I had the opportunity to get a shoot in with Nicole before she heads off to the other side of the world for work. Stay tuned for our next session in Central Australia, sometime this year. 

They have never built a bridge over the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry. So they run two ferries just a few minutes apart at either end of the town yet the distance between the two from the other side of the river would be about a 50 minute drive.

Each ferry takes about 3 minutes to cross the river and is a free service that runs 24 hours a day.

The above image was taken at 5.30 am. If you ever get to Sydney it is worth taking the hour or so drive out to Wiseman's Ferry. One of the most beautiful places you'll ever visit.

I wanted to try for something a little more abstract without the image losing it's ability to convey story. 

Shortly before she passed. 

The great artist herself, i snapped this while she took a break on one of her recent shoots.

Albury's no 1 wedding photographer imo, you can visit Ruth's website and see some of her amazing work at www.ruthtrevaskis.com

I scheduled this holiday to coincide with Guy Fawkes night which we have not celebrated in Australia since they banned fireworks when i was a child. In fact many Australians now have no knowledge of the gunpowder plot at all.

$200 invested in fireworks took about 2 hours to get through and more than made up for all those lost years.

A trip to the  Hobbit Shire in Matamata was also on the agenda now that it has been rebuilt for The Hobbit with the intention of being permanent (it was originally supposed to have been destroyed after The Lord of the Rings had finished filming). They are turning the old pub into a function center so future visit will happen at some point. www.hobbitontours.com/

I also had the opportunity to meet up with one of New Zealand's best wedding photographers Meredith Lord. I've been a fan of her work for a while and getting a sense of her personality i could see how that translates into her beautiful images. www.meredithlord.com/

Meredith put me onto her favorite restaurant Mr D in Napier and it was sensational. The food in New Zealand is pretty special but Mr D was the standout. Meredith i thank you, my friends thank you and my taste buds thank you. www.misterd.co.nz/

Another amazing part of this trip was the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua learning about the Maori culture and enjoying the Hangi meal cooked in their earth oven. www.maoriculture.co.nz/

If you book ahead from Australia you can get a return flight for $200 or less depending on when you travel.

Given that New Zealand basically belongs to us anyway they need more Aussies to go over and teach them how to speak with our accent. So if you are half thinking of going anyway do it for your country and have a great time while you're at it. 

I have been telling myself that i will stop and get a photo of this tree for the last four years. It's only a few minutes from home and on a road i used to have to take to go to Melbourne before the ring road opened. 

I saw this lone dog wandering around Venice. I wonder do homeless animals yearn for the love of a human that other animals receive?

Do animals have self esteem and know what it feels like to be unloved?

Perhaps for some it is better to have never experienced the emotional connection with people only to at some point have it taken away.

I always remember seeing a dog getting dumped in the city of Cork in Ireland. A car simply pulled up on the side of the road and the dog was put out then the car drove away.

The dog didn't understand as it tried to chase it's owners until it could no longer do so. I wondered what went through the mind of that dog that night, the confusion and fear. When would it realize it was simply no longer wanted. 

I still remember what it felt like watching that dog desperately running after the car motivated by a loyalty and a deep love for it's owners that would never be reciprocated. 

I had the opportunity to help out on a Kids of Gold camp recently run by my good friend Gary Parsons.

From their web site "The purpose of Kids Of Gold Inc. is to provide an opportunity for children from 9-12 years of age (or attending Grades 4-6) in Primary Schools, primarily in the Outer Eastern Melbourne area to participate in subsidised camps for the purpose of building their self esteem and confidence".

We had such a terrific group of children. I'll be adding more photos from the weekend over the next few days. Meanwhile you can get more information from the Kids of Gold website http://sites.google.com/site/kidsofgoldinc/home-page

The great artist herself, i snapped this while she took a break on one of her recent shoots.

Albury's no 1 wedding photographer imo, you can visit Ruth's website and see some of her amazing work at www.ruthtrevaskis.com

When i was 16 i became obsessed with photography. My dad was kind enough to give me his old Agfa Silette that he received as a birthday gift for his 21st. This was one of the early images i took with it of my friend Julian. 

Just having some trouble at the back end so have put up a duplicate site of sorts while i work out what the issue with the main site is. Should be back in a couple of days.

The site is currently undergoing some surgery. All should be fine but if you experience a glitch i may be working on the server. Thank you for your patience. 

One of the most unique wedding photographers in the world is Sam Hassas and i've been a fan of his work for a while. So i was honored when he asked if i would second shoot a wedding with him at the beautiful Rosevears Estate in Launceston for Ian and Sam. 

Australia Day 2012

My buddy Michael picked up a projector on Ebay last week so we pulled out a ton of slides and i came across this one. It was taken in 1982 when my mate Julian and myself took a road trip in a Datsun 1000 from Melbourne to Brisbane. K Mart were clearing out all  their stock of focal brand slide film so we took all 17 rolls as we were leaving. 

We left on the Saturday and hit Yass at midnight. The car had been running fine but Yass is considered the Bermuda Triangle of cars and as i checked the oil a stream of water came spraying up from the engine block. We finally got away from Yass after numerous attempts to fix the problem by 3pm Sunday. 

We arrived in Sydney that night a little later than the 12 hour drive we had originally planned and spent Monday in the city then after watching The Wrath of Khan at the movies that evening we hit the road again for the next 12 hour stretch. The above image was taken somewhere between Sydney and Queensland during a roadside break. 

Tuesday morning we were taking a nap on the beach at Surfers Paradise before heading off to visit friends. Wednesday we went to Dream World then started the trip home. 

Thursday night we met up with friends back in victoria at Lake Nillahcootie between Benalla and Mansfield. 

Saturday we drove into Melbourne  and met up with a bunch of the guys from the youth group Julian and I had been running for the previous couple of years at a volleyball tournament, after we hung around Melbourne finishing up the rest of the film. 

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One of my favorite wedding photographers in the world is Sam Hassas. He has such a unique style and has a huge fan base amongst brides and photographers world wide. So i counted myself fortunate when he contacted me to see if i would second shoot with him on a wedding at Rosevears Estate in Launceston for Ian and Sam. Especially given the number of local shooters who would have given their right arm to have had the opportunity. 

Ian and Sam themselves were loads of fun, just a lovely couple, and if you check their images on Sam Hassas's site http://hassasphotography.blogspot.com/2011/08/wedding-in-tasmania-sam-ian.html you'll see why it was a golden investment to bring his over from L.A.  

Big thank you Sam for the awesome chance to shoot and hang out and to the beautiful Ian and Sam, it was an honor to there on your special day. 

I saw this guy in Melbourne stop while crossing the road to check out the girl who had just walked past him so I quickly ran the camera along a wall tile to get this.