Baby photos are always fun because you get such great facial expressions from the little ones as they become more and more aware of their surroundings.
Kailey’s parents, Natasha and Callan, had a great array of props and outfits for us to use and I have to say I love her polka dot dress!
Back in June I had the chance to attend the Hoot Jazz Music Festival in Mt Barker and take photos for the Adelaide Hills Magazine. It was a great night with a street party featuring live music, food and drink and lots of people went along.
If you ever get the chance to drop by during Hoot, which is usually held during the June long weekend, I highly recommend it. Thanks again to the Adelaide Hills Magazine for the photography opportunity.
The beautiful Winter 2013 cover
The Hoot action in print.
Winter 2013 contributors.
This past month or so has been filled with newborn babies and I’ve had the pleasure of photographing many of these new little people. It has been an absolute pleasure!
Baby photo shoots can be tough if your photo subject isn’t in the mood, but the results are so very rewarding. For just an hour of your time, I can capture memories that will last you a lifetime.
Lisa & Stephen are goods friends of mine and I was lucky enough to be asked to help record some valuable memories as they anxiously await the arrival of their first child. At 8 months pregnant Lisa was taking everything in her stride and was positively glowing and Steve was bursting with excitement and pride.
These photos were taken at the beautiful Keith Stephenson Park, Mt Barker and at Lisa & Stephen’s home.
Now we ‘patiently’ await the arrival of bubs!
Dreams came true when I won a Cellar Door Wine Festival Adelaide twitter competition back in February and I became the lucky holder of a voucher for two to attend a cheese Master Class with Adelaide’s The Smelly Cheese Shop.
Imagine my delight! Two hours with some award-winning cheese and wines to match (there is a wide range of Cheese Master Classes available, but who can say no to wine and cheese?!).
The cheese consumption didn’t come as fast as I would’ve liked, but it was oh so worth it. Our cheesemaker Valerie Henbest, a lovely lady with an interesting French accent, took us on a journey through the cheesemaking process, including jamming 30+ people into a cheese ageing room that strongly smelt!
Like clowns in a clown car, we piled in to learn about the cheese we were dying to taste.
Next it was back to the tasting room where we tested our tastebuds out on salt, lemon, cocoa and sugar. This taught us to learn where we taste and to actually stop and taste.
THEN the cheese part happened! I can’t say cheese has ever sat in front of me for so long and remained untouched, but I can say I’m glad I resisted because Valerie and the man with the wine, James Erskine, took us on a journey. We learnt about the cheese, its historical origins, what the tastes were within the cheese and then we tried it with the wine. I was amazed at the tastes, I was shocked at times and at other times I stole cheese from my fellow Master Class attendee!
The Smelly Cheese Shop tasting selection, clockwise from top right, Valencay or soft (ripened goats cheese), Beaufort D’Alpage (similar to gruyere), Affidelice ( there are no words to describe how fabulous this one is, Colston Bassett Stilton (blue vein cheese) and Camembert.
If you have the love for cheese and want to know more, I’d highly recommend The Smelly Cheese Shop and its Master Classes. Although, I can’t promise the winemaker will serenade your group like he did us!
A musical interlude.
Journalists at country newspapers are literally handed a notepad, pen and a camera and left to sink or swim. It’s a tough initiation into the world of photography, but you learn from your mistakes.
Without any formal training beyond some internal courses over the years, I recently signed on for a WEA adult learning course in SLR cameras. This was a course for beginners and some of the content wasn’t overly helpful to me, but the other sections were fantastic.
The course consisted of two days in the classroom and a night time and early morning outing. This is where we got to put our newly learned skills into practice.
Some of the more interesting things the course took me through was exposure and white balance when dealing with white in an image.
An example of working with white balance. The clouds on the left without detail and on the right after white balance adjustment.
Another interesting skill involved adjusting exposure in low light and bringing out the shadow of the tree in this water. I also had to show the difference in an image when flipped. The composition of a photo can make or break an image.
Which do you prefer?
The original, with some pretty shadows on the water.
The flipped image.
