Dave (my husband) and I have collaborated again and my images and his words have been published in the current Slow magazine. This time it’s about enjoying slow train travel through Burma. It’s a four page feature and a couple of my images have been used on the contents page too!
I’m back in Melbourne after an absolutely amazing time in Japan. It was a bit whirlwind but we got to visit some amazing places and have some great unique experiences including staying in a Buddhist monastery with 6am morning prayer, dodgem car bicycle riding on the city pavements, relaxing in outdoor natural hot spring baths with views overlooking the Japanese alps, cute port side villages which feel like time forgot them, a beautifully spiritual Shinto wedding and of course amazingly quirky city life.
Japan definitely brought back some fond memories for me and gave me the opportunity to once again reconnect with some great old friends.
I am really looking forward to posting some more photos especially of the wedding we attended and I photographed of a dear friend in Okazaki, Japan.
These first photographs are taken at Koya San at a Buddhist temple which we stayed in. I first visited Koya San for my 21st Birthday (quite a few years ago now) and I thought it’d be excellent to take Dave back there as I had such fond memories of the experience. Koya San is on top of a beautiful mountain plateau not far from Osaka. It is a beautiful train trip as the train snakes it’s way around the mountain giving you a great view of rural Japan, it ends with the craziest steepest, driver-less cable tram for the final leg. Koya San has over 100 temples and is surrounded in a beautiful wooded forest.
All the images in this post are taken at the temple we stayed in, except the last one which was taken at a local restaurant.
The Yarra Valley is absolutely stunning and it is obvious why it is a popular wedding destination. Landscape photography is something I’ve never really gotten into but when presented with a stunning location it is hard not to be inspired. The rugged weather does fantastic things with lighting and I braved the cold to do a few shots. But don’t be put off by the cold as wine, cheese and beautiful views are best enjoyed in front of a roaring fire.
For the second photo in this series we were driving along between wineries and I noticed the sun streaming through the clouds. I exclaimed for Dave to “STOP”, jumped out and managed to get three shots before the sun disappeared again. The portrait is of Graham, a friend of mine who waited patiently in the cold while I clambered around in the mud on the side of the hill.
The architecture in Havana is fascinating, there is an amazing mix of grand art deco mixed in with soviet block style buildings. Most are falling down and in need of repair, others (usually of national importance) are preserved as if built yesterday.
Trinidad, Cuba
It feels as if every doorway or window in Cuba has someone sitting or standing in them. Usually they are either watching the passers by, chatting to neighbours, or just hanging around.
Child playing in Cuba.
It’s surprising that I liked Trinidad considering that in Trinidad we rode bikes in torrential rains for about 7km back to town, lost a small point and shoot camera, took a bus still half wet for six hours with crazy cold aircon. However, we did meet some good people, stay in a fancy casa with actual hot water, eat cheese pizzas for 10 cents and see an awesome jazz/salsa session with most of the town in the square…
Trinidad, Cuba
Well, I thought I might try and post random travel photos from my trip (honeymoon) which saw us visiting San Francisco, Cuba, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. So keep checking back to see photographic insights from our trip, I’ll try and post as much as possible…
If you like my personal work and consider it art, fit enough to hang on your walls or to grace a gift/greeting card, then you can purchase it framed, printed, mounted or on a card by clicking on this link 
or any of the images on the right hand side of this blog. Red bubble is actually really awesome, it allows you to buy my artwork at reasonable prices, exactly how you’d like it. You pick the frame, the mount board and even see a preview of how it will look!
My beautiful clients have been asking to see photos, and have sent lovely messages of congratulations so I thought I better deliver!
The wedding was all about the jazz age and many of the guests, could have steped right out of the 1920s! We had a fantastic day, we got married here in Melbourne but guests came from all over including Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan and of course many from Queensland.
Ben from Sunlit video productions is putting together a video for us, my fantastic friend Rebecca took the photos, and Melissa from the Ceremony store married us, just the way we wanted!
My mother dried thousands of rose petals and put together my bouquet, Rebecca and Jodie helped me make all the bits and pieces which made our wedding really personal and illustrate our creative flair and Robyn made us the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten! Thanks everyone for making our wedding what it was!
my mum showering me with rose petals from her own garden
At our hotel accommodation
At the conclusion of our ceremony