End of October we moved settled and moved into the new house. Not without a bit of of drama as the previous owner wasn't out of the house at settlement...but by the end of the day she was fortunately gone.

She was living there with three little boys (terrorists), so there was a number of smaller things that had been neglected and really needed some attention and there were a number of flaws around the place that needed fixing (it seems that the solution to every problem for the previous owners was silicone glue).

Most of this is under control now thanks to my dad helping out while here for the wedding (see next posting). Both Kim and I have now moved all our things and I've put kim in charge of selecting what colours she would like the walls to be downstairs before we go out and buy furniture.

We also need to get new lights downstairs as the ones there heat up and switch themselves off (cheap crap) so I may just as well do the ceiling now that I am at it.

My dad was in Sydney for our wedding and arrived on the 5th November just in time for us to also celebrate his birthday (We took him to his favourite steak house to get his favourite T-bone steak).

It was great to have him here for the wedding as it would have been empty to not have any family members from my side at the wedding. It was also really sad that my mum couldn't come.

We had just moved into the house week before so everything was still messy and there was a lot of things that needed fixing on the house. My dad was really helpful helping me out with a lot of the thing I'd never done before such as replacing tiles in the bathroom. He also changed the locks, fixed lights, painted walls, fixed doors, leaking taps etc.

It gave us something to do together which was great for bonding. I just wish he'd been there a bit longer...but maybe I can convince him to come back to help me build a pergola.

We also managed to do a bit of sightseeing around Sydney and it was great that he got a chance to meet Kims family.



The wedding was something different for him and I think that he was pretty frustrated that he didn't know what the asian customs were (not a typical Danish wedding).

He did give a really good speech at the wedding and I'm sorry to say that everything he said is true (although not everything was accurate).

This weekend we went up to Barrenjoey...a beautiful day. It was 31 degrees in Sydney but this time of the year the rocks here are mostly in the shade all day and there was a nice sea breeze running through the area.

We started with a couple of nice warm-ups and then moved onto one of my test pieces "Pillar of Mordor (19)". It is thin and sustained and really not very well protected so I have always back off leading it. Both Phil and I did lead it although not completely clean.

After this we did "Mescalito (19)" which is one of my favourite climbs there. Phil placed a cam in one of the breaks and it fell out and dropped down to the next bolt...fortunately he carried another cam to put in the break and eventually got up to the next bolt and through the climb.

The day was almost over and I had to go to the airport but Phil had his eyes on this climb "...Cab Sav (19)". The bottom bit of the climb is all protected by cams and the top bit is really thin and pumpy. Phil got up past the natural gear and clipped the first bolt. He then moved on and was struggling when clipping the second bolt but eventually got it. He then moved to the thirt and last bolt on the climb and as he moved up his foot caught the quickdraw and without him noticing the boltplate came off the bolt (He had clipped the botlplate upside down). He kept climbing up and got up to the third bolt, but because the previous bolt had fallen off it would have been a ground fall if he had fallen off. Phil was really struggling clipping it but we were so relieved on the ground once he did.

That was a really close one and it is the second time I've seen someone clip those types of plates wrong...bloody dangerous.

Miyuki is a makeup artist and had never done any modeling before and this was the first time as a model.



She has a really nice outfit/hair piece and the makeup was done really nicely. The skin in her face is absolutely flawless and virtually no re-touching was required.



Photographer: Rene Pallesen
Model: Miyuki Tsuda
Hair and Makeup: Kabuki Mee Designs
Set/Light: Studio 1A Sydney

One of the professional models on the day was Melanie. She knows how to model and give you the looks but it also made it hard to get a unique photo. Even though I did get a lot of great photo I think the one below is the best...it is very magazine like.

At one point during my session with her she started talking to some other people down the back and she became all smiley and giggly...the modelling cover totally disappeared. I really kick myself that I didn't keep shooting while this happened.



