Saturday Sarah and I went climbing in the Blue Mountains Saturday. Two of her friends from Canberra were also in the blue mountains, but they wanted to climb at Centenial Glen and Porters pass.

Sarah and I decided to spend the morning at a crag (a cliff) called Celebrity Crag. The cliff is split up into two areas called Jimmy Cliff and Heathcliff. We decided to go to Heathcliff which doesn't see a lot of climbers and we hadn't been there before.



We managed to get lost trying to find the cliffs and almost gave up trying to find the right track through the bush. After a final try we eventually managed to find the start of the climbs after more than an hours bush-bashing.

It turned out that the climbs there were excellent. Especially a climb called Bad Blood is a must do. It is a two pitch climb where the first pitch is a very pleasant grade 19 (led by Sarah). The second pitch is a grade 22 (which I led).


Click on this link to download the video I took (18Mb).

Near the top (after passing the crux) I took the biggest fall I've taken on lead so far. I climbed up to the next bolt and while clipping the bolt I got my feet up too high (stay low Andy) and couldn't keep the balance. The fall (maybe 3-4 meters) was nicely caught by Sarah. On the second try I managed to get it.

We were planning to climb out rather than walking through the bush, but we ran out of time and I was way too tired to climb with the backpacks. We decided instead to see how many pitches we could complete of another climb before it got dark. We managed to do the first two pitches and then had to bail due to the time.

We didn't get back to the car until after it was dark, so we didn't meet up with Sarah's friends until we got back to the car park. It turned out that they had had an excellent day at Upper Shipley (which you can see from Celebrity Crag).


It is probably one of the best climbing days I've had for a long time although I was totally of of shape.

Click here to see more photos of: Climbing 2007

I just got back from our Captaris International Partner Conference in Kuala Lumpur. I flew up there Friday week and we started on the Saturday by going whitewater rafting with just the international captarians.



We had a whole bunch of people of different skill levels from the company, so it was good that the rapids were fairly easy so that everyone could join. But...if I had been there by myself with a groupf of people I didn't know then I might haven been a bit dissapointed.

There is a lot of rock climbing potential in the same area.

On the Sunday we were getting ready for the conference, this means setting up the Booths, presentation laptops and getting all our presentations ready. I also volunteered to take photos at the conference for official use (awards handouts etc).

In the evening the 200+ partners arrived and we had a party at the pool in the hotel for everyone.



Monday morning the actual conference started with local drummers and after that all the speakers started their business and technical presentations for the partners.




During the breaks I was speaking to partners at the professional services booth (here with one of our partners from India).



On the first evening we had out Galla Awards party. This is the official party where the partners are given awards for their effort the previous year. The party was held at the the old English governors residence (from before Malaysia became independent). Locals dressed in traditional costumes greeted us at the door.



During the dinner there was organised local entertainment in the form of dancing. One of the dances there was the bamboo dance from Sabah which I saw before when I worked on the Ecochallenge.







On the Tuesday we had the official party (which is much less formal and usually more fun). This was held in the cultural centre and the entertainment was as usual sponsored by one of our partners (usually dancing girls).






Wednesday and Thursday was followed by more presentations and some training. I did a presentation on the Wednesday on the business track based upon a case study from a project we just finished in Japan.




Kim had arrived from Sydney on business on the Wednesday and was staying at a hotel just a couple of kilometers away...so on the Thursday when our conference ended I moved over to her hotel. She was working Friday, so I headed into town to check out what electronic gadgets I could find. I didn't have much luck as prices were the same as here in Sydney, but I did buy a new digital camera for $250. It will come in handy when doing stuff where the SLR is too big to carry and it is also pretty good at taking video.


On the Saturday Kim and I went clothes shopping together. I hate buying clothes and it is much easier when she is there as my fashion consultant. Here is the result of just three hours shopping.



Kim managed to buy three pairs of shoes in just 15 minutes...she has got a size 4 foot and hardly any stores in Australian stocks that small a size.

In the evening I managed to book a table in the KL tower. It was excellent, very romantic and very reasonably prices (about $120 australian dollars for the whole evening).



