I've landed a MARLIN!

No no no!!   I've not been fishing,  I've been shopping!

My MARLIN Cruiser 6 was collected from the manufacturer this morning and it's CHOICE!  The wonderful Josh Stunell borrowed a car with tow bar and picked me up about 9.30.  We hit Erina at 10.45 ish and by 11.30 were registered, insured, hooked up and on the road.  By 12.30 she was home, unhitched and locked up in my carport!

I bought this little diamond after seeing her blue coloured sister opened and closed at the February Newcastle Camping and Caravanning Show.  The ease of set up is what sold me on her and today when Josh saw her opened and set up for the first time he was pretty impressed too!   I elected for an August delivery cos there was NO WAY i was going ANYWHERE under canvas thru winter!  So as spring springs into action next week it was time to collect her.

We arrived at Erina,  parked and walked around to the workshop.  I saw this sexy looking sleek black camper trailer waiting for collection and I hoped she was mine.  She was and she looked fantastic!  Thick black 16 inch wheels and spare, lots of checkerplate and shiny chrome stabiliser leg, handles and jockey wheel.   These awesome units are made by Steve and Chris and are made to suit your specifications.  I wanted a side hinge and extended drawbar and a stand up spare wheel thingy and Steve built her exactly as I wanted.

There was some paperwork to attend to, registration and the like. We opened her up, shut her back down and took some photos.  A not too tedious phone call to the insurance company saw us ready to roll. We hit the road and headed off on her maiden voyage!

I can't thank Josh, Steve and Chris enough.  And thanks too must go to the little old man who dragged me into the Cruiser 6 at that February show and pushed me to open and close it myself.  I have no idea who he was but I bought it because it is so easy for me to set up and pull down on my own.  I am so excited by my acquisition.  Now I just need a car to tow it!

Look up Marlin Campers on Facebook or go to their website at marlincampers.com.au

All photos in this blog are by the totally awesome Josh Stunell.

It's all happening here!!!

My love of photography has given me so much.  Delight, joy, entertainment, confidence and a bevy of new friends, acquaintances and heroes.  Events, openings and opportunities.  Skills honed, knowledge expanded and a heap of things I just don't understand, but do enjoy.

This month is a big one for me.  My 6 month exhibition at the Mater Hospice is coming to an end. I have 8 images hung there. All macro floral shots, beauty and symmetry in pink.

As one door closes another one opens. Yesterday an exhibition of 10 of my images opened at the Regent Theatre. Vastly different to the Mater works which are soft and gentle and romantic in form, the new exhibition is one of man made form. Brightware, chrome, shiney hood ornaments on well loved cars. Each fluid and divine. Each designed to enhance the beauty of the automobile, each an icon to distinguish that vehicle from a myriad of others.

Whilst the floral art and the Brightware are vastly different in form, shape, construction and material, they are similar in the feelings they evoke. Both have smooth lines, voluptuous curves and even those cast in metal are, like the blooms, soft, gentle and intrinsically beautiful. I enjoy photographing both.


One other event has imposed itself on my month of May. I have been diagnosed with cancer.  I expected to be told I had some infection, but my GP's first comment was "I think it is cancer". Same day second opinion, same result. Blood tests, ultrasounds, nuclear scans and finally a biopsy all concluded the same.  I am quite disappointed in myself. I feel I have missed a brilliant opportunity.  When the doc first said cancer I instantly thought ....what a GREAT photo opportunity.  Photographing my journey as I progress thru treatment to cure.  But I didn't do it.  I didn't take a single shot. Why? Because I honestly thought I had been misdiagnosed.  A month later I am too far down the track to start taking shots now.


So where to from here?  Well I still have my "100 Strangers" project on the go. Stranger 51 will be my next.  "Strange, NOT Strangers" still fills the void during those times when strangers and just too vanilla or too scarce.  The home studio is close to completion, it is not a permanent feature, but one where I can set up a 5 light setup with either fabric or continuous paper background in less than 20 minutes.   The cat has finally vacated the light tent after taking up residence in there a few weeks ago, so I have reclaimed it for my photographic uses. My speedlights, softboxes and brollys are all ready to rock.  I'm just not sure how much free time I will have to exercise my passion over the next few weeks, but I WILL be making some images.  As for the cancer, well I will be beating that. The process is time consuming and maybe a little bit nasty, but this time next year it will just be a memory.  I have only told a few people whats going on, it all seems very self indulgent and some reactions have been....difficult.  People just don't know what to say.  Like my love of photography I am leaping into treatment with gusto and it won't beat me.

So the big question is ..... how do I get cat hair out of a light tent?