Exhaustipation

Yeah, I know, no such word as 'exhaustipation', but it describes how I feel.

I was just too tired to even post here last night and was in bed by 8.30pm.  I was awake for two hours between 12.30am and 2.30am, so I probably should have attempted a blog post then, instead of desperately trying to get back to sleep!

We had a 60th birthday party to attend tonight and I even had a short nap on the couch before we left.

I got a late start to the Seat of Knowledge this morning and stopped on the way to see how my Tawnies were faring.

To my surprise, they are out of their nest and sitting in the tree that their Mum used to frequent .. nice and low for me to get a good shot.

The only other thing I did today, was make some home-made muesli for Adoring Husband's breakfast tomorrow .. although I couldn't find my recipe anywhere, so I just had to wing it.  It turned out ok, because AH snacked on a bowl of it when we came home tonight.

We shopped at an Organic Supermarket in Gympie on the way home from the Sunny Coast yesterday and bought all sorts of delicious goodies.   Unfortunately, our supply of nuts and seeds is now somewhat depleted, so we will have to make a trip into The Bay to restock.

I have an appointment to have my 2 yearly eye check on Monday in The Bay, so we'll restock then.   I think I'll need new glasses .. I can feel that my eyesight is weaker now.

Anyway, I'm off to bed .. another early night.  I hope I'll be much more alive and spritely tomorrow.

Nite all.

Homeward Bound

Adoring Husband is driving here tomorrow so that we can travel home together.

It has been a long time away from home and quite busy with photography and grandmothering, so I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night, and then spending some quiet time working on the photos from the wedding last weekend.

I'll be back again in two weeks and then again two weeks after that.  I think we'll be in need of a quiet Christmas!

Chicklet and I had a little 'incident' today while we were out and about in the stroller, and her arm got quite badly pinched by a part of the stroller.

I think it was more distressing for me than her, although she did let out a pretty good squeal!  The promise of a cuddle from mama and a bandaid for her 'owie' helped calm her a little til we arrived home.

She's growing up so fast.

While The Nikonian and I were in Coffs Harbour on the weekend and exploring the resort grounds for locations to shoot the 'before' and 'after' ceremony shots, she took a few practise photos with me in frame.

Some of them were taken at just at the right distance to make me look 'acceptable' in my eyes.

... and some of them were dreadful, as were some of the shots that I took of her ... so they will never be shared with anyone and never shared on here!

 It seems that our SEB (the cockatiel) laid seven eggs!  I could only see three between the wood shavings before I left, so I'm surprised that there were seven.  None of them were fertile, so this season, at least, there will be no bubbies.

I must say that I'm relieved!

Seems I'll be having an earlier night than usual tonight!

Nite all.

Top 3

As I was washing the dishes tonight, I could see through the window that the cloud formations were looking pretty special and that an amazing sunset was on the cards.

Before I knew it, the sky began to change colour, so I grabbed my camera and an extra lens, choosing not to carry my camera bag, because it's so heavy and I knew I had to move pretty fast so as not to miss the sunset completely.

I partly power walked and shuffled a jog to get across the road to the river bank as quickly as possible!

The tide was low and on the turn, so the water was still and smooth, almost like glass.

The clouds were rippling across the sky, just as water does when you throw a pebble into it's stillness, and the colour from the setting sun was moving across the ripples and filling the sky with pinks, reds, purples and orange.

All of this was reflecting beautifully onto the still water as a pelican glided toward me, it's reflection also glistening perfectly in the colour.

A flock of birds flew above me and silhouetted against the golden light of the setting sun, and that golden light shone onto a beautiful yacht rocking gently on the still water.

As my mind tried to figure out which direction to photograph first, I tried to check what my settings were on the camera, when it didn't respond to my button pushing.

I turned it off and then on again, realising suddenly that the battery was flat and my 2 spares were in my camera bag, which was on my bed at Vegan Chickie's house.

*insert sad face here*

I almost came home in a huff, when I realised that the very least I could do, was watch it and enjoy it's beauty .. which surprisingly, is a very difficult thing to do, when bitter disappointment is surging through your veins.

Just to rub salt in the wound, it turned out to be spectacular enough to earn a place in my top 3 sunsets of all time.

It didn't matter which direction I looked, the sky, the light, the view was breath taking and I could see at least half a dozen spectacular shots going to waste.

People were pointing their little cameras and capturing this beauty, while I stood on the wet sand, my camera swinging around my neck and the spare lens in my hand, unable to do a thing.  I did get some strange looks from a couple of people.

Hopefully, my visits in the future will be filled with more sunset opportunities, just as special, or more so ... my lesson learned, is always take the camera bag ... it is full of all the resources that I need, should anything like this ever happen again!

*sigh*

Nite all.

