Older Shoots

Outfit: hat from my sister, Dotti top,  Supré skirt, vintage Doc Martin shoes, vintage leather backpack (from a charity shop.)
Photo by my mum. The lizard on the table is real, he's a bearded dragon and named 'Gadzooks'.

My stunning sister Ireland wearing a velvet dress from a charity shop, not sure about the earrings.
Photo by me.

Ireland, wearing a vintage velvet dress and bow tie.
Photo by me.

I'm wearing a silk 'Bluejuice' dress from a market stall and vintage boots (previously my mum's.)
Photo by Ireland.

Ireland, wearing a vintage velvet backless dress from a charity shop, unknown earrings, and a bracelet made by my mum.
Photo by me. Hasn't she got just the most beautiful back?

I'm wearing my sister's vintage hat from a market, floral 'maisie' shorts, and a vintage lace bodice from a wedding dress.
Photo by Ireland.

I'm wearing a handmade lace bow tie, Supré button down top, second hand waistcoat, vintage watch and gloves , unsure about shorts.
Photo by Ireland.

I decided to add some photos that have been sitting in 'My Pictures' since early this year (some even from December last year.) They were all photos from when I was twelve, and (other than a bit of cropping) are un-edited (except for possibly the fourth, but it could just be that we had a really bad camera then.)

Well, it's the School Holidays (hooray) I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to be doing, my sister's going to be staying with our maternal grandma soon, to see friends and live music, and pretty much just get out of the house.
So far I've been going to the beach - trying to get exercise and work the muscles around my spine. My Bowen therapist said that while I'm still growing, exercise and regular Bowen therapy could completely fix my back (she also said I was the worst she'd ever seen - yikes) I had a Bowen about three weeks ago and my mum said afterwards that I'd gained height! Going to the beach might even give me a bit of a tan (as you might have noticed: I'm very pale.)

I've also been doing a lot of sleeping, eating sugar, and being grumpy - basically, being a teenager. I made a cubby-house, well, more like a cave or a den. I made it by putting a mattress in the hallway next to our big book shelves, adding big couch cushions and sheets to make it like a den, then threw in some pillows, a vintage tartan mohair blanket, and I was done. I had a camper lamp, a dog, and a bearded dragon (as well as stacks of books) for company. I read children's stories, Oscar Wilde stories, a bit of Roald Dahl and Virginia Woolf's 'A room of one's own' (which since I got to the second chapter, I've found it sort of hard to put down, I'm not sure why. So far, it's really interesting.) My cubby-house/cave/den was especially great for a thunder storm we had, during which was when one of my dogs came in and joined me.

Well, anyway, might go pester my sister to do a photo-shoot with me (she recently got a fringe, and I've got many sixties themed ideas!)

Thoughts Like Flowers

Spring has sprung,
the grass is riz,
I wonder where the flowers is?

I seriously did wonder 'where the flowers is’; after all, it is spring. This morning I wandered down to the garden in pursuit of finding some, the result being a bunch of different and colourful flowers.
As is regularity with me, I started thinking. About everything - the thoughts going through my head were as random as weeds and as variously shaped and coloured as my collection of flowers.
Sometimes I feel as if my mind is a garden. How an idea can be like coming across a fruit on a tree - you might want to leave it for some time to grow and ripen, so it may become richer and sweeter. Thoughts may be scanned like a patch of flowers for one of interest to be picked. Or the way unwanted ones pop up like weeds and even if you get rid of them, they come back.

I guess I was wandering through two gardens, browsing both thoughts and flowers. The real garden is lacking in maintenance, overgrown, and taken over by weeds (which can resemble my mind sometimes.) It's not beautiful, but since I've become a lover of photography, I've been able to admire a place for just a small part of it, because that part - even if it’s only small - can fill the frame of a camera. I could have a subject in front of a patch of flowers, and no one else would see the surrounding weeds outside of the frame. This lead to a few thoughts about appearance and gave me a different perspective on beauty - that nothing has to be completely perfect, because everything has imperfections, and you must admire the features that are beautiful. This is something that has helped me on how I view my own appearance.

It's so easy to find things in ourselves that we don't like. While I'm very insecure that I have permanent scarring under my lip from an accident when I was younger, most people don't notice. I'm constantly looking at how one of my hips is higher than the other, a collarbone more prominent, a slightly twisted ribcage and misshapen back (all of that being a result of slouching all the time, causing my back to curve as I grew), but I'm told it's not as noticeable as I think. What I’m saying is that we often judge ourselves (particularly our abilities and appearance) too harshly, scrutinizing every imperfection until we make ourselves feel terrible, instead of focusing on some of the things we like about ourselves.

Its times like these that I step back and can see how my thoughts can truly affect how I see myself and thus how others see me as well. This makes me realise that I need to endeavour to look at what I like about myself rather than every little imperfection. A goal I will continue to strive towards on a daily basis.

My lovely mum took these photos on an afternoon walk.
The Floral dress was bought second hand at a market stall a long time ago, I bought the orange dress on sale at JayJays (also some time ago), and it's a bit too small for me now. My mum bought me the vintage 60's pin, the memory-wire bracelet is one that I made when I was eleven. Green Colorado leather bag, vintage 70's leather boots, and belt - all from charity shops. The ring was my Grandma's.

Oh, and sorry if this post was little long!

Beautiful Beach

The marks on the sand beneath me show that I jumped quite a few times to get this shot - I'm so happy with it!

The photos above were taken by my sister on a spontaneous trip to the beach one afternoon. The cream silk scarf is vintage, and I'm wearing a silk dress from a vintage market stall (I don't think it's actually vintage though) the brand is 'bluejuice.' 

I noticed the jumping photo was the only photo in which I'm not looking down - I might need to work on some new poses!

 This morning my dad and I went on what we call our "dawn runs." We got up (hesitantly) at about 4:30 AM, put on warm clothes, made some coffee, and went to the beach (the same beach in the photos above). It's about a half an hour trip and when we get there it's just lovely - a previous time it was overcast and the water looked like milk - lilac milk, it was gorgeous! This time the sunrise made the trees look like black cut-out shapes, I gulped my coffee (can't help it - it's too good) while looking at the orange and pink sky. Then we swapped seats and I drove along the beach - I never knew driving was so fun! I started lessons with my dad a couple of months ago and I love it.
 After the beach we did some exploring and the scenery changed from waves, pelicans and seagulls to tall red grass and purple, yellow and pink wild flowers.

The places were beautiful, everywhere we went I kept thinking this would be great for a photoshoot and I'm pretty sure some of the time my dad was thinking this would be great for trials motorbike riding.  Every detail became a note in my head, though to write it all down afterwards would be challenging, I seriously need to bring a notebook and pen with me everywhere I go (like I do with my much loved camera.) And of course, I got lots of educational lessons and quizzes from my dad about the wildlife, parks, water turbidity, etc. I loved it!

Also, I previously talked about World Vision's 40 hour famine, well I just wanted to say that my sister and I have managed to (thanks to the wonderful people who donated) raise two hundred and seventy dollars now - which makes me feel so good!

A photo from this morning's "dawn run."

And...a previous dawn run.