(L-R: Melissa, Anna & Leigh) The Entity Dance Collective dancers @ the Studio, Newtown.

The best things in life..
are the ones that help you procrastinate doing the worst things in life :)

I had to toss up between washing the toilet or flickr-ing so i went for flickr-ing. Finished up the short set i did for the Entity Dance Collective practice session. It was a really rushed shoot and i went home feeling like i coulda shoulda woulda have done better at it and worrying that once on the larger comp screen, nothing would turn out right but i have to say that all that praying for it to work out must've helped. Ended up quite happy with some of the shots, got to meet some lovely people and learned the value of instinct over intellect in the process.

It's wonderful when you realise that wonderful things can come out of less than perfect circumstances. It makes possibilities seem possible once more... if only we could just believe.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

One a different note. Time for some geekery! These are some really cool links i've come across recently for online flickr related stuff. If you're not on flickr - get with the program! hehe...

Geekery #1:
wallpapr

what: Beta version of cool search tool that lets you enter keywords and search for a random selection of large sized/high resolution images on flickr that are (averagely) computer wallpaper sized. As far as i checked, all the images that the engine shows up are under creative commons licenses so as far as i can tell it doesn't help people rip off copyrighted or protected works - which is great :)
link: wallpapr


Geekery #2:
groupr

what: With the tagline "A bird's eye view of your flickr groups" this tool gives you a new way of browsing flickr through flickr group pools. Just type in your (or someone else's) flickr nickname, hit search, and a page comes up with a random selection of photos from a number of groups that that flickr person belongs to. Simple customisable functions let you choose the number of groups to be included in the search.
link: groupr

Now go ye thereforth and waste time on flickr! :D

*p/s: no, this isn't a paid post and yes, i wish it was.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

More from the Entity Dance Collective rehearsal series:
(hit the thumbnails to get to the larger version and to got to the photostream )

Labels: Australia, conceptual, dancer, geekery, photography, Sydney, theatre

The CircuSoc (Circus Society) performers from my uni during their practice @ the Physics Lawn. Had a blast shooting em.. (strobist info: 2 strobes at equal power...1/8 i think... one on left, one on right & equal distance from performers). Click here for more from that series.


Been obsessing over photography for the better part of the week since the Circusoc shoot last last monday. Lights are addictive... O_o" On a good note though.. my gel filters swatchbook just arrived today!! FREE... and delivered right to my doorstep *bless those boys at at the local lighting store*. Got a shoot with some contemporary dancers this afternoon at a little church studio in Newtown. Praying for amazing natural light and a great time with them - can't wait!

Looking to be a good day today. The sun's out, i have an orange cake in the oven *mmsss* and at the last minute managed to borrow a set of wireless flash triggers.... *happiness*....i'm such a geek ;p

Oh well, updates later. For now - tra la :D

Labels: Australia, conceptual, photography, Sydney, UNSW, Weird stuff

'Twas a grey and soggy Saturday morning in Sydney but...
we all still turned up for the 'Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2008'!

On many levels it wasn't what i expected but i'm still really glad i went for it. Got to meet new people, walk overdone routes looking for under-appreciated angles, and overall just spend a quiet morning walking the streets of Sydney before the hustle and bustle of the day began.

Don't know why but all my more recent shots seem to be darker, moodier and more dreamy... experimenting a bit with post-processing techniques. This mood sort of suited the day too i suppose. It was quite surprising how deserted and silent the city was that morning... albeit it was drizzling and pretty early in the day but i still expected the area to be more alive. It was quite surreal to see no one around save for this crazy group of photogs (actually there were 2 groups of photogs out that morning in the same area - our group and another travel photography group O_o") armed with their gear running (or crawling) through the city. You can imagine what that must've looked like *hehehe*.. all these street photogs.. with hardly anyone else to shoot but themselves... very amusing to watch :D

Was browsing through the shots from some of the other groups around the world who participated in this photowalk too... it's amazing to see all these images as it gives you a lovely cross-section of what the 23rd of August, 2008 was like all around the world. Some cities had sunshine, some had rain, some showed laughter, some showed pain... fascinating really to think of all the other stories and lives out there.. each connected to the other yet each also existing in utter oblivion to the next. For a moment there, i wondered what God saw when he looked down on earth on the 23rd of August, 2008... He must've thought we were all crazy, smiled then laughed a little as He watched us scurry about our day in our own different ways.

Anyways, here are some of my shots from that day. You can check out the Sydney group's flickr photo pool here. Also, check out the photos from the various participating cities around the world involved in this event.

