Inside my head

It is a very long time since I have done one of these !!

- Just before Christmas I started doing some origami again - cranes and butterflies. I taught a friend and then she got on the internet and started looking at modular origami and now we share a full on addiction. I make one of these a night at the moment and love it. Though goodness only knows what I will do with them all!!

- Why oh why does my chin get hairier and hairier. If I didn't pluck or wax there I would definitely give a goat a run for its money...

- I will never be able to be guilt free about marking all as read when my blog reading list gets too long. Usually I skim through first and read as many posts as I can, which often means that I cannot comment because I am in too much of a hurry and then I just have to hit the "mark all as read" button because my anxiety levels increase as the post list gets longer. Sigh...

- It does not take a genius to make a link between origami obsession and lack of blog reading...

- on the up ramp to some local shops which runs from the basement car park buskers usually put out their hats and sing /play for a couple of hours. The acoustics are wonderful. Truly. There is a woman who has been there often recently. Her face, hair and clothes are all faded but her voice has not. It is pure, sweet and clear and I wonder about her and her life. I would like to take her photograph and find out a bit more about her.

- I fell down the back stairs of Tricia's house today. Oh my giddy aunt it hurt. She was not there but I must ring her and warn her about how slippery those stairs are. It makes my stomach churn to think of her falling.

- we have been experiencing rain, storm, hail and more and more rain here in the mountains. The same rain that is breaking the drought at west I suppose. It is almost monsoonal in that the days are muggy and steamy and wet, not something we are accustomed to here.

- I love the word "monsoon." I think of green jungles and vivid flowers and strange coloured birds flitting between the trees and women in green or yellow saris and the dripping of water and fans lazily spinning and mosquito nets.

- I think of those who lost lives and homes in last year's tragic bushfires in Victoria.

- I am listening most days to Radio National, another new found love. I like that it stimulates my mind.

- which is clearly origami befuddled.

- I am Toad of Toad Hall. "Poot poot" as he dreamily contemplates the next obsession.

Camping - South Coast

She was having a very peaceful sleep!

Learning

unused image from a recent shoot for a local mag

Increasingly I am being asked to write blogs for other people. This is a source of great joy to me because I am able to further develop my photography and writing.

It occurred to me this morning though that I am very privileged - extraordinarily so - because I am being given the opportunity to share in these peoples lives in a very intimate way. I am also granted the exceptional opportunity to learn so much from very talented men and women - about creative passion, about business, about sheer bloody hard work.

Let me share ...

I visited with Scott yesterday - after falling into a bit of flat place creatively he is now back and firing on all cylinders. His talent is vast and his work takes my breath away....

A new blog I am writing is following the evolution of an Australian musical that has been written by two local mountains men. Entitled "Three Weeks in Spring", it covers the period from April 25 1915 until 22 May 1915 during the First World War. I was present for the recording of some of the songs for the musical and I believe what is being created is exceptional - yet a lot of the hard work is still in front of the guys as they seek funding to put the show on...

I also blog for the Hawkesbury Harvest Board here in NSW. It is amazing - I am meeting men and women who work extremely hard to produce the food that is put on our tables. Their stories are always touching and motivate me to keep working hard myself. Similar lessons are being learnt from Richard and Kathy Thomas out at Mayfield as I document their vineyard.

Megalong Valley

I am also about to start a blog for another local fellow who has been extremely successful in I.T. He has turned his attention to farming in the Megalong Valley as well and is concentrating on beef cattle. Not much ammunition there for a blog you would assume, but in fact Craig is an incredibly bright man who thinks deeply about life and our connectedness to the earth. I feel in my bones that I will be learning much from him.

And of course there is Trish - I am woefully overdue in posting some photos from a visit with her just before New Year's Eve. She is a dear friend now and one who has supported and encouraged me endlessly.

My mantra this year is to "Be open and stay alert" - be open to everything and everyone I meet and to stay alert for opportunities....

I also was asked once to share what I thought were critical factors for taking a good photograph. Goodness knows that the technical side of photography is not one of my strengths but here, for what it is worth, are the things I use to direct my own photography..

1. Try and use your camera every day. I learnt this lesson undertaking the 365 project on Flickr - a photo a day every day for a year, which I did in 2008. There were a few days I missed but I found that it quite dramatically improved my photography.

2. Be resolute - ditch the bad photos - I used to keep all my photos - arrogance or stupidity - but now ruthlessly get rid of the crap ones - truly - why keep them?

3. Use of all of your five senses when taking photographs. The cry of a cockatoo, the shadow of a butterfly's wings, the scent of a lily, the touch of my hand on my little girl's hair , the taste of a cold beer on a hot day - all alert me to a photographic possibility.

4. I adore reading magazines, photography books etc and learning from other photographers about how they light, compose, create a photograph. The joy in seeing something in a new way by looking at other photographers' work is endless for me.

Here endeth my lesson.....!

Walking the lanes

Stomper - these were patent leather purple!

Two exquisite beetles, doing what comes naturally..

Many of you know that I live in the Blue Mountains - a world heritage listed area here in Australia. Simply by walking out my front door I am able to restore myself by wandering around the laneways near my home , in all kinds of weather, camera at the ready.

I say my home - and it still is, but as we continue to gently recover love, I have moved into a house in a nearby village, for space and quiet times and the chance to work on the challenges of building a photography business.

margot's cubby at the new house

A project which I am undertaking this year, which is for pleasure and not business, has been inspired by dear Alice. The link will take you to her post and she has very kindly allowed me to take part - after shamelessly telling her I would! Why not join? Leave a comment expressing your interest - this would be amazing on an international level - and we might try to set some parameters - very loose ones - around it - number of posts, links back - perhaps a dedicated team blog!! Who knows?!!

Here is my first photo....

The New Year

I went for a small walk on New Year's Day and began the recovery from the night before. We held a party for our friends here in the mountains - to thank them for their support and to welcome in a new, more positive year.

Me - cigarette in one hand, glass of red wine in the other, dancing and dancing towards love.

on the eve of New Year's Eve

They say

That tomorrow night's moon will be a blue one

Two full moons in a calendar month.

My son was born when the moon was blue.

We were lucky he survived the cord around his neck.

Twice.

With a true knot in it.

The blue moon brought him luck the doctor said.

I am happy to bid this year farewell,

With all its pain and distress.

I look forward, as the wind chimes chime and

the train rumbles in the distance.

The cicadas having fallen silent.

I am looking forward to a new year.

To a calmer existence.

I love the white paper lanterns around my verandah

The soft glow.

The moths shiver in and out of the gentle light.

To all of you who held me close during this year and took care of me by email and phone call and comments here and at the old blog, I wish you a wonderful year filled with laughter and love.....

x

A Poem for Christmas

Hydrangeas and agapanthus bloom in the heat

harbingers of Christmas.

At night the smell of the pine tree

in its red bucket

scents the room

White wax bells and glass stars

And tiny lights that sparkle on silver wreaths

The little girl with eyes of oceanic blue

Grows more excited by the day

And makes origami boxes for Santa.

The breeze brings with it a hint of smoke.

I remember sitting in an inner west courtyard

Ash and black leaves raining down

into our glasses

one Christmas day, blown

from the mountains by a hot wind.

Tinsel and frenzy fill the shops.

It soothes me to sit by the tree

And inhale its piney smell

And meditate on the star that swings in the night air

Listening to choirs singing the ancient carols.