On Being Yourself - Spencer Lum / Ground Glass (Wed 29 Aug 2012)

Skulk - one of my favourite characters - Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)
Spencer Lum (*) writes on (*):

[..] being yourself is your best shot.

It’s your best shot to take what you have and what you know and put it out there and get somewhere with it.

It’s your best shot to avoid regret.

It’s your best chance to make a mark in the world in a way that matters to you.

Why do I like Skulk? Maybe because he is not afraid to be who he is. Yes, that's what I like about Skulk.

Where all the Good Stuff Happens - Spencer Lum (Tue 28 Aug 2012)

Last Training Session - Sydney 2012 Auroras - Bank St / Pyrmont (Sun 26 Aug 2012)
Spencer Lum (*) observes (*) that:

The 90% point is deceptive. It feels like you’re nearly there. But you’re really just getting started. And if you don’t make the big push right then and there, you’re not doing the things you need to do to learn what you are really all about. It’s in the final 10% that all the good stuff happens.

A Big Thank You to all the Sydney based 2012 Auroras. The training is now done here in Sydney, though the journey continues and the final push starts - Brisbane this weekend and Busan (*) / South Korea the following week. Enjoy the final phases of preparation.

I hope you find all the Good Stuff that comes with the sacrifices made and risks taken to get to this point.

Last Training Session - Sydney 2012 Auroras - Blackwattle Bay (Sun 26 Aug 2012)

I have a Dream - King Street / Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)

I have a Dream - King Street / Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)
Detail - I have a Dream - King Street / Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)
Was focused on the cheese street art by Loyalty Royal/smc3 (*) when I took this photo. There is always something interesting on this piece of wall, which is part of the entrance to a shop. Will dig out the other one I have and put it here.

The lower photo is a crop of the original and it shows some of the detail as to what is else is happening in the scene.

Street Art Reflection - Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)

Street Art Reflection - Newtown (Sat 25 Aug 2012)

Car - Brown St / Alexandria (Sat 25 Aug 2012)

Car - Brown St / Alexandria (Sat 25 Aug 2012)

2012 Auroras - Camp 2 / Tallebudgera (Sun 24 Jun 2012)

2012 Auroras - Camp 2 / Tallebudgera (Sun 24 Jun 2012)

Two Photos - Before Irene - Quebec (Sat 27 Aug 2012)

Two Photos - Before Irene - Quebec (Sat 27 Aug 2012)
We had arrived by bus from Montreal the day before. It was a nice day and there was a Scottish Marching Band Festival on in Quebec. This was the calm before the storm that would come the next day as the tail of Hurricane Irene (*).

Jenny and Geoff - Tart Cafe / Erskineville (Sun 30 Mar 2008)

Jenny and Geoff - Tart Cafe / Erskineville (Sun 30 Mar 2008)
Just back from a weekend up at Port Stephens where we paddled with Pacific Dragons in an OC6 changes race. We were a couple weeks away from the National Dragon Boat Titles in Perth. Jenny had been forced to withdraw from the trip due to some chemotherapy which had just started. In this photo, I am at the start of 3 month injury break from paddling due to an oblique muscle pull from the changes race the day before. It was my first major paddling injury and a good test for me. Jo later that night would trip over her travel bag and pull an ACL in her knee. In the matter of a few days, all 3 of us had gone from representing NSW in Perth, to not (Steve and Pam kindly had our names on the crew list in Perth). All our flights were postponed and we would spend a week in Perth and the South West of Western Australia, in October later that year.

Hong Kong Colours #6 - Tsim Cha Tsui / Hong Kong (Wed 12 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #6 - Tsim Cha Tsui / Hong Kong (Wed 12 Jul 2012)

Car Park - Corner of Avenue du Mont-Royal and Rue de Bullion / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Car Park - Corner of Avenue du Mont-Royal and Rue de Bullion / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Sydney Life 2012 Collages - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)

Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Red Pretender - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Black Pretender - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Above - a few variations of a Picasa Contact Sheet Collage of this year's upcoming Sydney Life (*) Finalists, plus my own two unsuccessful entries (Red and Black) at the end. Just dreaming - think I have too much time on my hands..

Now the real selection, with my initial favourite as the background:

Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Rabbits - The Finalists - Art and About / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Photographer and photo details:

1. Adrian Cook (*) / blog (*): Dog Day Afternoon. Winner of the Wenty Park Mongrel Cup 2011.


2. Marco Bok (*) / SMH:Tue 10 Jan 2006 (*): Lifesavers Bondi Beach. Candid photo of a lifesaving exercise. From a large unpublished series on Bondi Beach made whilst living there.


