Tag Archives: event photographer

In Death We Live Though Our Children

Some of you might remember the other week I photographed a memorial for gentlemen that was killed in a motor vehicle accident. This was a tragic event one that rocked hundreds of people in our community and one devastated family.

Have a look at this photo. What do you see?

Christopher at his fathers memorial after he was killed in a car accident.
Christopher at his fathers memorial after he was killed in a car accident.

I took this photo at the beginning of the memorial when the gentleman son Christopher was walking around on stage oblivious to what had become of his father and oblivious to the reasons they why they found themselves inside a church on this day.

To watch his little boy walk around and one point walk over and touch the projected image of his father on the stage was something very moving. The innocence that lives within this child was obvious this day and is a part of me that is envious while also saddened the situation this young boy now faces.

He will never know the hurt and pain goes using a parent losing his father but he will also never know and truly understand the love Brian had for him. He will never see how proud his father would be of him as he progresses through the different stages of life and he will never see the look in his father’s eyes when he tells him, he loves him.

He walked over to me during the event as I was sitting on the floor in the stage, I gave him a polite way even a smile and then before you know it while I should be taking photographs of the event I found myself giving Christopher high-fives and playing pattycake, before one of his family members rounded him up to taking back to his seat.

As with any memorial and passing of someone that is dearly loved it is an emotional time and one that we all experience at some point in our lives.

Someone asked me how do photographers react and deal with photographing such events. The answer for me is quite simple, we deal with it in the same way other people at the event do. We mourn, cry and laugh at the joyful stories that are shared at these events.

Photographing memorials and funerals might seem like an unusual thing to do right!!!!  And I get that. Some families find closure and some use it as a healing process, while others see it as a way of documenting the life of someone that has passed.

This little man in this photo has a full life ahead of him, one that I know will be full of joy and love, he will be surrounded by family and friends and people that love him and will take care of him, however this doesn’t come for free!! The financial burden on this family in the coming months will be great as they get over the passing of their loved one, adjust to the reduction of income and being a single parent.

 


The family started a gofundme page where you can donate money to help this family and give them a kickstart over the next few months.

I would urge you to support this cause as I know their immediate family gives back to the community more than they take. They have supported the youth of Canberra and close friends of mine and for that I can not thank them enough.

More information can be found at the link below.

http://www.gofundme.com/zj6e5dng

 

 

Walk for Marriage Equality

On Sunday I had the privilege of going out and photographing I feel will be a moment in Australia’s history.

It was a walk to support marriage equality here in Australia, a walk together like-minded people for a common cause shape and change Australia’s future.

While the walk itself was not too different from many of the other walks I photographed what did made a different was that it was organised by the youth of Canberra. Now I’m a true believer at our future is in the hands of our young, it is them that will grow into adults and into our leaders of both our country and our immediate peers, and if Sunday is collection of young people is anything to go by we are really in good hands.

The weather was atrocious and I must say it was one of the coldest days that I’ve experienced in some time and by far one of the coldest events I’ve photographed. While the actual numbers of the participants in the walk was only a couple of hundred it was a dedication and drive for standing up in something they believe in even if the weather was totally crappy.

Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 - Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra. The organisers been a procession across Commonwealth Avenue with the Australian Parliament house in the distance and a rainbow crossing the sky. A diplomatic car is seen passing the procession with the passenger giving the group a thumbs up as a sign of approval.
Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 – Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra.
The organisers been a procession across Commonwealth Avenue with the Australian Parliament house in the distance and a rainbow crossing the sky.
A diplomatic car is seen passing the procession with the passenger giving the group a thumbs up as a sign of approval.

Looking at the faces that were in the crowd it got me thinking of the times in our history whether youth have shaped our future. One of the most prominent times is back in the 60s, and 70’s with the burning of the bra and the protests against the Vietnam War.

Is a look at this photo below see the young spirits that I feel encapsulated those times of what seems so long ago.

Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 - Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra. This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day. Two young ladies watching over the choir as it sings to the procession of walkers as they exit off the offramp on the north side of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge
Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 – Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra.
This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day.
Two young ladies watching over the choir as it sings to the procession of walkers as they exit off the offramp on the north side of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge

It was good to be able to capture these kids and see the joy and determination in what they are trying to achieve.