Unfortunately we had both earlier that day eaten a sausage bread roll which resulted in a really bad diorrea later that evening. Mine eventually disappeared later that morning, but Kims continued, so she didn't have a very good flight back and was grateful that I was there to assist her checking in her luggage while she spent most of the time on the pot.
Click here to see more photos from Malaysia

Saturday Ethan (Kims Nephew) had his birthday party. Kims sister asked us if we would like to come and do face painting on the the kids.

For the event I got dressed as a pirate and Kim got dressed as a fairy with wings.




KA, kims sister also helped out with some of the face painting. Here is a photo of KA with Ethan.




And here is Kayla painted as a mouse.




For the event they had also hired a jumping castle (can be seen in the background) and for some weird reason the caucasian kids loved the face painting idea where the asian kids didn't want to have their faces painted.

During Easter Kims Family had borrowed a house at Mackarel Beach, so we went up there the whole family, Kim and her three sisters, her brother in law, her dad and two nephews and one niece.

The only access to the beach is by boat from Palm beach one hours drive north of Sydney. There are no roads or shops on the beach. The ferry only leaves once an hour and only between 9am and 6pm. The beach is on the opposite side of Pittwater from Palm Beach and it has got a community of about 50 houses.




Most of the two days we were up there it rained, so we spend the time indoor eating, playing games and sleeping. The TV and VCR was out of order and the place didn't have a DVD player. At least it did have a CD player so we could listen to music.

We cooked dinner on the BBQ and the Kookaburras came to get fed. They were really tame, so you could touch them which is exceptionally rare.

I was on breakfast duty both days, so the first morning I made Bacon and Eggs for everyone and the second day I made pancakes. Sometimes it was a little stressful with that many people in the kitchen while trying to make breakfast, but it went alright! I am coming from a fairly small family,so I am not used to have that many people around.


Easter Monday Kim and I played golf at Mona Vale golf course which is one of my favourite courses to play on.



It is right next to the coast and the course is normally in a great condition. Even though the course is long it is not that difficult.

I was playing pretty average on the first nine holes but improved my game significantly on the second nine and managed to play a number of the holes at par. On one of the holes a Currawong (big black bird) flew down and stole Kims golf ball. I had to chase after the bird for 200 meters until it eventually landed in a tree and then dropped the ball.

This weekend we rented a house at Lake Macquarie in a place called Overnight Reflections at Fishing Point near Newcastle.


The place is an easy 1.5 hours drive north of Sydney assuming that there is light traffic.

It was a fantastic and very relaxing weekend. The house was right at the water, so we could hear the water and see the full moon (almost) reflect in the water at night.



Saturday afternoon we went playing golf at Toronto Golf and Country club. This was quite an experience. The course itself is nice enough although it needs some maintenance (especially the bumpy greens)...but some of the people playing there should not be allowed onto a golf course.

One of the players stole Kims golf ball and on several occasions started bashing up his own golf bag while shouting Fu...k!!! Fu...k!!! Fu...k!!! Obviously it wasn't a great idea confronting him regarding the ball. We were planning to complain to some of the members of the club...but there was no-one else around and eventually we lost track of the guy (fortunately...because he was quite scary).

In the evening we went to a very expensive restaurant (even by Sydney standards) at Warners Bay...it was ok, but not a place I'd recommend. Kim and I wanted a bit of a special night out to celebrate and this seemed to be the best we could find outside of Newcastle itself. From living in the Newcastle area years ago I know that it is hard to find a decent restaurant up there...most people regard fish'n'chips as a romantic night out!


Anyway...the place we stayed at was very nice although it troubled the owner of the place that we didn't want to have breakfast until after 10.30 in the morning...what IS WRONG with these Sydney people!!! Kim and I enjoyed catching up on some sleep and just relax without having to rush around for set meal times, be a tourist etc.


Especially Sunday troubled her at we didn't want to check out until 2pm because we wanted a snooze. She even sent down her grandchildren to make a bit of noise to wake us up.


Anyway...it was actually quite amusing and Kim and I didn't mind, the woman running the place was actually quite sweet....and $300 for the two nights in a lake front cottage was good value. It is definitely a place I'd go back to.