Anyone else participated too?? Let me know how your day went!

"Beam Me Up" - i *heart* the rocks for all the lovely old architecture there...

"One Step at a Time" - A fellow photog getting his shot on the Commisioner's Steps @ Circular Quay.

"Arches" - the good thing about crappy weather is the soft filtered natural light that seems to just float mid-air in a state of glorious suspension.

"Bridge over troubled water" - my fave from that day...

"Church Lights" - tra la..

"Urban Bushland" - The urbanite's song: "This is my tree, these are my stones, this is my wilderness. It may be bare and cold and harsh and grey; but it's where i was born, where i belong. This is my city, my freedom, my home."

"Cooks and Candids" - Shot through a glass window.. can you spot me? hehehe...

"Falcon" - A lovely old Falcon parked under the Harbour Bridge.

"At Hickson Steps" - Shane and Lukas from the photo walk shooting macros of the many things growing out the side of this sandstone wall.

"Pier 2/3" - Yet another shot of the interior of Pier 2/3... i really love that place.

"Puddles" - stomping puddles after the rain :) *sploosh* (Thanks Shane for hopping in that puddle so many times just so i could get a good shot! )

"Gimme That!" - Nyahaha... that'll teach you to give your DSLR to me while hanging off a ladder *runs away and hides Shane's camera*

"From the Top.." - Behind the scenes shot of this pic here.

"Spill" - No point crying over split milk...

"Overflow"

Labels: Australia, black and white, Photo walk, photography, self-reflection, street photography, Sydney, urban life

I woke up this morning and craved Beef & Wine Pies...
so i made some..

*whee* Random cravings lead to random cooking sessions.. half a day of boiling the stew to death, an hour of making pastry, some time tanning in the oven.. then instant satisfaction... *yums*

i think all this sleep and sunshine is doing something even worse to my head than all that staying up at night.. but at least this way i don't have to eat maggie mee *ugh*

now if you'll excuse me, i have some pies to devour *tra la..*

Labels: Australia, cooking, photography

One of those (surprisingly) rare sunny summer days - shot on Fuji Reala 100.

It started to rain again today..

..and as i looked up at the grey sky, i remembered that warm summer day, under the tree, when the light was just right and the wind was just right and the tree, the light and the wind tossed dancing shadows across the table top. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.

Sometimes the less we talk, the more we understand.

So i sit and wonder about what the world is doing on this quiet night.

Then i sleep and dream and in the morning, it would all have faded away..

Labels: Australia, emo, photography

My narcissistic moment - basking (literally) in the Sydney sunlight.

I've always loved..
Open doorways and all the possibilities they bring.

The golden light of sunset, the slightest breeze, old weathered doorways with glass panels that catch the soft rays...

Maybe the long grey weekend was worth it after all.

*tra la..*

Labels: Australia, conceptual, emo, photography, Sydney, urban life

Little hearts on the streets of Kiama, Australia.

i heart you..
i don't want to but i do..

Blogs are kinda like street art. You can say want you want to and need to say in the most public way and still stay discreet. It's that outlet for all the pent up things you want to say. It listens, it understands, it willingly accepts all the linguistic regurgitation you throw its way.

Sometimes i reckon my blog knows me better than most people do. I tell it when i'm sad, when i'm happy and when i'm drifting somewhere in between. I tell it when i need a break, when i feel broken and when i finally break free... and all the while, still maintaining the ambiguity of the truth.

Forget camwhoring, cryptic blogging is the way to go. It's easier than etching a statement into the back of a toilet door and more sanitary too. When you think about it, blogs are rather like virtual vandalism victims. We carve into them our random thoughts, musings, opinions, feelings, aspirations, confessions, confusion, perversions, fears, anger, belief - anything that tells the world that "Hey, guess what? Grace was here - she has something to say and she wants you to know that."

It's simple really. On some level, all we want is someone to hear what we have to say..
and with virtual vandalism, we don't actually have to say it to say it.

Labels: Australia, conceptual, photography, sky, Sony Ericsson K610i, street photography, Sydney

Werns, Dina, Jerms & Dale - Kiama, Australia

One giant leap towards the unknown
and i'm not sure what i'll see at the top...

These days it seems like every time i smile outside, i sigh inside.

Labels: Australia, photography

Transitions - The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia.

Each season in life comes and goes like the light of day..
giving us a changing perspective of constant things..

I hate goodbyes.
I hate transition periods.

They always leave me in this rather contemplative mood. A state of mind that straddles between acceptance of the fact that change is inevitable and in denial of the fact that things have to change. I suppose everyone moves on eventually. People meet and have good times together then move on and have good memories together.

