tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16679865243535313912024-03-05T14:43:09.708+10:00Art, Clothes and ContemplationsWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-4917116643412006602017-01-24T20:40:00.000+10:002017-01-24T20:40:52.358+10:00"Welcome to the Party" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4WLD_cpOhJA/WIcTfsTFhPI/AAAAAAAACkE/p2SU5kL9DbMYrlDagb99wJMRItGmmcVIACLcB/s1600/DSCN0198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4WLD_cpOhJA/WIcTfsTFhPI/AAAAAAAACkE/p2SU5kL9DbMYrlDagb99wJMRItGmmcVIACLcB/s400/DSCN0198.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXxI1S5CwBawvgBowIoDbzVgvrOoci55E_J-gVKCZGot-siHGrHK-oUnh_x-BRNFod59GHMgslXMMU_oFXXCdVaXxuRfDBKXfp6L3vFEKknbHV9SsBVfPt8rJT80ZlYMEwYOEfIgJQZk/s1600/DSCN0207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXxI1S5CwBawvgBowIoDbzVgvrOoci55E_J-gVKCZGot-siHGrHK-oUnh_x-BRNFod59GHMgslXMMU_oFXXCdVaXxuRfDBKXfp6L3vFEKknbHV9SsBVfPt8rJT80ZlYMEwYOEfIgJQZk/s400/DSCN0207.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YknrA7G_Lvw/WIcSjDB_RaI/AAAAAAAACj4/9ZhIgI1jE-MQ3-n3PRnw-QqtMmL8AXyoACEw/s1600/DSCN0208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YknrA7G_Lvw/WIcSjDB_RaI/AAAAAAAACj4/9ZhIgI1jE-MQ3-n3PRnw-QqtMmL8AXyoACEw/s400/DSCN0208.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sMOjr1_9Pt0/WIcSjFk0TDI/AAAAAAAACj8/K7syxkjywGU89-SMLgQjLV9n1i1uZSK-ACEw/s1600/DSCN0200%2B-%2BCopy%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sMOjr1_9Pt0/WIcSjFk0TDI/AAAAAAAACj8/K7syxkjywGU89-SMLgQjLV9n1i1uZSK-ACEw/s400/DSCN0200%2B-%2BCopy%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
December 2016<br /><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hkvxz8rtdJc/WASKwo1UjlI/AAAAAAAACjQ/RqVGvUWrX7sgETpeivrh7FNumSYl_Z2BACPcB/s1600/14741731_1106341446088091_524750351_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hkvxz8rtdJc/WASKwo1UjlI/AAAAAAAACjQ/RqVGvUWrX7sgETpeivrh7FNumSYl_Z2BACPcB/s400/14741731_1106341446088091_524750351_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63li_4Vdz-M/WIctRGyEBrI/AAAAAAAACkY/_pKFz-_5F0kmEOv1xkoevff1TdP73r_CgCEw/s1600/DSCN9955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63li_4Vdz-M/WIctRGyEBrI/AAAAAAAACkY/_pKFz-_5F0kmEOv1xkoevff1TdP73r_CgCEw/s400/DSCN9955.JPG" width="298" /></a><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mIgKL000ZI0/WASKxxpFS8I/AAAAAAAACjQ/aE6uwV19YlE07loNSYgdotCQcR845HDWACPcB/s1600/DSCN9951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mIgKL000ZI0/WASKxxpFS8I/AAAAAAAACjQ/aE6uwV19YlE07loNSYgdotCQcR845HDWACPcB/s400/DSCN9951.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
July 2016<br /><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zxJZdqw3zqI/WASKyU0CK_I/AAAAAAAACjQ/f0G0IScv3psZSnf9bfVR8vlFCfX6VIvmQCPcB/s1600/DSCN9757%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zxJZdqw3zqI/WASKyU0CK_I/AAAAAAAACjQ/f0G0IScv3psZSnf9bfVR8vlFCfX6VIvmQCPcB/s640/DSCN9757%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
March 2016<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Last Tuesday, I would not have at all predicted that in a week's time I'd be writing to say that I'm going to study this year. For many years, I have loved photography - a passion that actually <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/in-appreciation-of-blogging.html" target="_blank">started from blogging.</a> Since knowing that I was moving to Brisbane, I've been eyeing off a photography course available at Tafe. After studying a short hospitality course there, I was absolutely fixated on the idea. <br />Tafe is a wonderful environment - being there was one of the happiest times of my life; getting out there and meeting people and doing stuff; showing up and not knowing what hands-on learning situation I was about to be thrown into; being challenged to put myself out there to get experience in a number of places; watching myself face adventures that scared the hell out of me, and doing them anyway.<br /><br />However, for a long time I have been adamant that I wasn't going to study this year. I had a lot of reasons: I wanted to keep working and get as much barista experience as possible while I was still considered a junior, I wanted to save up because owing money terrified me, and "I just need a bit more time" - but the main reason, unbeknownst to me, was because I was scared. I didn't feel ready. I felt as though I needed to be my best self - to be perfect- before doing something so incredibly exciting and daunting, which of course would be impossible. My mum would question me about it from time to time, only to be met with me stubbornly not wanting to discuss it further. It's odd that I never realised how terrified I was, especially as someone with anxiety who pretty much expects to find anything and everything chillingly, sickeningly scary. In retrospect, so many of the things I thought about doing that didn't seem like an option had the very simplified reason of "I can't do that". Only now have I stopped and wondered "Why the fuck not?". And fear was all it was. The idea of taking a step was met with subconscious fear that made me think it was this impossible thing, no questions asked, it just was.<br /><br />Wednesday last week, I was on the phone to a potential employer. He asked me if I was planning on studying this year, and my answer was the usual: "not at all". Shortly after putting the phone down, I told my mum I wanted to study. This year. Y'know...the course I said I didn't want to do right now...that starts in 12 days? Yeah that one. So, within two days, my portfolio and application letter was put together, printed out, handed in, assessed, and I was offered a place in the program. Yesterday my student loan was set up and I was enrolled and told "Welcome to the Party".<br /><br />Orientation for my class is tomorrow (fuck) and I begin next week (double fuck, triple fuck, all the fucks). Obviously, I'm terrified, but it's that kind of intense, near-paralyzing fear that, if you're perceptive, you know you feel because you're at the start of something as daunting as it is exciting. In the midst of all these emotions and overthinky thoughts is also a sense, felt with the same certainty that I get from the reassuring weight of a camera in my hand, that I'm exactly where I need to be.<br /><br /><i>Pictures above are self portraits taken with the self timer on my first (and only, up until last week) camera - a trusty little cherry red touristy Nikon L120. In the first shoot I'm wearing a pair of 1940's tap pants given to me by my mum a few Christmases ago, and posing with lights made ethically by <a href="http://www.delightfulaustralia.com/" target="_blank">Delightful Australia</a> from leaf skeletons, gifted to me by a previous girlfriend of my dad's for my 16th birthday.<br />I think there is a lot of intimate, complex amazingness to self portraits (more on that later), and I very much enjoyed making these. I don't really know all the elements that make up a great photo, but I can feel my own creative potential, and am looking forward to growing from strength to strength in the year to come - and those following, as well. </i></div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-27389946495201075622016-02-29T23:11:00.000+10:002016-03-01T00:49:27.014+10:00Transition - A Personal Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5HxiqdQYyPM/VtQsj2XPZzI/AAAAAAAAChU/9HYPXT1sjSo/s1600/DSCN0171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5HxiqdQYyPM/VtQsj2XPZzI/AAAAAAAAChU/9HYPXT1sjSo/s640/DSCN0171.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cPKVWX2wW9I/VtQsi5I0qnI/AAAAAAAAChQ/AR55Vvfrw_o/s1600/DSCN0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cPKVWX2wW9I/VtQsi5I0qnI/AAAAAAAAChQ/AR55Vvfrw_o/s640/DSCN0147.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rTbW8r9trgM/VtQshk3ZB2I/AAAAAAAAChI/fWMEXkED8gk/s1600/DSCN0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rTbW8r9trgM/VtQshk3ZB2I/AAAAAAAAChI/fWMEXkED8gk/s640/DSCN0146.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L662hW7Wcsw/VtQsegD_rCI/AAAAAAAAChc/67bEjDeIv3U/s1600/DSCN0123%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L662hW7Wcsw/VtQsegD_rCI/AAAAAAAAChc/67bEjDeIv3U/s640/DSCN0123%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oi4Ld30w2Sg/VtQsjJuhwgI/AAAAAAAAChM/9yMBjIBFR3o/s1600/DSCN0167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oi4Ld30w2Sg/VtQsjJuhwgI/AAAAAAAAChM/9yMBjIBFR3o/s640/DSCN0167.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rqi6bSznrgE/VtQsffexf1I/AAAAAAAAChc/VtuhqWt3Szw/s1600/DSCN0112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rqi6bSznrgE/VtQsffexf1I/AAAAAAAAChc/VtuhqWt3Szw/s640/DSCN0112.JPG" width="640" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GWMNYAckWs/VtQsgSZNXGI/AAAAAAAAChc/zjjZ5RecF80/s1600/DSCN0135%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GWMNYAckWs/VtQsgSZNXGI/AAAAAAAAChc/zjjZ5RecF80/s640/DSCN0135%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXon3Rh8H0U/VtQsfzZeUmI/AAAAAAAAChk/aEU3kI5kHxw/s1600/DSCN0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXon3Rh8H0U/VtQsfzZeUmI/AAAAAAAAChk/aEU3kI5kHxw/s640/DSCN0126.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zkK-zbxynyA/VtQskriOGTI/AAAAAAAAChk/Rz4KBdsvNLI/s1600/DSCN0185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zkK-zbxynyA/VtQskriOGTI/AAAAAAAAChk/Rz4KBdsvNLI/s640/DSCN0185.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Warning: this post contains cringe-worthy cliches about changes and lessons learned. </i></div>
<br />
Exactly a month ago, I did a very quick (and thus mysterious - sorry) post about some rather big changes ahead. It was written amidst lots of stressful packing - packing up a somewhat feral, but cherished house on a beautiful 18 acre property in the tiny sugar cane farming town of Childers, Queensland, to move into a tiny rental in the inner suburbs of the capital city of Queensland on a 600 square meter yard. Confronting.<br />
<br />
If I had have been a better blog updater who wrote about personal stuff, I wouldn't be pondering what parts of the story to say right now. The story is a long one, and it's been a huge journey for me - one of those experiences that people tend to insert cheesy quotes in to make them seem more inspirational. But, while I don't regret it and it has shaped so much of who I am today (oh dear, oh dear, cliche already), it was utter shit. <br />
<br />
My parents broke up towards the end of 2013, when I was about 14 and a half, roughly around the same time my older sister moved out of home; the house was to be sold; my mum got with a guy who lived in Brisbane; my dad seemed to have had a midlife crisis - I had a mid-teens crisis - we consoled each other; my mum and her boyfriend did slow, painful, hard work on the house to help sell it; it was sold; my beautiful horses went to a new (but lovely) home (hardest part); we moved. Condensing that down was hard, leaving so many of the details that made it so difficult: the depression/boredom (due to situation/location/isolation of living in Childers - I had two friends, one 2 hours away, another in America) that I had been dealing with even before my teen years - a year or so of me mostly lying on the couch, off in my own little world, hiding from the real world that seemed both too big to deal with and too small to be interesting; trying to sort out all the confusing emotions I suddenly did and didn't have about the situation, while going through puberty, worrying about pimples and boys and wondering if my left boob would catch up with my right (update: it did, but then the right one grew again and we're back to where we started - thought you might like to know); being confronted by the idea of living with someone who wasn't family, whose ways of communicating were so different to mine; days, weeks, months of my mum and I feeling stuck, talking in a numb attempt at sounding hopeful of "when we're in Brisbane". <br />
<br />
Gosh, this sounds very whiny and negative, I know - and it kind of is, but it's also honest, much like my previous post in January. But now that that explaining is out of the road (I know I didn't need to, and I hope you're not too bored, but it was something I wanted to do - even to just look back on), I can tell you that while I'm still feeling raw, it feels as though all those little painful details that those years were comprised of finally feel like they can be let go: the pain now feeling more like an old husk and the lessons learned like a tree whose fruits will sustain me for the rest of my life. Also: Brisbane is fucking awesome. And I have plans. <br />
<br />
I moved here with my mum Susan, our three chickens (Shiva, Gretel and Victoria Peckham), our 2 dogs (Abby and Cocoa), a bearded dragon named Gadzooks, and my mum's boyfriend Robert (has nicknames) on the fourth of February, and I'm still getting settled, but I'm also excited - really excited. So far it's looking like I'm going to be raising three more chickens while I wait for a course to start, then a Hospitality course at Tafe, after that I will hopefully get a decent job as a barista or waitress, then use my free time to focus on my creativity and enjoy all the culture Brisbane has to offer. Making friends and getting my driver's license is in there somewhere too.<br />
<br />
<i>Some more updates for clarification</i>: my parents' relationship is still wonky and hard to deal with; my relationship with my parents (and my sister) is fantastic; my dad and I have gotten on top of our crises and are significantly less confused about life; my dad is happy; I am happy; my mum is happy; my mum's boyfriend and I still struggle with the combination of his non-confrontational attitude and my very-confrontational attitude and overall (accidental) bluntness, but we connect through a mutual appreciation of puns and wordplay and dogs; the horses have settled into their new home with lots of other horses, and my childhood pony Gerrie has himself a girlfriend, plus we can visit them whenever we want; my dogs are still confused about the concept of an 'outside pets only' house rental agreement; since checking 15 minutes ago, the left boob has not caught up with the right.<br />
<i><br />Something I'd like to add: </i>This blog, the internet and the blogging community have been a total lifesaver for me - I am so thankful for it and am very much determined to keep this blog updated (if you're not too tired from this lengthy post, for a more eloquent praise of blogging, <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/in-appreciation-of-blogging.html" target="_blank">see here</a>).<br />
<br />
<i>About the photos: </i>The pictures were taken by me, and they are of my mum Susan, snapped early in January in the yard of our old house. They are un-edited, except for the black and white ones. The lovely golden duppy in the photo second from the bottom is Abby.Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-40943150083134010862016-01-29T13:28:00.000+10:002016-01-29T13:28:04.754+10:00January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HFcaO-6j3Kk/VpB8LdMOPbI/AAAAAAAACfY/aXnvt95fDGY/s1600/DSCN9466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HFcaO-6j3Kk/VpB8LdMOPbI/AAAAAAAACfY/aXnvt95fDGY/s640/DSCN9466.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<em>I took these pictures much earlier in the year, planning to post them with a lot of thoughts on new years and how we respond to them, but due to the hectic nature of </em>my <em>new year, I haven't had the time, so I'll just leave you with these photos, as I still am very happy with them by themselves. My year is indefinitely going to be a huge one; filled with lots of plans, lots of the unknown (both an equal parts exciting and daunting), a truckload of stress and upset and change and hard work, but hopefully lots of happiness and rewarding days as well, and hopefully the time to keep my blog updated with all that's going on, and the creative endeavours that I hope to achieve. I hope you all have a great 2016. Happy (sort-of-still) New Year! x</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvJ0L6gDMBg/VpB8MnS40MI/AAAAAAAACgE/qwB3oCjAJEc/s1600/DSCN9471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvJ0L6gDMBg/VpB8MnS40MI/AAAAAAAACgE/qwB3oCjAJEc/s640/DSCN9471.JPG" width="622" /></a><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVnvSabClpI/VpB8LVmZN3I/AAAAAAAACfk/h8vVMA_L7Ys/s1600/DSCN9465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVnvSabClpI/VpB8LVmZN3I/AAAAAAAACfk/h8vVMA_L7Ys/s640/DSCN9465.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTyaSdcC0dORDuJMMTUk3hpfsFNqZ73m3X0mEWe2SPeXgLmPU5yzvChOAHvSLjLWdz6t43ApexzmzEaNNDTyUq39V7-ImGZ3OvMhgqek8Fd8f1JxkbdARYY0HwJh3U4f7YhB-yDWt6q4/s1600/DSCN9468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTyaSdcC0dORDuJMMTUk3hpfsFNqZ73m3X0mEWe2SPeXgLmPU5yzvChOAHvSLjLWdz6t43ApexzmzEaNNDTyUq39V7-ImGZ3OvMhgqek8Fd8f1JxkbdARYY0HwJh3U4f7YhB-yDWt6q4/s320/DSCN9468.JPG" width="257" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8GEeBArTR33pSaQ-xMy_MwXqFVKEO3HwL9KZDfolgd6w46PPIkcMhhNS1bylLZFMc5qNvgkuq9zRCgibuvYNJWgHyJZCG3yE0fW2svbAFqfguWQcGnguxMbtgmrepZ7_rEZqzsxhYTY/s1600/DSCN9472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8GEeBArTR33pSaQ-xMy_MwXqFVKEO3HwL9KZDfolgd6w46PPIkcMhhNS1bylLZFMc5qNvgkuq9zRCgibuvYNJWgHyJZCG3yE0fW2svbAFqfguWQcGnguxMbtgmrepZ7_rEZqzsxhYTY/s320/DSCN9472.JPG" width="232" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4MRw-2inmoA/VpB8LkY3iHI/AAAAAAAACf0/ZuHZnrCm6r8/s1600/DSCN9467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4MRw-2inmoA/VpB8LkY3iHI/AAAAAAAACf0/ZuHZnrCm6r8/s640/DSCN9467.JPG" width="470" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><em>Photos are all self portraits taken with the self timer on my Nikon L120 in front of my bathroom shower curtain. </em></div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-52500682689560315282015-09-05T21:07:00.001+10:002015-09-05T21:07:13.737+10:00In Appreciation of Blogging<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QUR9q2Qm51Y/Veq9m7Ef6EI/AAAAAAAACcs/LO0ZtP_qAXc/s1600/Aug2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QUR9q2Qm51Y/Veq9m7Ef6EI/AAAAAAAACcs/LO0ZtP_qAXc/s640/Aug2011.