Deb's Design Elements Diptych Distraction

August 22, 2021

Today I was supposed to be heading to Wodonga for a 4 week working holiday. Yesterday regional Victoria went into a snap lockdown, so now I’m not going anywhere. Like everyone else, living through a pandemic is taking its toll. So I grabbed my camera and went for a walk to take my mind off it. I came up with a little challenge to mix it up a bit. Maybe you’d like to join me in getting creative to take your mind off all the calamity in the world. The idea is to photograph a Design Elements Diptych. If you're really desperate, you could make it a Daily Design elements Diptych Distraction!

The idea is to take two images (of unrelated things) that go together. So you're looking for colour or line or texture or shape. You can pair things up from around the house or yard or when you go for a walk within your 5k. It’s amazing what you can find once you start looking. Here's a few I took yesterday to give you an idea. I’ll be sharing them on Instagram with this hashtag #DebsDiptychDistraction . Please use that tag if you do join in as I’d love to see what you come up with.

Where to find a Free Street Library around Fairfield or Alphington

June 6, 2021

One of the best ideas since sliced bread - Free little street libraries! If you haven’t discovered them yet, you’re missing out! They are popping up all over the place around where I live. If you want to find where they are near you, there’s a couple of organised sites to help you find them like the Street Library locator or the Little Free Library map. Some are pop-up libraries and are just a matter of luck so keep your eyes open while you’re out walking or riding.

I started taking photos of Little Libraries last year during Lockdown in Melbourne. We were allowed to exercise within a 5 km limit. So I’d set off walking or on my bike to see what I could see. Before I could collate my collection into a blog post I managed to escape Melbourne for the freedom of Qld (and then NT and SA, but that’s another lot of blog posts!).

Life had almost returned to normal and then I got a full time job and everything was abandoned due to busyness. But now here we are, in a two week lockdown again, and I’ve found a couple of new street libraries to add and one to remove.

Leave me a message if you know of any more in the area and I’ll check them out and add them here.

Cheers and happy reading.
Deborah

One of my favourites. Just opposite and down a bit from the Thompson St Food Store.

Lovely Liberated Library is at St Andrews Church on the corner of Gillies and Duncan st in Fairfield. This has to be the best Church around. It’s even tempted me to go to a Sunday Session. It seems so all inclusive and supportive. Just what you’d hope a Church might be.

David and Hannah’s Street Library in Tower St has multiplied since I took this photo. There are now thee of them perched on the fence. You can read more about David and Hannah (the German Shepherd) by clicking here

Alphington Community Centre in Kelvin Rd, just off Wingrove st, around the corner from the Farmers Market.

You could easily walk straight past this one in White Streett, Fairfield.

I like the categorisation of Grown Ups Books and Kids Books. I’ll have to get back to you with the exact location of this one. It’s somewhere up near the Dennis train station, possibly at the end of Simpson Street near a pedestrian crossing of the train line.

This was one of the first Street Libraries I discovered and I went back today to check the location and sadly it’s no longer there. The whole site has been demolished! I did wonder if they’ve just moved it somewhere else so if anyone knows if it still exists please let me know.

Memories of Childhood

June 5, 2021

Doesn’t it make you want to be a kid again?

International Womens Day - MCC exhibition

March 6, 2021

The Melbourne Camera Club International Women’s Day Exhibition is on. It's near the South Melbourne market so if you're in that area, check it out. Entry is free and visitors are welcome.

The MCC have emailed me for a few years now and asked if I wanted to add a couple of my images to their IWD display (I've been involved in judging their monthly comps a couple of times). Up until this year, I have always declined. But after the year that Covid caused and RMIT closed down short courses rendering me under-employed, I was at a bit of a loose end and when the email came through I thought, stuff it, I need some motivation to do something. And so I selected, printed and delivered a couple of images. I also coerced my daughter Rebekah to do the same.

If you get the chance to exhibit or enter any of your images into anything, I recommend you do. It's a great learning process on many levels. Try it and you'll see what I mean. Let me know if you do and I'll try and get along and have a look if I can.

If your photography has stalled and you don't know what to do, check out a Camera Club near you. They can keep you motivated and challenged.

The MCC Exhibition will be open to the public on the following dates during March:

Saturday 6 March: 10am-4pm

Sunday 7 March: 10am-4pm

Monday 8 March (Labour Day): 10am-4pm

Thursday 11 March: 2pm-6pm

Thursday 18 March: 2pm-6pm

Thursday 25 March: 2pm-6pm

Location: Melbourne Camera Club Gallery

254-256 Ferrars St / corner Ferrars and Dorcas Streets, South Melbourne

Family Portraits. How do you choose a Portrait Photographer?

November 2, 2020

How long has it been since you had family portraits taken? Too long? Everyone says they want to get it done, but it’s hard to pin down a date and do it. Don’t put it off for another year. Book in now and get it done. You’ll be glad you did.

How do you choose a Portrait Photographer? Good question.

Here’s what I would do.

Decide what style of photo you’d like: Formal/posed or relaxed and natural. Documentary or lifestyle. (What does that even mean? Have a look around and find a few examples of what you think would work for your family. Make sure the photographer you choose has similar work in their folio)
Decide where you would like the photos taken: In a studio. At home. At the beach or a park.
Ask your friends (or facebook) for personal recommendations.
Google who is in your area. Make sure their style matches what you like. Give them a call and have a chat to make sure you’re comfortable with them.
Ask about pricing, what you get, how it works etc. There are lots of different ways so it’s best to get as much info as possible so you don’t end up in an unsatisfactory situation (eg. a super cheap sitting fee and then a la carte prices that aren’t in your budget.

If you’ve had family portraits done recently I’d love to hear about your experience. How did you choose your photographer. Were you happy? Did you get what you wanted? Are you glad you did it? (You can leave a comment without signing in. Just do it as ‘anonymous’ ). I’d love to hear from you.

I mostly teach photography now, but I do still love capturing memories for families. With Melbourne being shut down due to Covid - 19, I’m not teaching photography, so I have a few limited times available on the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba in November 2020. Click HERE for more info

We work together to capture the personality of your family. Here’s a few of my favourites from a windy afternoon at Alexandra Headlands on the Sunshine Coast. We did a pretty good job of hiding the broken foot in a plaster cast on one of the boys.

Double click an image to make it larger and you can then scroll through the gallery.

Family Portrait, 1st Birthday, Cake Smash

October 30, 2020

I had fun capturing these great memories from Jason’s 1st birthday. He was a bit unsure what all the fuss was about for a while and I think Mum & Dad had the most fun with the Cake Smash. Jason was happier eating the car keys rather than the cake!