Benny Wills Gala Night – Official Photographer

Once again this year I’m privileged to be the official photographer for the Benny Wills gala night.

For anyone that doesn’t know about the Benny Wills foundation you should really pop over to their website and have a read http://www.bennywills.org/

Their story is not only incredibly sad it also is tremendously inspiring. To lose a child to a fatal brain tumour would have to be one of the hardest things to go through in your life but to come back and create a foundation dedicated to the research into the very brain tumour that took your son’s life shows tremendous courage and strength.

To stand there and photograph these incredibly tough parents while they discuss the lives and the process of how this hideous disease takes the lives of their children is heartbreaking. To have to live through that and to know that once your child is diagnosed death is only six months away, I cannot imagine what they would go through. 🙁

It is for this reason I donate my time to this event as I believe that with time, money and the advancement of technology they will find a cure or as a minimum extend the life of these poor children so they can enjoy some additional time with their loved ones.

If you like to book a table or buy some tickets you can do that online and I urge you to come along as it is really a fantastic night.

http://www.bennywills.org/gala-dinner.aspx

Benny Wills Offical Photographer
Benny Wills Offical Photographer

Salvation Army Blanket Run

On Saturday The Salvation Army and in conjunction with Motorcycle Riders Association of the ACT held the 2015 blanket run.

This is where heap of motorcycle riders come together for a short ride and donate money, nonperishable is in blankets Salvation Army

The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliment house in Canberra.  It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcyle community
The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliament house in Canberra. It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcycle community

I think in total there was around a couple hundred motorcycles which I think was a really good turnout considering is a really cold day so it was nice that they had a copy of an on-site, and I certainly took advantage of that before the crowd showed up.

As part of any event I spend a lot of time walking around capturing various things but I must say it was good to see females in attendance in what is a male dominated activity.

The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliment house in Canberra.  It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcyle community
The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliament house in Canberra. It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcycle community

The ride started off at old Parliament house and headed down towards Woden before coming back up past Parliament house through civic and over to Russell before coming back over Kings Avenue Bridge and back to old Parliament house.

The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliment house in Canberra.  It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcyle community
The Salvation Army ‎ Blanket ride 2015 held at the old parliament house in Canberra. It raised around $4000 from the Canberra Motorcycle community

By the end of the event I think there raised around $4000 and had a truckload of blankets and perishables so all in all I would say it was a success. Once again the motorcycling community opens up its hearts and wallets to those less fortunate.

If you want to check out all the other images from the event have a look at my events section by clicking on Events from the menu.

NOTE: These images are FREE to download and use as long as they are not altered in anyway.

My first post for 2015 – The Cancer Support Group

The last month I have been on holidays, and when I say holidays, I really mean relaxing and taking it easy.

However, as January is just about over its time to start getting on with business, but before I do, I will be attending The Cancer Support Group convoy, which will be held tomorrow. It will be a unique experience for me as I’ll be actually attending as an attendee, and not the event photographer. ha ha ha

I will be a fantastic day out riding with some old, and new mates. It is also a fantastic way for the The Cancer Support Group (http://thecancersupportgroup.org.au/) to gain some valuable funds, for what is a terrible disease that takes thousands of people every year.

I was talking to a friend the other day about this convoy, and he was trying to decide if it was worth attending. Now my words to him were.

Is it worth giving away 50$ to ride 38km with other riders…. No… It is worth giving away 50$ to help families with cancer. Hell yeah

Which kinda raises an interesting point. Not everything in life has a tangible and quantifiable value.

  • Can you put a dollar figure on the smile you see in your child’s eyes on Christmas morning?
  • What about the last moments of life!
  • As you watch your love ones slowly deteriorate as cancer ravages their body, is the medicine that brings comfort to them in their final days worth the money?
  • What about the value of memories?
  • Memories that are captured at a point in time and are there for a lifetime?

Photographs to me, are those memories. Photographs that capture the memories and document the history of life are one of the most important things as we grow old and our actual memory fades. We can, at any time, look back at these photographs. Photographs that bring out emotion, feeling, smells, tastes, while kick starting our minds back into an active state where they remember the moment when the photo was taken. We remember the things we were doing at that time, how we felt, and the people and activities that surround that moment in time.

Participating in this event tomorrow, is not about riding and hanging with my mates, it’s not about watching awesome old-fashioned Australian rock bands at the end and it’s not about getting a super cool T-shirt, Stubby Holder and a mad flag for my bike.

It’s about making a difference!

Cancer Council convoy