thank you

As my kids grow so fast I enjoy taking photos, trying to get the 'them-ness'of my little ones, capture the defining moments, play with the light. I love how it makes me stop and take note of the small details, to try to see things in different ways and from different angles.

I'm realising how personal taking photos really is. As soon as you pick up a camera you make decisions, mostly unconscious, on what you want to capture - the intimate or the dramatic, close ups, landscapes, domestic scenes or the outdoors, photos saturated with light or more moody, jewelled tones.
Before my kids were born most of my photos were of the outdoors and the natural world, people only rarely making an appearance. Now, my photos are normally of my kids and I'm 99% of the time the one behind the camera. The kids don't pay much attention - that's just what mummy does. They pretty much ignore me and keep on with the busy-ness of being kids. 

But awhile back I attended a workshop, and was asked to take photos of all the other participants, and let them take photos of me. 

And I realised how difficult it is to have a camera pointed at you. The unease of it. "Ah... do you want me to stand any particular way? Smile? Not smile? Ah...Um. Is this okay?" 

And I realised how much harder it is to take photos of people that aren't deep-down known to you, whose stories aren't written on your heart. How much of an imposition it is.

So, in gratitude to the lovely women who let me stick a camera in their faces, and then patiently waited while I played around with the light meter for five minutes. Thank you. I learnt so much. 

The Creatives - Telling Stories

Last month I journeyed up to Sydney to take part in Jodi and Tim's the creatives workshop.
A gentle day, with soft light and supportive company, it was the perfect time and place to be recharged.
In the shambolic of the everyday, I lose focus. I take the easier, more comfortable options, often skimming the surface of attention, my mind half on half a dozen things and not fully on any one. Throughout the day, inspired by other peoples journeyings to create and document their lives and stories, I started rethinking the choices I make.
While each of the participants, who journeyed from so many far-flung places, came away with different gifts, I came away with a new awareness that in all I attempt, I'm really aiming for one thing: to tell the story. Whether it's one of my fantasmagorical novels, the story of a moment, of an adventure, or the story of my children's early years, it's all about telling stories. (And yes, I hear the Tracy Chapman refrain - I'm just telling stories/ there is fiction in the space between/ me and reality)
Ideas for the books I'm writing, for what I truly want to do with my photography and blog, new patterns of living, unfurled. New knowledge makes me feel so much more confident about capturing the moment - the story - on film. As I play with all I learnt, I'm beginning to achieve the richness of tone I've always seen in my head and never been able to quite 'get.'  Love, caught in touch and light.  Context, shown in settings and framing. Lessons about photography were instantly juxtaposed into ideas for my writing world. My hands itched to write, and write, and write.
This, and this, and this!