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebjFdFQGV2w/Veq-dBmbYyI/AAAAAAAACeE/AETGXBA2p3M/s1600/Nov2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebjFdFQGV2w/Veq-dBmbYyI/AAAAAAAACeE/AETGXBA2p3M/s640/Nov2011.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7sd_wX0Plo/Veq9JfBpF6I/AAAAAAAACcc/qSU7rQNcm2U/s1600/2Dec2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7sd_wX0Plo/Veq9JfBpF6I/AAAAAAAACcc/qSU7rQNcm2U/s640/2Dec2011.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">December 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEd6gK8iDZA/Veq9ufWWBhI/AAAAAAAACdU/K1GTKt-uEM8/s1600/Feb2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEd6gK8iDZA/Veq9ufWWBhI/AAAAAAAACdU/K1GTKt-uEM8/s640/Feb2012.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">February 2012, my sister Ireland (left) and me playing Alice and The White Rabbit (and dancing, of course).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-abhjR4hH2iE/Veq-Y0QSDuI/AAAAAAAACd0/xATg0gMprS8/s1600/Febu2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-abhjR4hH2iE/Veq-Y0QSDuI/AAAAAAAACd0/xATg0gMprS8/s640/Febu2012.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">February 2012. Large fluffy tophats are important.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X3hPN8Fnn4k/Veq9qHiiliI/AAAAAAAACc8/hgtJbsjpqTo/s1600/April2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X3hPN8Fnn4k/Veq9qHiiliI/AAAAAAAACc8/hgtJbsjpqTo/s640/April2012.JPG" width="442" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 2012. Gerrie the pony has grass in his mouth, not a cigarette, just so you know...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vopm30BuyVo/Veq9I738MPI/AAAAAAAACcU/kxzrrYt51Ys/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vopm30BuyVo/Veq9I738MPI/AAAAAAAACcU/kxzrrYt51Ys/s640/018.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Dress is silk, from a charity shop. Frankie the chicken happened to be walking by).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T5txviinSMk/Veq-b9xn18I/AAAAAAAACd8/fT3hQO23MWI/s1600/July2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T5txviinSMk/Veq-b9xn18I/AAAAAAAACd8/fT3hQO23MWI/s640/July2012.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 2012</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SDJbgJ3ZAAA/Veq9pqt0LcI/AAAAAAAACc0/IQyAJkQQAtw/s1600/Aug2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SDJbgJ3ZAAA/Veq9pqt0LcI/AAAAAAAACc0/IQyAJkQQAtw/s640/Aug2012.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAcmoVQnJzU/Veq9sCH5VNI/AAAAAAAACdE/_DAwMvOPVQ4/s1600/Augu2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAcmoVQnJzU/Veq9sCH5VNI/AAAAAAAACdE/_DAwMvOPVQ4/s640/Augu2012.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August 2012</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5ECN57BuTem-sRLtUgeR8yr9m-q0vKmTluksgaewr2qXHtlR6mPDSZtQ7B39zEYDPRTBhj8w-DScjtgd5RBQVQoSS1-fuxZhZvwiHX4Ow7sYMFqSGvAeNswrvypphs53qHn8QMz9F5M/s1600/Dec2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5ECN57BuTem-sRLtUgeR8yr9m-q0vKmTluksgaewr2qXHtlR6mPDSZtQ7B39zEYDPRTBhj8w-DScjtgd5RBQVQoSS1-fuxZhZvwiHX4Ow7sYMFqSGvAeNswrvypphs53qHn8QMz9F5M/s640/Dec2012.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">December 2012</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uCR8Hsc8Pck/Veq9z17g6wI/AAAAAAAACdk/PPo3RmNyci0/s1600/Jan2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uCR8Hsc8Pck/Veq9z17g6wI/AAAAAAAACdk/PPo3RmNyci0/s640/Jan2013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i1ldTsaNsP4/Veq9wiMjUcI/AAAAAAAACdc/-ttBriT7qaE/s1600/Febu2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i1ldTsaNsP4/Veq9wiMjUcI/AAAAAAAACdc/-ttBriT7qaE/s640/Febu2013.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">February 2013. (Wearing some awkwardly sitting 40's tap pants).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ytxEUNkkdCg/Veq9khBd-0I/AAAAAAAACck/ltRJAbRGlgI/s1600/April2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ytxEUNkkdCg/Veq9khBd-0I/AAAAAAAACck/ltRJAbRGlgI/s640/April2013.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wshUwB9gjUM/Veq9I3IXfhI/AAAAAAAACcQ/e6C9Uar_4rM/s1600/2013June.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wshUwB9gjUM/Veq9I3IXfhI/AAAAAAAACcQ/e6C9Uar_4rM/s640/2013June.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This morning, I was properly appreciating a Saturday –
by lazing around in bed. I then did something that I usually avoid, given the
usual messy state of my room: I looked around. Clothes and books strewn
everywhere; countless trinket boxes; a large amount of vintage leather bags
hanging from my door (weighing down on the doorknob so much that my door </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">doesn't</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> actually close properly); and, on my wall, some </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">cork boards</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">. What I
pinned to them probably </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">hasn't</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> changed in about four or more years; there are
pictures of tigers, a pegasus, my dad as a kid with a very fat goat, way too many cheesy quotes,
drawings of the skeleton from when I was ten and attempted to remember the
names of every single bone in the human body, and, mysteriously, a folded up A4
piece of crisp, faded yellow paper. I had no idea what it was. It was clear I </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">hadn't</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> thought about that piece of paper in years. I experienced a feeling that
I'd felt the day before when I looked through my blog for the first time in a long time.
It was a feeling of fascination with a past me that I had forgotten about. If you’re
wondering, the contents of the page were rather anticlimactic and made me
question the state of my sanity the time that I pinned the paper up. I opened it, imagining all sorts of curious things, and found, in
the middle of the page, written in blue pen by my then-messy handwriting, the
word ‘something’. I have an inkling that maybe my younger self posted that
there just to confuse my future (aka current) self. It certainly worked. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
But that’s not really the relevant bit here (and </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I've</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> already rambled on enough
about the encounter). It was that wonderful feeling of rediscovering who I was
at another time. It got me thinking about blogging. And how great </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I've</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> always
thought it was that we can document parts of ourselves and our lives and our
thoughts, saved for us to look back on later. A blog is different to Facebook in many ways, as it (or at least for me) is a place for more extended and
deeper thoughts than where you got breakfast one Sunday in March 2012. I always
loved the idea of keeping an actual journal (preferably a beautiful leather
bound one that I wrote in with fancy handwriting), but never managed it. But for a
while, I was really good at keeping a blog. I started blogging at twelve, and
now, at sixteen, looking back is so amazing. I really enjoyed being able to
have a place where I could see how I evolved in my thoughts and ways in a time
period (my teenage years) where so much changes. It was better than photo
albums compiled by my parents or the stories they tell me about how I used
to be, because it was documentation of who I was, controlled solely by </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">me - </i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">and the way I chose to document myself was yet another reflection of who I was.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Thinking about this made me sad that the ubiquity of my blog posts have simmered down to me having only posted once this year. I feel like it’s such an
important thing to document how you felt at one point, because so often we
forget. </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I've</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> met many adults who remember being young, but not how it </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">felt. </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I'm</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> scared of forgetting all
these things, because I know how easy it is. </span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
I hope that I manage to continue blogging. There are so many wonderful aspects
of it, the retrospective part being just one of them. It’s
so satisfying to type out my current thoughts; get feedback and other opinions
in the comments; read the blogs of others; the whole process of taking pictures
and thinking about how I will present myself, both in photos (my photography and photos of me) and in writing,
and thinking about what to write and how to start and how to end, and finally
pressing 'publish'; reviewing; wondering what I’ll post next.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
The photoshoots are the best though. I love photography. I think one day I'd like to be a photographer. When I started my blog, it was from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/07566623806928907983" target="_blank">my sister Ireland</a>’s encouragement. She already had a <a href="http://australianwishes.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">blog</a>, and she’d asked me to
help her take photos for it (at the time I wasn't even that interested in photography). We started with some badly lit pictures of her on our
veranda in some impossibly high heels, then moved on to her styling me as well
as herself, and us taking pictures of each other, then, looking through our mum’s
old clothes and the hoards of vintage she had been collecting since before we were
born. Picture taking became more frequent and more daring. Poses were made in
the garden, up trees, in the paddocks, with cows, with horses, with chickens. She
helped me start my blog, even named it for me, and directed me to all the blogs
she followed and took inspiration from. We both developed our own styles, but
for the photoshoots, we always teamed up and had a lot of fun. We were always
so different, even though we’d wished we were twins, so it was a great way for
us both to connect before the time we matured enough to accept and celebrate our differences.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
I would definitely say that blogging has played a huge part in shaping who I am
today. It made me begin to use the internet for more intellectual reasons, and then find some excellent websites, blogs and articles that opened my
mind even further to things like politics, the media, equality, sustainability, art, and
much more – all things that my parents had discussed with me, but
that I needed to discover on my own for my opinions to develop naturally; so I
could truly discover how I really thought, by being free to explore all the information
and opinions out there and to see what </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">I </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">felt
was important and what I agreed and disagreed with. Hell, from simply their twelve year-old starting a blog, my <i>parents'</i></span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">opinions have evolved thanks to endless conversations about all the stuff that I had read. So, while I can’t be sure if anyone reading this very self involved post
is actually enjoying it (sorry I went on a bit), I still wanted to post this,
as sort of a homage to my blog (and my sister), for making me significantly more
well-adjusted. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-24681732243382296132015-02-01T20:50:00.000+10:002015-02-01T20:50:14.284+10:00Summer Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-biMjC0ZzONc/VM4AHGpLCFI/AAAAAAAACaQ/3ysBO5mP65w/s1600/718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-biMjC0ZzONc/VM4AHGpLCFI/AAAAAAAACaQ/3ysBO5mP65w/s1600/718.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i0JSXx0PnQk/VM4AGQXi5vI/AAAAAAAACaI/LlMiuKV3s_Q/s1600/701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i0JSXx0PnQk/VM4AGQXi5vI/AAAAAAAACaI/LlMiuKV3s_Q/s1600/701.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRwYsmRIKzI/VM4ADJU0SeI/AAAAAAAACZw/31yPD_BfBmM/s1600/648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRwYsmRIKzI/VM4ADJU0SeI/AAAAAAAACZw/31yPD_BfBmM/s1600/648.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dcl00jKwEmQ/VM4AaFmoUzI/AAAAAAAACao/Rg0YergB3ss/s1600/746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dcl00jKwEmQ/VM4AaFmoUzI/AAAAAAAACao/Rg0YergB3ss/s1600/746.JPG" height="640" width="536" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ahXCBxiKGs/VM4ADInYGvI/AAAAAAAACZ0/xnSLxrqvlug/s1600/695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ahXCBxiKGs/VM4ADInYGvI/AAAAAAAACZ0/xnSLxrqvlug/s1600/695.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ei6kqehk2JQ/VM4AIWvuI1I/AAAAAAAACag/HbpXoUZEQ9Y/s1600/767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ei6kqehk2JQ/VM4AIWvuI1I/AAAAAAAACag/HbpXoUZEQ9Y/s1600/767.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Photos of me taken by my mum mid-December last year in our garden. My silk dress is Victoria's Secret that I got for $4 from a charity shop and dyed (it was originally a light blue). Sorry it's a bit crinkly, but ironing is weird...<br /><br />Also, Happy Sort-of-New Year!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-48586070454781354442014-12-31T22:26:00.000+10:002014-12-31T22:26:51.702+10:00Some belated thoughts on Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g37lmzM7fY4/VKJ1i50lDUI/AAAAAAAACYY/j_4N5x8fP64/s1600/630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g37lmzM7fY4/VKJ1i50lDUI/AAAAAAAACYY/j_4N5x8fP64/s1600/630.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
I know that plenty of people want to just to get Christmas over with when it rears its over-decorated head every year. It's easy so stress yourself out as you untangle the decorations, cursing as you stand on spikey star-shaped Christmas lights (even worse than Lego); make the food; hunt for a gift for your brother's boyfriend's half-sister's father; cry in frustration as you try to master the art of curling ribbons; plan, plan, plan and plan for things you barely have time for; and try not to pull out your own hair as you are assaulted by horrendous festive songs in the supermarket when <em>you are just trying to buy some organic carrots in peace </em>(to quote my sister Jazz: "I'm not sure if it's singing or some kind of anti-ear campaign.")<br />
<br />