This Saturday Kim and I went to Hunter Valley with a couple of her Colleagues from Epicor. They had one of her colleagues visiting from the US office.

I was invited along as Joanne was the driver and kim doesn't drink, so I was the only person who could drink with the visitor (I didn't mind :-) ).

Normally I go for all the red wines, but I decided on this trip to dry some of the white wines, especially try and find a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio...which I eventually did at the Bimbadgen Vineyard.

Kim also bought a couple of really nice desert wines that I'm sure I will be allowed to share.

Saturday Kim and I want to see La Traviata in Sydney Operahouse.

For Christmas I got a couple of tickets for the opera from Kim. It was an opera I hadn't see before and the stage setup was really good and the performance was excellent. Kim had gotten us really good seats...we had front row seats in the dress circle upstairs.

During the performance they were broadcasting the show to the steps in front of the operahouse as well as to one of the parks in Melbourne. They wanted to show what Opera is like to a wider audience.


Afterwards we had dinner at Circular Quay close to the Opera House.





Sunday we drove down to Catherine Fields to Camden Lakeside Country Club to play a round of golf. Sasha and one of his friends dad visiting from Canada also came along.

It was really hot, so for the first time I was actually glad that we were driving a kart rather than walking the course. The guy from Canada was almost dead by the time we got back to the club house.

I played a really good round (43 points stableford, HCP 13) and Kim played almost at her handicap.

It is obvious that there is a drought on. Most of the lakes were dried out, I was looking for a photo online to post here, but the course is totally unrecognisable because of the missing lakes.

This year Kim met her targets at work. This meant the she got invited to Hawaii (with a partner...me) as part of the Chairmans club.

We got back two weeks ago and had a fantastic trip. The first few days we spent in Honolulu at Waikiki Beach...we got to see all of Oahu, went snorkeling and Kim went shopping. One night we all went to a shooting range in Honolulu.


After this we went to Kauai where we were staying at a big resort. Here we went snorkeling, sailing and played golf.

There was parties every night and we also managed to find a bit of time to ourselves.






See the rest of the photos from our trip here: Hawai Photos/Slideshow

In Mid 2006 I went to a work meeting in Krabi in Thailand.

This happens to be a few kilometers away from one of the best rock climbing destinations in the world. So, after the meeting I took a few days off to go rock climbing.

Kim happened to be travelling in the Northern part of Thailand with some friends who had to leave on the same day my meeting ended. Kim flew down to Krabi where I picked her up at the airport.

Unfortunately it was rainy season, so most of the time in Railay it was raining, but we did manage to get one day of climbing done and the rest of the time we spend in the restaurants and playing cards.


Click here to see more photos from: Thailand/Slideshow

I have now started adding photos from 2005. For this I have created a new blog just for 2005, the plan is that I will add blogs for the remaining years as well.

Click here to see what happened in 2005

Last weekend it was pretty warm here in Sydney and the lawn needed watering.

I turned on the sprinkler and we let the boys have some water play.

It is Friday, so time for a little photoshop fun.

Lucas gets really scared whenever Aiden roars like a dinosaur/dragon. When we went to the forest last weekend he again got scared and I snapped this photo and decided to insert a dragon into it.

This weekend when we went to Luna Park I took this panorama I took this panorama from the top of the ferris wheel.

It is a series of 5 photos stitched together. The large one if amazing. You can clearly see individuals at Sydney Opera house and you can tell the colour of their clothes.

It was just taken handheld with my D800 and 50mm lens.

This weekend we went Luna Park to celebrate Sammi's birthday.



The kids (especially Aiden and Sammi) had loads of fun on the different rides.

Last weekend we made another excursion to Centennial. This time to a different and more open area (Kim wanted to have picnic on the manicured lawn, but I convinced her to move into the trees so the kids could play).
















They also wanted to go and play/climb on the rocks.

Here are a lot of individual photos of the kids that I haven't had a chance to post because they didn't really justify a post or not of the best quality.

First one is one of Lucas with face paint from daycare.


And he throws the biggest tantrums once in a while. Here is one on the street.


Here Aiden and Lucas are being silly and trying to balance on one leg.




And here is Aiden think he is stuck under the sofa (he is not).



