Pasteups - Church Street / Newtown (Sat 17 Nov 2012)

Pasteups - Church Street / Newtown (Sat 17 Nov 2012) Portraits - Pasteups - Church Street / Newtown (Sat 17 Nov 2012)
Spotted this lot from King Street and made a few moments to make some photos on my Canon S95 (to follow) and iPhone (those here).

Whosus - Back on the Water - Gunnamatta Bay / Cronulla (Sun 22 Apr 2012)

Whosus - Back on the Water - Gunnamatta Bay / Cronulla (Sun 22 Apr 2012)
Whosus - A Sign - Gunnamatta Bay / Cronulla (Sun 22 Apr 2012)
Whosus - A Double Sign - Gunnamatta Bay / Cronulla (Sun 22 Apr 2012)
Had Whosus, our OC1, out on the water for the first time since mid-June last year, when I moved by to Kirrawee. She has been sitting in the Garage there for all that time, waiting patiently for me to sell my old car (mid-July 2011) and then to buy a new car (early Jan 2012) and then roof racks (mid-Feb 2012).

Hardest bit was the last bit and that was trying to find the motivation to get back on the water with her. Well today was the day and it feels like the right time with just 10 weeks to Hong Kong for World Club Crew Championships. As I took the top photo at the end of the session with Kelly, Bec and Greg, a Rainbow and then a Double Rainbow was definitely an approving sign from above for sure. I had not seen a rainbow like this since the afternoon of Jenny's Funeral.

Today's words of wisdom by the prolific Kirk Tuck (*) who writes (*)..

To know how to do something well and know why you need to know how opens the doors of consciousness and intentional creativity.

It was great to back out on the water with her and the conditions were fantastic to get the feel for the swell and the runners. I think I learnt more today than I had in the last 3 and 1/2 years or maybe it was the latent accumulation of all that experience I have gained since Whosus arrived.

Whosus Christening - Geoff, Jenny, Joanne and Whosus - Glebe School / Blackwattle Bay (Sat 17 Oct 2008)
Whosus - Balmoral Saturday Open Water Session - (Sat 04 Apr 2009)
As we paddled past Darook Park to and from Port Hacking, I reminisced on our Wedding Day at Cronulla and the beautiful photos that were taken almost 12 years ago. How much life has changed since then.

Joanne, Tim, Geoff, Jenny, David and Jenny - Darook Park / Crounulla (Sun 30 Apr 2000)

Red on the Edge - Erskineville (Sun 17 Oct 2010)

Red on the Edge - Erskineville (Sun 17 Oct 2010)
Recently downloaded all my iPhone photos for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with a few. This was one of them.

Skulk - Forbes Place / Newtown (Thu 28 Apr 2011)

Skulk - Forbes Place / Newtown (Thu 28 Apr 2011)

Pasteup - Bucknell Street / Newtown (Sun 20 Mar 2011)

Pasteup - Bucknell Street / Newtown (Sun 20 Mar 2011)

Kettlebell Twist - Born this Way - Lady Gaga (youtube)

Born this Way - Lady Gaga (youtube)
Each campaign has its moments - those moments that take you by surprise, capture your imagination, make you realise with crystal-like clarity why you are doing what you doing and, best of all, put a smile on your face.

Tonight I just had one of those moments for this Campaign, with all of us in a line doing our one-arm kettlebell exercises to the beat and rhythm of this song - Born this Way. Kettlebells will never be the same.

The Video is in production and on task for a northern summer release and World Premiere in Tampa Bay where the International Dragon Boat Community will come together to view it for the first time. Stay tuned ..

Carmen, Lisa, Karen, Tamara, Jo, Rachel, Frank and Gio (and all the others that have ventured to Concord on a Tuesday Night) you have made the fitness testing workouts so much fun. You encourage and inspire me to be better than I thought I ever could be. You make me realise how lucky I am to be involved in this experience we share on the Road to Tampa.

Thank You.