...Okay, so as you can tell from my cynical over-exaggerations, I'm not a fan of Christmas. Alright, no, that's not true; I'm not a fan of the consumerism and expectations that come hand-in-hand with occasions such as Christmas (or the songs - seriously, they need to go).<br /><br />There are so many aspects of Christmas that I enjoy: I do appreciate some of the decorations because I have an obsession with all things sparkly, I love that it brings people a bit closer - be it family or simply the stranger you smile at and say "Merry Christmas" as you walk past each other in a park, I love the word 'festive', I like food, I like chocolate, I love family and laughing and togetherness. It can be so full of wonder and love, sometimes it's the only time some people get to see their children, or the only time they get to relax and have a good time. I spent my Christmas in Brisbane, and I really enjoyed just walking around a park in West End and seeing people celebrating in their own ways. I love it when it means something; I like the things about Christmas that we preach so thoughtlessly and often that it's easy to forget what it should really be all about.<br /><br />My favourite part is the memories from childhood. I feel a little bit closer to the magic and whimsy of being a kid and having that unbelievable excitement when waking up on Christmas morning or choosing the one present we were allowed to unwrap on Christmas Eve. The images are foggy but the feeling is still recalled easily, as is the smell of pine needles and tinsel. They evoke the same beautiful nostalgia I get when I reread my favourite children's books, climb trees or make forts. Later memories are still smiled over: the holiday we spent eating chocolate balls in the air-conditioning as we watched our favourite comedies, or the time my parents were concerned because I laughed for 10 whole minutes at a Christmas tree that my dad had made by sticking a Casuarina branch in a pot of pebbles and zip-tying a star-shaped cactus to the top - small memories that mean a great deal to an individual.<br /><br />For me, this was the first Christmas in a long time that didn't induce anxiety as early as October.Why was this year different? The answer is simple: my family and I all agreed to not buy each other presents this time. The decision saved not only a lot of money, but saved us all huge amounts of stress. For many, it seems, the holiday can feel more obligatory than exciting. <br /><br />Why do days like Xmas and Valentine's Day have to be so much about presents and stressing over making everything appear perfect? <br /><br />I love giving gifts, but why should we have to have a set day to give them? A set day to appreciate our loved ones, to celebrate, and to remember to have a good time? I suppose it sometimes is needed as a reminder. I much prefer the idea of the spontaneity and special-ness of giving someone a gift just because you feel like it, or because you found something and thought of them. It can be hard to find the perfect present when you're stressfully searching for them along with one for everyone else. But of course, that's just how I feel about it and it's all different for everyone.<br /><br />...Anyway, I think that's all that my point was, but I can't really remember for sure because once again I'm writing a rushed post while tired (as was the case in my previous post - SO sorry for the amount of times I said 'quite' and all the other awkward things).<br /><br />I hope your year was wonderful and so was Christmas day, whether you celebrate it, something different, or nothing at all, and I hope that 2015 (and all those to come after) is fantastic for all of us. <br /><br /><b>Happy New Year </b>*throws biodegradable confetti*.Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-89285149101758078492014-11-30T23:08:00.002+10:002014-12-01T19:46:35.982+10:00Rediscovered Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2c1ViwBwH4XwVgu-LHUNIFDpZSmeOiBc2H0dfAJiHh7975srHU4LbYLOaSBTQZ4znfkW0SuRGiNymZDBiQ_A6Ag1d9EgIItYrq-xmKwaTEM0z98yxZ_bhjifksympcspyYQ3yu00uFVc/s1600/296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2c1ViwBwH4XwVgu-LHUNIFDpZSmeOiBc2H0dfAJiHh7975srHU4LbYLOaSBTQZ4znfkW0SuRGiNymZDBiQ_A6Ag1d9EgIItYrq-xmKwaTEM0z98yxZ_bhjifksympcspyYQ3yu00uFVc/s1600/296.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmJR4FqH7J4/VHlV_eQ48oI/AAAAAAAACVs/v6qB-sPpDz4/s1600/229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmJR4FqH7J4/VHlV_eQ48oI/AAAAAAAACVs/v6qB-sPpDz4/s1600/229.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qn7OX8eDhoo/VHlVdA3L4iI/AAAAAAAACUU/fTb-Kl-WBAs/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qn7OX8eDhoo/VHlVdA3L4iI/AAAAAAAACUU/fTb-Kl-WBAs/s1600/104.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQuO-ZYnmnU/VHlWDqoJefI/AAAAAAAACVw/uryCHHJ0Jf8/s1600/The%2BBag%2BTree%2B110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQuO-ZYnmnU/VHlWDqoJefI/AAAAAAAACVw/uryCHHJ0Jf8/s1600/The%2BBag%2BTree%2B110.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpJ6bD-r7WM/VHlWXiMwXuI/AAAAAAAACWA/U6vHcySL31w/s1600/Velvatine%2B288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpJ6bD-r7WM/VHlWXiMwXuI/AAAAAAAACWA/U6vHcySL31w/s1600/Velvatine%2B288.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W3frlOeLMsI/VHlV3IEJVAI/AAAAAAAACVM/hD2SMjS3fJQ/s1600/562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W3frlOeLMsI/VHlV3IEJVAI/AAAAAAAACVM/hD2SMjS3fJQ/s1600/562.JPG" height="640" width="440" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYGXMhH2b9o/VHlV-z4B5JI/AAAAAAAACVg/ik8DnH62qK4/s1600/595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYGXMhH2b9o/VHlV-z4B5JI/AAAAAAAACVg/ik8DnH62qK4/s1600/595.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zun7Kvenr7k/VHlVJa-OuWI/AAAAAAAACTg/0NMnDTCjYus/s1600/075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zun7Kvenr7k/VHlVJa-OuWI/AAAAAAAACTg/0NMnDTCjYus/s1600/075.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pexi2k7NVOw/VHlVSRZr_FI/AAAAAAAACT4/X7bbx5tlymc/s1600/096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pexi2k7NVOw/VHlVSRZr_FI/AAAAAAAACT4/X7bbx5tlymc/s1600/096.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iJ48ysUy-4g/VHlV2rDvZgI/AAAAAAAACVI/CAG3vrt3Pgs/s1600/334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iJ48ysUy-4g/VHlV2rDvZgI/AAAAAAAACVI/CAG3vrt3Pgs/s1600/334.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpW3_nzT2MU/VHlVSgErYRI/AAAAAAAACT8/hmLTMAkZAwM/s1600/102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpW3_nzT2MU/VHlVSgErYRI/AAAAAAAACT8/hmLTMAkZAwM/s1600/102.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2S6sdTUTt6A/VHlWHRyuhfI/AAAAAAAACV4/zY1wTPVFUE4/s1600/dfgmk%2Cl%2B123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2S6sdTUTt6A/VHlWHRyuhfI/AAAAAAAACV4/zY1wTPVFUE4/s1600/dfgmk%2Cl%2B123.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LLvb95Rt4EI/VHlVcDzrXdI/AAAAAAAACUQ/32sdo1ch3t4/s1600/106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LLvb95Rt4EI/VHlVcDzrXdI/AAAAAAAACUQ/32sdo1ch3t4/s1600/106.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Images one, four, five and eight: my sister Ireland, taken by me. Images seven and nine: my sister Jazz, taken by me. Images two and six: me, taken by Jazz. Image three: me, taken by Ireland. Images ten, eleven and twelve: me, taken by my mum. Image thirteen: Ireland and I, taken by Jazz. I can't be sure, but some of these may be edited. </span></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i>Note: The second-from-the-bottom photo was photoshopped ages ago because the picture showed a lot of spots on my face, I decided to not add it in the post in which the photoshoot that this photo came from was posted because putting up a photoshopped face didn't sit right with me. Looking at it again now, I've decided that I really like the photo (unfortunately I never saved the un-edited version) but just wanted to let you know that my skin doesn't actually look like that. </i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
My laptop has finally been fixed (after my sister's laptop, which I was using before, died) and I now have access to all my photos, so I thought I'd post (just a tad more than) a few of my favourites, of which none besides photo number nine (of my sister Jazz) have appeared on the blog.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMb_7JGKRi8zYV3boSJbu6IVBcDXAtANekPTacom1lpasN_pyZ79UO1_JPeIde-9QVJD5KGroPh3abBUksyFFQe_X1OQzymb9_f48gK-svjraJj-39KnwhqSLTG7QTcHkcbtzV4EIH9o/s1600/10151202_744635305592042_4398770875479669067_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMb_7JGKRi8zYV3boSJbu6IVBcDXAtANekPTacom1lpasN_pyZ79UO1_JPeIde-9QVJD5KGroPh3abBUksyFFQe_X1OQzymb9_f48gK-svjraJj-39KnwhqSLTG7QTcHkcbtzV4EIH9o/s1600/10151202_744635305592042_4398770875479669067_n.jpg" height="640" width="442" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by my friend Thelma</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was originally going to make this a very quick post, but I realised that I really want to share with you the story of Colin the barn swallow, who made an appearance in my last post. We found Colin to have rather fortunately landed in a box full of fabric, it seemed that her siblings (who we'd seen in the nest the day before) had been taken by something, and her parents never came back for her. We named her a masculine name but addressed her as a she to "balance it out" because we didn't know the gender (I know it sounds a bit wanky, but it made sense to us at the time - when we were both very tired). I was quite annoyed with her at first, but eventually grew affectionate towards her. She seemed comforted by sitting in my hand, so I'd take her out of her makeshift nest regularly so that she got some affection, and sometimes she'd sort of flap a bit and climb up my arm or the front of my shirt, until she got to the crook of my neck and buried herself in my hair, where she proceeded to make soft, content noises (what does it say about my hair if a baby bird things it's a good place to hang out in?). My mum and I started becoming really fond of her.<br />
<br />
It was a rather interesting experience once she started flying, as I said in <a href="http://instagram.com/p/u7f_gAkUZ6/" target="_blank">a post on instagram</a>: it "involved her flying onto our ceiling fan and getting upset because she didn't know how to get down - so I had to coax her onto an umbrella (a vintage one, natch); her flying into my face; her flying onto my shoulder and refusing to get off; flying onto my head three times; flapping and climbing up my arm to nestle into the crook of my neck; flying up and perching on the curtain railing; flying onto my EAR and perching there; and quite a lot of awkward flaps in the air in which it seemed that she wasn't sure what to do next." We then took her outside regularly for a fly, which was terrifying, but wonderful as she seemed to really love it. She was a natural (probably because she's a bird, but whatever...). <br />
<br />
We had her for 32 days before she left 'the nest' on Tuesday, and it was really just so great seeing her grow from strength to strength in such a short period of time: seeing her fly for the first time, watching her catch a bug midair right in front of me, seeing that she'd found a dam to drink from and bath in (because she came back looking like a drowned rat), and all sorts of wonderful things. It was really quite sweet to have a bird that would fly onto your shoulder (or your hand if you held it out to her). She'd even be quite happy to sit on my thumb <em>as I was texting on my phone</em>. Colin also rather enjoyed waking me up by gently pulling on my eyelashes at five-thirty in the morning, which, despite my annoyance at being woken up so early, actually felt quite nice. She was also quite funny, too: once, she was watching a wasp fly around so intently that she fell off my finger, she also had a tendency to get distracted by watching the ceiling fan - it was quite funny watching her head twirl around as the fan did.<br />I also realised that her name was quite funny, as well: I gave her nicknames like Colinoscopy and Semi-Colin, and when she took a bath it was a 'Colin cleanse'. I also liked to have her sit on my middle finger so I could give people 'the bird'. Anyway, that's all I can think of right now as I'm very tired (and am writing this because I'm trying to update my blog at least once a month). I do miss having her around, but I would never have put her in a cage and tried to keep her. I'm just hoping that she's safe and has found a nice coliny (see what I did there?) of barn swallows to join. Long live Colin!<br />
<br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-23552793902094478852014-10-31T21:25:00.001+10:002014-11-02T16:36:40.373+10:00Scary Stuff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-aEcYOn54o/VFNTjAWyj3I/AAAAAAAACPA/ejESVOhmsbE/s1600/647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-aEcYOn54o/VFNTjAWyj3I/AAAAAAAACPA/ejESVOhmsbE/s1600/647.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
Halloween - Hallowe'en, All Hallow's Eve, AllHalloween, All Saints' Eve: a yearly celebration marked by orange pumpkins, jiggling plastic skeletons, dress-ups, parties, sugar, witch's hats and an overuse of the word 'spooky'. It's the time when Halloween specials come up on television and cringe-worthy marketing techniques resurface; shaken out and dusted off once again to sell, sell, sell - as cheesy and predictable as the last 152 times. <br />
<br />
For me, October 31st is a day of eye-rolls and mutterings of "Wow, haven't heard <i>that </i>one before" (in response to the aforementioned cringe-worthy marketing techniques) - and this year, it's also the day that the carton of milk in our fridge passes its use-by-date - that's about it. While it's not something that I generally get involved in, I still do enjoy seeing how others celebrate and get creative with it: my social media feeds filled with inventive make-up ideas, DIY decorations and some excellent costumes.<br />
<br />
However, I do have some issues with Halloween. My problems with it, much like my problems with Christmas, Easter and the like, are the <i>really </i>scary things about the occasion - not the appearance of vampires, devils, witches, ghouls and ghosts, but the extra harm done to the planet and the many Halloween costumes that objectify women.<br />
<br />
The shouts of "Buy me, buy me!" from cheap, plastic crap - no doubt made by slaves in China - are distinctly louder in the time leading up to occasions like these. Individual plastic packaging for each bullet-sized lolly, toxic dyes from making costumes washing into rivers, costumes and decorations made from environmentally unfriendly materials, and excessive amounts of waste, etc - all equate to an environmental nightmare.<br />
But you don't have to partake in any of that: costumes can be handmade, borrowed from a friend, rented, created with clothes from the back of your wardrobe, ethically made, second hand, or at least be reworn.<br />
<br />
And then there's the sexism. Out of all festivities, I think that Halloween probably holds the shiny gold trophy for costumes that sexualise women. They go as far as <a href="http://popcrush.com/frozen-sexy-olaf-halloween-costume-photos/" target="_blank">a sexy snowman from a children's Disney movie</a> - hot, right? The objectification of women in Halloween costumes is especially noticeable when seen in contrast to the same costumes, but for men. Where a costume for men might be marketed as funny, scary, or evil, the version for women is more likely to be labelled 'sexy' or 'naughty'.<br />
<br />
On the other end of the teeterboard, comes the slut-shaming. When we call out stuff like this, it's important to not respond with more sexism and shame girls who wear sexy outfits. The problem is more that these costumes are pretty much all of what's on offer, and that that participates in giving society the screwed up idea that the most important thing about women is how they look to men - which is so far from the truth.<br />
<br />
As much as I detest the fact that almost all the costumes for women that you'll find in your average cheap store or shopping centre are sexually objectifying, I'm not going to judge anyone who wears them. If you like it and you want to wear it, then wear it - it's completely your choice. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look sexy.<br />
<br />
Although, if you are looking for some women's Halloween costumes that are about more than looking sexy, <a href="http://www.amightygirl.com/" target="_blank">A Mighty Girl</a> has some brilliant ideas for girls and women of all ages <a href="http://www.amightygirl.com/halloween" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
So, with that being said, I hope everyone enjoys their day, whether you celebrate the holiday or not. The dress and heels seen above and below were taken off hours ago, so I think for Halloween I'm just going to go as the (very tongue-in-cheek) girl who forgot to shave her armpits, because nothing scares people like female body hair, right?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQlq5xeYaMQ/VFNTlR1cs1I/AAAAAAAACPI/iyHyYSYW1JI/s1600/679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQlq5xeYaMQ/VFNTlR1cs1I/AAAAAAAACPI/iyHyYSYW1JI/s1600/679.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VpmH0plmG98/VFNTbFt1OjI/AAAAAAAACO0/JIJXeLdU6rM/s1600/642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VpmH0plmG98/VFNTbFt1OjI/AAAAAAAACO0/JIJXeLdU6rM/s1600/642.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7U1_wLOJzM/VFNTwJFPzDI/AAAAAAAACPg/k6iNdwTwKkk/s1600/695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7U1_wLOJzM/VFNTwJFPzDI/AAAAAAAACPg/k6iNdwTwKkk/s1600/695.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b4cQEnaVdXk/VFNTbFRhPhI/AAAAAAAACOs/vdOr01xcqeo/s1600/636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b4cQEnaVdXk/VFNTbFRhPhI/AAAAAAAACOs/vdOr01xcqeo/s1600/636.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RXfIPdmxLNc/VFNU6ptDeNI/AAAAAAAACQE/ArNE-zTj8GA/s1600/649%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RXfIPdmxLNc/VFNU6ptDeNI/AAAAAAAACQE/ArNE-zTj8GA/s1600/649%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_1ogDvFYYNg/VFNTwPgM7MI/AAAAAAAACPk/R3LaM5aNAEM/s1600/697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_1ogDvFYYNg/VFNTwPgM7MI/AAAAAAAACPk/R3LaM5aNAEM/s1600/697.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i65C9w5dXqI/VFNU4glncnI/AAAAAAAACP0/J7XbjIh8Diw/s1600/654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i65C9w5dXqI/VFNU4glncnI/AAAAAAAACP0/J7XbjIh8Diw/s1600/654.JPG" height="466" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w8_uYPIRjok/VFNWKz8ZqQI/AAAAAAAACQc/1E6Ega59gQU/s1600/686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w8_uYPIRjok/VFNWKz8ZqQI/AAAAAAAACQc/1E6Ega59gQU/s1600/686.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0GX1D9gwuQ/VFNWruj_p2I/AAAAAAAACQo/HmeBmVE5Opo/s1600/740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0GX1D9gwuQ/VFNWruj_p2I/AAAAAAAACQo/HmeBmVE5Opo/s1600/740.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My familiar, Colin. This baby swallow fell out of its nest a week ago, rather luckily falling into a box full of fabric. We put it back, but there were no other siblings (when there was the day before) and its parents never came back for it. I'm actually starting to become a bit of a protective mummy bird. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQWpbIvOAASwGfD5VH7AP6QBPeiYTzKLXs2Vj_diZfQJVPKzZd2h79Yk_buGr7yVftVJ4Pht4Xt4xKkC0fw02RwlP8T6lUOQPypxKmA4H1tFHTeFf25zkCWF74dMIQD2w7dzFKYVVJSc/s1600/659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQWpbIvOAASwGfD5VH7AP6QBPeiYTzKLXs2Vj_diZfQJVPKzZd2h79Yk_buGr7yVftVJ4Pht4Xt4xKkC0fw02RwlP8T6lUOQPypxKmA4H1tFHTeFf25zkCWF74dMIQD2w7dzFKYVVJSc/s1600/659.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos courtesy of my mum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
