A couple of days ago the kids were playing in the park at Kims dads place while a big storm was approaching.

The light was beautiful so I couldn't resist snapping a couple of photos with my phone.

Kim has never learned to ride a bike. One day at the park she borrowed Kaylas bike and gave it a try.

She did pretty good considering that she's never done it before.

Here is some quick snaps of some public artwork that I find really cool.

This artwork I found in the Macquarie centre.







It is thousands of plastic balls suspended from the ceiling.

And this grafitti is from Redfern...I wish all grafitti was this well done.

One day we went with the kids to the opera house to experience a play called "The tiger who came to tea" which is based on a childrens book of the same title.

We had borrowed the book week before and read it to the kids so they were very excited and the play was really good fun and well made.

One of the sad events of the year was the attack on the Lindt cafe in Sydney where a lone gunman took the patrons as hostages. He was eventually shot by the police after killing two patrons.



All of Sydney laid flowers in front of the cafe as Martins place.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Daydream island in the Whitsunday islands at great barrier reef.

This was a great opportunity to check out some of the natural beauties...





...such as Whitehaven beach.











We spent a lot of time playing at the pool and at the beach.





The resort has a massive inland lagoon with lots of stingrays and sharks that the kids loved.






Aiden and Lucas were allowed to touch some of them including this live shark.



and stingrays and star fish.










And on the island there were lots of kangaroos.



A beautiful place.





And I did have time to do a bit of creative shooting.





Eventually it was time to say goodbye to the island with a vulcan salute.

In early November I did another open studio day. This time a mini day with less models, hair and makeup and studio setups.

As usual it was good practice and fun to work with the various models. I think I did get some great photos and there were a lot of lessons learned that can be done better next time.


Model: Charlotte de Lucey


Model: Jessica Garcia


Model: Tanika de Alwis


Model: Britney Williams


Model: Tanika de Alwis

Compared to the other times I was doing a lot more natural light photography this time and some of it in nasty and not very flattering direct sunlight. I think I still managed to get some very usable results out of it.


Model: Nikki Doan


Model: Nikki Doan


Model: Amy Hill



The hardest thing for me is still the communication with the models and the creation of a vision that is different when you are on a fixed set.


Model: Jessica Garcia


Model: Jessica Garcia

This Sunday we took the ferry to Manly.



It is a beautiful trip past the opera house and the boys were very excited being on a boat.














At Manly we went down to the beach. It was a calm day so the boys had a lot of fun at the edge of the water.










After that Kim did some shopping, we had some fish'n'chips and we also had an ice cream.

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.

There was also a monkey show with a larger trained monkey.

Apparently in the past they used trained monkeys to fetch coconuts for them and they demonstrated how they trained them.







Kim's dad had his photo taken with the monkey.

They also had a snake show at the elephant place.

Some of the snakes were very poisonous such as this monocled cobra.





And the huge king cobra (which kept coming over the safety barrier).



Chong and I volunteered to hold the python.












I wonder how often the snake guy has been bitten by his snakes.

At the place we went riding elephants they had a group of little monkeys that we could hold and feed.

They were chained to their little houses which was a bit cruel, but the kids loved seeing the monkeys up close.










The kids thought it was very funny when one of them grabbed my nose.

One morning we went on an elephant ride with the family.

Kim had been on elephant rides before and is terrified, but she was still brave enough to do it again (She was screaming that she wanted to get off most of the way).






It was an amazing experience for the Kids.









They got to see the big animals up close.

One one of the first days we went to the beach at Kata. The hotel had a shuttle bus to the beach which was an easy 10 minutes walk away.

The beach was actually surprisingly nice with warm water.



About two months ago a sailing boat stranded on the beach during a storm. No one has claimed the boat and a few attempts of lifting it off the beach has failed.



We told the kids that it was a pirate ship, so they wanted to have a closer look.











Kims dad didn't want to go in the water, but decided to keep to his thing with wearing warm clothes in hot humid weather.

This year we traveled to Phuket in Thailand along with Kim's sisters family and her dad.

We had to fly via Bangkok, so we were a bit worried how the kids would handle the long flight (especially Lucas), but everyone handled it reasonably well.

The boys were very excited to be going on a big aeroplane.

 

Once we arrived to Bangkok it was pretty obvious to see that they were very excited.