3. Garry Trinh (*) / Google (*): Super Size Hamburger. A re-examining of everyday life in Sydney.


4. Graham Monro (*) / blog (*): Modern Family. A typical Sydney family in 2012, everyone is connected, but no one is talking.


5. Jennifer Blau (*) / blog (*): It’s time to wake up and become sustainable. Walking in the bush opposite her home on Sydney’s North Shore, Robyn calls for a more sustainable life.


6. Maylei Hunt (*) / Google (*): Let Them Eat Wedding Cake. Sydney residents have been taking the streets to protest for the Equal Rights for Gay Marriage in Australia. It’s time.


7. Ingvar Keene (*): Cormac Malabar Pool. Last light and last swim after a long hot summer day.


8. Louise Whelan (*) / Google (*): By the Pool. Kira Hula Hoops beside the pool for the 75th Anniversary of North Sydney Pool.


9. Lyndal Irons (*) / blog (*): Wash n’ Wax Ronaldinho. Youths spend Saturday night playing football at a late night carwash in Concord. From the series Parramatta Road.


10. Jenny Evans (*) / Google (*): Above Sydney. Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights provides a stunning view of Sydney Harbour.


11. Hugh Peterswald (*) / Google (*): Celebrity Wave Sydneysiders crowd to see US television celebrity Oprah as she leaves from her lunch in Bondi.


12. Matt Kaarma (*) / Google (*): Contact. Whilst Sydney parties, dines and dances, soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the city train hard for war.


13. Tamara Dean (*): Chelsea & Caroline Hibernian House. From my new series depicting images of young contemporary Australian women within their environments.


14. Daniel Gibbs (*) / blog (*): Secret Women’s Business. Girls on a school excursion in Botany Bay National Park huddle around an Aboriginal Elder to learn some secrets; I was excluded!


15. Roman Balla (*): Winter Sunseekers. My mother is 86 this year. On sunny winters days she tries to warm herself and her guinea pig "Squeek".


16. Richard Payne (*): Women Shopping in Auburn. Sydney is a diverse city and I wanted to show the diversity of life through an image of an every day activity.


17. Sally McInerney (*) / Google (*): Shark in pool, Dover Heights. Someone had added a shark to an estate agent’s auction sign overlooking the ocean.


18. Alex Davies (*) / Google (*): Hubub. Justin Shoulder drifts through Hyde Park as Hubub during APEC protests Sydney.


19. Ann-Maree Moodie (*) / Google (*): Bunnies on the Line. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much lovin’ and intervention is required – warm, soapy water and a day in the sun hanging from the quintessential icon of the Australian backyard.


20. Bryce Watanasoponwong (*): We look great. Three Sikh followers view their self-posed image, taken on a mobile phone, during the Vaisakhi festival at Martin Place.


21. Cassandra French (*): Historic Chinese Market Gardens. I would love to see these heritage gardens protected and preserved. They are under serious threat from the neighbouring cemetery which is looking for more land for burial plot


22. Deb Kent (*): Cake on a Hot Summer’s Day. On a sweltering hot summers day the rosy cheeked party girls stand watching their cakes melt away.

Looking forward to it as usual. It is just across the road from where I work. It is fun to see the photos in situ amongst the trees and how they play with the early morning and mid afternoon light and shadows. More when the exhibition begins.

99c - Mural - Montreal (Wed 24 Aug 2011)

99c - Mural - Montreal (Wed 24 Aug 2011)

Hong Kong Colours #4 - Shaded Blue - Mong Kok / Hong Kong (Tue 10 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #4 - Shaded Blue - Mong Kok / Hong Kong (Tue 10 Jul 2012)
Did not quite turn out how I would have liked, but I just wanted to capture the beautiful shaded blue, no matter the composition.

Shadows - Sculpture - Rue Sainte-Catherine Est / Montreal (Tue 23 Aug 2011)

Shadows - Sculpture - Rue Sainte-Catherine Est / Montreal (Tue 23 Aug 2011)
Our first night in Montreal after traveling all day by bus from Boston.

Rue Sainte-Catherine Est had been blocked off to traffic for the summer and most restaurants had temporary floor space with tables and seats built out onto the road. There seemed to be some kind of summer festival happening.

Plenty of interesting street art here and the inner city was old and a little bit grungy - in way that made me feel comfortable, just like I feel around the Inner City of Sydney.

We would stay here for another 2 full days before heading to Quebec on the Friday.