It seems like each time i've finally figured out how things are working in my life, circumstances change to throw me back into having to start over again.

I'm sitting here with my sketch pad drawing a corner in my room. Even as i draw i can see the shadows shifting, the colours transforming, the intensity of the light rising and falling in rhythm with the passing clouds. As i watch this day pass it seems at once familiar and strange.

So i sit
i watch
i revel in the moment

then i let it go.

Tomorrow there will be a new sunrise, a new sunset, a new passing day. It will be with me for but a moment then pass me by..

and so life goes on..

Labels: Australia, Canberra - Spring 07, photography

From my window, i watch the world go by
i watch as they laugh, as they burn, as they cry - the fire @ Kingsford, 16th Nov '07


burn.

to live
to lie
to need
to try

to stop
to breathe
to wait
to leave

to feel
to learn
to steal
to burn

to run
away
to push
to stray

to hurt
to hide
to keep
inside

the real
the truth
the girl
the me.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean that it isn't there..

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, photography, sky, street photography, Sydney, urban life

The Afternoon After - the design studio arvo aftermath...

I love brown paper packages all tied up in string.. and the excitement upon opening to see what they bring!

In a good mood today as you can tell. Semester's not over yet but at least hell week is. Ooh.. and my parcel arrived! I got me a brand new Ricoh Caplio R6 digital camera that i won in a photo contest *whee*.. it's nice and silver and shiny and small enough to fit in a purse or pocket. Haven't decided whether i want to keep it as a spare pocket cam or sell it. Whoo-hoo first real photo comp. i've won *happy dance*

Reviews bout the little Caplio seem pretty good. If anyone's interested in buying it from me, drop me an email ;) ...for now, it's still sitting pretty in its little box, smiling eagerly at me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of competitions.. one of my blog readers (ooh i've been dying to say that..) dropped me an email about this kwel competition open to ALL MALAYSIANS. Yeap, it's that easy, if you're Malaysian and you have creative ideas, you can join it. Details as follows:

What: Postcards Competition

by Who: Apostrophe - a m'sian-based creative organisation aimed at encouraging all things creative back home in good ol' tanah melayu.

How: just draw, snap, cut, stick, paint or click up something creative based on the theme of "1:30pm" then send it in to them via email or MMS (for digi users). Go check their website for details.

Why should i join: Winners get an all-expense paid trip to Bangkok and a Sony Ericsson hp.. *woo-hoo*

When: It's on now but closing date's coming up soon on the 16th of Nov, 2007.


Oh yeah, you can enter as many time as you want too (i love that.. it's so hard to pick your faves to submit). Entries can be individual (single) submissions or sets of up to 5 images under the same title. get working people! There can never be too many arts initiatives back home.. and whenever one comes round i get pretty psyched.

Anyways, i'm bookmarking apostrophe - i like.

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, photography, UNSW, work

There is nothing that reveals a person's real personality and maturity more than
spending an intense, stressed and sleep deprived 2 days with them in studio...

There is a strange thing that happens when you chuck a bunch of stressed out, sleepy people in a studio together, lock the door and throw away the keys.

Sometimes, it's absolute magic and people who seem generally subtle and subdued pleasantly surprise you by stepping up to the plate and holding their own under pressure. Other times, one gets to witness the rather spectacular transmutation of a perfectly capable human being into something quite the opposite.

While i much prefer working with people who can up their game when it matters the most, there is also something important that can be learned from working with the later - perhaps something more relevant to both you and the other person as well. After all, part of the learning process in uni is about trying things out in order to discover your strengths and weaknesses as a person - and there is no better way to reveal them than through high-pressure situations like these.

Being under such focussed pressure draws out the most primal instincts in a person. It is during that time that one stops over-thinking or trying to logically analyse things and starts acting instinctively. Some instinctively rise up to the challenge and some don't - it's a simple test of character that still surprises me every time.

Me and design studio - it's a love-hate relationship.

It's my 8th time doing this now..
and yet there is always something new to learn.

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, design, photography, UNSW, work

Sydney street stories.
"...and time moves on like a train, that disappears into the night sky." - This Old Love' by Lior



'Tis a tad bit sad when..
you have to read you friend's blog to find out what's really going on in their heads.

While mindlessly procrastinating doing work, i decided to blog hop my friends' blogs on my link list. Admittedly i don't blog read everyday as i'd like to think that ACTUAL human contact says much more than reading something online... i was wronggg...