Here he is very proud of his colouring in from daycare.


They both have the same bathrobes.


As a reward we took Aiden to the movies to watch 'How to train your dragon 2'.


We are still trying to teach Aiden how to ride a bicycle.



A scary hand.


They love their chocolate and ice cream.





Chilling out.


Selfies.







Breakfast.






A beautiful sunset.

Last weekend kim was away for a girls weekend.

While she was away I decided to go to the little forested area of Centennial park and let the boys play amongst the trees.

They had a lot of fun just making up their own games.

Aiden and Lucas are doing a lot of painting and drawing at daycare.

Here is some of their better work.

This one I call 'The water dragon' by Lucas


This is 'The night owl' by Aiden (Aiden calls it 'Wave')

Here is a couple of photos from Lucas' 2 year birthday with the family.

This is without a doubt my favourite photo of the day (and it was also one of the first I took).

There is something very serene and dream like about this photo that I really like, and the dreamy look or the model fits well.




Set & Lights: Studio 1A Sydney
Model: Jacqueline S (IKON)
HMUA: Donna Kalasho
Photo: Rene Pallesen

This year it was my Grandmothers 85th Birthday. As per the tradition the whole family went on a trip overseas, this time to Egypt.

It was my first time to Egypt so it was a different experience. I can recommend that you take a read of the Travel Journal by clicking here!


Click here to see more photos from: Egypt 2004/Slideshow/Travel Journal

2004 was the year I started working for Captaris. One of the first things I did was to visit our office in Calgary to learn about our workflow product.

My visit coincided with the Calgary Stampede, so lots of cowboys in town, indians and rodeos. I also too a bus ride up through the Canadian rockies through Banff, Lake Louise and up to the Columbian Ice Fields.

Click here to see more photos from: Canada 2004/Slideshow

In 2004 Australia was being drawn into the war in Iraq. A lot of Australians were opposed to the war, but the politicians wouldn't listen.

On a nice sunny day several hundred thousand people gathered around Hyde park in the middle of the city to demonstrate and express their opinions against Australia entering into the war.

I was of the belief that the war was a mistake in the first place and was totally unjustified, so I was decided to join the demonstrations and at the same time see if I could take a few photos.

Click here to see more photos from: The 2004 Anti War demonstrations/Slideshow

Andy and Tink had their first baby...a little (and very hairy) girl names Mia.

This was also one of those periods where I was checking out what it would be like to have a beard.

My grandad passed away in 2003.

He was getting old and was getting tired of living so he decided to end it.

With EDI I went on a field trip to visit one of the big containerships in Botany Bay.

It was facinating to see the size of those ships.

I celebrated Christmas and New Year with my parents in Thailand.

We spent the time in the Northern Part of Thailand in the Golden Triangle around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

We rented a car for a couple of days and got to see a lot including all the hill tribes that still to this day live in this part of Thailand.




Click here to see more photos from: Thailand/Slideshow

In 2003 Kenneth got married to Anica. I was asked to be the best man by Kenneth.

The wedding took place at a homestead in Sofala three hours drive west of Sydney.

It was a wonderful weekend surrounded by wonderful people.



Click here to see more photos from: Kenneths Wedding/Slideshow

Contents . . .

My photo collection is vast. Many of them are in my albums, others scanned as images here. I have tried to include the best of the best, and will keep doing so. Feel free to explore any of the links - it make take some time to peruse them all...

( We recommend viewing of the photos through MS Explorer )

AUSTRALIA - HOME
Cockatoos at Home	Narrabeen Beach	New car	My Jobs

MY FAMILY
Grandmother's 85th	Grandmother's 80th	Donkey Day Out	My Brother Claus	My Father

2001
New Zealand (Mt Cook)	South-East Asia

2000
Chilli Festival	Ecochallenge Borneo (Sabah)	Sydney Olympics

1999
Thailand (Bangkok)	Laos	Morocco

1998
Port Macquarie	Pete's Bite	New Zealand (Sth Island)	Denmark

Created: 11 Aug 2001 Last Updated: 21-jan-05

On the last day in Denmark our flight wasn't leaving from Copenhagen to Milan until early evening, we therefore decided to head into the capital a bit earlier in the day and spend a couple of hours sightseeing with my parents.