Hong Kong Colours #3 - Orange and Green - Yau Ma Tei / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #3 - Orange - Yau Ma Tei / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #3 - Green - Yau Ma Tei / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)
Orange and Green - two of Jenny's favourite colours.

Hong Kong Colours #2 - A Little Bit of Red - Jordan / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul and Wed 11 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #2 - A Little Bit of Red #1 - Jordan / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)
Hong Kong Colours #2 - A Little Bit of Red #2 - Jordan / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)
The bike was the delivery bike for the Restaurant which we ate at for lunch. I took the photo of it before we entered the Restaurant.

Very nice place. The red and green coloured seats are what convinced us to give it a go - obviously a great reason to chose a place to eat at, particularly in unfamiliar territory. Jo kindly agreed to eating here and we were not disappointed. It was just what we were looking for - that being local food, eaten by the locals and well off the tourist track. Like most places we ate at no one could speak english and a menu with pictures was used to indicate our choices.

As we ate our meals, the delivery guy left with a plastic bag of takeaway boxes. He returned a few minutes later with the plastic bag still full and there was much laughter amongst the staff. There did not seem to be too much concern for the delivery and it looked unlikelly the order would be delivered.

We could not quite work out why and what was happening, When we left, we saw the bike again and it had a flat back tyre - this was obviously the source of the laughter. No doubt a quick trip to the bike repair guy (*) would get the show back on the road.

There is always a reason for everything. As my paddling buddy, Eugene (*), once said:

Everything happens for a reason.

Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to work it out, if you keep your eyes open.

Trees and Water - Charles River Esplanade / Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)

Charles River Esplanade - Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)
One year today since I sat by the Charles River (*).

For some reason today, I am drawn to an inspired piece of recent writing (*) by Spencer Lum (*):

[..] if you’re willing to take a gamble, I’ll bet on you. If you’re willing to put it out there, if you’re willing to fail, if you’re willing to let go of it all, thumb your nose at the world, and do it your way, I’ll believe in you. You may not find what you want, but you’ll find what you need. Want is easily known, but need is a thing that only reveals itself in retrospect.

I have thought a lot about belief (*) and self-confidence recently, particularly after my little speech (*). Often it takes some time to have the confidence to believe in one self. Initially, more than not, the belief comes from others, those who support and love you for who you are.

It is only with time, experience and the support of those others who believe in you, that you can find your own self belief and you start say things to yourself like - yes, I can do that, you start finding reasons why you can, rather than you can't, and when you question yourself with why?, you are able to say well why not(*) - and it is then that things start to happen.

As time goes by, you become stronger, more independent and not afraid to give things a go, even if it means making mistakes or even failing. You know that the risk is worth the reward of at least trying, whatever the outcome. I think I even knew (*) this, one year ago today, when I sat beside the Charles River (*) - as I said back then, a week later (*):

I would still like to think that I am still a believer. After all three steps forward and two steps back is still a step in the right direction.

Thanks for believing Spencer.

The most Successful Art is almost on the Verge of Failure - Garry Winogrand (Aug 1976)

Olympic Welcome Home Parade #1 and #2- George St / Sydney (Mon 20 Aug 2012)
In Coffee and Workprints: A Workshop With Garry Winogrand (*), Mason Resnick writes about some photographic advice given to him by Garry Winogrand (*):

[..] treat editing photographs as "an adventure in seeing" and to enjoy the whole process.

[..] tension between the form and content of a photograph makes it succeed.

[..] the most successful art is almost on the verge of failure.

I think all these points can be applied to all aspects of life. Photography gives photographers a great chance to experience life and to abstract what they observe and learn.

Particularly like the last point. I know from my own paddling experiences that our best efforts have verged on the edge of failure. You are in, then you are out. Things are breaking down and coming back together again - and so it goes all way the way through the set or race. My GPS has told me this time and time again in our training sessions. The sets that feel the worst are often better than the ones with that perfect feeling. Something I have known for a long time. It is hard to talk to others about this counter intuitiative observation of performance. This quote might come in handy.

Olympic Welcome Home Parade #3 - George St / Sydney (Mon 20 Aug 2012)

On Remembering - Remembering Memories make the Memories Stronger - Jonathan Blaustein (Mon 20 Aug 2012)

Colours - The Met / New York City (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

Jonathan Blaustein (*) writes about his visit to The Met (*) in New York Summer Visit 2012 – Part 1 (*) where he concludes:

Remembering memories make the memories stronger

Part of the reason I blog here. Memories are not memories if you can't remember them.

Something worth remembering.