My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir

There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are
She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe
So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far
Listen to me when I say

I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way

I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive

I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave

Karen, Carmen and Lisa - Born this Way - Twist - Just warming up - Fitness2u / Concord (Tue 14 Jun 2011)

On Carpark Spaces - Genoa (Sun 14 Aug 2005) / Shanghai (Thu 06 May 2010)

Parking Space - Genoa / Italy (Sun 14 Aug 2005)

Parking Space - Shanghai / China (Thu 06 May 2010)
Always question myself why I take these kind of photos and at times I say to myself:

What are you thinking? What are you seeing? What will others think?

When I look at it now, I can see and appreciate, just like Jeffrey Smart (specifically here):

the geometery, colour and lines

I am always surprised to see photos that are so far apart in time and space to be so similiar in intent and result. Makes me realise that my visual filter is consistent, strong and resilent in time. Afterall, they are just photos of a carpark spaces.

WHY CANT I BE BEAUTIFUL - Buckland Lane / Newtown / Sydney (Tue 12 Apr 2011)

WHY CANT I BE BEAUTIFUL - Buckland Lane / Newtown / Sydney (Tue 12 Apr 2011)
Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly.

David Foster Wallace (21 May 2005)

Sign (2 of 2) - Jane St / Kensington / Sydney (Tue 12 Apr 2011)

Sign (2 of 2) - Jane St / Kensington / Sydney (Tue 12 Apr 2011)

Photo - Table and Chairs - Jindabyne (Thu 30 Dec 2010)

Photo - Table and Chairs - Jindabyne - Thu 30 Dec 2010 (picasa)
A photo of some chairs and table on the balcony of the apartment we stayed in during our recent trip to Jindabyne.

I like the simplicity and complexity of this photo. There are only a few tones (the part of the simplicity) and it is hard to tell what is a shadow, and what is the chair and table (the part of the complexity).

Misty The Cat - Newtown (Sat 13 Nov 2010)

Misty The Cat - Newtown (Sat 13 Nov 2010)
Misty The Cat - Newtown (Sat 13 Nov 2010)
Could not help taking a few more photos with my iPhone as I walked past today.

Save Da Koala's - Henderson Road/Alexandria (21 Oct 2010)

SAVE DA KOALA'S - Henderson Road/Alexandria (21 Oct 2010)

Little Eveleigh Street - Redfern (Tue 19 Oct 2010)

Little Eveleigh Street - Redfern (Tue 19 Oct 2010)
Walked past here on the way to the Gym. Noticed the red marking on the road. Quickly snapped this. Just like the colours.

We Are Raw Meat - Newtown (13/17 Oct 2010)

There is always something new to look at when wandering around the Inner City and Newtown. Thought these go together nicely ..

We Are Raw Meat - King Street/Newtown - (Sun 17 Oct 2010)
Cat - Soudan Lane/Newtown - (Wed 13 Oct 2010)
Cat - Soudan Lane/Newtown - (Wed 13 Oct 2010)
I have seen the cat in various places - from Newtown to Enmore. This is the first to go beyond black.

Photos: Intersection - Bondi Junction / Sydney - Wed 22 Sep 2010

Intersection - Target - Bondi Junction - Wed 22 Sep 2010
Intersection - Red: Bigger, Better, Brighter - Bondi Junction - Wed 22 Sep 2010
Intersection - Red, Yellow and Green - Corner Park and Castlereagh Streets/Sydney - Wed 22 Sep 2010
"Just mucking around!" - Geoff 22 Sep 2010

PS - Sydney Life 2010 Starts Thu 23 Sep 2010 (until Sun 24 Oct 2010).

Photo: Keep Clear - Newtown - Sat 4 Sep 2010

Graffiti - Keep Clear - Newtown - Sat 4 Sep 2010
Quite like this one. Stumbled across it in King Street Shop rear car park.

Graffiti Artists have a great sense of colour coordination. Also like the succint way of communicating an idea or message.