The only thing that never made it all the way to the hotel was our stroller. We lost it somewhere between Phuket airport and the hotel...but wasn't a big loss and hopefully someone puts it to goo local use.

It is time to renew Aiden passport and like last time there were a lot of outtakes that we could not use, but which were quite funny.

Here is some more photos of my grandma and grandpa on my mothers side.

Here she is with her sisters (my grandma on the far right)



Here is some of her when she was young.






Here is one that I assume was taken in 1969 based on the date of the photo.



I think this one if my grandpa when he was young.



And here is some more.







And here is some family gathering photos.



I think it is her brother on the left. And my cousin Mette on the right.



And this is with my grandparents on my fathers side (left to right bedstefar, mormor, morfar, bedstemor, mum and Claus).

Going through some old photos I came across these of my great grand parents (on my mothers side).




I am pretty sure that the little girl on the left is my Mum (So the photos must have been taken around 1943-1944) and the other two girls are her sisters (My Aunties) Eli on the right and Yrsa in the middle.

I assume that the women in the back are their grand parents (my great grands) with the woman on the right being my grandmothers (mormor's) mum and the one on the right being grandad's (morfar'd) mum.


Here is a family photo of what I assume is my grandmothers (mormor's) family. I think it is my grandma in the middle right behind my great grandmother.


I assume this is my great grandparents, but I cannot be certain.




This must be a birthday for my grandmother.


This was taken outside the farm where my mum grew up. It is my grandad (morfar) in the middle on the right and it could be my grandmother (mormor) on the stairs with her mum. The farm is still there today owned by my uncle.






This must be some of the family on my grandads (morfar's) side, so possibly some of his siblings.

I purchased a cheap ring flash and had a bit of a play with it one evening and took the following happy snap photo of Kim.




We are planning a holiday and I am thinking that I might bring it along.

In Vang Vieng we also went to some caves. Again we were the only ones there - I don't know if this was just because no one else were interested or because we went there at a time when everyone else were doing other activities.

The caves are in fairly pristine condition, they are dark, moist and other than descending a makeshift ladder walking through them gives a feeling of exploring the caves for the very first time.





Some passages were really narrow






And other parts of the caves were massive.










Overall the caves are beautiful and again it was amazing having them to ourselves.

The tribes of Laos still exist although it is no longer as noticeable.

They no longer wear their traditional costumes but it is possible to glimpse the occasional traditional head wear or dress in one of the shops.








It is especially sad to see the Hmong tribal wear gone as worn below by Mavis and Kim. The Hmong traditionally lived in the mountains. The government has forced them down into the lowlands where they can be controlled and 'integrated' into the the rest of Laos.

On the first day in Vang Vieng we hired a local guide to take us through the country side and some of the villages around Vang Vieng.



Hiking through the countryside in Laos is partly magical and at the same time an eye opener. It is not until you get into the country side that you get a glimse of the real Laos and its people, the way of living and their beliefs.

Walking into the first village a group of boys came walking towards us. One of the kids was holding his head with blood dripping down his face. The other boys were taking him home to his parents. I couldn't help but notice that there was a green substance smeared across the wound and asked our guide is he knew what it was. He went over to some bushes and plucked a couple of leaves and said that if you crush them then they will help stop the bleeding. This is when you realise that a lot of the plants in the villages serve a purpose as natural herbal medicine or for eating.

The village was a HMong village and at one of the houses we spotted the little girl above standing in a door opening with her grand mother. There are very few of the traditional bamboo shacks still standing and instead being replaced with brick buildings.




A bit further up the road we heard a sound. Someone was hitting a gong and chanting. Thinking it might be a monk we went to investigate. The sound was coming from one of the local houses. At the back of the house the family was in the process of preparing food, but we couldn't see where the sound was coming from. Our guide asked them and was told that they had a newborn (possibly sick) child and that the Shaman was in the house talking to the 'other world to' attract the good spirits and chase the evil spirits away.



As we walked on we could see him through the opening of the door and I snapped the above photo which is one of my favourite photos of the trip.

In the village people go about their normal life such as this woman removing lice from her daughters hair.



As we walked on we had to walk through the local school. It happened to be recess and the kids in the smaller classes were outside playing.





There was a small stand selling them lunches who also sold lollies, so Kim got the idea to spoil the kids with lollies - but also turned out to be a great opportunity for our kids to interact and see what a classroom in Laos looks like.