The vintage handmade dress was bought at a charity shop, and so were the heels - which I towered in, as they put me over six feet tall! To prove that you can source your entire Halloween costume ethically, I'd also like to note that the under shorts were upcycled from a pair of holey tights, the crop top underneath is a hand-me-down from my sister, and my knickers are from ethical UK company <a href="http://whomadeyourpants.co.uk/" target="_blank">Who Made Your Pants?</a> - they even go with my outfit, as they're green! </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-84314793783549429042014-09-30T22:09:00.000+10:002014-10-01T14:14:36.338+10:00Framed Moments and Captured Spaces.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WLX7-gF0tyY/VCprvCJgJ9I/AAAAAAAACLw/B5LRLbi64nQ/s1600/IMG_20140923_170816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WLX7-gF0tyY/VCprvCJgJ9I/AAAAAAAACLw/B5LRLbi64nQ/s640/IMG_20140923_170816.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-F55zh0sRQZQ/VCprzr4HMoI/AAAAAAAACMA/dmlgwh-2oJg/s1600/IMG_20140915_174826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-F55zh0sRQZQ/VCprzr4HMoI/AAAAAAAACMA/dmlgwh-2oJg/s640/IMG_20140915_174826.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vGb1zEMGYSY/VCpr3h0oObI/AAAAAAAACMI/1vx-Nj432E0/s1600/IMG_20140912_171340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vGb1zEMGYSY/VCpr3h0oObI/AAAAAAAACMI/1vx-Nj432E0/s640/IMG_20140912_171340.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AYcVSycF-Ao/VCpsAEsGZ7I/AAAAAAAACMY/vQKZVbffdnY/s1600/IMG_20140903_161035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AYcVSycF-Ao/VCpsAEsGZ7I/AAAAAAAACMY/vQKZVbffdnY/s640/IMG_20140903_161035.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BwTgLS7v4o4/VCpsFOwOpHI/AAAAAAAACMg/TenN8FPMMd0/s1600/IMG_20140820_193909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BwTgLS7v4o4/VCpsFOwOpHI/AAAAAAAACMg/TenN8FPMMd0/s640/IMG_20140820_193909.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BIFqCjYnje4/VCpsL2DocII/AAAAAAAACMo/0aHsSpHsOoY/s1600/IMG_20140809_065937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BIFqCjYnje4/VCpsL2DocII/AAAAAAAACMo/0aHsSpHsOoY/s640/IMG_20140809_065937.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0V2fUAperWY/VCpsOv5jPhI/AAAAAAAACMw/dhHLcZU5P9w/s1600/IMG_20140715_202732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0V2fUAperWY/VCpsOv5jPhI/AAAAAAAACMw/dhHLcZU5P9w/s640/IMG_20140715_202732.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KV86f_44ZJQ/VCpsRlcfdYI/AAAAAAAACM4/w5RekBm24vk/s1600/IMG_20140714_190243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KV86f_44ZJQ/VCpsRlcfdYI/AAAAAAAACM4/w5RekBm24vk/s640/IMG_20140714_190243.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mrcaJC4zuio/VCpsS9fj99I/AAAAAAAACNA/9Gl6-KjRgOI/s1600/IMG_20140912_173451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mrcaJC4zuio/VCpsS9fj99I/AAAAAAAACNA/9Gl6-KjRgOI/s640/IMG_20140912_173451.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FDWguz06ykU/VCpscVVNLtI/AAAAAAAACNY/_02zhRsKwUk/s1600/IMG_20140702_171051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FDWguz06ykU/VCpscVVNLtI/AAAAAAAACNY/_02zhRsKwUk/s640/IMG_20140702_171051.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2DrC6LBTxmg/VCpse49y3jI/AAAAAAAACNg/JpVDEKak2ZE/s1600/IMG_20140906_165801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2DrC6LBTxmg/VCpse49y3jI/AAAAAAAACNg/JpVDEKak2ZE/s640/IMG_20140906_165801.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-w_UK1wysyWo/VCpshie7QwI/AAAAAAAACNo/3dA6MJADSvw/s1600/IMG_20140615_084159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-w_UK1wysyWo/VCpshie7QwI/AAAAAAAACNo/3dA6MJADSvw/s640/IMG_20140615_084159.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--l2ONmm0cwA/VCpslmTq5TI/AAAAAAAACNw/TPrPPl_Qo0g/s1600/IMG_20140429_170246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--l2ONmm0cwA/VCpslmTq5TI/AAAAAAAACNw/TPrPPl_Qo0g/s640/IMG_20140429_170246.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BWGMSlhovfk/VCpsoQiMZuI/AAAAAAAACN4/dYXBc9uCzhs/s1600/IMG_20140514_163536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BWGMSlhovfk/VCpsoQiMZuI/AAAAAAAACN4/dYXBc9uCzhs/s640/IMG_20140514_163536.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yrabJhr2OCw/VCpssrmOe0I/AAAAAAAACOA/KHHkYP1sU24/s1600/IMG_20140304_200232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yrabJhr2OCw/VCpssrmOe0I/AAAAAAAACOA/KHHkYP1sU24/s640/IMG_20140304_200232.jpg" height="400" width="400" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-M7iWERggO5U/VCpvXDsx4BI/AAAAAAAACOM/xWb6bgX2ikE/s1600/2014-07-02%25252016.16.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-M7iWERggO5U/VCpvXDsx4BI/AAAAAAAACOM/xWb6bgX2ikE/s640/2014-07-02%25252016.16.52.jpg" height="400" width="300" /> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lPefiUxnXFg/VCpvkOVwn6I/AAAAAAAACOU/jc61ANBBVSo/s1600/2014-07-02%25252016.24.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lPefiUxnXFg/VCpvkOVwn6I/AAAAAAAACOU/jc61ANBBVSo/s640/2014-07-02%25252016.24.21.jpg" height="400" width="300" /> </a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Photography is one of my big passions - my biggest passion, in the area of creativity. I love those framed moments and captured spaces. It's such a personal thing for me; it's art - self expression. When I show you a (particular) photo I've taken of someone else, it can sometimes feel like I'm showing you a portrait of <i>me - </i>and I am, just not in the physical sense. And those that I've taken of myself? The 'selfie' takes on a whole new meaning...<br />
<br />
So many people view photography as just "point and shoot", but they've got that confused - that's a camera. Photography comprises imagination, creativity, style, light, feeling, self, thought, angle, work, experiences, talent, skill, stories, subjects, themes, collaboration, plans, ideas, and <i>you </i>- and sometimes a lot of swearing, too.<i> </i>The camera is the wonderful tool used to capture all of that. We wouldn't have photography without cameras, but we wouldn't have so many amazing photos - works of art - without photography, without the minds behind them.<br />
<br />
Photography can sometimes be seen as a weak practice, by those who believe that an image is as simple as aim, click, done. I get very irritated when some say "isn't photography just another word for unemployed?" or ask photographers "yeah, but what's your <i>job</i>? What else do you do?". Even worse than that is when people say or insinuate that the photos are only beautiful because you have a good camera. <i>Ehem, was Harry Potter a great wizard because of his wand</i>? <i>I-don't-bloody-think-so. </i>Tim Walker certainly doesn't make the amazing images he does because he bought a shiny camera with a big lens, throws his arms out in a random direction and presses a button.<br />
<br />
On photos that I have taken of my sister, I have had comments in which people say that the images are only pretty because she's so beautiful. Well yes, sometimes the photographs I post haven't had much effort or creativity put into them, they are not the pictures that make me feel like I'm showing you a part of me, and they are pretty because the subject is...but I like them and I like taking them. <br />
<br />
Out of all my photos, I tend to prefer the ones that I found more challenging, that incorporate more of my imagination, and sometimes they aren't the most gorgeous ones, the ones that everyone else favours, but that's okay, it's for me. Photography, writing, clothes, blog posts - first and foremost, they're for me; my rabbit hole - a whimsical world to escape to.<br />
<br />
____________________________________<br />
<br />
The photos above were all taken by me (and if the subject is human, then they're of me too), snapped on my Samsung Galaxy Mini gt-s5570 phone. Most of the other pictures on my blog were captured with a Nikon L120. All except the last have appeared on my <a href="http://instagram.com/willow_cc" target="_blank">Instagram</a>. Most of them, like the photos I take with my proper camera, are un-edited. <br />
They are a mix of just pretty captures and photos that have a little extra something behind them: putting on a dress that matches a vintage mirror for the sake of a shot; getting my mum to stop the car because I noticed that the blooms on a tree, a sign, a steel fence and a grey sky contrasted perfectly; spending ten minutes trying to get the perfect shot of me donning a sixties hat picked up in a charity shop that day; almost tripping over myself in the search of a mirror when the afternoon sun is filtering through my window beautifully; waiting for the right time for the sun to make some Bottlebrush seed pods cast the perfect shadow; and, most notably: waiting until dark so that I can turn off the light in my bedroom, close the door, hang an embroidered silk shirt on my cupboard door as I hold the front of it up so that a reptile light - balanced on my knee - could shine through it, while I hastily snap the photo. </div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-14909082607372514782014-08-27T18:31:00.000+10:002014-08-27T18:31:17.316+10:00The Forgotten Ones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sIP7PPBI8v0/U_wDYVYh1DI/AAAAAAAACJg/zWqElPqyjlU/s1600/photography%2Bmod%2Bfashion%2B372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sIP7PPBI8v0/U_wDYVYh1DI/AAAAAAAACJg/zWqElPqyjlU/s1600/photography%2Bmod%2Bfashion%2B372.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ldNfLZyBdTiAXxmS3hf1NeYtBCGb4Ua-l5dxPJ4mrlYvqtVkm-0vvERnUnFzxYznjHs5HBACfbje4hfA7ZlXD15D-Ti11T2q8uBuZFJgBTFOdTB0jwrHVBVC9dDQ4357Rk9omiHQv4c/s1600/fringe+and+flowers+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ldNfLZyBdTiAXxmS3hf1NeYtBCGb4Ua-l5dxPJ4mrlYvqtVkm-0vvERnUnFzxYznjHs5HBACfbje4hfA7ZlXD15D-Ti11T2q8uBuZFJgBTFOdTB0jwrHVBVC9dDQ4357Rk9omiHQv4c/s1600/fringe+and+flowers+066.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XzJTQlmG12E/U_xMkxgPn_I/AAAAAAAACLA/GYYUE4XsTb4/s1600/fringe%2Band%2Bflowers%2B046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XzJTQlmG12E/U_xMkxgPn_I/AAAAAAAACLA/GYYUE4XsTb4/s1600/fringe%2Band%2Bflowers%2B046.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBI-NeN41j8/U_wDQcV1kkI/AAAAAAAACJQ/af4p54G53Pc/s1600/photography%2Bmod%2Bfashion%2B210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBI-NeN41j8/U_wDQcV1kkI/AAAAAAAACJQ/af4p54G53Pc/s1600/photography%2Bmod%2Bfashion%2B210.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ksp1x9IfXaM/U_wFKuRNSkI/AAAAAAAACJ8/MB1BoDdy0PY/s1600/gyhjk%2B251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ksp1x9IfXaM/U_wFKuRNSkI/AAAAAAAACJ8/MB1BoDdy0PY/s1600/gyhjk%2B251.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HK2tLFDGkyg/UHVXMiXzJvI/AAAAAAAACIM/aZ5g25W3F5k/s1600/327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HK2tLFDGkyg/UHVXMiXzJvI/AAAAAAAACIM/aZ5g25W3F5k/s1600/327.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_YXOzAI6Iv8/U_wBxlKRL0I/AAAAAAAACIs/KHqiNl0o5eA/s1600/fallen%2Bfaye%2B010_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_YXOzAI6Iv8/U_wBxlKRL0I/AAAAAAAACIs/KHqiNl0o5eA/s1600/fallen%2Bfaye%2B010_edited-1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OlLDXcBC5z0/U_wFv94m9XI/AAAAAAAACKc/09NiESgU_6Q/s1600/Photo%2Bshoots%2Bcheeky%2Bred%2C%2Bbow%2Btie%2Bpurple%2B208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OlLDXcBC5z0/U_wFv94m9XI/AAAAAAAACKc/09NiESgU_6Q/s1600/Photo%2Bshoots%2Bcheeky%2Bred%2C%2Bbow%2Btie%2Bpurple%2B208.JPG" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40yPmgKRqpHn8_wc6YRiImHDYUxpDUGENe00cd7fUU5RbuQFzLxQxUqdU5cJs54DRAeDaB71esvwMIaYcguI5Y5L6D74ONLD2AmdUI6c2dF7Rf8fvo16Go1tmJI3hDhYcrGzZY3KV9o0/s1600/265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40yPmgKRqpHn8_wc6YRiImHDYUxpDUGENe00cd7fUU5RbuQFzLxQxUqdU5cJs54DRAeDaB71esvwMIaYcguI5Y5L6D74ONLD2AmdUI6c2dF7Rf8fvo16Go1tmJI3hDhYcrGzZY3KV9o0/s1600/265.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />I am typing this up on my sister's old laptop as my mum's computer, which I was using previously, is currently not turning on - and neither is my laptop. The right-click button is non-functioning and the screen doesn't sit up by itself (I have it leaning against a vintage suitcase which is balanced on top of an upturned laundry basket...which is sitting atop a milk crate full of old records), but still: it works, receives internet and, very importantly, was storing a bunch of photos that I had either forgotten about or couldn't access (because they are on my unresponsive computer). <br /><br />I'm really happy with the rediscovery of these photos and in retrospect I have no idea why they weren't posted beforehand - I love them! The two absolute babes in these images are my fabulous sisters and favourite photography subjects, both of whom I utterly adore. The first two black-and-whites are of my magnificent god-sister Jazz, the second photograph of her has actually appeared on this blog before, but I couldn't resist reposting it because Jazz looks so adorable and infectiously happy, as she does in the shot above. All the other pictures are of my wonderful sister Ireland, who I will be seeing this weekend - YAY!<br /><i><br /></i>...And as I'm trying not to neglect clothing details: the hat donned by both Jazz and Ireland is a vintage wool and velvet number found at a charity shop, the seventies leather boots worn by Jazz are mine (from Etsy), and Ireland's green sixties mini, Jazz's sixties lace shift dress and seventies summer maxi were all unearthed from my mum's hoard of vintage and second hand pieces that she has collected from charity shops over the years.Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-3862560069449539422014-08-06T14:51:00.002+10:002014-08-08T08:14:08.186+10:00In Response to 'Women Against Feminism'<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you might already know, there has been a lot of hype recently about a tumblr blog called 'Women Against Feminism' - a page dedicated to women submitting pictures of themselves with a message that states why they feel that they don't need feminism. Many of the women talk about equality and that no gender is superior, which is true and something that I completely agree with, but those messages start how all the others do: with the words "I don't need feminism because..". If the mainstream assumption of what feminism actually is was accurate, some of those submissions would be making good points.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 14.181818008422852px;"><br />Feminism seems to have become a bit of a dirty word in society. The false stigma attached can cause an instant blocking or recoiling effect in someone when the word comes up in conversation. A common misconception is that feminism means the belief in female </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 14.181818008422852px;">superiority; that feminists hate men, oppress men, believe they are inferior. I'm not saying there aren't feminists who believe that, who fit the bad stereotypes. But in every belief, you will find people who are radicals and extremists, people who misinterpreted the roots of the labels they gave themselves. I hate sexism - from and towards both men and women, and I get equally outraged at misandry as I do misogyny. I know that men have issues thanks to sexism too, and I even think that some feminists (who got the wrong idea) are the reason for some of it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 14.181818008422852px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 14.181818008422852px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Feminism is essentially the endorsement of women's rights. One definition, from the Oxford Dictionary, is: "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." An excellent summary, but it's still only skeletal. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a feminist, I can take the bones of it and elaborate on that in my own way; building, adding, shaping with my own experiences and observations. This may seem odd, but I think it's important to not base your idea of feminism off </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">feminists</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. A feminist is someone who supports feminism, but being a feminist does not come with a rulebook. 'Feminist' is a label that anyone can claim; you don't have to have any special experiences, no biological, professional or academic qualifications. Anyone can call themselves a feminist. Anyone can </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">be </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">a feminist. But one individual feminist does not</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"> </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">define feminism as a whole and thus does not </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">represent all feminists. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />This was one of my main problems with 'Women Against Feminism': the misunderstanding and misuse of the word 'feminism'. Something that also struck me was how oblivious they were to the fact that feminism is a part of the reason they can vote, get an education, have the job of their choice and be paid the same amount as men in the same field (although that still isn't always the case), decide if and when they want a family...among many other things. It's great that these women can say "I do not feel oppressed" - that's really, really fantastic, but it's also thanks to the feminists (both male and female) of the past who fought for women's rights.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />We still need feminism - globally. It seemed so ignorant to me that (most of) the Women Against Feminism started their statements with "I" - how incredibly inconsiderate to shun something doing so much good and helping so many people just because </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">they </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">don't feel they need it. Even if I never had any reason to feel like I needed feminism, it doesn't mean I shouldn't be a feminist and it doesn't mean other women don't need it. Because they do.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />In some countries women aren't allowed to drive, women don't get education, they can't wear what they want, they are forced into marriage when they are children, women are victims of femicide, acid throwing and rape every day. We need feminism even in (</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">comparatively</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">) developed countries. Feminism is needed all around the world, and while it is, there will be feminists fighting for women's rights and making change, regardless of stereotypes, jokes and pages like 'Women Against Feminism' trying to bring them down.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Feminism is something I am very passionate about - it is just one specific part of my beliefs in equality and human rights. I will probably write more on this subject in the future and elaborate on what feminism means to me, why I'm a feminist, etc. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this post. Also, if you're interested, <a href="http://confusedcatsagainstfeminism.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Confused Cats Against Feminism</a> is an excellent parody of 'Women Against Feminism'.</span></i></div>