While we were in the WEA classroom, my pink water bottle was a perfect photo subject. There are quite a few people (myself included) with half an SD card full of pink water bottle images!
My infamous water bottle in action.
I’ve been waiting impatiently for a few months now to see my first photo spread in the Adelaide Hills Magazine, following my attendance at the Highland Gathering in Mt Barker in February.
The extremely hot summer’s day (38 degrees!) was filled with the traditional bagpipes you’d find at any Scottish event, but also with some Strong Man events, a caber toss and a hilarious knobbly knees competition.
I can’t wait to have the chance to attend my next event for the Adelaide Hills Magazine!!
The Autumn 2013 edition of the Adelaide Hills Magazine.
Love a good byline!
My pictures in print!
For more information about the Adelaide Hills Magazine, an award winning publication in its own right, visit their website, like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.
My Good Friday has been spent getting a website for my friend’s business YP Wedding and Party Hire off the ground.
With an online presence, this business is now able to regularly update services and improve their Google search presence.
This website has been built within the blogging platform WordPress as it will allow the business owner to operate and update their own website as their services change.
The 2013 River Murray Football League season is almost here and my sideline support efforts have begun again. The first game, a trial match between Mypolonga and Nairne Bremer at Nairne in the Adelaide Hills was great to watch and the action speaks for itself.
Jordaine and I go “way back” so it was only logical that I’d give her the attention she deserves! Visit my Facebook page to find out more about Jordaine and see photos from her first fundraising event.
Jordaine Chattaway has veered down several forks in the road to find her path, but as she begins to realise a childhood dream of to touch the lives of those less fortunate, she knows she’s finally taken the right turn.
Jordaine Chattaway shares her story during a Touch of Global Goodness Fundraiser.
The Mrs International Australia nominee for South Australia has created the Touch of Global Goodness Campaign and is working tirelessly to raise funds for orphanages worldwide.
The 26-year-old hailing from the River Murray town of Mannum had, from a young age, told her mother she was going to “save the world” and “save the dancing bears”, but chose to take a more traditional career path in journalism.
“All my life I’ve felt a longing to help people,” Jordaine said.
“I’ve had several career paths, but I’ve never really felt like I was doing what God ultimately planned for me and so I took a few risks.
“I walked away from two promising career paths and trusted that the right thing to do was follow my heart and by doing that I would ultimately find my place.”
It was while following an acting dream that Jordaine realised her leap of faith away from a mainstream career that was a stepping stone to her true path, the path she had always talked about, helping others.
A casting call for the Touch of Goodness Foundation (TOGF), an Australian organisation that forms part of an international circuit of fundraising pageants that feature nominees who work to raise money for their chosen cause, revealed the vehicle for Jordaine to move forward.
“When I saw an audition call for an ambassador for the Touch of Goodness Foundation… I knew it was what I wanted and so I applied straight away,” she said.
“It would give me the opportunity to work for and represent an Australian foundation which does so many amazing things across the country and possibly give me the opportunity to work on projects around the globe.”
Jordaine is one of four national finalists for the Mrs International program and will be judged on an interview of her work and goals, athletic wear and formal wear in a Miss Australia style pageant for the chance to spread her work even further and compete for the Mrs International World title in Chicago in July.
In her efforts to “save the world”, Jordaine has created the Touch of Global Goodness Foundation, a program that she hopes will allow people to donate money to orphanages overseas and see where their money is going.
Presently, she in talks with contacts in Manila, Africa, China and Indonesia to support local orphanages, but she hopes to expand her reach much further.
“In Australia, it is easy to send toys or blankets thinking that’s the nicest way to show we love and care for these children, but the orphanage might need new schoolbooks or simple necessities such as nappies,” she said.
“Our number one priority is ensuring we have a contact who works in the orphanage who can tell us what it needs, not what we want to give them or think they need.”
Regardless of the outcome of her Mrs International debut, Jordaine knows she’s now on a path that is one she can walk down for life.
With a background in writing and project management she is aiming to delve into the not-for-profit world where she plans to “spend my days – as well as my nights – doing what I love and I am passionate about and really, truly make a difference”.
Rach And Media 