The area is still very un-developed. Although there seems to be electricity, this is mainly used for lighting. Cooking is still done by collecting wood and done on wood fired stoves and people still wash their clothes in the rivers and streams.






Although there are still a number of water buffaloes these are mainly used for eating along with any other non-human living animal - such as pigs, dogs, birds etc.













It was very healthy for the boys to see where their food 'potentially' comes from and understand that this is part of life.

The area is full of rice paddies, but these are now worked with mechanical tools rather than buffaloes.






The government has built bridges across the large river to allow access to the villages.




But the smaller streams have bamboo bridges - in this case wide enough to drive a motorbike across, others just a single bamboo to allow a person walk across.




At the far village (Lao and not Hmong) there was a limestone cliff with a small cave in it. This was called elephant cave and inside there was a small shrine along with some bizarre images.







The whole area is spectacular - I can only imagine what it would be like during rice planting season - yes it would be muddy but also stunningly beautiful.














During this whole hike we saw no other travelers. Other than at the cave we didn't get a sense that there frequently came any groups through and I think the feedback from all of us was that this was one of the highlights of the trip - no adrenaline required.

Vang Vieng is an interesting tourism destination in Laos that has undergone several iterations of re-inventing itself.



When I first visited for an overnight stopover it was a sleepy little town with maybe a handful of backpackers going tubing (more on that later).
I also remember the deserted airport runway from the 'secret war' going through the sleepy little village (Lima site 6) and the stunning mountain scenery in the background. Other than that there wasn't much there.



Ten years later my mum and dad visited the place and told me stories how the place had transformed. It had grown and was full of drunk backpackers with loud rave music and parties throughout the night. During the day they were floating down the river in car tubes again with beers and drinks in their hands.



Then again about 5 years ago, Laos appeared in the Australian news media with stories of young backpackers breaking their necks doing somersaults off the tree branches on the river and lagoons and hitting the rocks. Stories of high highly available drugs were also emerged.

The Lao government stepped in and closed the majority of the bars along the river, stopped the parties and the drugs and implemented a number of other safety restrictions.
It worked, the parties stopped and the young party seeking backpackers fled.

A new crowd has now moved in - this is bus loads of adrenaline seeking Koreans. They go there to go kayaking, zip lining, tubing, buggy riding etc. They eat at the Korean restaurants and stay at the same hotels, but otherwise mostly keep to themselves. This also means that some of the same old sleepy feeling has returned to this town. It also meant that is was easy (or just plain luck from our side) to avoid the tourists.

The airstrip is still there, but I recon most visitors would walk across it and not notice and definitely wouldn't know the history behind the secret war in Laos, let alone the American involvement and the little airstrips around the place. It is a fascinating story and has very much shaped Laos into what it is today.



The area is just absolutely stunning with steep limestone cliffs and rice paddies. I could easily have spent more time there taking photos in the surrounding area.

A must see in Vientiane is Pha That Luang - It is on every bank note in Laos and they are very proud of it.



Unlike Buddha Park it is surprisingly quiet when it comes to tourists. The majority of people visiting seems to be either Laos or Thai people offering a prayer. The correct way here is to get the insense and flowers and then walk clockwise around the Stuba on the inside of the covered corridor (mostly to keep out of the sun I assume).





Although it is not particularly old (The original 1st century structure was mostly destroyed and has undergone a number of more recent restorations), it is stunningly beautiful and impressive in size.



For me to get some of the panorama photos here with the selection of lenses I'd brought along I had to take multiple photos that I then had to stitch together.

Outside there is a temple that is equally interesting, although nothing compared to further north in Luang Prabang.





There are also street vendors selling cage birds that are supposed to bring good luck and prayers to anyone releasing them.

One of the sights we wanted to visit was Buddha Park outside Vientiane (close to the border crossing back into Thailand).





Trying to figure out the most comfortable way to get there we settled on taking the local bus. There aren't any taxis as such in Vientiane and we weren't keen taking a tuk-tuk for 30 kilometers. Most of the tuk-tuks are in an extremely poor shape with failing brakes, wobbling wheels and thick smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes.
They are perfectly fine for shorter trips inside the city (such as hotel to bus station), but not recommended for longer trips.

The bus turned out to be easy to find and we were early enough to all get a seat. The bus was later packed with passengers going to Thailand and it would have been tough to stand up for the one hour bus ride.