</div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-76220463183561937182014-07-03T00:15:00.001+10:002014-07-03T00:15:42.056+10:00The ones that got away<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1AfSa7_K9wM/T_qbAPk3vyI/AAAAAAAACH4/XLveFU_hzkI/s1600/The+Bag+Tree+073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1AfSa7_K9wM/T_qbAPk3vyI/AAAAAAAACH4/XLveFU_hzkI/s1600/The+Bag+Tree+073.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhWjBKWhcxShTqNG487UxhVGBYWx4rzI3FkAXT0_b5K_MnhIrapEwHZfBqxjY6T_Xj9AMLtgL9UNRrh0cF8bhNfFQi0lT8G9LeAgCquMmudexJVi1Hei1kNjC9u5yRoUJ4wRcktaTGK4/s1600/Velvatine+113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhWjBKWhcxShTqNG487UxhVGBYWx4rzI3FkAXT0_b5K_MnhIrapEwHZfBqxjY6T_Xj9AMLtgL9UNRrh0cF8bhNfFQi0lT8G9LeAgCquMmudexJVi1Hei1kNjC9u5yRoUJ4wRcktaTGK4/s1600/Velvatine+113.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NHshG337wK8/T1IB4ugmi7I/AAAAAAAACIA/fgv4PDP8a_4/s1600/Velvatine+290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NHshG337wK8/T1IB4ugmi7I/AAAAAAAACIA/fgv4PDP8a_4/s1600/Velvatine+290.JPG" height="489" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4G-KhS7uVFw/UQZRIooeevI/AAAAAAAABTc/nDIxWdBTFQI/s1600/181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4G-KhS7uVFw/UQZRIooeevI/AAAAAAAABTc/nDIxWdBTFQI/s1600/181.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lRv1kVuJrc/UVgD5QF_ImI/AAAAAAAACH4/nGtF_HBwlFM/s1600/179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lRv1kVuJrc/UVgD5QF_ImI/AAAAAAAACH4/nGtF_HBwlFM/s1600/179.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R5cQeqLqHNI/T-GGgOWcerI/AAAAAAAAAcw/xod62xzKBTY/s1600/067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R5cQeqLqHNI/T-GGgOWcerI/AAAAAAAAAcw/xod62xzKBTY/s1600/067.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMoNAiDEbR8/UADWUv0Eh5I/AAAAAAAACIM/gv52UWsfhFQ/s1600/182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMoNAiDEbR8/UADWUv0Eh5I/AAAAAAAACIM/gv52UWsfhFQ/s1600/182.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rWuvOVpwg-U/UD85vqkRWZI/AAAAAAAAAtU/YZL-G83G9j8/s1600/At+the+beach+036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rWuvOVpwg-U/UD85vqkRWZI/AAAAAAAAAtU/YZL-G83G9j8/s1600/At+the+beach+036.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhdc36H4TBw/UGZDTO8odfI/AAAAAAAACII/I2PbjStPJHk/s1600/063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhdc36H4TBw/UGZDTO8odfI/AAAAAAAACII/I2PbjStPJHk/s1600/063.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGaIx0L1cDQ/UIo954QLQLI/AAAAAAAABAY/dATLwRQkkWI/s1600/569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGaIx0L1cDQ/UIo954QLQLI/AAAAAAAABAY/dATLwRQkkWI/s1600/569.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlxXumDIxHU/ULck6rbLsXI/AAAAAAAACH8/29dZH7S5dmE/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlxXumDIxHU/ULck6rbLsXI/AAAAAAAACH8/29dZH7S5dmE/s1600/033.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gTkgi59J1g0/ULddz69v72I/AAAAAAAACIM/CvoMwczQBk8/s1600/133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gTkgi59J1g0/ULddz69v72I/AAAAAAAACIM/CvoMwczQBk8/s1600/133.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<i>All shots above were either taken by me, my god-sister or my sister, and the photos are of us too. </i><br /><br />I have several reasons for not posting for over a month, which include: two faulty computers, a broken camera battery charger, my sister visiting (she has moved 5 hours away from me - boo), and unfortunately my creativity seems to have gone on holiday (I'm having dreams about really mundane things such as grocery shopping - what a waste). <br />I often feel a little bit stressed if I haven't posted for a while, as this blog feels a little bit like my rabbit hole sometimes. So this just a quick post to finally have something new! The pictures are all (sans a couple) 'ones that got away' from a few blog shoots, or otherwise photos from shoots that never even appeared on the blog. Some of the photos even date back to when I was twelve. As always, the clothes are hand-me-downs, charity shopped and vintage.<br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-44147054820736883662014-05-18T21:59:00.000+10:002014-05-18T22:01:25.484+10:00Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JBoEWKle2jU/UwX1jV0SnrI/AAAAAAAACHY/igTswWa9uvc/s1600/_IGP5441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JBoEWKle2jU/UwX1jV0SnrI/AAAAAAAACHY/igTswWa9uvc/s1600/_IGP5441.JPG" height="640" width="422" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bX7abgrE8wI/U3dVApsK4fI/AAAAAAAACEM/iUpeW9Ercxg/s1600/9246542432_147d1d1915_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bX7abgrE8wI/U3dVApsK4fI/AAAAAAAACEM/iUpeW9Ercxg/s1600/9246542432_147d1d1915_b.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpLdlLpdFDIQ5gEEYjJYr-AuNmUyXolr-7m8L7wUQH-1242QVNXxSXUi93yO2syn53KHs731YgLkR8-EXzIdN3oh4rSkITy1hvTpioIZzpQJk10LsRhIpXgPbCIEWssrn8tvm9NPu174/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpLdlLpdFDIQ5gEEYjJYr-AuNmUyXolr-7m8L7wUQH-1242QVNXxSXUi93yO2syn53KHs731YgLkR8-EXzIdN3oh4rSkITy1hvTpioIZzpQJk10LsRhIpXgPbCIEWssrn8tvm9NPu174/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+274.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iy_FyTkiCv4/U3dVS5oZJxI/AAAAAAAACEQ/yj-RB4pDG_0/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iy_FyTkiCv4/U3dVS5oZJxI/AAAAAAAACEQ/yj-RB4pDG_0/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+570.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZTaFcKwVsc/U3dVVFBwumI/AAAAAAAACEY/FR_qOnym1s4/s1600/2013+Jazz+etc.+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZTaFcKwVsc/U3dVVFBwumI/AAAAAAAACEY/FR_qOnym1s4/s1600/2013+Jazz+etc.+005.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4y4MGzUpBtg/U3dVanY2FxI/AAAAAAAACEg/1xiZu6xqvHQ/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4y4MGzUpBtg/U3dVanY2FxI/AAAAAAAACEg/1xiZu6xqvHQ/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+609.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xhHf4wTzoa8/U3dVdbqQRtI/AAAAAAAACEo/Mi9azAdkC-M/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xhHf4wTzoa8/U3dVdbqQRtI/AAAAAAAACEo/Mi9azAdkC-M/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+738.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IH-7PRUqMls/U3dV4bbQ25I/AAAAAAAACGE/grm7_JxqpRg/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IH-7PRUqMls/U3dV4bbQ25I/AAAAAAAACGE/grm7_JxqpRg/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+125.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GibgODsw7kI/U3dVsD1K8tI/AAAAAAAACE4/bB62WsKrjd0/s1600/Light+024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GibgODsw7kI/U3dVsD1K8tI/AAAAAAAACE4/bB62WsKrjd0/s1600/Light+024.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OzITbLikVtY/U3dVwXKcktI/AAAAAAAACFk/s1G_85HzzaA/s1600/Light+055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OzITbLikVtY/U3dVwXKcktI/AAAAAAAACFk/s1G_85HzzaA/s1600/Light+055.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XVJSQVq88ZU/U3dVzA3m5yI/AAAAAAAACFw/1g71-nRA4Jk/s1600/Light+056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XVJSQVq88ZU/U3dVzA3m5yI/AAAAAAAACFw/1g71-nRA4Jk/s1600/Light+056.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKYWhFOMwXA/U3dV86ap15I/AAAAAAAACGU/2q_68ez7CKw/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKYWhFOMwXA/U3dV86ap15I/AAAAAAAACGU/2q_68ez7CKw/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+190.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YC5pk1DglZo/U3dVsBgul6I/AAAAAAAACE8/QSAXl7j7Z9s/s1600/Light+025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YC5pk1DglZo/U3dVsBgul6I/AAAAAAAACE8/QSAXl7j7Z9s/s1600/Light+025.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OQeV6wRH8PXm_GJ0VyupuoqM64-qlerIGTmS4l_1xwqvsVtBArYy8qOOTpzh55baUHu7sMwwJucQq5Uu2fXYC-SmQGP0kg5usfSyYZ5K_-BOnA-CrB502gIouCT74nblDhpaTjNuHH8/s1600/Light+046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OQeV6wRH8PXm_GJ0VyupuoqM64-qlerIGTmS4l_1xwqvsVtBArYy8qOOTpzh55baUHu7sMwwJucQq5Uu2fXYC-SmQGP0kg5usfSyYZ5K_-BOnA-CrB502gIouCT74nblDhpaTjNuHH8/s1600/Light+046.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zgiis8J5M/U3dVr6eD8CI/AAAAAAAACFA/2PlngQAFyoQ/s1600/Light+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zgiis8J5M/U3dVr6eD8CI/AAAAAAAACFA/2PlngQAFyoQ/s1600/Light+018.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKLGwY0PkcI/T6MmJ8-UqcI/AAAAAAAAASs/rXQ1VNAL5qw/s1600/There%2527s+flowers+in+my+hair+103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKLGwY0PkcI/T6MmJ8-UqcI/AAAAAAAAASs/rXQ1VNAL5qw/s1600/There%2527s+flowers+in+my+hair+103.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcwoffIXNoeg8JIJPNiIK1H6ZEo7lPD3t1Sye3mTAXEjbW51Bx6Z67GHXvjPhs2aDzqjGm9Mka4yHUoDsIF2VH0mRPgryrZzwBBpp5Oq0WhET4eq3lPY1HubhewIa3nMjbQnOTsoaJGM/s1600/Light+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcwoffIXNoeg8JIJPNiIK1H6ZEo7lPD3t1Sye3mTAXEjbW51Bx6Z67GHXvjPhs2aDzqjGm9Mka4yHUoDsIF2VH0mRPgryrZzwBBpp5Oq0WhET4eq3lPY1HubhewIa3nMjbQnOTsoaJGM/s1600/Light+031.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJjjustvMlg/U3dVvWd_LaI/AAAAAAAACFY/W6JSjHiQah8/s1600/Light+054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJjjustvMlg/U3dVvWd_LaI/AAAAAAAACFY/W6JSjHiQah8/s1600/Light+054.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BC12KTljFhw/UGZExGcTFDI/AAAAAAAAA2w/DXKy3KwkeyE/s1600/067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BC12KTljFhw/UGZExGcTFDI/AAAAAAAAA2w/DXKy3KwkeyE/s1600/067.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0C5zNUB_ycQ/UB952FYRswI/AAAAAAAAAlg/LrbqQWb8A0g/s1600/photo+shoot+with+crystal+155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0C5zNUB_ycQ/UB952FYRswI/AAAAAAAAAlg/LrbqQWb8A0g/s1600/photo+shoot+with+crystal+155.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02pJFJGOnlE/UJnORUnlNlI/AAAAAAAABBk/FdWwEE7Uw-w/s1600/051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02pJFJGOnlE/UJnORUnlNlI/AAAAAAAABBk/FdWwEE7Uw-w/s1600/051.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Light is a glorious thing. Glorious in the way it shows colours, in the fact that I wouldn't have any pictures to show you if not for it - many things would cease to exist without light. The right light can make the mundane and ordinary transform into something utterly spectacular, giving the illusion of something magical. It can shine through water and make a droplet look like it contains an entire star nebula in its sphere.<br />
It's incredibly fitting that we use variations of the word 'light' to describe people. How we can shine, glow, radiate and illuminate. How someone can bring out the best (or the 'light') in others much like the way the sun illuminates the intricate veins of a leaf or the strands of a spider web. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Experimenting with light - particularly sunlight - is one of my favourite things about photography. I'm fascinated by the nature of some of the shadows it creates and I'm delighted by the way it's caught by single strands of hair, transparent materials and droplets of water. Different days, different skies and different light has all kinds of wonders to be experimented with and explored. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So yes - light is a glorious thing. This post is simply a brief appreciation of that. All of the above images were snapped by me. The photo of flowers plaited into hair is of my mum and the second image is of my god-sister Jazz. All other portraits are of my sister, Ireland.</div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-65134392916428925092014-05-06T22:49:00.000+10:002014-05-06T22:49:53.548+10:00Perdita<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2qR5UtWSZI/U2jGmxiFjHI/AAAAAAAACDk/NDPIB9cFt2U/s1600/Pentax+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2qR5UtWSZI/U2jGmxiFjHI/AAAAAAAACDk/NDPIB9cFt2U/s1600/Pentax+024.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Y9tjO0Es6c/U2jEONu80cI/AAAAAAAACC8/VRSVIv5reg4/s1600/517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Y9tjO0Es6c/U2jEONu80cI/AAAAAAAACC8/VRSVIv5reg4/s1600/517.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PiDIHEBJPFc/U2jEN5BeUuI/AAAAAAAACC4/YYP3YtfEEWE/s1600/500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PiDIHEBJPFc/U2jEN5BeUuI/AAAAAAAACC4/YYP3YtfEEWE/s1600/500.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A8-R7K6Fr_Y/U2jEOLNbuvI/AAAAAAAACDA/PTEw1sp3UQ8/s1600/520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A8-R7K6Fr_Y/U2jEOLNbuvI/AAAAAAAACDA/PTEw1sp3UQ8/s1600/520.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vxm56HOQq7A/U2jH5ystaQI/AAAAAAAACD0/Ywoie9dtRFU/s1600/518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vxm56HOQq7A/U2jH5ystaQI/AAAAAAAACD0/Ywoie9dtRFU/s1600/518.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pf18Gh6D7hE/U2jGk749grI/AAAAAAAACDU/Nit5D0yr_ig/s1600/Pentax+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pf18Gh6D7hE/U2jGk749grI/AAAAAAAACDU/Nit5D0yr_ig/s1600/Pentax+016.JPG" height="640" width="422" /></a><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bvjoMl9tMck/U2jGl-zWOlI/AAAAAAAACDc/ahZrRv3nkC4/s1600/Pentax+036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bvjoMl9tMck/U2jGl-zWOlI/AAAAAAAACDc/ahZrRv3nkC4/s1600/Pentax+036.JPG" height="640" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>First and last two images were taken with a Pentax k-x and the rest were taken with a Nikon L120 <br />All images (except the black & white photo) are unretouched<br />Model is my sister, Ireland<br />Photos taken by me</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
I really enjoyed taking these photos of my lovely, elegant, semi-willing photography subject, Ireland (although she would call herself my "photography victim"). It takes quite a bit of begging before my sister agrees to do a photo session with me, although I can understand why: I'm very bossy when I'm behind the camera, I get her to lie down in uncomfortable patches of itchy flowers, it means she has to change out of her 'comfy clothes', and I put her in summer dresses whilst forgetting that it's almost winter.It was a surprisingly warm day today, so I didn't think the light dressing would be an issue, but towards the end of the photo shoot Ireland was getting cold and annoyed as I pleaded "Just <i>one </i>more...here, just look over there...no, that didn't work, again....wait, wait, wait, do this". So, big thanks to Ireland for these photos (and for putting up with me).<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">With the dress, flowers and garland, this shoot felt a little 'Grecian Goddess meets Perdita' although the garland was something I quickly made as an afterthought and the charity shopped silk dress (which in reality is greener than it looks in the photos) was haphazardly plucked from Ireland's wardrobe. </span><i><br /></i>Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-47011364400803111472014-04-24T17:25:00.000+10:002014-04-24T17:25:04.547+10:00Fashion Revolution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JzFeOdeZCGM/U1i4mE13XXI/AAAAAAAACAQ/4AUPsVcPpnE/s1600/FashionRevolution.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JzFeOdeZCGM/U1i4mE13XXI/AAAAAAAACAQ/4AUPsVcPpnE/s1600/FashionRevolution.png" height="204" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Today, the 24th of April 2014, is the one year anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed 1,133 workers. But today is also <a href="http://fashionrevolution.org/" target="_blank">Fashion Revolution</a> day - if anything good has come out of the Bangladesh building collapse, it's this. <br />
Fashion Revolution day is about remembering the devastation of the factory collapse while asking "Who Made Your Clothes?" and making change. Many people are wearing their clothes inside out, showing the labels and taking "inside out selfies" which are posted to instagram, facebook, twitter and the like, with the #<i>insideout</i>, #<i>whomadeyourclothes</i> & <i>#fashionrevolutio</i>n hash tags, and contacting the clothing brands, wanting to know who made them. You can show off your ethical labels the same way.<br />