Photographer: Rene Pallesen
Model: Melanie J Bowers
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
MUA: Melisa Tomic
Studio and lighting : 1A Sydney

Pia had a very cool red and white facepaint/makeup. It was a bit strong for the set but I think it is pretty good in black and white with a slight hint of the colours blended back in.




Photographer: Rene Pallesen
Model: Pia Prestley
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
MUA: Marie Donnell
Studio and lighting : 1A Sydney

At the photo shoot there was also a couple of male models.

I find it a lot harder to pose males than females...with females I can (kind of) tell what looks good and what doesnt and when I get a goo pose I know it. With males it is a lot harder as I never think about what looks masculine.

This day was a really eye opener that before I next time have to shoot a male I will have to do a bit of homework and have some general ideas already mapped out.

At the end of the day they were shooting inside this caged lift and I got the this shot. Later I saw another photographers photo using the same setting and it was amazing.




It was really cool to see what other people did in the same set and I learned so much just from watching other photographers as well as models.

I also did a couple of shots using a projection screen...not a big fan, but I did snap the following that turned out somewhat ok but not entirely happy about it.




Model: Sudip Limbu
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melinda
Lighting & Sets: Studio 1A Sydney

I did another set/makeup shoot with Valerie in a more 50's style setting.

First I had her standing up, but just could not get the poses working for me with the makeup and the set...just somehow seemed out of place and it was my second set of the day so I was still trying to get used to the whole idea of giving posing directions.

Eventually I had her sit down and managed to get this photo which I think captured the whole 1950's style much better.




Model : Valerie Pueovska
Hair : Cara Leupuscek
MUA : Melisa Tomic
Studio/Set: 1A Sydney
Photographer : Rene Pallesen

Some years back my mum had a stroke while my parents were traveling in Thailand. This left totally paralysed in the left side of her body and she has been bound to a wheelchair ever since.

The stroke was most likely caused by heavy smoking and drinking and in general an unhealthy lifestyle.

This all happened a few years after my parents retired and were planning to spend most of the winters traveling in warmer countries. They have always been traveling a lot and never liked the winters in Denmark.
The realisation after the stroke for my parents was that suddenly those dreams were burst and that my mum would need constant care. My dad negotiated with the council that they would look after her one week a month which left my dad with some time to realise some of his dreams and at leaft do some traveling and at the same time provide some relief from looking after mum. It has been a hard blow to my mum and it is still very hard for her to accept that she will be bound to a wheelchair and dependent on other people for simple tasks such as going to the toilet, washing and getting dressed.


My mum some time ago discovered that some of the traveling my dad had done hadn't taken place alone but with an old female school friend (How intimate they were/are I don't know and don't care) but obviously my mum got very hurt and set the ultimatum that either he stops seeing her or she moves out. My dad said that he didn't want to stop seeing her and that he would still keep looking after my mum except for that one week every month.


It has now come to the point where my mum has found an apartment in a care facility and it going to move there this month. I am sure that it hurts a lot for her to move out.

Another blow has been that I am getting married in a few months time and that it is not possible for her to attend my wedding but that my dad is. It will be really hard for her on the day itself and I wish there was something I could do to make it easier for her or somehow allow her to attend.


So how do I feel about this? I am disappointed, angry and understanding at the same time. I am angry at my mum because she insisted smoking and drinking the way she did and tat this caused a stroke.

I am angry at my dad that he's found someone else and that is causing my mum to move out...she is the one totally loosing out. I am disappointed that their marriage and thereby also my family is breaking up.

I also understand why my dad has been longing for some company on different level and at the same time I also understand why my mum is so hurt about it. I am hurt because I know that my mum needs some support but that I am so far away but at the same time my life is here and I am about to get married here.I just hope that she understands that my happiness is dependent on me staying here. Especially since the stupid danish immigration laws will prevent me from moving back to Denmark with my future wife.


I am also hurt because my parents during the last decade has been through so much hardship first with my brother, then with the stroke and now with all this.


This is certainly a year of change...