The Ball consisted of a lot of dancing and singing to a great live band and DJ, a little too much red wine consumption and way too much spillage (apologies on my behalf!) and a delicious sit down dinner. The waiters made sure there was plenty to drink, and the vege-options came out really fast. I wish we took a camera, as the dessert was the choice of an amazing lemony cheesecake or tiramisu. Both were delicious and looked pretty epic on the plate.

Jas and I both had a great night. We stayed at the casino for a while after the Ball finished, though we didn’t have a lot to gamble. We ended up sneaking out in the early hours of the morning before grabbing a cheeky kebab and heading home. I have only just come good today, I was lucky enough to nurse a massive hangover for the best part of Sunday – one of those ones where it hurts to move, even an eyeball.

We didn’t take a camera out, but we did grab a quick shot of each other before the night got started.

Luckily, Dayna offered to take a photo of both of us after doing Jas’ hair. Thanks Dayna!

Exams are 3 weeks away today – so I guess it is time to put the head down and get studying. I have got a lot to post after exams.

I love the ocean. I’m not much of a swimmer, but I could sit for hours in awe of its power, beauty and grace. I love the sound of waves crashing on the shore. There is always wildlife, mostly seagulls annoying people for a hot, salty chip, but it is beautiful nevertheless. And unless you’re dragging 10 kids, 3 different pieces of sporting equipment and enough towels to cover the entire coast, people usually seem happy when they are at the beach.

Last Thursday, Jas and I met down at Burleigh to enjoy the sunset. Burleigh is probably my favourite headland on the coast. I love the vibe down there. If I could, I’d probably try and move further south – but not at the cost of sitting in traffic everyday to and from uni. Did I mention how much GC traffic sucks!?! Anyway, I decided to take my camera to see how the light was while we were there.

It was forecast to rain, and some showers did end up rolling in from the south-east. However, in the small pockets between the rain, the sun put on a spectacular show for us lighting up the clouds, the moisture in the air and the ocean as it dipped below the horizon.

How cute are these two. They just got married and came to the headland for a photo. They snapped an iphone-pic of each other with the rainbow in the background before hastily heading off to enjoy the rest of their day. I hope they managed to capture the moment.

I snapped the fading light, the surfers and the skyscrapers across the coast. It was a magical sunset, and reminded me that I need to take the time to do the things I love.

I had to desaturate the ocean in most of these photos – the blue was so intense that it seems surreal and heavily photoshopped

These, however, are barely touched in post. As the sun dipped, the moisture in the air gave Surfers Paradise a softness and mysterious glow that I’d not seen before. If only Surfers was as welcoming as it seems from afar.

We almost forgot to look behind us to check the sunset as we walked back to the car. We would have missed the most amazing colours. They were so saturated, especially as the reflected off the wet sand. Unfortunately, a digital camera is still no match for our eyes, but the following have Daylight white balance and minimal edits – they still do not do justice for how amazing the sky was. Nevertheless, they’re worth sharing with you all.

As we turned around, I noticed the moon. It was glowing red and creeping over the ocean, almost as if it were embarrassed to have been caught resting, and not sitting high in the sky for us all to see.

Back to the assignments…

More photos coming soon.

We had been planning a visit to one of the many optometrists in our course, and we finally found the time when both our friend Alex, and ourselves were free for a checkup. Jas had her eyes tested previously, so she knew what to expect. I had never had my eyes checked, so I made Jas go first so I could watch. Jas didn’t have any serious problems and does not need glasses. She was told to do some pencil-push-ups to try and strengthen some of the muscles that move the eye – in other words, her eyes are pretty close to perfect.

Me, on the other hand… I have a slight astigmatism. An astigmatism is quite common, and refers to the altered curvature of the cornea/lens relative to the vertical and horizontal axis. I could use some glasses for minor correction, however, as I have not had any symptoms, it is not imperative that I get specs.

However, when my eye was photographed, I discovered that I have some swelling of the optic disc at the back of my eye. This can be a sign of glaucoma – a condition that can lead to blindness. Glaucoma usually presents with increased pressure in the eye, so I had the pressure measured while I was there to help rule out any serious concerns. Thankfully, I have good pressure in my eyes, so the ‘swelling’ is probably just anatomical variation. If the pressure was also elevated in my eyes, it would have been good to have that picked up early.

Visiting the optometrist is a good way to get your eye health screened, so I suggest you think about getting it done yourself. Who knows, you might find that your vision could be even better than it already is with some minor correction.

I was familiar with The Cullen, so I quickly convinced Jas that she needed me to come along for moral support. I told her I would help carry the bags and pull the suitcase, and wouldn’t get up to too much fun while she was on her official duties. Little did she know, I had my entire holiday planned – and it involved a LOT of coffee.