The bus is also really convenient in that it stops right outside Buddha Park which is the last stop before the bus turns around and heads back to Vientiane.









Buddha Park itself was apparently established by a Monk building the statues for religious purposes as education of his religious beliefs.



It is actually a nice little area and quite interesting with lots of (to us) weird statues showing bizarre things.



The most obvious is the massive 'pumpkin' at the entrance that you can climb. Each level inside the the sculpture itself represents hell, earth and sky.



The entrance is a head with a clock above it - meaning swallowed up by time?





There is also a massive reclining buddha.



And my favourite was the large centre sculpture carrying the body of a woman...no idea what this is supposed to represent.

Vientiane is no longer the sleepy capital city it used to be. It is hustling and bustling with people, cars, motorbikes and shops everywhere.




The once neglected colonial buildings have all been renovated and the red dust flying everywhere is long gone as the roads have been paved. In the outskirts of the city high-rise office towers have started shooting up and I think that given another decade this city will look like any other East Asian capital.



The most striking difference was the banks of the Mekong River. Last time I was there it was really just a dirty path and following it north long enough there would be a string of wooden shacks with local restaurants that would serve some beautiful local dishes, fish and other seafood.
The water then would come right up to the bank and the boats could pull up and during the day the local kids would jump from the trees and swim in the river.
The old path has been replaced by a modern walk way (which actually is really nice) and the shacks have been replaced by some bars closer to the centre catering more for a western clientel - still with some nice seafood on the menu. The water of the Mekon has receeded and there is now a massive sand bank moving the river 2-300 meter back from the city.

Although Vientiane doesn't have a massive amount of things to see, it is definitely worth a visit. The Wats are beautiful and the vertical runway (local Arc de Triumpe - called so because they used cement intended for building an airport) is worth the climb to get a view of the city (and the main road which used to be the only paved road). There is certainly plenty to do for a couple of days.









About 100 meters from the Arc down a side street we had what was probably the best noodle soup of the whole trip. It was just a local mum, dad and grandma run place and it met the critia of being busy having locals eating there which means that it is likely that the food is good and relative fresh.



Even with it being in the middle of the city there was no access to gas or running water, so everything was cooked over wood fired stoves with the broth for the soups likely cooking overnight and the rest cooked fresh on the spot.



On the first afternoon we were sitting in a local coffee place and I started speaking to the girl working there. I asked her for local places to eat great authentic Lao food - not touristy. She recommended a place up neat That Dam (the black stuba) called Soukvinam and she showed me some photos. It looked more like a fine dining place, but the food looked delicious so we decided to give it a go.



It was a quiet place with a nice ambience. We were sitting outside in the courtyard which was ideal with the kids. We ordered a lot of food sticking to specialties we had never tried before such as stuffed frogs, fermented fish eggs etc. and it was all really nice.



By Lao standards it probably wasn't cheap, but for the whole group of us the entire meal ended up costing approximately $100 AUD. On that 'note' it is easy to be an instant millionaire as a foreigner in Laos - change $150 Australian dollars you are there.



We also celebrated New Years Even in Vientiane which was fairly low key with a couple of late night drinks.

This year our holiday was going to a country in South East Asia called to the Laos with the boys and some close friends. I went there almost 20 years ago. I had just migrated to Australia and was going on my first holiday. Laos which had only just been opened up by the communist regime, was very much undeveloped after two decades of isolation and happened to be one of the first places I visited in Asia and it was a country that I immediately fell in love with.

It wasn’t the things to see and do in the country that I fell in love with - but the people. I loved the smiles, how welcoming everyone was, and I especially loved the joy of the dirty kids playing in the streets. Everyone was living at very simple lifestyle and yet everyone had what they needed and were happy.



Back then I had no firm plans, but made them up as I went along. I traveled light, caught local transport, I met locals and other travelers along the way on a budget of less than $10/day, and still remember the sticky rice sold to passengers when passing through towns.





I had some incredible experiences in an amazing country. I managed to have a full busload full of locals break down laughing from me trying to read up sentences from my little pocket Lao phrase book. Through this I was invited to visit families and join their local celebrations through festive events. The only local I met up in Northern Laos who could English was a girl working for an NGO. She invited me to join her visits to remote local villages where we had to cross the rivers on bamboo rafts to get to them and experienced the local dragon boat racing.