Hong Kong Colours #1 - Material Rolls / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)

Hong Kong Colours #1 - Material Rolls / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)
Could not help myself to photography these rolls of material. Colour always catches my eye and draws me in. A few more colour photos to follow (*) over the next day or two.

Coffee, Tea and Me - Redfern St / Redfern (Fri 13 Jul 2012)

Coffee, Tea and Me (*) - Redfern St / Redfern (Fri 13 Jul 2012)
The soft mid-winter midday light creates an even exposure across the areas in direct sunlight and allows some detail in the shadows to come out. I think the top photo is stronger because of the silhouetted figure and his mobile phone to his ear. It compliments the girl on the left looking at her mobile's screen.

Do Not Enter / One Way - Commonwealth Ave and Hereford St / Back Bay (Fri 19 Aug 2011)

Do Not Enter / One Way - Commonwealth Ave and Hereford St / Back Bay (Fri 19 Aug 2011)
AMTRAK from New York Penn Station to Boston's South Station. After checking into the Boston Park, we wandered along Comm Ave up towards Mass Ave. A dinner stop at a Thai Restaurant and back along Boyleston after trying some frozen yogurt - some vague recollections of those big transition days where you have just become familiar with New York and then it is time to start all over again..

One year ago today.

Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)

Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square (*) / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square (*) / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
A little exposure trick to make the dog glow - was reminded of a Trent Park photo (*), particularly when it is converted to black and white.

A beautiful small park just to the east of it's bigger and more well known neighbours - Washington Square and Union Square. Not many people here and the lady walking her dog was one of the few I saw. Definitley a park for the locals. I sat here for an hour or so in the shade of some trees. It was hot and I was sweating, and it was not long before I nodded off into a dreamy sleep. It hardly seems a year ago.

Untitled - New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)

Untitled - New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
Happened to quick to get everything right. Love the shadows of the fire stairs. One year ago today.

Photography is a Game - Joerg Colberg (Fri 17 Aug 2012)

Shadows - Window and Guttering - Prague (Sep 2005)
Joerg Colberg writes (*)..

Photography is a game [..] where the rules aren't always that clear, which is, confusingly, part of what makes it so exciting. It's a game that often is little more than an invitation to come and play and try to figure out the rules as one goes.

Back on the road again.

Learning to be a little more Certain of the Uncertain - Well Maybe?

Detail - Loch Ness Locks / Fort Augustus / Scotland (Sat 04 Sep 2005)
I did not find the Loch Ness Monster,
but I did find this amazing piece of rusted iron.
I have a been a little stuck on this post. Whenever this happens I look to the Manual of the Warrior of Light (*) by Paulo Coelho (*) and found this ..

A warrior knows that the ends do not justify the means.

Because there are no ends, there are only means. Life carries him from unknown to unknown. Each moment is filled with this thrilling mystery: the warrior does not know where he came from or where is going.

But he is not here by chance. And he is overjoyed by surprises and excited by landscapes that he has never seen before. He often feels afraid, but that is normal in a warrior.

If he thinks only of the goal, he will not be able to pay attention to the signs along the way. If he concentrates only on one question, he will miss various answers that are there beside him. That is why the warrior submits.

This is my 1000th post. A milestone of sorts and something I would not have thought possible when I made my first post (*) here on Thu 26 Feb 2009.

I think the above passage from the Manual of the Warrior of Light (*) provides a useful metaphor for this blog and the 1000 posts that it now comprises.

It is a reflection of my life and who I am. I am never quite sure where it is going - I just try to make connections between what I read, what I see, what I photograph and what I feel.

A lot has happened and changed in the last three and half years since that first post. I have learnt a lot about myself and others. I have made plenty of mistakes, yet I think I have done a few things right. I have been defeated, yet I have have had a few wins, for which I am grateful. I have been sad and I have been happy. I have felt lost and without purpose yet in some ways I have found myself. I have looked to the past, present and future. I have had regrets [and learnt how to let them go]. I have given up and I have battled on. I have lost belief in myself, yet I have found ways to restore that belief. I have been hurt, upset and I have forgiven. I have cried and I have laughed. I have been directionless and without purpose, yet I have had goals. I have been inspired. I have tried hard, too hard sometimes. I tried to be something I am not, and I have learnt my limits and what I can be. I have watched and followed, and at times I have lead, mostly unknowingly I should think.

Somehow I am happy when some say I should be angry. I have suffered and have empathised with the suffering of others. I have been drawn into other people's battles and have known how to respond. I believe in luck (and fate) and know that it comes from being prepared and the willingness to take a risk.