<br />
No one is going to know that the dress or the jacket you're wearing is ethically made just by looking at it, which is why I think the idea of wearing your clothes inside out is so brilliant and powerful - it's something that's noticed, that provokes thought and asks questions. Today I'm wearing my clothes inside out, seams on the outside, the buttons of my shirt felt against my skin and the label on the back of my trousers exposed. It's something everyone can join in on, every year on the 24th of April. But it doesn't have to be just today, we should be asking the question of who made our clothes all the time, everyday can be a Fashion Revolution day. "Who made my clothes?" is not the only question to ask either, there are plenty of questions to think about when you're buying something, questions of how long it will last, think about how many wears you can get out of it, can you pass it on to a friend or child? Sell it second hand? And what/who are you supporting when you buy this? There are so many questions to consider, but your basic "who, what, where and why?" questions are always important.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><b style="color: #666666; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">"Fashion is a force to be reckoned with. It celebrates, provokes, and entertains. And, from April 24th 2014, it’s going to do even more. Because we’re turning fashion into a force for good." </b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">- quoted from the </span><a href="http://fashionrevolution.org/" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;" target="_blank">Fashion Revolution</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;"> website. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;"><br />Today also marks a personal anniversary - one year ago today, I gave up buying clothes new unless they were from an ethical company, taking the pledge to only buy clothes vintage, second hand, handmade or from an ethical label, rather than supporting slave labour and brands that don't care about the people that make their clothes. Even though I sourced most of my clothes from charity shops anyway, it was still difficult. There were a few occasions where I almost broke my oath, trying to justify the purchase I was considering, but once you know the true cost - paid by those who stitched the seams and hemmed the fabrics - you can't really justify something like that. Remembering this, I would put the garments back on the rack. <br /><br />A very powerful quote that has always stuck with me was this one by Anna Lappe: </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want." </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">The world I want is free of companies that view the people making their products as dispensable, rather than human beings. All the people killed, injured and affected had and have their very own lives, thoughts, feelings. We may only see a number, such as the death toll of 1,133 - too many people to name individually in the news reports, articles and shared links, but it was the names and lives of individuals that made up that number. Like anyone, the world didn't revolve around those people, but </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">someone's </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">world probably did. And that's the thing, isn't it? you don't have to change the whole world, but you can change </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">someone's </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">whole world, and that's a pretty big thing. That's part of what Fashion Revolution day is about - wearing your clothes inside out and asking those questions are a seemingly small thing, but all together, a large number of people all over the world asking for change...that's a big thing, a very big thing...that's a revolution. </span></span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">Also, I'd like to link you to </span></span><a href="http://clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com/2014/04/questioning.html" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;" target="_blank">this excellent post</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;"> by Rosalind of </span></span><a href="http://www.clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.63399887084961px;" target="_blank">Clothes, Cameras and Coffee</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;"> about Fashion Revolution day, which includes links to a whole bunch of wonderful pieces she's written in the past about ethical fashion and why it's important, as well as a very important, </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">goosebump-and-possibly-tear</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.63399887084961px;">-inducing poem she wrote about the Rana Plaza building collapse. </span></span></i></span>Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-17387365179714578042014-03-23T01:56:00.000+10:002014-03-23T21:22:54.967+10:00A Galaxy Of Poems & A Bed Of Vines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-upUoPnDRmAo/Uy1VaQoYWuI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/FyMyIWpxVKA/s1600/Willow'sPictures+184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-upUoPnDRmAo/Uy1VaQoYWuI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/FyMyIWpxVKA/s1600/Willow'sPictures+184.jpg" height="410" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPJb-wguUQtQc6uadjcKFzvSI5mobQU1jHzk0RRUmXD2slGnA59ddUKmL9FsadfbS8Sywg-s_I5MnIFzGlrhSRAE26dMgx-FUe6nFtRuWkjcPhaghyphenhyphen-QHuVOnzQHFG9sy73XszLEVdlI/s1600/Willow'sPictures+165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPJb-wguUQtQc6uadjcKFzvSI5mobQU1jHzk0RRUmXD2slGnA59ddUKmL9FsadfbS8Sywg-s_I5MnIFzGlrhSRAE26dMgx-FUe6nFtRuWkjcPhaghyphenhyphen-QHuVOnzQHFG9sy73XszLEVdlI/s1600/Willow'sPictures+165.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_uXTiKt-epiWYsJnPM-BWx6Gp4D7E9OWWU60fLNxlLYl6d_P9qdpplA0P63_M8NMJjeY1WXzAdz8higgiGbTHhSWBgOBArZ4HyD3R2YbzJvTWosbO0gcdgCbsZUSArOyPKo9HRqmtL-U/s1600/Willow'sPictures+169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_uXTiKt-epiWYsJnPM-BWx6Gp4D7E9OWWU60fLNxlLYl6d_P9qdpplA0P63_M8NMJjeY1WXzAdz8higgiGbTHhSWBgOBArZ4HyD3R2YbzJvTWosbO0gcdgCbsZUSArOyPKo9HRqmtL-U/s1600/Willow'sPictures+169.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjNEGQPs1JE/Uy1VZ8PJd0I/AAAAAAAAB_U/Vn7osb1AwE0/s1600/Willow'sPictures+174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjNEGQPs1JE/Uy1VZ8PJd0I/AAAAAAAAB_U/Vn7osb1AwE0/s1600/Willow'sPictures+174.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w_h254iLFeg/Uy1VcOJYZSI/AAAAAAAAB_k/xdH5k47kGrM/s1600/Willow'sPictures+203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w_h254iLFeg/Uy1VcOJYZSI/AAAAAAAAB_k/xdH5k47kGrM/s1600/Willow'sPictures+203.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I was at a small local secondhand bookshop when the lovely 60's print of this wonderful book of poems caught my eye. I grabbed it excitedly and added to my haul of books. It's the perfect book for reading on a relaxed afternoon in the garden, enjoying poems and poets both familiar and unfamiliar. It has work from poets and writers such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Keats, Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Lord Byron, to others less heard of. To me it has similar qualities to charity shops. I love that charity shops have a range of things, old and new, to search through until you find something to treasure. You don't have to look for anything in particular, just search until something catches your eye (perhaps something that you're surprised you like, either because it's not what would be your usual style or because it's by a creator that you don't usually like). The same goes for this book. I find myself enjoying a variety of different poems and poets. From dark, morbid poems to seasonal poems with autumnal descriptions of golden pears, crisp light and overripe fruits, spring and summer poems telling of babbling brooks, blooming daffodils and faerie feasts.<br />
<br />
I have only recently taken an interest in poetry and this book was an excellent place to start. I have taken a particular liking to Byron and Keats and I keep going back to Keats' poem 'To Autumn' every time I open the book. The lines in this beautiful poem are to be savoured, I particularly loved: "<i>With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage trees</i>" and "<i>While barr</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>éd clouds bloom the soft-dying day...</i>".</span><br />
Anyway, I just wanted to share my love of this book with you. The photos were taken by my mum this afternoon, we sat amongst the green vines that cover a large part of our garden, laughed and took pictures of each other. The vines are not as comfortable as they look.<br />
Oh, and while we were on the subject of poetry, has anyone read <a href="http://elitedaily.com/news/world/14-year-old-boy-just-wrote-important-poem-21st-century/" target="_blank">this rather brilliant poem 'Our Generation' by a fourteen year old named Jordan Nichols</a>?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In other news, I have just joined Pip Lincolne of <a href="http://meetmeatmikes.com/" target="_blank">Meet Me At Mike's</a> and many other bloggers in Pip's <a href="http://meetmeatmikes.com/2013/12/a-year-of-ethical-fashion/" target="_blank">A Year Of Ethical Fashion</a>. I am taking the pledge to only wear ethically. "<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">If I'm looking for things to wear I will only:</span></div>
<em style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a) Buy from ethical makers or</em><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="color: #555555;">
<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">b) Buy second-hand or</em></div>
<div style="color: #555555;">
<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">c) Make it myself or</em></div>
<div style="color: #555555;">
<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">d) Wear things I already own or</em></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman', Georgia, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">e) Borrow or swap garments with friends<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;">"</span> </em><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: justify;">- The <a href="http://meetmeatmikes.com/2013/12/a-year-of-ethical-fashion/" target="_blank">A Year Of Ethical Fashion</a> pledge. </span></em></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: justify;">You can join in <a href="http://meetmeatmikes.com/2013/12/a-year-of-ethical-fashion/" target="_blank">here</a> or on the YOEF <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/ayearofethicalfashion/" target="_blank">Facebook group</a>. I took the pledge in April last year after the tragic Bangladesh factory collapse that killed over one thousand workers. This year I'm continuing to wear ethically and have been introduced to some excellent labels thanks to what's been shared in the facebook group. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Em56F7SzC38/Uy1aPf5WOJI/AAAAAAAAB_8/ISz3CWHtObk/s1600/ethical-button.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Em56F7SzC38/Uy1aPf5WOJI/AAAAAAAAB_8/ISz3CWHtObk/s1600/ethical-button.png" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
On that note, I should tell you about my the clothes I'm wearing. The shorts (which are actually a darker emerald green) are vintage and were a present from my mum. The silk top is <a href="http://www.littlegreendress.com.au/" target="_blank">Little Green Dress</a> and was borrowed from my sister. Little Green Dress is a 'slow fashion' label, the clothes are made from sustainable end of run fabrics and are Australian made. I'm even being ethical with my underwear choices: my bra underneath was bought a year or two ago (thankfully still fits well) and my knickers are from <a href="http://www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk/" target="_blank">Who Made Your Pants?</a> which is a company in the UK that gives fair wage jobs to women who need them to make underwear from end of run fabrics. They also tell you exactly who made them (my very comfortable <a href="http://www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk/collections/cecilia" target="_blank">Cecilia</a> pants were made by <a href="http://www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk/pages/batol" target="_blank">Batol</a> & Friends). I was also meant to have a hand-me-down black cardigan with that (so I could match the print of the book) but it was forgotten during the shoot.<br />
<br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-57894845685549656092014-03-12T21:40:00.001+10:002014-03-12T21:50:49.989+10:00Let's Talk About Sex [Education]<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My sister and I were home schooled from the ages of six and eight. When she was ten and I was eight, we moved from our small house near the beach, to a large rural property in a different town. It was decided that we'd go to school in this new town to make friends...we lasted two terms. School crushed our creativity and desire to learn. While teachers thought we were way ahead of the other students, we didn't thrive. My sister and I enjoyed learning, but the school system was a very negative experience for us.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the beginning of 2012, when we were a few months away from me turning thirteen and my sister fifteen, we agreed we wanted to go to the high school there. We both wanted a high school experience and our parents wanted to support whatever decision we made.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">High school was even more damaging for us. My sister had nervous breakdowns, couldn't learn in that environment and left school pretty quickly. I stayed a little longer and I did surprisingly well coping without Ireland (my sister), although I was still incredibly socially awkward and stuttered on occasion. I quickly learnt that I didn't care what other people thought, was quite happy to stand up for myself, I ignored the kids who were negative and I didn't take any bullshit. In that respect, I think high school was good for me - I needed to realise how confident I was in myself and in my own morals and ethics. I got by, I didn't make any friends but was happy on my own and my grades were an average of As, Bs and Cs. But I was infuriated by the school system and the terrible education we were receiving, particularly for HPE. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Health and Physical Education - basically, teaching teenagers how to barn dance. Regarding Sex Ed, we learnt a little bit about a few venereal diseases and menstruation. The subject of rape was briefly discussed - girls were told to be careful: about what they wear, how much they drink, who they talk to and how they behave. Rape is caused by a <i>rapist</i>, not the victim. I worry about what that puts in their minds. They are almost saying to girls that it's their responsibility if they get raped. What if a girl doesn't report a rape because she is practically being taught that it's her fault? Teachers are telling this to the girls (forgetting that men get raped too), in front of the boys. I wonder what that could make them think, subconsciously or otherwise? <i>I'm male and I can't control myself, it's her responsibility, she's been warned about what she should wear and she's still wearing something besides a hessian sack, she's a "slut" and "asking for it". </i>They should be teaching "don't rape" rather than "don't get raped".</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That was all my experience of sex education at school, but I have talked to people from different grades at that school and other schools, teachers, read about the school system and have found out a lot of what goes on in sexual education. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The education we receive is discreet and sex shaming. We are taught about sex by teachers who pretend they don't know what a vagina is. We should be taught about peer pressure, body image and how to have safe, healthy sex, both physically <i>and </i>mentally, in an honest, sex-positive manner. I'm not talking about encouraging teenagers to have sex - if they want to, they're likely to be doing it anyway. Which is why, instead of attempting to discourage them by talking about sex like it's shameful and unnatural, what should be done, is to ensure that if they are going to have sex, they will be safe and healthy. Some sexually transmitted diseases are life threatening, but something that is still so, so, so important is for us to be shown what is healthy - both physically and emotionally, and what is positive. Show us the importance of treating your sexual partner as an equal and the importance of being able to openly discuss how you feel and what you do and don't want to do.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some kids (like my sister and I) will have parents that make sure they're setting good examples for their children. My sister and I have a very open and honest relationship with each other and our mum, but there are parents who leave stuff like Sex Ed up to school. This is why having good sex education (and teachers/counsellors) is so very important. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know this is very different to the usual posts on my blog. But I really wanted to write about it and decided I wanted to put this on my blog and see if anyone else was angered by the Sex Ed that kids are receiving at school. So what are your thoughts?</span></i></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Oh, and sorry if the title to this post got Salt-N-Pepa's song 'Let's Talk About Sex' stuck in your head!</span></i></i></div>
