again he couldn’t stop smiling.
I have to say, it was one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had in a long time.
He told me that he hoped to see me again and after he got off the bus, through the window he pointed with 2 fingers to his eyes and then pointed to me and though to say see you again.
I hope I will meet Howard again one day soon.
Day 130 Saturday 06th August 2011
Surfer
Today was such a lovely day – for the first time in absolutely ages, we spent the day at the beach, my partner surfed, I had a swim and I also practiced taking photographs with my new camera. This was one of the photographs that I captured.
Bungen Beach, Northern Beaches, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Day 123 Saturday 30th July 2011
Paddle Away!
This weekend, we decided to go to a beautiful area called Jervis Bay, which is a few hours drive south of Sydney.
It’s such a beautiful, relaxing place. This was taken towards the end of the day in the small town called Huskisson.
Where these people were paddling, there were a couple of dolphins who were keeping them company.
Huskisson, Jervis Bay, NSW, Australia
Day 113 Wednesday 20th July 2011
Opening Night of Exhibition – Insight Out
Tonight was the opening night of the exhibition that I am currently in (along with other artists) called Insight Out at TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst, Sydney. The exhibition is running until the 31st July.
This photo is of 2 of my 3 exhibits.
The opening night was fantastic. A couple of hundred people must have turned up. I feel very proud to be part of something like this.
Day 106 Wednesday 13th July 2011
Splashtastic
The ocean is wild here at the moment, it’s almost a full moon and the tide is high. As I was taking this photograph, I got absolutely soaked from the wave splashing against the rock I was cowering by. Good job that I was using my waterproof camera!
Last night, I was taking more photographs, just as the sun had gone down and I was standing on some steps because the tide had come in so much, there was nowhere else to stand. In the end, I had to make a mad run for it. Once I’d got to a safe area, there was an elderly gentleman who beckoned me over to him. I didn’t know him, however, I ended up standing with him for over an hour…..we were both dodging the tide as it crept up over the sand and we watched the moonlight dancing on the waves.
He was in awe of the water as much as me – if not more. We watched as the waves grew bigger and bigger and both cheered as we saw waves out the back preparing to crash on to the beach. It was magnificent. He drew maps in the sand of where he’d seen big waves the day before. He hopped from one foot to the other, because he was unable to stand still, due to pain in his legs.
With him, he had a tiny suitcase. I’ve no idea where he came from. I enjoyed the company of this dear elderly man. He told me that today – the tide would be even higher and we arranged to meet up again to watch the waves. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see him. I hope that one day, our paths will meet again and we can watch the moonlight dancing on the waves and laugh and cheer as the waves crash all around us.
So even though, I didn’t get to see him today, Richard – this one is for you.
Day 101 Friday 08th July 2011
A Birthday to Remember
Day 101 – Friday 08th July was my birthday and this photograph means a lot to me as it represents such a fantastic day.
Although getting up at 3:30am on your birthday isn’t amazing, getting up at 3:30am to catch a flight to Melbourne – is!
I have chosen this photo because it’s of the man I love – not because he whisked me away to Melbourne for a birthday long weekend (of course I love him for that) but I love him for so much more. He is my rock, he keeps me sane, he makes me smile and I love him with all of my heart.
This photograph was taken in a fantastic Restaurant in Melbourne that we had been to the year before and it is where I spent my birthday night, drinking very strong frozen strawberry margaritas. Today, I laughed so much that I cried, over so many silly things, such as me unintentionally behaving like a cave woman whilst crossing a road, to reading funny street signs, to just really enjoying each others company. we both laughed – and it was truly wonderful.
This is the first time that I have shown a photograph of my partner, but when I look at this photo – I instantly start smiling and I think about this day and I know that hand on my heart, I will look back on this birthday with so many happy memories and it is thank to him. So even though, today was ‘my day’ – for me, today – it was ours.
Day 81 Saturday 18th June 2011
He’s a Shark…I’m a Shark
I went for my first proper swim today in ages and it was heavenly. I actually went snorkelling and it was nice to escape in to another world for a little while. Although it was cold and windy outside, inside the water it felt warmer.
As I was busy snorkelling, I was watching/photographing the fish then suddenly this guy (pictured) swam right in to me. At the time, I was actually looking below, as was he. (As he went into me, I somehow pressed the button on my camera and this was the result) We both screamed….as we each thought that the other was a shark. It was rather funny and we both laughed about it and then went on our way. I had every intention of taking a fish photo for today, but this, I thought was rather different and had a funny story behind it.
Shelly Beach, Manly, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Day 80 Friday 17th June 2011
Dedicated to Gramp
Today has been a funny old day. It started really well and I had every intention of going for my swim, the sun was out, blue sky, the water looked lovely, but I kept putting it off and told myself I’d go in the afternoon. It never happened.
My mind has been working overtime today and I can’t seem to stop worrying. My Mum is moving house today and I wish that I could have been there to help. Her house had been on the market for over 3 years. It also marks the beginning for her, of starting over, on her own.
I’m so sad that I can’t be there to support her. I called her to wish her luck today and it broke my heart, Mum sounded so lost. That’s the problem when you live thousands of miles away – I feel so helpless. Truth be told, I’ve hardly slept this week, due to worry – I have unleashed the worry monster and I can’t seem to get him back in to his cave!
Today it would have been my Gramps birthday and for some reason, more so than other years, he’s really been on my mind today. He passed away in 1999 and I miss him so much. He was a huge part of my life. He loved photography, he loved Spike Milligan and Louis Armstrong. He was a kind, wise, incredible, unforgettable man.
I remember when I was growing up how we’d talked about just the two of us going to New Orléans for a holiday to listen to all the Jazz and blues music. I think I must have been only about 12 or 13, sadly we never went. We were also going to wing-walk on an old aeroplane to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, but my Nan wouldn’t hear a word of it (he’d just had major heart surgery). One day, I would love to do both of these things – for him, especially the New Orléans trip.
As a whole, my family think that whenever we hear the song Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, it’s as though my Gramp is around and saying hello. It happens very often.
He was also a sea man. He used to be in the Navy, but unfortunately caught T.B and had to leave.
I think Gramp is not only responsible for my love of photography but also of why I love the ocean as much as I do. I like to think that he is somewhere, with his foot tapping, whilst listening to Louis, looking at my photographs with a smile on his face.
Happy Birthday Gramp – this one’s for you.