More Pain!

Just when the pain from the weekend's marathon effort had eased, I jarred my back and shoulder while playing with Chicklet today and I'm feeling a little the worst for wear tonight.

I don't want to wait any longer to mention the wedding shoot, because I'm already forgetting so much of it.

The Nikonian is an amazing photographer, a brilliant organiser and so generous with her knowledge, skills and expertise.

I can't begin to explain how much she has taught me.  She has a freakishly absorbent brain for technical and artistic details, which she happily shares with me and it's thanks to her critique and advice, that my photography has improved so quickly since I've known her.

I am useless with technical details, but she has a way of explaining, in plain English, so that my brain accepts more than it rejects.

On the weekend for the wedding, she worked so well under pressure.

We tried so hard to be organised, with lists of all that we wanted to achieve, but the Gods worked against us ... or should I say, the hairdressers and the make-up artists and people worked against us.

With so many people coming and going from the room, it was difficult to get the detail shots on our list - we did get them all, but it wasn't easy.

The hair and make-up began at approximately 9am and lasted for 5 hours!

We were left with very little time to spend with the girls prior to the wedding, to get those special shots.

Cutting it very fine, we had only 30 minutes with the boys, pre-wedding for their special shots.

Finally, we only had one hour to get all the group shots with the Bride, the groom and the wedding party ... and such a large area to cover at the resort.

We really were under pressure, especially in the 90 minutes prior to the ceremony and the 90 minutes straight after.

Taking all of that into consideration, the number of great photos that we took is pretty darned impressive and by the time we've finished editing them and are ready to pass them onto the bride and groom, I think they will be over the moon with the results.

I won't be sharing any more photos from the wedding, until we've finished editing and processing and have passed them on to the bride and groom.

After that, you'll get to see the results of the fabulous teamwork that The Nikonian and I had together.

I'll take this opportunity to thank The Nikonian for sharing with me the experience of a lifetime.  One that has given me a whole new respect for professional wedding photographers and also provided me with valuable new skills that can only be an asset to my future photography.

Your generosity and friendship is priceless.

Please feel free to call on me again if you need assistance - it can only get easier!  Surely!

I had a great weekend.  The families were lovely, warm and welcoming.  They were so appreciative of our efforts and I never once felt like an outsider.

It was a beautiful ceremony in beautiful surroundings and the speeches during the reception were a highlight of the evening for me.

We were utterly exhausted by the end of the day, but knew we'd done well.

So that was our weekend, but the work is not over yet - hundreds of photos to scour through and edit - a lot more hours involved.

I will never question a wedding photographer's value again.

It's like having a baby .. you can never fully understand, until you experience it yourself.

Now I'm off to sleep my pain away.

Nite all

Oh the pain!

Yes, I am still in pain ... not as much pain as yesterday, however, it is still uncomfortable and I struggle to get out of a chair, or climb the stairs!!

Ugh!

I thought I was reasonably fit and I am very surprised that we are hurting so much.

Anyway, it's after midnight, so here are a couple of photos to fill some space ... the two most loved granddaughters on the planet.

Mine ...

and The Nikonian's

One of these days soon, I hope to find the time and the energy to write about the weekend and the 'wedding photography' experience.

Every photographer should experience it at least once in their lifetime.

Intense.

Nite all.

Marathon Girls

The Nikonian and I feel like we have run a marathon.

We can hardly walk due to all the walking, running, climbing, bending, carrying, moving furniture etc that we did yesterday for the wedding shoot.

So I have no mental or physical energy for writing long blog posts tonight - maybe tomorrow.

Here is one of my photos from the wedding.  The second photo that I've processed so far, and this is Lizzie, one of the beautiful bridesmaids.

She is amazing.

I am exhausted... still.

Nite all.

The Fat Lady has Sung!

It's over!

Fifteen hours of wedding photography is over.

Gym membership is a definite must to take on this kind of work.

It's absolutely exhausting!

Imagine how difficult it must be for a sole photographer without any help!

The Nikonian and I make a great team.

We both make up for what the other lacks, we understand each other, we watch out for each other and we cover each other's backs.

Having the Nikonian there, made my job so easy.  She is a wonderful organiser and knows exactly how to pose people in group situations .. especially weddings!

A sneak peek at what today was all about...

I had a fabulous time.

The family were wonderful and loving and welcoming and friendly.

With anything up to fifteen people in the penthouse apartment at a time, it was quite difficult to get all the shots that we planned, however we still managed to get a good deal of photos done in the allotted time frame.

Anyway, I will chat further about it in the coming days.

It's well after midnight and we've been at work for fifteen long, fun, but arduous hours.  Time to regenerate.

Just want to mention .. VERY happy with the outcome of today (so far).

Nite all.