The Cullen is in Prahran – across the road from Prahran Market and about 2 minutes (by foot) away from Market Lane. With Market Lane so close, I knew I would have a constant supply of delicious, fresh caffeine. I ended up visiting Market Lane at least once a day while I was there, and that still felt like I was missing out. Over the numerous times Jas and I visited Market Lane, the coffee was consistently excellent. They were as good as last time we were down – they use non-homogenised milk and texture it perfectly. On Saturday, they even had a mushroom burger stall set up outside – the chutney on those burgers was delish. It was full of flavour and a little spicy – between Jas and I, that burger didn’t last long. Market Lane also served up the best double ristretto single-origin while I was in Melbourne. It had no bitterness and had some earthy-chocolate undertones. I loved it.

On Friday, Jas had to partake in official duties with Garnier. By official, what I really mean is a champagne breakfast, a blow-dry and a day of fun and food with some lovely ladies. I had the day off, so I ventured across town to visit a new cafe. Axil was recommended to me by a friend at uni – he is probably more into coffee that I am, so when someone like that tells you to visit a particular cafe, you do what you’re told. I double checked the address and headed out with a grumbling belly. Axil is located in Hawthorne, not too far from Prahran. I decided to get to Axil fairly early, and spend the day wandering around after breakfast and a coffee, or two.

After placing my orders, I was surprised at how quickly my breakfast and coffee was made – it was incredible. The staff were really friendly and the coffee was amazing. I ordered a latte and smashed avocado and persian fetta w/ poached eggs. After finishing that, I ordered a double ristretto of their single-origin (I can’t remember the details, sorry). The ristretto was a little bitter for my liking, but there were these delicious undertones of blueberry that would have probably been well suited to a piccolo or machiatto. I watched a few photography videos on my tablet, ordered another latte (hey! I’m on holidays, right?) and got up to leave a few hours after I arrived. I was well satisfied, and decided to walk back to Prahran. It was a beautiful day, and the 7k stroll back to Prahran took me past some cool buildings and photo-opportunities.

What’s a vegetarian trip to Melbourne without visiting the Nuttelex factory?

Some other moments I wanted to share:
Macaroons from a little store in Prahran Market, and an impromptu photoshoot inside our room.

I couldn’t pick a favourite of Jas

Breakfast that I enjoyed with extended family at Pillar of Salt. When I realised they have 5 Senses coffee, I decided to try the single-origin as a double ristretto. The short black was smooth and fruity. It was easy to drink, and definitely gave me a buzz to brace the cooler Melbourne weather.

Finally, when we arrived on Thurday, Jas and I managed to fit in a quick visit to Henryk’s photography exhibition at Rtist before meeting a friend for dinner at Hutong Dumpling House. I highly recommend doing both of those things while in Melbourne. Henryk’s photos look amazing in person (as in, more so than on his website), and Hutong do the best dumplings that my taste-buds have ever experienced.

Goodbye Melbourne.

A new member joined the Photography Challenges page on Facebook last week. She was so excited to be involved in the fun that it sparked my enthusiasm for the group again. Accordingly, I let her choose the weekly topic. She threw me a curve ball and chose Birds! I tweaked the topic to Birds and Wildlife, knowing that the day I venture out with my camera, the birds would all be laughing at me from afar, and I might end up getting lucky with a lizard sighting, or something.

As the weekend approached (and my opportunity to shoot some birdies), I took my camera along to a local blogger meetup that Jas was invited to with the intentions of taking some photos for her. Unfortunately for Jas, I did more chatting than shooting! I did shoot enough, however, to realise that my camera/flash playing up on me. I promptly sent my camera in to have the hot-shoe looked at. I suspect that the problem is with the hot-shoe; though this left me without my D700.

Not wanting the difficulty of the challenge to get the better of me, I pulled out my old D40. I paired it up with some nice lenses, and thought I’d take the opportunity to show you guys what difference a great lens can make. The D40 was made in 2006. It is 6 megapickles – 2MP less than my camera phone. There are minimal buttons on the body so I constantly had to dig through the settings, and the 3 auto-focus points left me lacking options when it came to shooting quickly. I was using the 70-200 VR2 and the 24-70, both Nikkor lenses. Hopefully, you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the experience of shooting with my old body again. It forced me to slow down and think about my photos before shooting, but I can’t wait to get my D700 back.

Here are two of the 5-or-so birds I saw that morning. It was almost midday, and I’m guessing the early bird grabbed the worm and went back to bed. It was hot and humid, and to be honest, not where I really wanted to be at that time of day.