We went to a place called Rosenborg (Rose Castle) which is where the Danish royals keep their crown jewels.



It is also the place where they train the soldiers that protect the royals.



Some of the jewels are absolutely stunning. There is lots of ivory, old weapons, saddles, gold etc. everything coverved with diamonds, perls, emeralds, rubys and other jewels.















My mum and dad was waiting outside (half asleep) while we were inside looking at all the awsomeness.

While we were in Denmark we went to the local zoo called Knuthenborg. It was created by the owner of one of the big farms who had a vision to create one of Europes larges open air zoos. What is so special about this particular zoo is that you drive around amongst the animals and in certain areas are allowed to leave the car and interact with the animals.

The first place we went was the monkey area. Here we were able to walk around some of the Lemurs (Half monkeys) from Madagascar.





Driving around we also saw a number of other animals such as the asian water buffalo (which loves mud), zebras, Zobel Antelopes, Goats










Kim even found a horse her own size



We had a bit of fun with the camels. I don't know what they were thinking but they kept eating my hair and I think one of them was in love with me.







They also have some more exotic animals there such as tigers and rhinos (The wouldn't allow us to get out of our car to pet these).

Not far from where my parent live there is an open air museum displaying how people lived in the medieval time which in Denmark was the late 14th century.

For Kim and I it felt like we suddenly were a princess and a knight from that time.











Besides from houses, ships and other buildings the place also displays various handicraft, weaponry and how people battles in those times.

They have working Trebuchets there to throw massive stones (or dead animals and burning tar) accurately for distances of more than several hundred metres.



Every day they show people how they work and hurl massive stones into the water.


We tried some of the weapons. I used to be fairly alright with a bow and arrow when I was a kid. I tried the bow and arrow here and it was a total disaster.





Obviously Kim went straigh for the shoes and the furs (I am not a fur person myself):





They also had a knights tournament on while we were there. Two knights would fight using their lances which would shatter on the impact against the shields.

On one of the days in Denmark we had a really nice and relatively calm day. This was perfect for us to go sailing and bring my mum along.



First we had to get my mum onboard. The Sailing clum has a crane for removing masts from the boats. This is perfect for lifting her in a specially designed harness from her wheelchair to the boat.







The water between the two islands (Lolland and Falster...the island I grew up on) is fairly narrow and long and we spent time sailing north for a couple of hours, had some lunch whereafter we turned back again. It was a beautiful day and my mum really enjoyed it as well.

We managed to take some really nice family photos on the trip.








On the same evening we had a beautiful sunset.

When Kim and i got married last year we promised my mum that we would come to Denmark this summer (European) and have a little party with her as she was unable to attend.

Our journey there didn't start well. A five hour delay from Sydney meant that we missed our flight in London. British Airways told us that we wouldn't be able to get on a flight until next day but we insisted that they get get on us a flight the same day. They waitlisted us on a couple of flight and eventually we managed to get to Copenhagen late the same evening. Thanks to modern technology my parents were updated with the flight details so they didn't have to wait around and they arrived to the airport just before we arrived.
It took our luggage another two days to catch up with us, this meant that we had to do some essential clothes shopping.


The first couple of day we spent with my parent, cooking for them, taking my mum to the forest, the beach as well as going sailing. It is summer time in Denmark at the moment, so the weather was a lot more pleasant than the last time we were there and there was more people at the beach etc.





It was a bit weird visiting this time. My mum and dad are no longer living together and they had sold the house week before we arrived. This meant that we were staying in my dads apartment (Which used to be my brothers) and visiting my mum during the day. My mum has got a really nice little apartment in a facility where there are people around to assist her whenever she needs help.



My mum has also still got the car, so it is easier to take her to places as it has got a lift and special belts to secure the wheelchair.



At the end of the week my dad had organised a party for my family and friends. It was in the middle of the holiday season, so a lot of cousins and other family members were unable to join.







It was especially good to see my grandma (who is 89).



We were in Denmark a total of 10 days before then heading to Italy.

Kim likes to have a lot of parties (Pre-Party, Party and Post Party) when it is her birthday. This weekend we had a big group of her friends over for a BBQ.