It seems that for some unexplainable strange reason, people tend to be more open and vulnerable (albeit a tad ambiguous sometimes) in a public blog or facebook/friendster/myspace/(insert online friend network name here) post than they are in person.

There's an odd sense of relief in admitting your true feelings and thoughts for all the world to see. Somehow, doing that via some text/pictures/html code gibberish posted online makes it easier... distant... safer...

We trade letters for emails, calls for instant messages, hugs for digital "pokes" (what's a facebook poke anyways?? O_o"), real smiles for emoticon ones... and yet intentions are true and we are probably more likely to express those intentions now that an alternative (and less scary) medium exists..

We are a strange people.

Very strange indeed.

Labels: Australia, conceptual, photography, Sony Ericsson K610i, street photography, urban life, Weird stuff

Taken at Lake George (yes, it's a "lake" go spot the water) on the way to Canberra... The moon wonderfully bright that day :)


I've barely done anything productive this week..
and now i'm feeling very guilty about it.

It's absolutely astonishing how i can come up with a million ways to do nothing. In fact doing nothing is actually quite an engaging activity. It's the end of spring break hols and i'm still in a bit of a daze.. brain's not working and i'm finding it very hard to get into work mode again *sigh* very bad considering how i have 3 submissions this week

*argh*

*die die die*

Labels: Australia, Canberra - Spring 07, earth, nature, photography

Campos Coffee - nyam nyam....

Coffee and cameras and cloudy Sydney skies
make for an unlikely, yet rather interesting day out shooting..

It's been a long long long past few weeks..some ups, some downs. A lot of strange emotions and stranger days. Ironically, as legions of clouds tide over the clear skies for Spring showers, i feel as if my own little grey cloud is finally starting to float away...

Had one of those lovely lazy days today. Went out with Nat & Leanne to shoot some couple portraits and had the chance to witness how bi-polar weather around here can get. It went from sunshine to rain to clouds to rain to sunshine to rain and clouds again, ending in one of the most vivid and complete rainbows i've seen in a very long time. It meant something to me that rainbow.. reminded me that the gloomiest storms can lead to the most beautiful rainbows - reminded me that with God, we're never completely alone.

Learned a few things about shooting too today as i marched the patient couple across jelly-fish infested beaches, slimy green moss, muddy park lands and funky graffiti tunnels (*thanks for being so sporting guys, hope you had fun ;D ). Been researching and experimenting a bit with lomo-style and cross-processing photo editing as the lovely couple likes bright punchy stuffs.. *heh* been having fun going colour crazy with the photos.. i've been shooting black and white so much recently that i had forgotten how much fun you can have in techni-colour.

Twas so nice to get out of uni and out of my suburb for a bit.. it was so nice to not have uni work to rush for a day *sigh* i miss having a life..

Labels: Australia, photography

Ghosts@Queenscliff, Melbourne.. (yes Albert, i finally dug out my IR filter hehe didn't have a tripod tho...)

We spend a fairly large amount of time in the in betweens..

In between destinations, in between thoughts, in between relationships, life situations, decisions, this life and the next... it's all highly unsettling. At times it feels as if we are merely shadows floating in a dream.

Time passes
Faces change
Landscapes evolve

and still time goes on..
and still we exist..
and still we live and die and live again..

..like a clock that keeps ticking with no hour hand or minute hand.. just the seconds that keep ticking away. No up no down, no past no future.. just time - just moving time.

And so we go on. We wake and sleep and eat and work and live just waiting for that inevitable day of demise before we greet our Maker. I dream of the day when i will have all the mysteries of the world explained to me. The day when everything will finally make sense. But will we ever truly know all it is that we seek? And even if we know, will be satisfied?

Time is a rather cruel concept.. it flees when you need it and lingers when you don't.. maybe time isn't as constant as we think..

I'm rambling.. procrastinating again as you can tell.. Hokay.. back to work now.

Hope you caught the lunar eclipse tonight.. the moon was a lovely murky red-brown colour.

Labels: Australia, conceptual, emo, IR

"We are all, in a sense, in a constant state of 'becoming' rather than 'being'. "
- Harry Stephens

I was in my Theory of Form class today and of all the things that Harry said, this statement struck me the most. Life in a state of flux is, ironically, life at a constant.

The idea that our 'being' (as in 'existing') is inextricably linked to our 'becoming' (constant state of change) is amazingly fascinating... with that in mind, people then are not so much finished works of art as they are works in progress.. completely incomplete if you will.

I've been quite into this idea recently.. quietly watching life unfold.