Bokeh. The 70-200 is easily the best lens I’ve ever used. I love it.

Because I never like to do an entire post without Jas in there somewhere, here’s a shot of her at Vintage Espresso.

I hope you enjoyed this post – please get out and take some photos and send me the links. I want to see your work too!

We had great success with an epic discount at Spotlight, and in the last week Jas has sewn about 8 cushions and a cover for our outdoor day-bed! Turns out, 10 years away from Home-Ec did her a world of good!

Jas was too excited to take photos, so I snapped away while she set it up and showed off some random stitch patterns on some off-cuts we scored at Spotlight. The sewing machine is a little electronic Brother number (… wait, when did Brother make sewing machines?) that is easy to use and seems to be well made. Hopefully the on-road costs are cheaper than my damn Brother laser printer.

Look at how proud Jas is with her new toy/hobby!

Jas actually sat there most of the afternoon the day I bought it for her.

Happy (way-too-early) Birthday babe!

Every few days, Jas and I decide to actually leave the house. Last weekend, we ventured up to Brisbane to catch up with my good mate Whipps for some delicious food and coffee at Sourced Grocer.

The shop is really cute, the food is excellent, and the light streaming in the open space was gorgeous. I had to take a few photos. I also snapped a neighbours front yard/fence too – ideas for when/if I ever own my own house.

We arrived home from our morning jog last Friday just in time to meet the delivery man at our front door. Even though I was/am waiting for about 50 packages to be delivered, he had two packages for Jas, only one of which she expected. The other, we soon discovered, was a little surprise from her friend Jordy. We had briefly caught up with Jordy before Christmas and of course, ended up talking about coffee (I <3 COFFEE). Jordy's partner runs Clandestino Roasters up in Noosa (check them out on Beanhunter too, and look at that average rating!) – the mystery package was a sample of two single-origins that they had kindly sent to try. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If the plan was to win me over, you are successful!

Check out how cool the presentation of the coffee is in these earthy brown bags. A little description of the origin and roast is attached at the front, and a roasting date is stamped on the back.

Jordy recommended cupping 6-days post-roast, so I waited until the 16th to try the coffee (which was not easy… trust me).

I set-up my little coffee station and filled the grinder. I decided to use my new Bodum double-walled thermal glasses to see how they would photograph. Unfortunately, I’m still not used to pouring in them, so I didn’t try any fancy art for y’all.

I had no idea if my grinder was set for these particular beans (Cuban), but my first pull looked pretty darn close.

I struggled to get any pictures I liked from cup-level – so I’ll have another go when I try the second lot of beans (probably tomorrow). My milk was well textured (latte) and I actually poured one of my better ferns in the Bodum’s for the photo.

The real success though, was the coffee. The Cuban beans tasted rich, crisp and smooth. The espresso had a nice buttery/thick texture and my shot was not bitter or sour. The cocoa undertones went exceptionally well with milk as a latte. I’ve been impressed each morning with my Cuban-coffees – the colour, aroma and flavour combination from these beans is definitely worth trying for yourself. I look forward to tasting the Sumatran.

I made sure I got a shot of Kylie’s gorgeous smile before we finished too.

And finally, something a little moodier.

I hope you enjoy! Love from Tamworth!

The first shots were done on my thunder grey seamless. I probably had my 39″ Deep Octa setup – the light from that thing is gorgeous! I like this photo, but the black and white version below takes it to another level.

This next few shots are a lot tighter than I would usually shoot – I also usually short-light faces, but again, trial and error can yield some cool results.

I think Kylie looks like an author or something in this photo. I threw a hair-light in for this shot, just to see how it would turn out. It probably won’t be useful for her acting work, but it is definitely something I could see myself using on another shoot.

I changed out my background for my trashed old white seamless for the following shots. This photo crops well into 8×10, and I think Kylie looks very approachable and friendly in this photo.

This shot is the tightest I would usually shoot. I’m comfortable at this distance, and find it easier to compose in camera. I would have liked to be a little higher, but the 70-200 has a large minimum-focus-distance, and I couldn’t get enough height at the shooting distance.

This is definitely my favourite from the shoot. It crops excellently, and the light is well controlled. I was using an 18″ beauty dish with grid for this shot – the nice surprise was the splash of light on the background creating some separation. Saved me from having to use more than one light.

This is the first shot in B&W. I definitely like it more – it crops well too.

Finally, a comp of crops.

I think I’ll shoot again with Kylie in the near future. I’ve been hanging out with Kylie’s boyfriend (and my main man!) Jack a lot recently. He’s just getting into photography and I have an idea for a shoot that I think he would love. Shooting outside the studio environment always allows for more creativity and experimentation. Environmental headshots to come…