It is currently winter here, but it was nice and sunny, so the backyard was still warm in the mid twenty degrees so we were able to sit outside.



Kim had baked cupcakes the night before and used the cupcake stand from our wedding to present them and it looked fantastic.

Last year I took Kim to Hunter Valley for her birthday. This year we decided to head up to the cold Blue Mountains.

We hired a cabin that we stayed in a couple of years ago. It is a nice little self contained cottage in the Blue Mountains...loads of privacy and a nice little woodfire and spa.





It was cold up there so the wood fire was very convenient.

Saturday morning we had booked a round of golf at Leura golf course. The first thing you notice here is that everyone plays really slowly. We got let through two groups but still managed to complete the round in less than 4 hours. It is a beautiful course and it was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I'd played for a long time.



And as you can tell Kim was very relaxed too.



And here showing the latest in golf fashion.



In the afternoon we had a look at Leura (Kim had the munchies for scones) and we had a look at the local shops.


In the evening it was time to celebrate her Birthday so I took her out to dinner at Echos Point Restaurant. Food was ok, but overprices compared to many really good Sydney restaurants. But there was plenty of food so we skipped the desert...and had a really nice and romantic evening, so Kim was very happy.



Next morning we woke up early to have a look at a few shops and gardens around the place. First we went to a garden called Everglades...nice, but would have been nicer once the flowers are out in late winter (It is winter here in Oz now) . After that we went to Mount Tomah botanical gardens. These are very nice, there was plenty of flowers and the layout of the gardens is really nice.









I bought a new tripod for photography last week so we decided to have some fun around the place with jump shots.

This year Sydney has put on a fantastic lightshow in the city centre. Purpose is to draw people into the city here at winter time.

One evening after having dinner with a couple of friends, Kim and I went in there to take some photos of some of the light shows....and here are the results.

Yesterday on the 11th June Adam was born by Kim's sister Dao. He is an impatient little bugger and decided to arrive two weeks early and later at night while all the other boys in the family were out watching the soccer match between Australia and Bahrain.

Suddenly Wednesday evening Dao called saying that she'd started going into labour. Normally Wednesday is my climbing night but luckily I was home this evening. Kim and I quickly picked up KC (Kims other sister) and they took the car (while I stayed with KC's kids) to go and pick up Dao and bring her to the hospital.



She was in labour until after midnight and in the early hours Thursday arrived.

We all went there yesterday to have a look and both mother and child is doing fine. And Dylan (on the left in the photo) is excited to have a baby brother.

Today Andy and I went climbing at a place called Cathedral at Bangor in the southern part of Sydney.

None of us has been there before but according to the description we should park at the end of this street and then it would be a 5 minute scramble from there.

We found the start of the track ok, but 15 minutes later we were still bush bashing out way trying to spot markers that would indicate where the cliffs were.



Half way down I dropped my water bottle out of my backpack and it disappeared between some rocks. I went down to retrieve it and then we continued down the gully into dense rain forest full of impenetratable bamboo. After taking a couple of turns with dead-ends we could see glimses of the river. and after about a 25 minute walk we suddenly found ourselves on this really nice little beach.



Andy mumbled that there was no way that he was going to go back the same way and he'd rather walk a big detour along the river. We could now see the cliffline and walked down to the end of the beach where we went back into the forest along a track that let us to the cliffs.

We could see why it was called The Cathedral.



The cliffs are massive, intimidating and completely blank of any features that lend themselves to climbing. We had a hard time finding the various routes and started scrambling along the base at the cliffs. We got to the end of the cliffline and I shoulted "I HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE!". Andy looked at me confused and asked "You've climbed here before". I replied..."No, I have been here before...This is where I dropped my waterbottle". DOOOHHH...we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble if we had turned left here instead of going straight...and suddenly then way back out didn't look so bad.

Anyway we couldn't figure out the climbs so I decided to jump onto a grade 21 climb called Imogen. I got to the first bolt and started moving up on really bad feet (small pebbles) going for a very long reach. Eventually my foothold broke and I slid down the side of the rock getting a sandpaper cut on my arm and leg. We decided to bail the climb and find something that was more suitable for warming up on.