One of my favourite times of day is walking down the main walkway in uni when the sun is setting. Watching the sky sink from a brilliant blue to a golden haze, i can't help but wonder why it is that people only want to see the end product.. if only we appreciated the beauty of the works in progress, we would see the whole sunset not just the dark night sky...

Labels: Australia, conceptual, emo, photography, sky, Sony Ericsson K610i, Sydney, UNSW

Cheryl, Sophie, Michelle and me @ Maroubra


I miss summer days by the beach :) (spot the fake jumper *heh*)

My lame-o-meter broke today..
for some reason it has just been a day of lame jokes - very painful.. and when some one as lame as me says they are very painful lame jokes, trust me, they must be bad ;p

Was having a conversation with Ray about an idea i had for a photo shoot assignment i was thinking of doing involving "dead" people:


Monsta! : but posing dead quite easy job, u just lie there though a bit contorted
me: hahahaha
Monsta! :heh, hope u find ppl who are willing to die for you
me: ....
Monsta! :so your models are going to get shot hur?
me: .... O_o"
Monsta! says: eh eh eh eh eh eh! your models right, must be drop dead gorgeous! HAHAHA
me: aiyoooooo... *faint*

Lame-ness aside, I am looking for people who are willing to model for me tho.. just a simple shoot, nothing too complicated :) So if you're in Sydney around... now, or if you know anyone here who'd look good dead, buzz me and i'll send you more details. Thanks!

Labels: Australia, photography, work

Taken at the boardwalk @ Darling Harbour, Syd one lazy Sunday afternoon..

I love lazy days where i feel alive and free
and can believe that anything is possible...

This song has been buzzing in my head the whole day.. but i don't mind, i like it! Dale sent it to me the other day when i was feeling down and i have to say it's quite infectious in a hippie-make-love-not-war way. My mom always tells me that i've been born too late since i'm into weird old stuff like snail mail and vinyl records and yes i do love flowers in my hair *happy sigh*



Been in such an amazingly happy mood today.. i think i've been getting enough of sleep :) it's the loveliest thing to wake up to blue skies, spend the morning talking to friends and family, have a slow walk through uni when it's quiet and you can hear the leaves rustling as the wind blows, gorge yourself on fish and chips with some friends under a tree in a little park and watch the beginnings of an early sunset, have warm milo when your fingers are freezing... then go home and zzzzzzzz and wake up when it's dark and have the house to yourself so you can sing happy songs like no one cares... *tra la..*

tis simple things that make me happy...

Labels: Australia, black and white, emo, Ilford, photography, street photography, Sydney

Have dinner at ARIA, go watch Chick Corea, Sydney Symphonic Orchestra & Gary Burton perform at the Opera House then finish off with drinks at Opera Bar...
..now that's what you do when you're in Sydney :D

*happiness*

The performance was utter magic.. just magic. We knew it, they knew it - i really hope they make the recordings into a record.. as it is Chick hardly ever records with an orchestra and the orchestration under the spunky guidance of the conductor Johnathan Stockhammer was just amazing... at times in the first half Gary Burton (vibraphone/marimba) more or less stole the show. He's such an enigmatic guy to watch live and the fact that this complex jazz sound was coming out of what essentially looks like a glorified xylophone was quite bewildering - in a good sort of way.

We had these great seat smack in the middle of the row in the centre of the stalls.. close enough to see everything, far enough to get balanced sound *lovely*... the second half was where it got really interesting with some Corea favourites getting a revamp and remix with Gary coming in and the orchestra just making everything sound amazingly lush. The orchestra set a thick tapestry as a background and Corea and Burton just wove their way through it so beautifully - at times playing together as one instrument and at times going off on their own melodies. It really makes you wonder why they don't do more recordings with orchestras... *happy sigh*

It' been a while since i've been for a live performance that was this moving. One of my favorites of the nights was when the whole orchestra, Corea and Burton did this reinterpreted rendition of"La Fiesta".. WOW... i've never really liked the original recording of it but the one i heard tonight was really..wow... there was a point in it where i just closed my eyes and i could see it all - the little children running about, the dancers in their colourful dresses, the fanfare, the spirit, the confetti even *hahaha*.. What did it for me though was the encore when both Corea and Burton duetted on the vibraphones with a spontaneous version of Corea's "Spain"...

*standing ovation*

Listen to some tracks here and imagine them done live with an orchestra...






*happiness happiness happiness*


Now, i must return to my little hole in uni to live out the rest of the semester *bleurgh*

Labels: Australia, bar, jazz, music, Sydney, theatre