<i>
</i>Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-68603970348495314102014-02-22T23:39:00.000+10:002014-02-22T23:48:15.577+10:00Forgotten Mini-Shoots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oZD1MsNVDVY/UwXwHC797WI/AAAAAAAAB6o/nxAP5fc7I-4/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oZD1MsNVDVY/UwXwHC797WI/AAAAAAAAB6o/nxAP5fc7I-4/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+956.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_kBF7Ix2SEw/UwXwHQrbdlI/AAAAAAAAB6s/swNwQKrhaV0/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_kBF7Ix2SEw/UwXwHQrbdlI/AAAAAAAAB6s/swNwQKrhaV0/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+944.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KsWefvxniL8/UwX0Yl3QSQI/AAAAAAAAB90/1ly505I_quQ/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KsWefvxniL8/UwX0Yl3QSQI/AAAAAAAAB90/1ly505I_quQ/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+961.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2sUNd-tQI88/UwX0T00zYGI/AAAAAAAAB8A/EOtHeJUmaLg/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2sUNd-tQI88/UwX0T00zYGI/AAAAAAAAB8A/EOtHeJUmaLg/s1600/AnimalsPartyJazzIrelandShootLightFlowersMorningEtc+929.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well! I haven't really been doing much in the way of photography lately, but I really wanted to do a quick post. Luckily I happened upon a few brief photo shoots (that I had completely forgotten about) of my incredibly photogenic sister. I'm hoping to take some more pictures of Ireland soon, she's just been away so much (lots of visiting her boyfriend, James, who lives quite far away, so she can be gone for weeks!). She gets to have a lot of fun while she's staying with him and his family, doing the things she loves: training his mum's horses, riding motorbikes, doing mechanical work on bikes and cars, hunting, etc. (we may be sisters, but we have very different interests - I shoot pictures she shoots arrows, but we still get on really well). While I love that she has fun, I had been missing her a lot. I'm not sure how I'm going to cope when she and James move in together in a couple of months!<br />
<br />
Anyway, to the photos. The first shoot was done the same time I took <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/a-photo-summary-of-spring.html" target="_blank">these</a> pictures of my beautiful god-sister, Jazz in spring last year. Ireland is wearing a vintage pleated maxi dress that used to belong to Jazz's mum (my lovely, lovely, lovely god-mother). The photos below were taken at a beach and a nearby swimming spot, Ireland's swimsuit is <a href="http://blackmilkclothing.com/" target="_blank">BlackMilk</a> and is a Christmas present from me (and I was very happy to find out that they are made in Australia, so no slave labour).<br />
Anyway, I'm off to bed, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the photos!<br />
<br /><i>P.S. The tiny photos on my last post were re-added in full size once I got internet again (but the edit annoying changed the date from January to February) but if you'd like to now see them without needing to squint, they are there! </i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WooFG-DrWvA/UwX4H-pY3xI/AAAAAAAAB-0/rpuj8L2H9SE/s1600/_IGP5509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WooFG-DrWvA/UwX4H-pY3xI/AAAAAAAAB-0/rpuj8L2H9SE/s1600/_IGP5509.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ki3oluUrbgM/UwX1kbh5ABI/AAAAAAAAB9A/RpsMLFrq1OQ/s1600/_IGP5523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ki3oluUrbgM/UwX1kbh5ABI/AAAAAAAAB9A/RpsMLFrq1OQ/s1600/_IGP5523.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qw_Sl0GwjNE/UwX17lDfwSI/AAAAAAAAB9M/P_oZS8JvyiM/s1600/_IGP5631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qw_Sl0GwjNE/UwX17lDfwSI/AAAAAAAAB9M/P_oZS8JvyiM/s1600/_IGP5631.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-60539721876268114512014-02-05T20:38:00.000+10:002014-02-05T21:01:06.170+10:00No Internet (sort of)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W8lh5jixGlo/UvIZLM9_Z7I/AAAAAAAAB58/xB4C329WG5g/s1600/9406941193_123bb16af8_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W8lh5jixGlo/UvIZLM9_Z7I/AAAAAAAAB58/xB4C329WG5g/s1600/9406941193_123bb16af8_b.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKFcHjTnMhpm7Zf6xbbKi_e6xU1IdDtSK8mrne9L7klcB0eOpsSBkeylDHLTvslaWpw59WCo3S1GdfT3v3p6lw44FBJG7cx39XevRF1mXzNUhvweZDJOdn3shjBGWVd3BJTqouSvAPp8/s1600/9243732069_6aa5b27b47_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKFcHjTnMhpm7Zf6xbbKi_e6xU1IdDtSK8mrne9L7klcB0eOpsSBkeylDHLTvslaWpw59WCo3S1GdfT3v3p6lw44FBJG7cx39XevRF1mXzNUhvweZDJOdn3shjBGWVd3BJTqouSvAPp8/s1600/9243732069_6aa5b27b47_b.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWovyJihGL8/UvIZLgDhJ6I/AAAAAAAAB6M/X2sRNt0MTZM/s1600/9406941697_500871ee26_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWovyJihGL8/UvIZLgDhJ6I/AAAAAAAAB6M/X2sRNt0MTZM/s1600/9406941697_500871ee26_b.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B1tdGGIxv-c/UvIZGtSs4PI/AAAAAAAAB5g/S7OQeVMAxfc/s1600/9246542432_147d1d1915_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B1tdGGIxv-c/UvIZGtSs4PI/AAAAAAAAB5g/S7OQeVMAxfc/s1600/9246542432_147d1d1915_b.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtLchKjr6XiQJ9ekew0xXHutYt7e-CbKfAxQSgnkRYAUY05D2H2g3SstvSWTN1MuDeQjPwvWUNI5H9ZL-qxou7yj5Nn9qoqa3NEzVmtLcgrZjU54o2v75TT3jwNC9brjMynna7GSHkq4/s1600/9327454604_be00cc40d0_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtLchKjr6XiQJ9ekew0xXHutYt7e-CbKfAxQSgnkRYAUY05D2H2g3SstvSWTN1MuDeQjPwvWUNI5H9ZL-qxou7yj5Nn9qoqa3NEzVmtLcgrZjU54o2v75TT3jwNC9brjMynna7GSHkq4/s1600/9327454604_be00cc40d0_b.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G1BLxufPzk/UvIZHQQZmxI/AAAAAAAAB5o/U2CRSnN6G5Q/s1600/9171726952_21055ecf81_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G1BLxufPzk/UvIZHQQZmxI/AAAAAAAAB5o/U2CRSnN6G5Q/s1600/9171726952_21055ecf81_b.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><br /> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Hello everyone!</span></div>
<span style="text-align: start;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Just a very brief post because I have no internet other than on my phone, and I made a New Year's resolution to do<i> </i>at <i>least</i> one post every month - so here's my post for January! </span></div>
<span style="text-align: start;">
</span><span style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: left;">
I've added some photos that I downloaded onto my phone from my Flickr account. The figure on the beach is my sister, Ireland, and the girl with the shadows on her face is my lovely god-sister, Jazz.</div>
</span><span style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Hopefully I'll be able to post more in February.</div>
</span> Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-71929585415139974372013-12-31T16:59:00.000+10:002013-12-31T17:39:38.929+10:00Au Revoir 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V0PNbJz-3dY/UsJgRVsuZzI/AAAAAAAAB30/BWQ_DU5zha0/s1600/_IGP5594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V0PNbJz-3dY/UsJgRVsuZzI/AAAAAAAAB30/BWQ_DU5zha0/s640/_IGP5594.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lc3OgOl5wV0/UsJfGc8VD1I/AAAAAAAAB3c/UzFhnOf443g/s1600/IMGP5371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lc3OgOl5wV0/UsJfGc8VD1I/AAAAAAAAB3c/UzFhnOf443g/s640/IMGP5371.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T8_CbuDK1DI/UsJfheMuC1I/AAAAAAAAB3s/fvFWrz9Ier0/s1600/_IGP5537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T8_CbuDK1DI/UsJfheMuC1I/AAAAAAAAB3s/fvFWrz9Ier0/s640/_IGP5537.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and celebration of the winter/summer solstice (or whatever you celebrate) and are having a great holiday! December has been a whirlwind of manic Christmas present wrapping (I've been wrapping not only the presents I got people, but also other people's presents as well as inadvertently wrapping my own!), delicious food, enjoying the company of friends and family, swimming, fun and summer. <br />
I've been spending lots of time with my sister, Ireland, and her boyfriend, James, after finally meeting him for the first time. It has involved lots of trips to beaches and rivers, watching episodes of <i>Doctor Who</i> and introducing James to some of our favourite TV shows (such as <i>Absolutely Fabulous </i>and <i>Black Books</i>) debating whether Florence Welch says "you're giving me such sweet nothing" in her song 'Sweet Nothings' or if she's actually saying "you're giving me sexy gherkins" (yes, really), making Italian food, annoying each other, and James and Ireland finding interesting ways to wake me up, such as: James playing the Ukulele right next to my ear, slathering Vegemite on my face, and them both jumping on me (but that's okay, because James now has a distinct bald patch on his arm). I spent my Christmas with my gorgeous godfamily and my mum, which was lovely, and am looking forward to celebrating the new year tonight with Ireland, James and my dad.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm off to do my resolutions (which is basically just a very large reading list).<br />
Happy New Year!<br />
I hope 2014 brings wonderful things for you all. xx</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-41219222780329627882013-11-27T22:01:00.000+10:002013-11-27T22:40:28.254+10:00A photo summary of spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zuPLGLD-MnE/UpXK0uyTnNI/AAAAAAAAB2I/n5RW0Ci9hlk/s1600/899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zuPLGLD-MnE/UpXK0uyTnNI/AAAAAAAAB2I/n5RW0Ci9hlk/s640/899.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2uBCMm0wn_w/UpXKx84pn6I/AAAAAAAAB14/TzAZyK76ZmQ/s1600/891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2uBCMm0wn_w/UpXKx84pn6I/AAAAAAAAB14/TzAZyK76ZmQ/s640/891.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyqtUPLfrTU/UpXPiqIkgOI/AAAAAAAAB2k/wjdVwOALjto/s1600/877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyqtUPLfrTU/UpXPiqIkgOI/AAAAAAAAB2k/wjdVwOALjto/s640/877.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BfHCm5Chv3Y/UpXlDT9rq8I/AAAAAAAAB3M/vko4CuOx5MQ/s1600/912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BfHCm5Chv3Y/UpXlDT9rq8I/AAAAAAAAB3M/vko4CuOx5MQ/s640/912.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wa0Wx3Lmc6M/UpXH055vZUI/AAAAAAAAB1A/_CUvQ6rnNEA/s1600/912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YDh_zfmM6Gs/UpXHrQZg4WI/AAAAAAAAB0I/YuQu3CBFhTA/s1600/734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YDh_zfmM6Gs/UpXHrQZg4WI/AAAAAAAAB0I/YuQu3CBFhTA/s640/734.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_fTknO5VRXs/UpXHt4ANOqI/AAAAAAAAB0U/qVWOtzQQh3U/s1600/858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_fTknO5VRXs/UpXHt4ANOqI/AAAAAAAAB0U/qVWOtzQQh3U/s640/858.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZA3apVeqjQ/UpXHklS9pjI/AAAAAAAAB0A/aNBk8duEhIs/s1600/165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZA3apVeqjQ/UpXHklS9pjI/AAAAAAAAB0A/aNBk8duEhIs/s640/165.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LwEbmIwIJ8s/UpXHhdgpaYI/AAAAAAAABzw/ueysN2AKEXg/s1600/552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LwEbmIwIJ8s/UpXHhdgpaYI/AAAAAAAABzw/ueysN2AKEXg/s640/552.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BV7nMnbze78/UpXKtNFx6II/AAAAAAAAB1g/0DcbgGumwrE/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BV7nMnbze78/UpXKtNFx6II/AAAAAAAAB1g/0DcbgGumwrE/s640/033.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7-Tm0YEYGiQ/UpXHt3BRQ3I/AAAAAAAAB0Y/KPB6HSbZdPE/s1600/735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7-Tm0YEYGiQ/UpXHt3BRQ3I/AAAAAAAAB0Y/KPB6HSbZdPE/s640/735.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JNVoVJmoum8/UpXKtlDDF8I/AAAAAAAAB1k/sGK7FM8eqdI/s1600/151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JNVoVJmoum8/UpXKtlDDF8I/AAAAAAAAB1k/sGK7FM8eqdI/s640/151.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Once again I have been a neglectful blogger and haven't posted in almost three months. I almost missed posting during spring entirely, so I wanted to quickly share some spring photos I took. <br />
All the photos of flowers are unedited, the other shots where taken while visiting my beautiful godsister, Jazz, at her new house. We just managed to snap the photos before it rained, so due to the gloomy light some of the photos needed a little editing. <br />
She's wearing a gorgeous silky rayon Tree of Life dress which my mum picked up at a charity shop. The dress was also worn by my other sister, Ireland, in <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/thinking-summer-thoughts_11.html" target="_blank">this post</a>. <br />
<br />
Jazz is such a brilliant photography subject and has appeared in many other posts: wearing an Alice in Wonderland-esque dress of my mum's <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/alices-adventures-in-wonderland.html" target="_blank">here</a>, posing in gorgeous silk layers <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/clouds-like-silk-in-sky.html" target="_blank">here</a>, donning a vintage summer dress and flower wreath <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/the-red-shoes.html" target="_blank">here</a>, enjoying a tea party in the afternoon light with me <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/tea-parties-light-and-making-things.html" target="_blank">here</a> and modelling a gorgeous sixties dress on a grey day <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/satin-and-lace.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Hope to post more this summer!Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-885954556861565392013-08-22T00:41:00.000+10:002013-08-22T00:41:12.180+10:00Early Morning Sights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9lOnxeIk980/UhMw8TjbH9I/AAAAAAAABxo/60kxLGTy748/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9lOnxeIk980/UhMw8TjbH9I/AAAAAAAABxo/60kxLGTy748/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+133.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KthULhpkFBI/UhMvkHgqY9I/AAAAAAAABxQ/0QCsBtgrrTg/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KthULhpkFBI/UhMvkHgqY9I/AAAAAAAABxQ/0QCsBtgrrTg/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+077.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBBj_sXFLE/UhM05MV4BLI/AAAAAAAAByY/xUtx9MKKaSs/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBBj_sXFLE/UhM05MV4BLI/AAAAAAAAByY/xUtx9MKKaSs/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+262.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jY5vNu4s-1Y/UhMzOX0gNMI/AAAAAAAABx0/FuKzJnGM1kg/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jY5vNu4s-1Y/UhMzOX0gNMI/AAAAAAAABx0/FuKzJnGM1kg/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+170.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYgfPSNFrQk/UhMuyBfk4HI/AAAAAAAABxA/LzEB-egMIA0/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYgfPSNFrQk/UhMuyBfk4HI/AAAAAAAABxA/LzEB-egMIA0/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+031.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDeqoNBrZww/UhMuwQfTm3I/AAAAAAAABww/tVC2s6_sxmM/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDeqoNBrZww/UhMuwQfTm3I/AAAAAAAABww/tVC2s6_sxmM/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+056.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ipnb4sqAnZY/UhM3ZrkCkkI/AAAAAAAABzM/MyjMQ0mvJfc/s1600/August+2013+119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ipnb4sqAnZY/UhM3ZrkCkkI/AAAAAAAABzM/MyjMQ0mvJfc/s640/August+2013+119.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sqku84QRhQY/UhMwZAwGIoI/AAAAAAAABxY/wvMtW9BjPqo/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sqku84QRhQY/UhMwZAwGIoI/AAAAAAAABxY/wvMtW9BjPqo/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+116.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T1ct1QkfJOU/UhM172JjbGI/AAAAAAAABy4/U8obeUDV9M8/s1600/morningbeachpics+071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T1ct1QkfJOU/UhM172JjbGI/AAAAAAAABy4/U8obeUDV9M8/s640/morningbeachpics+071.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejIVIENzbzs/UhMzOwMjc8I/AAAAAAAABx4/Lo7dqAp31-I/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejIVIENzbzs/UhMzOwMjc8I/AAAAAAAABx4/Lo7dqAp31-I/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+211.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06ppbD0Zyis/UhM07baNCeI/AAAAAAAAByg/huaCefzpFCc/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06ppbD0Zyis/UhM07baNCeI/AAAAAAAAByg/huaCefzpFCc/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+268.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was a horse attempting to eat my hair as I took this photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0b6N4dLNvR1mtzcjjjfrSWFibvg5W82XBB59uQVL01qiPFtLu5lkPLezdAqRSckSZSOrEVPGcNVyN8wMfMXiWGgAOc82fmXngLDkeuMVUa2_VwlHThoh5BscaUvJHIDqjdZrSqI4EOQE/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0b6N4dLNvR1mtzcjjjfrSWFibvg5W82XBB59uQVL01qiPFtLu5lkPLezdAqRSckSZSOrEVPGcNVyN8wMfMXiWGgAOc82fmXngLDkeuMVUa2_VwlHThoh5BscaUvJHIDqjdZrSqI4EOQE/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+208.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MUB5D3dv5ac/UhMzZe_7dYI/AAAAAAAAByM/CYT6mbn1qZg/s1600/beads+etsy+august+2013+233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MUB5D3dv5ac/UhMzZe_7dYI/AAAAAAAAByM/CYT6mbn1qZg/s640/beads+etsy+august+2013+233.