Photographer: Murray Fredericks

Murray Fredericks is an Australian Photographer. I was aware of him and his works from my foray into large format photography. I had bought a 4x5 inch large format camera in Shanghai in November 2004 (that's another story) and I needed to learn how to use it. Murray was offering a weekend workshop at a rural location in western NSW, near Oberon, and I had considered attending. With assistance of my friend Leigh Perry, I was able to work it all out and did not need to take Murray's workshop in the end. Some scans of my initial transparencies, by an Epson 4990 scanner, are here

I follow news regarding photography and photography exhibitions in Sydney - typically article written by Robert McFarlane who writes occasionally for the Sydney Morning Herald (just found he has a blog at ozphotoreview.blogspot.com). I have known of Murray since the time his work was exhibited at the Point Light Gallery in 2003. His initial SALT work was also reviewed by Robert McFarlane

When flying to Prague, on the flight to Prague from Helsinki on FinnAir, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to read an English Newspaper (The Financial Times) that had a review of Murray's exhibition in London at the Hamiltons Gallery in Mayfair. I pulled out the page inflight and put it away with a mental note to make sure I would find the Gallery and view the Salt Exhibition when in London a few weeks later. Was very impressed to read that his photos were being compared to Turner paintings and that the largest and most expensive photo was being sold for 30,000 Pounds - pretty impressive for a humble landscape photographer who started his career as an Economist from Sydney University.

Blue Sky Thinking - Murray Fredericks - SALT II - A Newspaper Article found inflight between Helsinki and Prague - Sat 22 Aug 2009 - (picasa)
The day before the Great River Race, I had organised our seats on boats and I had time to do some sight seeing in London. I found the Gallery using Google Maps and made my way there on the Tube. I found the Gallery easily and chatted with the Gallery guy, who gave my a DVD of the SALT Documentary of his trip to Lake Eyre. Managed to sneak in a few photos before I left for the Photographers Gallery (yet another story), which was walking distance away (well maybe at least a couple hours rambling through the back streets of London).

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

SALT37 by Murray Fredericks - Sep 2009 (www.gosee.de)

Self Portrait in Lake Eyre - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)
The ABC are showing his SALT Documentary tonight. There was a review in yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald titled - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations. An extract follows:

Murray Fredericks - Sydney Morning Herald 22 Mar 2010 - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations - Tue 23 Mar 2010 (picasa)
Having been "the guy with a camera" at high school who took pictures of sports teams, Fredericks was a serious photographer with commercial and artistic ambitions in his mid-twenties. He shot what he calls traditional coffee table-style photos until he realised he wanted more from his work.

"I reached the point where I went through everything and went 'there's nothing new here'. All I'm doing is finding new angles and new locations but the message itself - and the way the message is delivered - isn't changing'," he says.

"So I went through everything again and I thought 'which images affect me differently?' and they were the images that conveyed a sense of space."

That discovery has taken Fredericks 14 times to Lake Eyre in outback South Australia in the past six years. His aim was to photograph the flat salt plain with its low horizon and lack of distinctive features.

Hauling his gear to the location by bicycle, he spent up to five weeks by himself trying to capture the nothingness. And when things changed, he wanted to capture that too.

"Everything happens on the cusp, on the change,'' he says. ''It's the transition periods that are interesting because that's when the stuff you can't imagine or you can't expect happens."

Fredericks's shots of land and sky have proven so popular there are three galleries - in Sydney, Melbourne and London - waiting for his new work.

SALT 8 by Murray Fredericks

Found a nice review by Rebecca Wolkenstein who writes:

.. it wasn’t until I viewed his film SALT, that I decided my roster couldn’t live without him. The film and the work had a spiritual element I had never really understood before then. It sounds rather dramatic to be speaking this way, doesn’t it? When the film comes out [..], I highly recommend that you immerse yourself in the landscape. It’s full of surprises.

SALT 5 by Murray Fredericks

My friend Leigh Perry shoots very similar photos, but typically from the shore of Sydney's coastline - see his portfolios: Invariance and Peripheral Vision. Beautiful photos ..

Invariance #116011 - Reef by Leigh Perry

Invariance #332 - Lake. by Leigh Perry

my iPhone Photos

A new toy and a new picasa Album - my iPhone Photos. Just worked out how to do emails. A few of the first photos which were emailed to picasa from the phone. Lots of fun ..

my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

me and my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Jo and my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)


Go the Bunnies - Redfern - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Rust and Paint - Redfern - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Green - Milk Crate - Newtown - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)