Since this distant time I had heard and lots about the country from other travelers including my Mum and Dad who visited the country ten years ago. I heard how the country had changed and how mass tourism had ruined the experience. I had heard about the young backpacker rave parties, the drugs and adrenaline junkies in Vang Vieng. I heard about the modernization, cars and traffic in Vientiane.

Going back with family and friends I was worried that they wouldn’t see the country that I saw so many years ago. There isn’t a lot of historical sites to see in Laos other than in Luang Prabang where there are lots of Temples due to many wars destroying major parts of the country. More worried was I that I would be disappointed by the country and the people I saw back then being no more.



When we got there it turned out that, yes, the country has changed a lot. Lots of roads have been paved, there are lots of cars everywhere, the old colonial buildings have been renovated and all the houses are now built in brick and mortar instead of being wooden bamboo shacks. People are on mobile phones, the kids are watching youtube videos, every hotel has wifi, you can buy everything, and major investments are flowing in from neighboring Thailand, China and Vietnam.

There are a lot more tourists in the country, especially in Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, but they are a different type of tourists than the ones I was dreading.The backpackers have been replaced with mainly adrenalin loving Korean tourists or wealthier middle-aged Europeans and the era of party fueled backpacker tourism is largely gone.



And most importantly getting outside the towns, the Laos I loved back then still very much exists if you go look for it. The modern tourists are surprisingly easy to avoid. They all stay in the same places and visit the same top ten sites or visit the same restaurants that Tripadvisor recommended they go to. They go back home and tell everyone that they have experienced Laos, not knowing that their comfort has eluded them of the real magic of Laos.



The Lao people everywhere are still very loving, smiling and friendly, there are dirty kids, chickens, cows, dogs and cats roaming the streets everywhere and the remnants of the old tribes that I saw back then still exists through their ancient traditions although the traditional costumes and houses are largely gone now due to government policies.



Had we gone even further afield that we did on this trip, I’m convinced that little has changed in those villages I once visited two decades ago. Prior to going I was scared what I would find there, but now I feel blessed that my family and friends have experienced some of the glimpses of ‘my’ Laos together with me…Laos still has a big place in my heart.

Kims dad has some old photos hanging of Kim when she was little.







This is Kims mum when she was young.



This is Kims dad when he was young

Synday we took Dylan to the Easter show at Fox Studios. We had bought him a 5 hour pass as a reward for an assignment we gave him.



Dylan tried a number of rides, but I think his favourite was a dodge'm'cars.



While Dylan was queueing up we had a look around at the other entertainment.

Today we went to High Tea in Audley in the Royal National Park 30 minutes drive from where we live. Kim had bought a 2 for 1 deal and decided to try it.





Verdict was that is wasn't anything special and even with the special deal it was a bit over priced.

Afterwards we decided to go rowing up through the creek.



Aiden was very keen to get to play with the water which was difficult in the rowing boat (next time we will get a Canoe).

Afterwards we let him play a bit on land before heading back.

The island itself is a beautiful place. I took a lot of photos of the lagoon and the beauty of Bora Bora....so many that it would be too many to have in the previous Bora Bora post.

With the risk of creating a post full of Blue photos...I had to separate them out to prevent the other posts from getting too big.

Here they are...I will let them speak for themselves...

One of the days at Bora Bora we went with a boat around the lagoon to go snorkeling and have lunch on one of the Motu's (Islands). Along the way we went snorkeling in spots where we also could see sharks and stingrays.



Our first spot was a snorkeling spot with lots of coral and different fish.

I Even saw a big fat murray eel.



Kim also had a bit of a snorkel in the clear blue water even though the water was deep and there was a slight current.





Aiden was facinated by the fish and wanted to join mummy in the water to say hello to the fish'ies...



After this we went to a more shallow spot on the reef with lots of reef sharks.



Yes, that is me in the water with 12 sharks circling around me (and no safety net in place).These sharks would come swimming towards me and then turn around within a meters reach.

Click here to see a video I uploaded to Facebook with the Sharks getting close














After lunch we stopped to feed the Stingrays in the lagoon.



They are fairly harmless and I was feeding them dead fish. While doing so I was bitten by one of them that mistook the camera I was holding in my other hand as a fish.

Bora Bora is a beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Kim and I had promised eachother that we one day we will go there.

