I am a dancer
No shoes, no dress, no spotlight or stage
No colour, no creed, nor restriction on age

No jury, no training, no cheers, no leeers
I dance as i feel - no limits, no fears

I dance in the grass with the wind in my hair
I dance on the pavement - gray, cold and bare

I dance in the rain and the heat of the sun
I dance when i feel i can no longer run

It's my release, my light and escape
So i dance and i dance till my bare feet break

Then i smile, get up, and dance a while more
For with dance my tomorrows, will be better, i'm sure

A dancer I am and a dancer I'll be
Even if my dancing is only for me...

:)

Labels: ACP Lighting, dancer, model, photography, self-reflection, Sydney

(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.

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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.

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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

Entity Dance Collective @ The Studio, Newtown.

I've been thinking that...
I should really stop thinking.

really.

Labels: dancer, photography, Sydney

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

Walk-by Shootings@Balmain, 2008.

"Return to sender, address unknown,
No such number, no such zone.."
-Elvis Presley

Sometimes what you give isn't what you get.

Labels: black and white, conceptual, photography, Sydney

Following the leader, the leader, the leader,
following the leader where ever he may go..

Sometimes i wonder...
why i even bother at all.



Ever get the feeling that no matter what you do or how good your intentions/aspirations/ideas it all don't matter in the end? No matter what you intend to communicate to someone else it somehow has a way of turning out completely different leaving you exasperated and thinking "what's the point of trying so hard to be nice and likable and good and perfect" when it's perfectly easy to be quite the opposite - almost too easy *blek*...

Another pointless rant about another pointless subject.

Sometimes it feels like i waste too much time living in my head and not enough time actually living O_o"

i need a life.

Labels: conceptual, emo, photography, self-reflection, street photography, Sydney

Edo & Tyas - 15th March 2008

'Twas a bright sun-shiny Saturday
for two bright sun-shiny people..

Had a pre-wedding shoot with Edo & Tyas on Sat and had a blast. These two are such an adorable couple!

Will blog more later.. need sleep now.... ;)

*whee...*

Labels: photography, Sydney

Being in the company of a stadium full of women..
is a wonderfully strange experience..

Went for my first Colour Conference today which is Hillsong church's anual women's conference. Wasn't quite sure what to expect from it but have to admit that i was quite excited to go :)

Opening night was a ton of fun and there was this moment during worship where Brooke Fraser was leading and the band stopped playing for the chorus bit... standing there right in the middle of this huge stadium, with nothing but Brooke's voice and the collective voice of thousands and thousands of women praising God was quite breathtaking. I've been in mixed crowds singing at worship and concerts before but nothing - nothing - was quite like being in a crowd of WOMEN (and girls) all singing in one voice before. There was something so amazingly pure, comforting and strong about it...

Carol turned to me and whispered "Wow, looking at this i think women can really take over the world if they wanted to..".

..and for that moment, it was possible :)


Got some piccas here that i snapped on my Sony Ericsson K800i handphone camera.. not the best thing to shoot with but i was lazy to bring my big cam ;p


Opening night '08 begins..


every..single...level in the acer arena was packed solid..


Brooke leading worship..

Labels: Colour Conference 2008, Hillsong, photography, Sony Ericsson K800i, Sydney

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

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.

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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

"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

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

Sunset Silhouettes@ The Opera House
(Taken with my Sony Ericsson K610i cameraphone)

I hate Mondays..
I really really really do...

This one was considerably more vicious than the rest.. One of the worse things you can wake up to on a Monday morning after a week of Easter hols is your hp ringing after you've only had 2 hours of sleep, your friend on the other end of the line talking frantically about some submission deadline that you thought was one week away which is in fact 20 minutes away for work that you haven't done yet and won't be able to do in, well 20 mins.. or one day for that fact... *ugh* i justifiably have a reason to diss Mondays.. especially the mornings ;

I should really blog about happier things, like my box of Krispy Kreme donuts in the fridge or the fact that i've nailed making my own salad dressing and full salad from scratch or that my plant is still alive or that i had some killer pancakes at this 24hour place in Syd (like Paddington's Pancakes back home only bigger, badder and on speed)...

But i shan't because i'm a pseudo-emo-artistic-brooding-person who has a subconscious need to sound well.. like i'm brooding - which i am.

*Sighs*

At least this does give me an excuse to go to Kikki.k and buy some gorgeous (but freakishly over-priced) wall planner thing... i need to sleep (or shop).