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All images above are taken by me, and all (except for the landscape shot with the horse) are un-edited.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx9_nYTowPJhHIf553aT7-1K207nsTqeFhuzcDdSxYCyMqOPx4PoFsfTzuJJnJGQXPSz5qFhGk2EHJjIr1nWTgwNITg3HaFnX-uypPwpgxgInC1b3pAfxZx683zf5sIyLgWMqz_H3yZA/s1600/Marie+Jewellery+August+2013+016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx9_nYTowPJhHIf553aT7-1K207nsTqeFhuzcDdSxYCyMqOPx4PoFsfTzuJJnJGQXPSz5qFhGk2EHJjIr1nWTgwNITg3HaFnX-uypPwpgxgInC1b3pAfxZx683zf5sIyLgWMqz_H3yZA/s640/Marie+Jewellery+August+2013+016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This image of the sunrise and mist was taken by my mum (who gets up very early).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I've never been an early riser, but I've recently been getting into the pattern of waking up every morning at six-thirty (with the aid of an alarm). The rewarding views of mist floating above the hills and the beads of dew catching the morning rays makes dragging myself out of bed on the cold winter mornings one hundred percent worth it. I'll make myself a cup of tea and marvel at the beautiful view that can be seen just from our kitchen window. Then I'll set off down the stairs in boots and a wool coat while firmly clutching my much-loved red Nikon in search of beautiful things to take pictures of.<br /><br />It's quite amazing how different things look so early in the morning, our raspberry bushes look like they're growing sparkling rubies and the usually avoided cobbler's pegs (twelfth image) look like something out of a fairytale. The sunlight and dew drops make spider's webs visible, flowers look good enough to eat and barbed wire fences beautiful to photograph, everything is transformed.<br /><br /><br />A combination of mist, dew, sunlight, webs, flowers, succulent berries, mushrooms and birdsong make me think of children's books that were read to me when I was younger, full of whimsy and fairy feasts, enchanted forests and dancing girls with butterfly wings. These beautiful mornings trigger similar feelings to when I was read fairytales and stories by my favourite children's authors (such as May Gibbs, Enid Blyton, Lewis Caroll, C.S. Lewis and Mem Fox). It was very easy to imagine Ragged Blossom from May Gibbs' series of <i>The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie </i>making her self a skirt from the wattle flowers. Or the leaves and petals from the trees arranging themselves into humanoid forms as they do in <i>Narnia</i>. I could imagine a magic hat whooshing past and finding itself to be a perfect fit on a nearby toad, or Alice running after a white rabbit in a waistcoat. <br /><br />Once I felt my fingers were about to freeze off, I walked back up the paddock, climbed through a fence and stomped back up the steps knowing I had a wool blanket and <i>Tess of the d'Urbervilles </i>waiting for me. I truly can't think of a better start to the day.<br /></div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-46286328084250321152013-07-31T23:59:00.001+10:002013-08-01T02:35:38.422+10:00Photo shoots of Ireland.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uIIFJiYhoyY/Ufke2RxFltI/AAAAAAAABwc/T6Bd30WsVuc/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uIIFJiYhoyY/Ufke2RxFltI/AAAAAAAABwc/T6Bd30WsVuc/s640/024.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cgS5KmV8kpw/UfkewUNVnLI/AAAAAAAABv0/1HQSaJ5rXEo/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cgS5KmV8kpw/UfkewUNVnLI/AAAAAAAABv0/1HQSaJ5rXEo/s640/001.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ww-_ufiihgY/UfkewcAEixI/AAAAAAAABv4/tOM0dVS9K84/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ww-_ufiihgY/UfkewcAEixI/AAAAAAAABv4/tOM0dVS9K84/s640/007.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CNWlsu3fcjE/Ufke12mradI/AAAAAAAABwQ/PA-9EEkB6tI/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CNWlsu3fcjE/Ufke12mradI/AAAAAAAABwQ/PA-9EEkB6tI/s640/015.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1FfZY5kapc/UfkewQsdwfI/AAAAAAAABv8/1U3eMobvv1s/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1FfZY5kapc/UfkewQsdwfI/AAAAAAAABv8/1U3eMobvv1s/s640/004.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Once again, it's been too long since I've posted. But I have some excuses up my sleeve: Internet problems, the winter light (which isn't so great for photos), lack of sleep, a good book (always a really good excuse), stressful family matters, the royal baby (only kidding), people visiting, etcetera. </div>
<span style="text-align: left;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: left;">So this post was sort of hurried just to squeeze in a post for July, as well as to add some of the recent photos I've taken of my sister, Ireland. </span></div>
<span style="text-align: left;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="text-align: left;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: left;">In the shoot above she's wearing a vintage army coat (I don't know where she got it from), my seventies boots, a pair of blue stockings I found at a charity shop (still in their original, unopened package), and a sixties corduroy mini dress "borrowed" from one of the many huge piles of vintage and charity shopped clothes my mum has collected over the years. Most of the photos are edited as the light wasn't so great that afternoon.</span></div>
<span style="text-align: left;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c8yDprWkm20/UfkcuV-yaoI/AAAAAAAABvU/jA1K1L1ILac/s1600/264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c8yDprWkm20/UfkcuV-yaoI/AAAAAAAABvU/jA1K1L1ILac/s640/264.JPG" width="640" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-le1VXukxXq8/UfkcvU5EqpI/AAAAAAAABvc/obrG9l6Z2zI/s1600/281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-le1VXukxXq8/UfkcvU5EqpI/AAAAAAAABvc/obrG9l6Z2zI/s640/281.JPG" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-byy4VOzt6Us/UfkctEiqTuI/AAAAAAAABvE/Q-UXQFJ4raU/s1600/273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-byy4VOzt6Us/UfkctEiqTuI/AAAAAAAABvE/Q-UXQFJ4raU/s640/273.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-InqoM4NVr5I/Ufkcn3STPfI/AAAAAAAABuw/cHuPmLCH1s4/s1600/257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-InqoM4NVr5I/Ufkcn3STPfI/AAAAAAAABuw/cHuPmLCH1s4/s640/257.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br />Ireland's wearing a vintage underskirt, a silk scarf worn as a sash, a vintage cotton camisole, vintage faux pearls, and vintage gloves all found at various charity shops. On her hip is a bit of chicken wire fencing with flowers zip-tied onto it. I'm really happy with the black and white portraits I took of her in this shoot, aren't her eyes gorgeous? And her smile just incredible? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xwMacgHy1_A/Ufkcn7_EOGI/AAAAAAAABu0/JT-R5FQ0Hfw/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xwMacgHy1_A/Ufkcn7_EOGI/AAAAAAAABu0/JT-R5FQ0Hfw/s640/090.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0BqXpSRzl5k/Ufkcouk5hUI/AAAAAAAABu8/9FNEuBZz7s4/s1600/087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0BqXpSRzl5k/Ufkcouk5hUI/AAAAAAAABu8/9FNEuBZz7s4/s640/087.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Some photos taken much less recently, in March. Ireland's wearing a fifties nightgown from a charity shop.</div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-41949648957218602182013-06-30T13:55:00.001+10:002013-06-30T13:55:23.772+10:00Update, Photos, Flickr & Bloglovin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRibDkXdJT4/Uc9y4Rl6LoI/AAAAAAAABt8/oot2yOvqSfA/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRibDkXdJT4/Uc9y4Rl6LoI/AAAAAAAABt8/oot2yOvqSfA/s640/025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMGEBuUx3Fp6KAobGPaF1yq3XzU4GnPRwDIq4Z7JBPtxvcpQnZtiodNNgfawAy1bSO9KDuUnNCHe3hxsfl8gs3TGfHJlLpsl6p1Sho3cCjfROGj0aA1QtW_YSGmS9NjG7huohonLtjww/s1600/122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMGEBuUx3Fp6KAobGPaF1yq3XzU4GnPRwDIq4Z7JBPtxvcpQnZtiodNNgfawAy1bSO9KDuUnNCHe3hxsfl8gs3TGfHJlLpsl6p1Sho3cCjfROGj0aA1QtW_YSGmS9NjG7huohonLtjww/s640/122.JPG" width="480" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GWB4JF2d9XE/Uc9wxV15PaI/AAAAAAAABtE/q_cpVKF_Igk/s1600/136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GWB4JF2d9XE/Uc9wxV15PaI/AAAAAAAABtE/q_cpVKF_Igk/s640/136.JPG" width="640" /></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1jGHbpAna4U/Uc9yeFgIdNI/AAAAAAAABts/aypgwrGaczY/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1jGHbpAna4U/Uc9yeFgIdNI/AAAAAAAABts/aypgwrGaczY/s640/042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-klDMdeoJ_ak/Uc9x9TGKusI/AAAAAAAABtg/z_UhAD4C8Bs/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-klDMdeoJ_ak/Uc9x9TGKusI/AAAAAAAABtg/z_UhAD4C8Bs/s640/032.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wV2PrNoLiXw/Uc9wN_JBjbI/AAAAAAAABsM/GcCDjahvYhI/s1600/060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wV2PrNoLiXw/Uc9wN_JBjbI/AAAAAAAABsM/GcCDjahvYhI/s640/060.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jl10jX6lLSE/Uc9ysOMtEiI/AAAAAAAABt0/Ne0GoHEDBkA/s1600/000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jl10jX6lLSE/Uc9ysOMtEiI/AAAAAAAABt0/Ne0GoHEDBkA/s640/000.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bekMiw6XAik/Uc9zV_B0yFI/AAAAAAAABuM/-QWvgqTkTrQ/s1600/076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bekMiw6XAik/Uc9zV_B0yFI/AAAAAAAABuM/-QWvgqTkTrQ/s640/076.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1VTz9orFvso/Uc9x90Y0n7I/AAAAAAAABtk/U2Bt3wLwHKE/s1600/061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1VTz9orFvso/Uc9x90Y0n7I/AAAAAAAABtk/U2Bt3wLwHKE/s640/061.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzQ_0D2M_FTe9UMcJQ7gM4PWsRlf6jihWHvrbDROb4wFA39hfA6oLuDXc0VQxe3vK4ZiACzV6J02bP-55IvoHmDoV3oc-FDo0pzhI6Ge-nG7nzO_zsB-uANy_rniLzx2xMjA0DXKnrQE/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzQ_0D2M_FTe9UMcJQ7gM4PWsRlf6jihWHvrbDROb4wFA39hfA6oLuDXc0VQxe3vK4ZiACzV6J02bP-55IvoHmDoV3oc-FDo0pzhI6Ge-nG7nzO_zsB-uANy_rniLzx2xMjA0DXKnrQE/s640/001.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>All photos taken by me.</i></div>
<i><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>On the 1st of July, Google reader is shutting down, so if you would like to keep up to date with my posts, you can follow me on</b></i> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3653750/?claim=ntrvjndfutj%22%3EFollow%20my%20blog%20with%20Bloglovin%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a>. </div>
</b><div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>I also now have a Flickr account, where I'll be posting some of the photos seen on my blog, extra photos from shoots, some of my nature photography, etc. You can find my account <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98229904@N06/" target="_blank">here</a>. </i></div>
</i><br />While I'm introducing my Flickr account, it felt apt to add some of the images that you will see in my photostream (I also just needed some images to post on my blog, I will hopefully do a shoot soon). I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted, I've been a bit of a neglectful blogger (again!) I will try to post more in July.<br /><br />As it's winter now I've been spending a lot of time curled up in a mohair blanket with either a book, a hot drink or both. I'm loving taking out my tights, warm socks and layers of cashmere, wool and angora for winter. While some of the days have been bloody freezing and slightly unpleasant, I still love it (but am also appreciating the days of sunshine when we get them.) One thing I don't like about winter is that the light isn't always too great, but hopefully I'll still get some good photos in the winter shoots I have planned. Anyway, I'm off to go catch up on the blogs I follow.<br /><br />Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667986524353531391.post-91771140407637541092013-05-20T16:59:00.001+10:002013-06-12T15:23:04.134+10:00Sydney, Part 2 - People Watching<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OV5b9gxbTvI/UY2U8HVULrI/AAAAAAAABo4/BUDNUv3hxdc/s1600/Sydney+231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OV5b9gxbTvI/UY2U8HVULrI/AAAAAAAABo4/BUDNUv3hxdc/s640/Sydney+231.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idhmBVIG_Cg/UY2bdroOIyI/AAAAAAAABpY/4hwYMd0IdAU/s1600/Sydney+236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idhmBVIG_Cg/UY2bdroOIyI/AAAAAAAABpY/4hwYMd0IdAU/s640/Sydney+236.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gwvlTdwbLX4/UY2U1Co4kKI/AAAAAAAABoo/ubEV1_M8M84/s1600/Sydney+077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gwvlTdwbLX4/UY2U1Co4kKI/AAAAAAAABoo/ubEV1_M8M84/s640/Sydney+077.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-phDsHOVXs2M/UY2U2zSslKI/AAAAAAAABow/s5aqgJQAgAw/s1600/Sydney+073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-phDsHOVXs2M/UY2U2zSslKI/AAAAAAAABow/s5aqgJQAgAw/s640/Sydney+073.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fs1Ri7BhJl4/UY2U0IJ_hKI/AAAAAAAABog/hmy6v4hpnO4/s1600/Sydney+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fs1Ri7BhJl4/UY2U0IJ_hKI/AAAAAAAABog/hmy6v4hpnO4/s640/Sydney+052.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">All images were taken by me and are un-edited.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
When I went to Sydney earlier in the month (you can see part 1 <a href="http://artclothesandcontemplations.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/sydney-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>) my absolute favourite thing about my visit was the people and their street style. People of so many various interests, cultures, origins, ethnicities, languages and accents with such different and unique style.</div>
<br />
I love people watching and Sydney was the perfect place for it. People were fearless in what they wore, I could've donned a top hat, zebra print shirt and a rainbow bubble skirt belted with a curtain tie and I would have fit right in. Although this ensemble would be with the addition of warm tights, fluffy socks and a big jacket -which would all be as equally outrageous - as it was freezing. I wish I could have gotten some shots of the people that wore get-ups like this, but unfortunately the people I managed to snap were wearing rather casual clothes. Most of the people were pretty much on a mission, so if I wanted to take a photo of them, I'd have to act fast. By the time I'd debated in my head whether or not to chase after them or had taken my camera from its' case, they were out of sight.<br />
<br />
Although one very stylish person I managed to photograph was my mum's fabulous friend Robyn Catchlove (yes, that's her real name) who was mentioned in my previous post as our guide around Newtown and can be seen in the last image. She's posing for me inside a bar, positioned in front of a big glass window chosen especially so we could watch the people pass by. Although the image is in black and white, she's very vibrantly dressed: in an oversized electric blue jumper, a rainbow scarf and necklace, black leggings with red snakeskin shoes and her usual red lipstick and orange hair. But her personality is even more fun and exciting than her wonderful outfits.<br />
<br />
As my mum, Robyn and I watched the people walk past the window we were sitting at, we spotted a rather brilliant looking man in a big leopard print coat. He was just the first of the people I am wishing I photographed. The clothes were as vibrant and as unique as the people that wore them, who were seen in flashes of colour wherever I went and were almost always smiling.<br />
During my visit I saw a girl with galaxy tights, blue hair and a tardis dress and a man with so much curly black hair it hung over him like an umbrella. My mum and I spotted a guy who looked just like Viktor Krum from <i>Harry Potter and the goblet of fire </i>when we were enjoying Sushi Train one night, and another time we watched a woman in a full length cloak and elf ears as she crossed the street. One day we saw a lovely old man pushing a trolley and selling flowers (who I kind of wanted to <i>be</i>) and a girl wearing a summery fifties dress on a vintage bike, complete with a sixties picnic basket on the one day it was sunny.<br />
<br />
Despite my wishing that I could have taken photos of all the lovely people I saw, I'm still happy with the images above. The first one is my favourite, I took my camera out after my mum and I came across an area where almost everyone was smoking. The photos I took weren't that great until this lady sat down and lit her cigarette. I was clicking away and managed to capture the smoke quite nicely I think, she gave me a smile and my mum and I continued walking. The second was taken not long after that and the others were snapped on different days.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I could go on forever about all the beautiful and interesting people I spotted and the clothes they wore. How liberating it was to wear whatever I wanted, putting on my stripy tights or my faux fur jacket and zipping up my seventies boots so haphazardly. Living where I do, pretty much anything other than sneakers, a plain shirt and jeans would be considered overdressed, so it was nice not to care about what I was wearing. After my experience in Sydney I will endeavour to be a little more fearless in what I wear. <i style="font-size: small;"> </i></div>
Willowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05457288849198506259noreply@blogger.com14