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Showing posts from January, 2013

Bored, bored, bored, and a little bit of trivia

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It's true..  Bookwork does bore me stupid.  And makes me prone to finding any excuse to taking my eyes off it for a moment.   I'm entering an invoice for an expense in Melbourne, which was from a largish shopping centre called Northlan d ...  It was pointed out to me (somewhat affectionately?? or were they laughing at me? who would know these days, I don't know right from wrong at present!) that my calling it Northland s was incorrect, and that it's name was actually Northland.   Which reminded me of driving back from my little beach visit with the Famous Pony last Thursday (this is before I ended up hopelessly lost, disoriented and crying), and noticing a similarly sized shopping centre (on the Nepean Highway???) called Southlan d .  I hope you note that I have called it by its correct name this time instead of what I naturally wanted to call it, which was Southlands..  Am I correct in wondering whether these two shopping cent...

On being paid!

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It has to be said that one of the most frustrating aspects of small business is that of actually getting paid.  Particularly when you've gone to the trouble of doing the shoot, which can involve long hours in the car, in all sorts of weather (including pouring rain!!!) and trying to cajole sometimes a temperamental and contrary thoroughbred to do as I ask!  And when polite emails are either ignored altogether, or promises made to pay the bill that never happen, it's just plain infuriating!!  I'm again sitting down, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, to tackle the growing pile of bookwork.  So I'll divert momentarily, to gaze upon a photograph of my adored and precious Pony, and then take a deep breath, and start again! ps - NO!  This image wasn't taken in 2012, it was taken 24 January 2013, and I just can't remember yet how to redo the watermark with 2013 in it!  I am working up to that one! The Famous Pony Black Caviar at sunrise at our f...

Moving on, and keeping house

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My laptop has been groaning and staggering along for at least the last 12 months.  It is fast approaching terminal status.  The financial pressures of the last 12 months, and having to come up with an exorbitant amount of rent each week has meant that it's replacement has been well and truly delayed, and I wish I could say that an order for a new model had already been placed.  It hasn't, and we may well need to stagger along for a little while longer.  But I am trying to keep myself busy and absorbed and so while bookwork bores me rigid, and hopelessly stupid, that is what I am trying to tackle, as well as tidying up disks and files.  These are some more images I took on a recent commission to Arrowfield Stud.  This is the great champion stallion Redoute's Choice.  He is magnificent, and he has joined the reverse shuttle, and is standing his first Northern Hemisphere season at the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval Stud in France.  We are all so ...

Of last hurrahs, and final portraits

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I often wonder if love is a bit like life.  It is a strong emotion, that can withstand many obstacles and all sorts of wrongs.  Yet there will come a time when something pushes your love for something, or someone, beyond the boundaries that can be maintained and causes it to break.  I think life is much the same. This was a final portrait of Arrowfield Stud's beautiful young stallion Beneteau (Redoute's Choice - Slice of Paradise).  He was put down, due to a neurological problem, on 9 January 2013.  I photographed him for the last time in early December 2012.  I always liked the horse, and had photographed him since he went through the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.  I felt his loss keenly as well.  These images would effectively be the last ones taken of him.  He had left lovely foals too.  

Nelly's Beach

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I'm in a little reflective mood this evening, and perhaps because I've only just revisted one of my favourite spots in Melbourne where I normally go with the Famous Pony, my mind wandered back to Blue Diamond Stakes Day 2012.   The day had started off ok, but a killer heatwave led to the day deteriorating rapidly. At the end of the day, I drove myself down to the beach that Nelly swims at.  It was different to driving there in the pre-dawn darkness, and as with the other morning when I was also flustered and hopeless, I got lost. These were the images I took that evening, on Saturday 25 February 2012, as the sun set at Nelly's Beach.  After I took them I put my camera under my towel and had a short swim (not in very deep, I am scared of sharks!).  After my swim I sat on the sand, for some reason shivering despite the oppressive heat, for the next half an hour before driving home in the dark to my sister's house. The...

1234, tell me that you love me more..... Black Caviar is on her way back

Black Caviar, my Famous Pony, has taken us all on a long and winding road.  I've been following her career since 2010, and she is intertwined now with various life events and miraculous moments along the way.  She's paved the way for wonderful new friendships, opened doors, and been close to not just my heart as we followed her along. She is preparing for her racetrack return on 16 February 2013, in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington Racecourse.  She has won the race the past 2 years and the VRC renamed the race in her honour last year.  She is a special Pony, and is precious to me. The video is also available on my Facebook Page here: 1234 - Tell me that you want me more. The Famous Pony is coming back.   It actually comes up a better size there.  Enjoy..

On being home

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I'm sitting back at home in my lounge room in Canberra, after returning home from a week in Melbourne.  My kids came home last night, and it was wonderful to see them.  They are still asleep, and I have to use these opportunities while I can, because they have been starved of using a computer for over 2 weeks, and are asking at every chance "when can I have a turn on the computer?"  My kitten Maxie is glued to my lap and slept with me last night.  He's had lots of his crazy kitteh modes though since we came home and the water spray bottle had to be used a lot. Black Caviar at Sunrise.  Thursday 24 January 2013. I still feel acutely dislocated as I adjust to the loss of a person who was my best and trusted friend. I shared everything with this person, they got all my news before anybody else did, and their voice at the other end of the phone was always such a nice surprise. There is an expectation that we will be friends again down the track, but I wo...

Vale William Stephen (Bill) Tindale. 23 January 2013.

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William Stephen (Bill) Tindale was a former newspaper photographer and then picture editor, and the Tindale family was a little bit synonymous with news photography in Melbourne.  He died early on Wednesday 23 January 2013.  He was 84 years old.  I knew his youngest son Darren Tindale pretty well. It must be said that I can take a few attempts and a day or two to fully finish a post. I'm trying not to spend too much time on this one. Not because I think Bill wasn't worthy of the effort but because my energy needs to be redirected somewhat.  I think it's finished now.  And ok, it's now taken 3 days.... I liked Bill Tindale, even though sadly he was nearing the end of his life when I finally got to meet him.  Darren took me to meet him for the first time on 26 October 2012, which is almost 3 months before he died, then again during the first half of November .  His wit was still keen, and his eyes were still sharp.  I think Bill would have...

Going home

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I'm at the end of a week in Melbourne.  I fly home tomorrow afternoon, and very sadly, it has been a watershed week.  There was no last minute change.   Today I spent the day at Caulfield Racecourse, gratefully, among friends.  I didn't get lost on the way there, and after the disaster that was Thursday morning, I was glad about that. My friend Mark Gatt took these of me on track today.  I have a new delivery to look forward to this coming week, which I will use when the Famous Pony resumes.  I finally ordered it late Monday, in a fit of "I will make my own decisions, and I will no longer be swayed by others", and I'm pleased to have done so. My friend Mark Gatt took these.  They are ok. Bron and Gary Wild.  He's a fabulous friend.  He's been great this week.  A special person and friend. I began the week in Melbourne by immediately taking steps to move on.  Did it work?  Perhaps there was...