The Rain is Back…..

Yep, after a day of respite from the rain, back it has come.

This young model (Sami) is determined not to let rain stop her from enjoying the outdoors.

Black and White………..

Whilst I was shooting a burlesque show at a large Brisbane restaurant, the piano player mentioned that all he had were some snap shots of himself.

We moved away from the piano as it was near a bar lit with multi coloured LED lights which are in fashion it seems and captured this.

Just like the keys on the piano…Black and White!!

Waiting, waiting………..

The recent spate of inclement weather has slowed the pace of shooting to a standstill. The location shoots that were planned for the last week are now being rescheduled and in the interim, I am preparing for the up coming Gold Coast Fashion Week, www.goldcoastfashionweek.com.au/. Some of Australia’s’ best established and upcoming designers will present a week full of style, colour and excitement here on the Gold Coast.

I will be teaming up with Nathan from DreamSpace Productions to capture stills and video from this premier event on Australia’s Fashion calendar.

In the meantime, I will be waiting around, like this young lady, Olivia, for the action to start.

Colour shines through………….(with a little help!)

I took the kids for a drive to the north end of the Gold Coast today, just to get them out the house if nothing else. Low and behold the rain held off and we managed a walk and the kids had a play.

It was still overcast and grey but I couldn’t help but take a few shots…you know how it is, a camera is no good in the cupboard and with digital you can always delete at no cost.

When I put the images on the Mac at home there was something missing…colour!

Now I don’t have one of the HDR programs that are available not because I don’t like HDR, it just that I would hardly ever use it and therefore I can use the money to buy my son yet another pair of larger shoe’s.

I fiddled for a while in Camera Raw and these are the results, remember they are just a bit of fun!

The last shot syndrome……

With high expectations the shoot begins, the model has arrived on time, the make up artist is set up with great ideas, the designer has taken your advice and set the garments on the rack in shooting order, and you, the photographer has triple checked the  equipment and the locations to be used. Even mother nature has provided a great backdrop.

But …….. the shoot just doesn’t flow, the model is great and patient, the make up artist does her normal high quality work, the designer doesn’t get overly protective of her garments and yet the shoot has no feeling, no energy, and as much as you, the photographer, try to inject humour, creativity and fun into the mix, you can tell everybody else would rather be washing their hair.

After an hour or so of moving gear, resetting lights, getting adjustments to clothes and make up done, you find yourself shooting the last set and bingo!…the magic appears, the dress gets some movement, the model poses just right, the make up artist suggests a great hair style change and even the designer is smiling and clapping.Everybody walks away feeling great about the shoot, forgetting the moments of temper, unresponsiveness, lack of inspiration, and all saying ” cant wait to work together soon!”.

Thank goodness for the “Last Shot Syndrome”.

Creeks and streams……….

Water is spilling out of the hinterland where-ever you look.

there are small streams,

there are running creeks,

 

and fast filling billabongs.

 

Fifties Fun……………….

I was watching a show on the TV this evening which was focusing on fifties music. Coolangatta at the south end of the Gold Coast hosts a fifties themed event.

Music, fashion and cars combine in a week of booby socks, twirling skirts, slicked back hair and revving motors doing their best to bring back the happy days.

The cars are simply awesome, loud, colourful and with an aura of lawlessness.

The girls go out of their way to recreate the fashions with a modern twist.

And the bands hammer out the well-known hits of yesterday.

Hinterland Beauty………..

With all the rain we have had the Gold Coasts normally beautiful hinterland has raised the bar in the beauty stakes a bit higher. Normally sedate creeks are now raging torrents and trickles over rocks are now waterfalls.

Higher up the valleys, the mist hangs over the limestone escarpments almost till midday and provides a magnificent scene of country life albeit 10 minutes to the beach.

Our Life Savers………..

 

It’s the Australia Day Public holiday here in Australia. That usually means a sleep in, a trip to the park with the kids or a BBQ with family and friends for most people. For us photographers, an early morning fashion photo shoot or some landscape work capturing the beautiful sunrise light.

Lots of people here on the Gold Coast we have days of rain meaning most people stayed indoors, but this morning the beaches were littered with debris from the storms and every man, woman and dog were out getting so much-needed fresh air.

I spoke briefly about waterfront properties last post, well I think this position is even more spectacular.

Back to the point of the post, while the rest of us relax on our national holiday, spare a thought for the groups of volunteers that continue to watch over us while we play. This Surf Life Saving boat was out at about 6.00am for a training run, with  messy seas, light rain and fog to contend with these great Australians were still honing their skills. Thank you for all your efforts, it is appreciated.

Waterfront property…………

As I have already mentioned it is storm season here on the Gold Coast, but really should we have to sell the car to buy a kayak?

The local surf beaches didn’t have their normal fantastic outlook, not only is the ocean a dirty muddy colour, but also the blue sky has been replaced by torrential curtains of rain.

We have a large creek running by the back of our place and normally it’s probably 150 metres across, today it was double that. Areas of flat land were inundated with the run off from the hinterland and it effectively turned our abode into a ritzy waterfront property. Of course when this is all soaked up the hinterlands natural beauty will be more like a work of art.

According to the weather department more is on the way……where is that scuba gear??