It is about an hours flight from Tahiti and along the way you pass a number of other Polynesian islands and atolls. When we landed we were met by the stunning blue lagoon and the very characteristic mountain which is an old extinct volcano.







Aiden especially was mesmerised by the view going on the boat from the airport to our hotel.








On arrival we were met by traditional Tahitian music and someone blowing a seashell.



And Aiden immidiately got into the mocktails.





Our hotel was on the main island itself and we had a small hut facing the lagoon and had a beautiful view every morning waking up.




Every morning we had breakfast overlooking the lagoon where Aiden would stuff his face with fruits, bread and youghurt.




We spent a lot of time at the small beach close to the hotel just swimming in the clear water of the lagoon.









The locals were out on the lagoon showing off their skills.






Aiden loved the calm clear water and the beach...it was a pleasant 27-28 degrees. Every time he saw water he would point at it and shout BoBo (Water)...and insist on going swimming.








One evening I did a couple of sunset portraits.






Aiden again insisted on going in the water.




I also went for a swim after we finished the photos, which was absolutely magical as the light was surreal and the water was absolutely calm.




Across the lagoon from the hotel we had a little island (Motu) with beautiful place to go snorkeling. First I went in the water and notices a small reef shark circling around the corals...being kinda shy. I mentioned it to Kim and as soon as she also spotted it later in the day she rushed out of the water (A couple of days later she had a similar experience with a large stingray at the beach).




It was hard to leave all this beauty behind

I took a lot of photos of flowers...enough to warrant a separate blog entry..

If you are not a flower person then just scroll down the page past these...lots of other good stuff there.


Anyhow...I will let them speak for themselves...

This Easter we decided to go to Tahiti and Bora Bora in French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

We were supposed to have been going to Japan, but we decided that we instead wanted a more relaxing holiday and changed it to an Island holiday enjoying the sun, sand, water and sunsets.



Tahiti is the main island of French Polynesia and is not larger than it is possible to drive around the entire island in a couple of hours (appx 120 km).



On one of the days we rented a car and did just that. We could have joined a day tour, but I am not very keen on the 5min photo stop kind of tours and much prefer to be able to travel independently and take time to see what we would like to see.

It is reasonably easy to find your way around the island. There really is just one road and the entire road is marked by kilometer markers and we had the distances for most of the sights we wanted to see. We didn;t go too much into the interior because of time restraints and some of these roads are only accessible by 4WD.


First we stopped at one of the old Tahitian temples which was interesting





After that we headed to some large caves full of freshwater (would have been convenient in the old days)...very damp and very dark.



After this we tried to find the road up to a lake and supposedly large waterfall. Some of the locals were very helpful with assisting us with directions but unfortunately the road was closed.

Fortunately we did find the nearby gardens which Kim wanted to visit (I will do a separate flower blog posting).



We did find some waterfallson the island (and saw several from a long distance away high on the mountains).





After this we headed to Point Venus where Captain Cook in 1769 supposedly saw the passing of Venus ...now this houses the only lighthouse in French Polynesia.

The next passing will be 6th June this year...243 years after the previos passing (can be seen as a shadow against the sun).




We decided to skip the museums as we would rather experience the outsde rather than objects behind glass.

The other days we spent around the hotel and the marina, just relaxing, swimming and dining. Aiden loved spending most of the time in the pool at the hotel.

Yesterday I did another photo project. I wanted to do something different with composition.

I had this idea of a guy being attacked by hand-spiders (I hate spiders) and thought that the garage would be a good location for it. I had an old T-shirt and some tomato paste to add some drama.




It turned out to be a lot harder than expected as it was almost impossible to get the right composition, focus etc. when I both had to appear in the photo as well as take it (my head was cropped off on the first series which meant that I had to reposition the camera and then either re-shoot the series or try and stitch them up in post production...I chose the latter because of time constraints).

I could definitely have done a better job if I didn't have to be two places at once, but I don't think it is a total disaster.

It is the 29th February and the last day of the bet I had with Kim....and believe it or not, but Aiden started walking by himself today.



We are very proud of him and I am double proud of him as he delivered the goods just in the nick of time...one day later and I would have been cleaning the house (lucky that this year is a leap year)!

Aiden is now able to stand up by himself.

He is now 20 months and should have been walking ages ago, so he is a bit behind on that front. Hopefully I can get him to take one step before the end of next week...I have a bet with Kim going whether he will walk before the end of February.

