I'm sitting here diligently this afternoon trying to update my website with further photo galleries.  I've been good.  I've organised playmates for both kids this afternoon, tidied bedrooms (bloody lego!), and done a load of washing and the dishes.  So why is it that Adobe Bridge insists on  rewarding all my hard work and good intentions by crashing about every 10 minutes when I'm creating photo galleries!  Suffice to say that this is beginning to drive me wild!!!!!!!   Not only does it lose anything I was in the middle of, but Bridge then, on reopening, completely forgets which folder I was working in, comes up in a different sorting order, and honestly, what's a girl to do!!! I came across this delightful sequence of Darley's Ollie Tait during the course of my work this afternoon.  They were all taken on Golden Slipper Day, 2010, with my 500mm lens.  They disprove the theory that you can't get any people shots with a big lens on enormous ...

This is the fish.  I'm told it's a brown trout, and they said 4 lbs or something like that.  Honestly though, these sort of figures are meaningless to me.  There was no tag and release, he was dinner.  It's a decent size when one fish feeds 4 people.  I used to fish a bit, but these days am very half hearted.  I did actually catch a bream at Easter time, and that was fun, but mostly, if the fish don't jump on the line in the first 5 minutes, I'm bored stupid.  "There's no fish here!".   Heath is very keen though and I am resigned to him being a fisherman and a hunter, taking after his dad, rather than a horse rider and overall horsey gal like me.   

After a lull late in the afternoon, it's raining cats and dogs again.  And it's windy.  And cold!  I'm going to do my usual 'is my horse warm enough' worry session all night!!!!

Every now and again I have to go hunting back through my image library for a particular image, and every time I do so, I am struck by the process of ageing.  I always tell myself, as I apply the inevitable changes take place to bodies and faces that ageing is far preferable to the alternative! So I thought over time I would share some of the changes I have witnessed through the lens in the years I have been photographing on the Australian Turf. I like photographing people.  But my style has, and always will be, to operate almost stealthily in the background, lurking from afar with a big lens.  It's the way I prefer to operate, mostly because I have an intense discomfort with being instrusive (and also getting ticked off).  But it also serves as a way of getting the best images.  They are generally the most spontaneous.  The ones that display raw emotion and thoughts, rather than the staged 'give it a kiss' image, which I don't enjoy taking. This series b...

Two whole days of bliss.  There is not a single male in my house.  Stuart and Heath have gone fishing.  So this weekend, there is no one here to make me feel guilty for playing with horse photographs, and for getting work done that is wildly overdue.  Jessica is enjoying it too, and sneaking rides on Heath's brand new Razor scooter.  Yes, the house is looking somewhat ordinary.  There will be NO Domestic Goddess here.  This weekend, I am too creative to clean.  It's nice to let the place slide for 24 hours.  We will get takeaway tonight on the way home from putting a rug on Freelance this afternoon, as it is supposed to rain cats and dogs tomorrow. 

Is there ever a time to value being a photographer more?  Gaze upon these images, they are magnificent, and they reconfirm my strong belief in the ability of a photographer's special gift.  And that is to make people stop, think, look, and look again.  It comes via the sensory gift of vision, and the ability of a camera through the eyes of a photographer to inspire feeling and emotion.  This is a great clip, filled with amazing images.

As reported on the MyNikonLife website, there is a Slideshow of this year's Walkley Award entries being screened at the moment (see below).  This image (it wasn't a finalist, so no need to get terribly excited) which was an entry in the Awards has been included in the slideshow, which runs for a little over 2 minutes.  It's nice to see it included, and again, is testament to popularity of these three fabulous horses.  Thanx to my boys, you are truly wonderful!!!!! Nikon-Walkley Press Photos in Federation Square 26 November, 2010 | My Nikon Life | News | 98 Views | 0 Comments Share To celebrate the continuing excellence of the Nikon-Walkley Press Photo competition, a compilation of this year’s entries are being screened at Melbourne’s Federation Square’s large outdoor screen and inside within the Atrium area. The screenings will take place in the lead up to the winner’s announcement at the Walkley Gala dinner on Thursday, 9th of December, which will be broadcast liv...

I just saw my first snake for the season.   It's warm today, it's not quite summer, but there it was, as the lovely Freelance and I returned from a workout this morning.  I hate snakes!  Specially brown ones!!!  They are mean!!!! I was leading Freelance back from the indoor arena, chattering away to her (as one does) and not really paying all that much attention, when something caught my eye.  "Oh, why is that stick moving???  Oh no, that's not a stick!!"   The snake wasn't huge, but it was crossing the road about 10 metres in front of us.  I stopped, probably uttered a four letter word, and waited.  I don't think Freelance had seen it yet.  Then the snake turned around and crossed back the way it had come, back across the road.  Pretty sure the mare has seen it by now.  " I'm frightened " I whisper to Freelance.   " So am I " she whispers back.  We wait until the snake had finished crossing (stupid thing,...