We scrambled down to the other end and found a number of grade 16...but eventually I settled for a climb called "Ozone Action (17 ***)" which is what is a mixed climb (part bolted and geared climbing).

This was a really good one. It was sustained at the grade and had everything in it...laybacks, chimney, mantel, overhang, slab, face climbing etc. If anyone does it then follow the advise and bring cams/slings....is it desperately run-out unless protected.




I set up a belay at the top and Andy followed me up...with a big smile on his face. After this we absailed down to the grade 16's. All good fun...and I toproped something that I'm sure is harder.

After this it was time to pack up and head back.

I did a couple of different sets with Valerie. Depending on the makeup she would look totally different and unrecognisable.

I call this my 'Get Lost' photo...bit of attitude.







Model: Valerie Peovska
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Set: Studio 1A Sydney

The last of the girls that I shot at the window set was Edyta.

She has got a bit more of a rough look to her...a bit like Geena Davis in 'Long Kiss Goodnight'.

Being at the window with soft light everywhere the tough look didn't work for me, but I did manage to get this photo which emotionally is a bit more on the lighter side.




Model: Edyta Jedrzejowska
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Set: Studio 1A Sydney

Another Natural Light shoot that I did was with a girl called Britney.

She has a very photogenic face if done right. I also did a couple of shots in one of the sets but I just couldn't make it work as well as with soft natural light.




Again I was shooting with the Samyang but it was a bit later in the day so it was easier to control the light.



Photographer: Rene Pallesen
Model: Britney Williams
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Sets: Studio 1A Sydney

One of the model was a more mature girl by the name of Sarah.

I had the pleasure of shooting her using natural light next to one of the windows in the upstairs studio.

The Look I was going for was a more soft Boudoir type look and I think I managed to capture that in this photo.



I found it really hard shooting using natural light. I was using a new Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens that I bought. The look I wanted required me to shoot it at 1.4 but the light at the window was fairly bright so I was constantly hitting the ceiling of how low the ISO could go and how high shutter speed I had.

Model: Sarah Lucien
Hair and Makeup: Carla Vallelonga
Lights: Natural

I had a blast of a day this Sunday participating in a modelling workshop with Studio 1A...22 models, 10 makeup artists, 20 sets and lots of opportunity to take great photos.

I was totally buggered after shooting for 5 hours but it was great for building experience.

This was one of my favorite photos (many more to come) from the day.



Model: Taylia Lopez
Lighting & Set: Studio 1A
Hair & Make-up: Kabuki Mee Designs

A cute moment of Lucas attempting to draw and with a very snotty nose.

This is a test shot using a new Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens that I recently bought.

It is a manual focus lens so it is harder to use (especially with the kids), but this shot shows what beautiful results I am getting when shooting wide open.

We are training Aiden at the moment. The other day he did a big one on the toilet and as a reward we gave him the dinosaur that we had promised him.

My Aunty and her husband arrived to Australia a couple of days ago and will be traveling around the country for the next 5 weeks.
They asked if they could come over for dinner one evening to see where/how we live, so Saturday night we hosted them at our place.
It is not often that I have relatives in this part of the world, so when it does happen then it is nice even if it is just for a short visit.



The menu was Kims lemon pepper prawns for starters, Duck breast with home made bearnaise and raspberry creme brulee for desert (plus a lot of other goodies such as dips and cheese and wine).

They were supposed to have arrived the night before but their flight was delayed so they arrived 6am in the morning going straight to their hotel and then straight onto a bicycle tour around Sydney. From there they went straight to our place...they must have been buggered...

Last weekend we went down to La Perouse to do some family photos as we needed some new ones. We decided to do some on the lawn in front of the tower.
Lucas was not in the mood to have his photo taken and wanted to be held all the time so we decided to stick to using the picture frame that I had brought along.



Aiden on the other hand was having a blast of a time running, climbing and playing.

Monday it was St Patricks day (an Irish thing) and at daycare they were celebrating it by putting colour and hairspray in the kids hair (Green is the Irish National colour).

Aiden came back with very spiky hair and was his own cheeky self about it...