I have changed but remained the same. I am older though I feel younger. I am experienced but still feel like a beginner. I am wiser but more naive. I found a voice (an awkward one at that) I did not know I had. You don't know how far you have been until you get back. I've been all over and it's been all over me . Therefore I am thankful for this blog and what I have learnt about myself and others.

Many times I have asked myself why? post what I have posted here and other times I have said to myself, well why not? (this post being an example). I am starting to forget things, so it is nice to make the effort to write what is important, so it can be recalled. I have memories and I am making memories.

Most importantly, I have Remembered Jenny (*) - how she lived and how she died. Jo and I are the bearers of her memory and she lives on in our hearts and in our minds until we lay to rest beside her.

I could go on, but I won't ().

It's all here in these 1000 posts which are just like snapshots of my life.

Like Paulo Coelho's good warrior, I am not really sure where I am going and what might be ahead. I have come to learn that this is what life is all about. Ultimately I think I have learnt to become a bit more certain of the uncertain. I have accepted this - well at least I think I have.

Hopefully, i will have the opportunity to post another 1000 posts. Let's see what happens.

[the warrior] is overjoyed by surprises and excited by landscapes that he has never seen before - Loch Ness / Scotland (Sat 03 Sep 2005)

Scotish Landscape - Spean Bridge / Scotland (Sat 05 Sep 2005)

Scotish Landscape - Spean Bridge / Scotland (Sat 05 Sep 2005)
The Canon Pro1 gave this an almost painterly quality. On the way to loch Ness from our base at Fort William.

The Eye Is a Door - Anne Whiston Spirn (Fri 29 Jun 2012)

The Eye Is a Door (*) - vimeo (*) - Anne Whiston Spirn (*) (Fri 29 Jun 2012)
Well worth watching. Look forward to the release of the book. I have a copy of her book Language of Landscape (*)

The Eye Is a Door: Photography and the Art of Visual Thinking is about seeing as a way of knowing and photography as a medium of thought and a mode of discovery. To photograph mindfully is to look and think, to open a door between what can be seen directly and what is hidden and can only be imagined.

I like her photographs.

Exposure is a Creative Tool, not a Right or Wrong - Matt Kees (Sat 22 Sep 2001)

Underexposed? - Sydney (Tue 31 Jul 2001)
Matt Kees (*) was kind enough to give me few words of advice (*) regarding exposure ..

exposure is a creative tool, not a right or wrong. This picture is correctly exposed for what you were going for.

A few words of wisdom that have stayed with me since. Thanks Matt.

Bamboo Pile / Scaffolding - Nathan Road / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)

Bamboo Pile / Scaffolding - Nathan Road / Hong Kong (Mon 02 Jul 2012)
A pile of bamboo awaiting it's next job as scaffolding.

Scaffolding - Nathan Road / Hong Kong (Mon 09 Jul 2012)

Scaffolding #1 - Nathan Road / Hong Kong (Mon 09 Jul 2012)
Scaffolding #2 - Nathan Road / Hong Kong (Mon 09 Jul 2012)
Scaffolding everywhere. Bamboo, plastics ties and hessian coverings.

Green - Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2012)

Green #1 - Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)

Green #2 - Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)
Just a couple of little things that caught my eye as I wandered around Back Bay on the way to the Charles River.

With Paul - Glebe Deli / Glebe Point Rd / Glebe (Sun 29 Jul 2012)

With Paul - Glebe Deli / Glebe Point Rd / Glebe (Sun 29 Jul 2012)
Bumped into Paul at the Glebe Deli last Sunday. Paddle with Paul at Pacific Dragon's Outriggers. I have know him since I started OC6 paddling in early 2005. We have raced many races together. He is an inspiration and a great friend to all in our club.

Paul had just finished what we call a "coffee run" OC6 training session. For me I decided to get some much needed sleep, so did not sign up for the session.

Some home made soup for Paul and a cappuccino to finish it off. For me just a flat white coffee. Took this with my iPhone so that explains the blurry nature of the photo.

Boston Postcards - Apr 1994

Panorama Postcard - Boston (Apr 1994)
MIT Postcard - Boston (18 Apr 1994)
A couple of Boston Postcards that have sat on my various desk since my April 1994 trip to Boston.

The panorama card is one I bought as a souvenir for myself. I can even see where I sat down beside the Charles River (*)

The MIT card is one I sent to my work and ended up back with me after it had done the distribution list of my Work Group.

Not sure why I have kept them on my desk for all that time, but it might have something do with the fact that I have fond memories of Boston.

MIT / TIM - Charles River / Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)

MIT / TIM - Charles River / Back Bay / Boston (Mon 22 Aug 2011)