...and i still need a hug (withdrawal symptoms - *spasm spasm*)

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, emo, photography, Sony Ericsson K610i, street photography, Sydney, urban life

Tried some panning shots that day.. didn't quite get the ones i wanted but i think this one isn't too bad. Skaters@St. Mary's Cathedral.. (Ilford HP5 ISO400 with a linear polarizer filter)


The Woolworth intersection in downtown Sydney has got people crossing straight across the road and diagonally, as well. I took this during rush hour after work and it was such a busy area with so many ppl walking up and down. and yet, as i set the tripod to shoot, this sea of people parted instinctively around me. Felt like Moses really. It's amazing what you can do with a camera :) (Ilford HP5 ISO400 with a linear polarizer filter)


There seem to be a few things wrong with this shot.. but i don't know why i still like it so much. Maybe it's because it's in black & white or maybe it's because of the slight vignette but somehow, this shot looks like an old photo.. i like that :) (Ilford HP5 ISO400 with a linear polarizer filter)

McDonald's cheese burgers have got to be the saddest burgers in the world..
I'm looking at one now and i can't bring myself to photograph it to show you how sad it looks cos that would look too sad.

Even after i chuck on some extra ketchup and cheese.. it's still a small, sad little reminder of how absolutely daft it is to pay money for this sad sorry little burger... at least i had a coupon :D

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Nuff bout my burger woes. I've recently started shooting film again for my black & white photography classes. Did a roll of Ilford XP2 and recently shot some Ilford HP5 ISO400.. It was the single most frustrating thing ever to move back to film after shooting digital. I didn't realise how reliant I'd been on the fact that i can switch ISO between shots, adjust saturation & contrast settings digitally, PREVIEW, get all your exif data stored immediately (manually logging your aperture, shutter speed, etc. for every shot is very VERY annoying) and have control of your white balance. You suddenly realise that every shot you take is precious, you've got to be more creative to figure out ways of getting the results you want, and you need a load of filters (or some nifty sunglasses or coloured glass to use as fake filters).

Shooting my first roll of Ilford HP5 was such a depressing experience that i was quite reluctant to go develop it myself the next day (tho i'd been looking forward to working in the darkroom for ages). Surprisingly tho, it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. sure i had only about 8 - 10 usable shots from the 36 exposure roll but when i considered the fact that i usually only get a few good shots out of a digital CF card of 300++ shots, i felt much better. It was also kinda fun to wait and wait and wait to find out how your film turned out. Just the experience of handling your own film from shooting to developing to printing your own photos is really quite cool :D Besides, the grain you get is so lovely it's enough to make bad photos look better (sometimes - p/s: Please click on the photos above to open them in full-view in another window.. seriously, full-view it and check out the nice grainy dotty bits that the film gives, worth a look to compare it with the smoothness of the skater photo "Take|Off" that i shot on digital in my previous post :D ).

Shooting film sort of make me think twice about what i'm shooting, how i'm shooting it and whether or not i really want to shoot it. It's good in a way, you have only that many frames and you try to make all of them count for something..

Labels: Australia, black and white, film, Ilford, photography, skateboarders, street photography, Sydney, urban life

There's something quite magical about being on a boat.
Something quite adventurous and exciting :)

Taken on a ferry ride from Manly beach to Circular Quay. All of us out on the deck got suitably soaked about 5 minutes after i took this shot. Thankfully my camera was safely in the bag by then! *phew* Before i took this shot, i was drawn to the lovely way the blue blue sky matched up with the blue tops the two were wearing. When i looked through the viewfinder however, i knew it was going to be in black and white..

Been a long day today (and i don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.. went to church saw, had Vietnamese beef noodles (yum!), went to see an amazingly random photography exhibition (you have no idea... O_o"), had a listen to some good music, had a lazy walk along the cliffs at Maroubra Beach, went to uni for a group meeting and stayed there till 10pm... and it's only week two!

This is going to be some semester..

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

My first view of Australia from the sky..

Australia is really big..
really really really big.

And yet, in all it's vastness, it is still incredibly detailed. There seems to be so much to see, so much to do, so much to learn that sometimes it gets a tad bit overwhelming.

I never realised how different things could be after crossing a wee bit of sea to come over here. Took it for granted that since we speak the same language, the people, culture, place and just lifestyle in general would not be that different after all. But things turned out strangely foreign - not foreign in an obvious 'i'm in a different place' sort of way, just in a way that feels as if the same situation has a whole different translation over here than at home. The feeling of not knowing what to expect, what is expected of me and what i should expect is pretty nauseating.

Along with the inflating sense of adventure and curiosity that comes with being in a new environment, i'm also discovering a new sensation - that of realising that i am in fact, very very small. *bleep*

Labels: arrival, earth, emo, photography, self-reflection, sky, Sydney

My first blog post
from the land down under..

Honestly, i'm a bit too zoned out to really absorb actually being here. It feels quite like KL actually.. highways, buildings, warm weather (it's the same wei... *ish* only a tad bit windier) and i suppose having my family here and staying with family friends kind of buffers off the fact that i'm a few thousand km away from home - omg, the first flower i saw in the garden was a red Bunga Raya*blek*

Maybe tmw when i'm more awake, i'll be able to foray into discovering Sydney more.. hmms but first impression is that the air smells like i'm near water (which i am.. nice!) and the sky is so friggin' blue even when it's cloudy :D

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come by my place and the airport to say bye.. meant alot to me... miss you guys alot :(

Labels: arrival, Sydney