What I really appreciate and I think everyone can, is that the organisers of this walk are just teenagers. Kids, not too much older than my daughter and they clearly have a vision of Australia’s future, a future that I feel is inevitable which is why I’m glad that I had the opportunity and time to photograph such an event.

Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 - Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra. This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day. The walkers approaching the finishing point.
Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 – Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra.
This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day.
The walkers approaching the finishing point.

With love, passion and determination we can all change the world. It just takes us to actually want to make it happen.

Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 - Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra. This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day. Two young girls using one hand of each to create a heart shape is a sign of unity and support for marriage equality at the end of the walk
Canberra Australia 26th of July 2015 – Walk for marriage equality organised by the use of Canberra.
This was a peaceful walk organised by the Canberra youth to raise awareness for marriage equality held around the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin in what was it cold and windy day.
Two young girls using one hand of each to create a heart shape is a sign of unity and support for marriage equality at the end of the walk

Same is true within ourselves, we can do great things, things that we never thought possible and things that are beyond comprehension.

Just like these young girls had a vision to create a walk for marriage equality, they are in fact doing much more. Through their actions and determination they are changing the world, they are making a difference, and I for one am incredibly proud of such a feat. Not because it is about marriage equality but more that gives me faith in our children they can actually find the determination and drive within themselves to make this world a better place!!

What can you do today to make this world a better place?

NOTE: You can see the entire collection of photo by clicking on the Events on the menu on the left of this screen. 🙂

Its Not All Ice Creams and Fairytales!

There are some days in this job that a fantastic, I get to meet lots of people, go to lots of parties and are generally surrounded by people that just really want to have a good time.

Unfortunately sometimes in this job there are days and events which are incredibly difficult…… When I say incredibly difficult I don’t mean technically, I mean personally and emotionally.

The event I covered today was incredibly sad. It was a celebration and a memorial of a young man that was taken in the prime of his life through a motor vehicle accident, leaving a shattered partner and a two-year-old boy behind. 🙁

I don’t know about other people or other photographers but for me being able to capture emotional images I have two put myself in their position, I try and feel what they are feeling be it sadness or happiness.

So today’s event drained a lot of internal strength and emotion, all of which I knew was going to happen beforehand, so I made a plan that after the event I would jump on my motorbike, take my camera and go to a quiet place to watch the sun go down and reflect about all the wonderful things life has to offer.

I think we will need one of these special places and while I don’t necessarily have a special place as the world is a spectacular place are ready, I do like to be able to see a fantastic sunset or sunrise so that is what I did. I raced against the failing light to get to a location where the sun was reflecting off the water and a place where I could collect my thoughts and regain the inner strength that I’d given up to the event I had just photographed.

As a sun was setting I was wishing it would never end.  It was spectacular and beautiful. The calm across the water with the ducks and swans swimming in the shallows gave a nice background to the birds singing in the trees. It was a good way to end a day, a day that was full of emotion so I thought I would share last rays of my day today with you.

Final rays over an emotional day
Final rays over an emotional day

Angry Anderson Face Recognition – FAIL!!!!

Be working through some photos over the last few days (for something different of course) and part of my workflow is to use face recognition within Lightroom to identify people within photos so they can be tagged and easily located later.

Most of my photos these days are tagged in this way since it was available in the latest version of Lightroom and in doing this Lightroom builds up a library of people which I photographed and when it evaluates a new photo it has a guess at who might actually be in the image so as to reduce the time and effort that it takes to do this face recognition and tagging.

While it does a good job at guessing I’m pretty sure that this gentleman is not Angry Anderson!!!! hahahahaha

Lightrooms guess at angry Anderson
Lightrooms guess at Angry Anderson

I guess it just goes to show the interesting people I have in my Lightroom catalogue and people that I photographed. LOL

Styled Couple – Sneak Peek

After what was a bit of a long and somewhat cold day we managed to get a couple of shoots completed and with a very happy team…  😉

Glad I took along hot coffee and tea as it went a very very long way in keeping the team happy when it is -6 on location in the middle of civic…  Well done guys.

With a good few hundred images to sort through to get the top 10 its going to be a tough call, however to get the ball rolling here is just one of the hundred of images and a bit of a sneak peek in to this mornings antics.    Enjoy

Styled bridal shoot at Glebe Park with bride and groom
Styled bridal shoot at Glebe Park with bride and groom