The water was really nice and warm in New Caledonia, my guess is that it would have been close to 30 degrees close to the shore and in protected bays and probably around 27 elsewhere.

Although we were staying at the beach we decided to have a look around the island to see what other beaches were in the area.

In the first day we drove to Kuendu Bay which is about ten minutes from the city centre and is a really nice little protected bay mainly used by locals. The water here was really calm so this was a good opportunity to give Aiden his first swimming lesson.








As you can tell he wasn't completely at ease initially, but after a couple of minutes he started enjoying it.


Aiden also really enjoyed lying on the beach in the shade of a tree and talk to mummy.



On one of the following days we drove up the north coast to a place called Poe Beach and by this time he was a lot more into it (maybe because he was wearing pants this time).





Just after we left this beach we found an ever more beautiful stretch just a couple of minutes away, but less protected by the reef.



This area was absolutely stunning with the pine trees that are so unique to New Caledonia.





On another day we took the boat to one of the islands of the coast (Ilot Maitre) and spend the whole day there.




I wasn't feeling 100% this day. Before we went away the whole of Kims family came down with a 24 hour bug...I think I got the same bug and ended up sleeping most of the afternoon under a tree in the shade (fortunately I was ok again next day).




I also got a chance to take some more beach photos of the family, here one of Aiden and Mummy.



And I spent a couple of minutes taking some sexy model photos of Kim on the beach down from our hotel. I wish we'd had more time to do some more photos, but it was hard to get her to do it in the first place (and once we did it I was hurrying up so much that a lot of them got fumbled up unfortunately).





...and of cause when we didn't go to the beach there was also the massive pool at the hotel.

This Christmas Kim and I decided to take Aiden on his first overseas holiday. Our offices are closed over Christmas and New Years so it is a good time for us to travel.

We decided to go to New Calidonia in the Pacific Ocean as it was easy and reasonably priced. It is a small group of islands about 2000km from Sydney (2.5 hours flight) and is part of Frances overseas territories (this may change in the next couple of years when they vote for independence).

On the first night we went to a seafood place and had a good night out the three of us.




Especially Aiden enjoyed his new surroundings.



We stayed at Anse Vata beach in Noumea which was conveniently located in the tourist area (Although it was far from overrun with tourists).





It was really hot there, 34-38 degrees every day so it was nice to stay near the coast. The locals living inland would spend the nights on the beach in the water cooling down.







In the evening we would try out the local restaurants. Food was generally quite expensive and of very inconsistent quality. The far best we had was a place called 'Le Roof' which is a restaurant placed in the water. I had the best rib eye I've had this year and as a desert we had the best chocolate fondant we've ever had...very nice.



While there we rented a car so that we could explore the island better while bringing Aiden with us (the island is 400km long).It was beautiful with all the flame trees...brough back a lot of memories from when I lived in Kenya.






Aiden coped surprisingly well with the heat, the sun and the water. It has actually helped a lot on his ezema which is almost gone on his legs now. He didn't complain at all and in the car he would just fall asleep once the aircon was turned on and we started driving.



One day we went out to one of the islands on a day trip and spend the day there in the shade at one of the restaurants and on the beach with Aiden (Only day where I wasn't feeling 100% as I'd picked up a 24h bug from the family before we left and had a bit of fever).




It was nice going on a trip as a family with a little one. It was a bit harder to get about to take photos and especially to be really creative, but I did get a couple of chances and we did do a photoshoot on the beach one evening with some of the flash gear I'd brought.




This will be followed by some more post about some of our experiences accompanied by more photos.

Every year one of Kims friends gets someone to take some family photos. Kim told her that this year I could do some for her instead of paying for it...I needed the practice (which is true).

When they arrived at around 4pm Aiden was still asleep so we decided to do some photos in the studio first. I was soooo.. relieved because the sun was out and it would have been really difficult to do outdoor shots in the harsh sunlight.





Karens daughters are quite photogenic so it was easy to get some great photos. I rekon the oldest could get modelling jobs if she wanted.


By the time Aiden woke up and we had finished the inside shoot it was 6pm and we drove down to La Perouse. It was really windy and the sun was still strong. After moving around a bit we eventually settled for the beach where it was slightly less windy and had better light.







I took more than 400 photos on this day and most of them are pretty good. It was pretty exhausting...especially the youngest daughter was really tired by the end of the day.


