Mt Nebo

For me I guess it starts with rain. Well, rain and The Cranberries.

When I was little, I used to crawl out of bed in the mornings and sit in the lounge room on the sunny end of the sofa, and mum would come in and turn on Classic FM and click her fingers, and I would look down at my hands and try and click my fingers too (I never could). But on rainy days, mum would almost always put The Cranberries on, so all it takes now is a little patter on the roof and Dolores howling up the stairs and I'm gone, off with the fairies in a swoon of nostalgia. 

A couple of weeks ago, we woke up to the rain, I, my sister and two of our oldest and dearest friends, and after breakfast and coffee, we were ready for an adventure. We packed a lunch and drove into the mountains, Bon Iver completing the general "let's all run away and live in the mountains and be goat farmers" vibe. We followed our noses and eventually ended up at Jolly's Lookout, the view from Mt Nebo. 

On the day you're running on empty and have an insatiable desire to stand from the top of some place very high (not to jump off, just to look, just to look), give it a visit. Expansive views always seem to bring me back to sanity into that warm, safe place somewhere between reminiscence and hope, and this was no different. Grab a book, top up on fuel and go. 

The Seventh Duchess

Last Wednesday we got a little creative at Showroom. While taking some shots for The Seventh Duchess , I used a moodier black background instead of using the regular white. I'll be doing that again.

You can shop The Seven Duchess's entire range at Showroom.

With Love

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with the ever-so-lovely Jackie Ryder on a shoot for her new stationery range for With Love Stationery. Despite the 40 degree heat and unfortunate battery failure towards the end of the day, we had a ton of fun arranging and rearranging her stunning prints and personalized invitation suites, and completely ignoring her (and now my) life moto: "Screw Perfection." Here's a little sample from the day.  

You can find Jackie's prints and the rest of the shoot here. 

New Beginnings

It's that time again. That time to sit and have a good ponder about what's in front and what's behind, to turn to a fresh page. There is something revealing about the way we celebrate the New Year every year, over and over again, often in the same way as the year before and with the same level of enthusiasm. New beginnings are precious. A fresh start, a second chance, a blank white page. These things give us hope and renewed vision in what we're capable of, what we really want to achieve and what kind of people we really want to be. I'm generally the type to stick my nose up at New Years resolutions, but as the fireworks set off 2015 with a bang and lots of pretty lights I already had a bit of a list going. Here it is:

• Declutter my brain // It's getting messy in there. Too many minutes wasted on refreshing my Instagram Activity page, too many good ideas shoved aside in the name of procrastination, too much fluff, not enough substance. Time to see what's really useful in the useful box and adopt a state of minimalism even Vincent Van Duysen would be proud of.
• Just Do It // I need to stop saying and start doing. There are already ways I make fitness a priority in my life at the moment, but I can never seem to exercise consistently. They say nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. I'm sorry but have you actually eaten pizza?
• Be in the Word // A wise woman once said "If you're too busy to read the Bible then you are just that: too busy." If I have enough time to spend an hour on the internet before the day begins, then I have enough time to sit with my Father and feed my soul. Even a couple of minutes to sit and remember the grace and worth I have received will do more for me than a few nice words on Facebook. There's an aesthetic on the inside to think about, too.
• Organise my time // I have virtually zero time management skills so this is kind of important, especially with so much going on all the time. "Dear Annie, we've noticed you've been editing all your pictures in one hit after 7 hour shoots. We would be interested in negotiating this routine as it is having negative effects on our health and well being. Sincerely, your Basic Neurological Functions."
• Drink more water // Scientifically proven to make you healthier and happy, drinking enough water maintains the body's fluid balance, increases metabolism and clears skin. Drink water, guys.
• Read // I read many, many brilliant books last year, classics from the last century and some brilliant pieces of contemporary literature as well, but lately my reading has fallen a little behind. It's important to always have something good to read. I find the more books I have on hand, the less nights I end up channel flicking and watching infomercials. Tell me that's not important.

And that's about it. If you have any New Years resolutions of your own, book recommendations or fitness tips I'd genuinely love to hear them. I'll just be here, sitting under a sheet and drinking a double shot of coffee. It's the weekend right? Right?

Wrapping up 2014 at Showroom

It's been a busy year. One year ago, I had barely learned how to hold a camera properly, I had never heard of the Spring Shop, I was just beginning the concept of a band with my sister. One year ago I was wandering through a bric a brac shop at 135 Latrobe Tce in Paddington looking for Christmas gifts, completely unaware that I'd soon be calling it my workplace/happy place/home away from home, etc. Since then, I've started up my own business in product and portrait photography, and found my dream job working under and alongside my brilliant mentor and friend Catherine from The Spring Shop and boss lady at Showroom. In amongst all of this, my sister and I have independently recorded and produced our debut album Petrichor for our band "Jjiraf". It's truly incredible to look back and see what's changed, what I've learned and grown in this year alone. What exciting things have happened to you this year?