The photos above are just a couple of the ones I took. I haven't had time to process the others yet so I may make a second blog post later. I took some photos of Karen as well as some where the family is together, but I think Karen would like me to do a bit of work on them first.


I also found that it would have been really hard if I hadn't had Kim there to keep a look out for how the hair was looking, positioning and constant feedback on the photos. She is actually a pretty good assistant even though she doesn't know much about the photography side.


I also realised that I need more practice with taking photos outide in constantly changing conditions, so if anyone if willing to be a 'Model-for-the-day' then let myself or Kim know...it is a win-win, you get some (hopefully great) photos and I get some practice!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2010 will be out little boys first Christmas and he is already getting into the Christmas Spirit. He is still trying to figure out what it means to be Santas Little helper.



We can't wait to see him open his presents....it may be a challenge for him to rip the wrapping paper.

This is our official 2010 Christmas family photo....new tradition for the next couple of years.

There are so many different insects and critters in our garden and they are not all spiders. Every time I do a bit or gardening I get surprised by some of the diversity out there.

I really don't mind as long as they stay out of the house, which they do...most of the time. Most of the insects are too fast to photograph, but yesterday I did spot a couple of caterpillars that were slow enough for me to pull out my macro lens and a flash.







They are actually really hard taking photos of. At that close distance there is a really shallow depth of field and the caterpillars actually move quite fast so it is impossible to use a tripod.


This means that the photos are taken handheld and that I am just holding the flash next to the camera triggered wirelessly.

Today was Aidens first visit to the hospitals Emergency Room.

When I got home from work this afternoon Kim said that Aiden had been unsettled all afternoon. He would be crying/screaming when we were holding him and initially I thought he was hot (it was a warm day). I took him to the shower to see if that would calm him down...it did a little bit.

Afterwards we had him on the bed and we noticed that he wasn't moving his left arm and leaving it limb down his side and when we touched it he started screaming...so off we went to the hospital.

We were lucky that they could take us almost right away to have a doctor examine him. He made the same observation that there was something wrong with his arm and ordered some X-Rays. The X-rays didn't show any fractures or anything (pheeeww...) so they gave him some pain killers. Aiden was so brave having his Xrays taken and being at the doctors. Once the pain killers kicked in he started moving his arm a little.



We were waiting for quite a while for the doctor to come back and when he did Aiden had started moving his arm more. The doctor re-examined the arm and twisted the elbox and bit and said "oh...I felt it pop". Aiden started screaming again, but the doctor said that the arm now should be ok and that he would come back in 10-15 minuted to check.

Surely enough Aiden was a very happy boy when he came back and we think his arm now if back to normal...he had just pulled his elbow.

Apparently it is quite normal for kids. The doctor said that he gets about two cases like that every day.

Thank you Doctor!

It is now the 1st December and the Month of Christmas has officially started. The christmas decorations in the shops here in Sydney went up a little later this year (November) compared to last year (October).

Kim and I have already bought all the christmas presents and this weekend we will put up the Christmas tree. It will be Aiden's first Christmas...he is still a bit too small to understand what christmas is...but at least he will have the photos to remember it by.




Merry Chrismas everyone!

It is now exactly one month to Christmas...the silly season has started.

Kim and I are kicking off the season with some photos of Aiden...it is afterall his first Christmas. He may not remember it later, but at least he will have some photos to look at.

Next week on the 1st of December we will set up the Christmas tree...and I will take some more photos. Already got some ideas...

Today it is Aidens Birthday....he is now 5 Months old (when you are less than 6 months old you get to have birthday every month).



He is a good/easy little boy. He is now able to keep his head up, but still unable to sit or roll around onto his tummy. He sleeps through the night and wakes up around 7.30 to get a feed. On weekends he is happy to go back to sleep so his Mummy and Daddy can sleep in.


He is very quiet when in crowded places and likes to just sit and observe (Kims dad is saying that he has got that after me).

It has taken me a long time to get this photo done. I had to wait for him to keep his head up and even then it was pretty hard to get hime to look in the right direction.

I have now finished the second portrait in the series of the four elements...just Fire and Air left. This one is "Water". The yellow blob is a Weedy Sea Dragon.




...Really helping my Photoshop skills. Not sure if anyone else thinks these photos are cool...but they are cool to make and are different from what I'd otherwise be doing.