So much better than grapes!

You know when you are sick people tend to spoilt you with flowers and grapes and stuff like that.  Well as you know I've been a bit little but sick and I did get some lovely flowers, no grapes, but 4 dozen roses and a bouquet of gerberas and cabbage flowers made up for the lack of grapes.  I also received one very unusual gift.....a live model.  My mate D knows how i LOVE to have a camera in my hand and so instead of flowers or grapes he turned up with Kiara!  A 21 year old vivacious creature with a full sleeve tattoo and a part shaved and tattooed head!  AWESOME!  Sooooo much better than grapes!

I have the ability to turn my loungeroom into a 5 light studio with full continuous paper backdrop set up in about 10 minutes flat and that we did.  Struggling to lit heavy stuff D helped me raise the backdrop and set up some lights.  He also did some prop moving and held me steady as I climbed up a little ladder to shoot from above.   Knowing I wanted to do a  bit of a glam shoot Kiara took the time to curl her hair and do her makeup and she was totally into the glam role.

We shot in four outfits....... but one just didn't suit the brief.  So four became three and over two hours we managed to get about 35 classy (even if I do say so myself) shots.  Coffee was consumed, the studio packed away and goodbyes said left me exhausted but I did manage to view the images that night. I am not one for photoshop, simply as I have no idea how to use it, but with consistent lighting and stable backdrops nothing really needed to be done to them.

So here are a few of what was shot.
I hope you like them. I know I do!

Just some photos this time around

Some lovely flowers.

Over and out!

Over and out, but I don't mean in "this is my last blog post" kinda way.  I mean in my op is over and Mr Lumpy Bump is out!  Yep, at EXACTLY this time last week I was in the anaesthetic bay of operating room 5 at the John Hunter Hospital chatting to Gabby and Chris about persian fetta when Chris hooked me up to the drip and I drifted off.  The discharge notes state I had a Right Hemi Thyroidectomy with a level 6 lymph node dissection and a nerve monitor. The operation took exactly 136 minutes.  I woke up in recovery and disgraced myself by having a wrestle with 4 nurses, ripping off the mask, begging for ice. I lost a fair bit of bark in that wrestle, mostly from my elbows and knees. Lucky I was in one of the brand spanking new plastic electric beds.  I could have done some real damage in a metal bed.

So 7 days later the state of play is pretty good.  The main scar is a little disappointing!  It is a 7cm "midline transverse incision" which basically means it is a single cut across the middle of my throat.... but it is a little crooked and not evenly placed.  But I did say to the surgeon that I had no issue with whatever scar I ended up with and that is true.  Long term, it will fade.  The compression stocking, endless drugs, pulling stitches, missing skin, swelling hands, pain swallowing, eating, coughing, breathing and the lack of quality sleep are taking their toll BUT Mr Lumpy Bump has GONE and that has to be the number one plus outweighing all the rest!

Where to from here?  Well Mr Lumpy Bump ended up in a jar and has since been frozen and is being tested to find out exactly what he is made of!  I find that out on July 16 and until then there is nothing I can do but rest and recover.  The results are either going to be good or bad, but nothing I can do in the way of worry or concern will change the result....... so that issue will not be entering my mind again until 16 July.

So.....as you know my passion is photography and I wanted the have a shot of myself pre scar.  Being in lock down to avoid the common cold and having surgery cancelled for a third time I had to either take a self portrait OR never have that shot.   I set the tripod up in the loungeroom and took a few shots.  Well actually I took a few DOZEN shots.  Autofocus is great but getting the focus point on my face and not  onto the curtains, tv, reflector or window was a challenge. But I got it done.  Today I look a second selfie.  Same outfit, same window light, same tripod and a similar perspective.  I took a lot less shots today to get the finished product.  Sure I could have just taken a post op shot and photoshopped the scar out.... but that was kinda cheating.

I do not know how people take a selfie EVERYDAY.   Yes!  There are some freaks in the photo community that take a self portrait everyday.  Some for a year, some ongoing.  Those people are just amazing and have something I don't possess.  There are some very famous 365 sets. Andrew Gunsberg for one.  His 365 included dramatic and difficult artifical lighting.  Moo shot consistently for over 500 days from the day of her divorce onwards.  Crazy!!   There are currently hundreds of 365 groups on flickr some with over 2000 members!!!   For me, the tripod will be packed away.  Maybe an update 12 months from now, but i don't need record and compare anymore.  That job is done.

So here they are.....  Pre and post op shots.
Hope you enjoy them.

 

An update

Forgive me blogosphere for I have sinned, it has been 30 days since my last post.  Apparently not posting three times a week and not commenting on comments is a sure fire way for your blog to fail, if you believe what the "experts" say.  But as my blog is not in any way, shape or form a commercial venture I'm reckon I'm ok with irregular postings.

Much has happened in the last 30 days.  Primarily it is to do with my impending surgery.  I have a rather largish lump attached to my thyroid gland that the Doctors think would be better in a jar than in my throat and I must say I am very keen to agree with them.  I blame Moo for finding it, but she has a different recollection of events.  Suffice to say April 11 was the day it came under notice.  I've seen doctors, doctors and many more doctors since then.  I've had nuclear scans, ultrasounds, biopsies, blood tests and a really weird camera up my nose since then.  All have come back with the same result. Yep, it's big and it shouldn't be there!! I've had surgery booked and cancelled twice and today received another "confirmation" call from the John Hunter.  The hospital staff and the surgeon and registrars are all wonderful, labouring under a system that appears to have inefficiencies and shortcoming built in but the upshot is that by this time next week I should be home with a lovely run of staples across my neck from ear to ear.  And I'm actually fine with that.   I'm 51 and no oil painting, so an ear to ear scar is nothing to worry about.  My mate Manse suggested I get some bolts, cos "you can never have enough metal".  I guess it might resemble Frankensteins Monster for a short time, but truly a small price to pay for the return of sleep that is currently avoiding me.  Oh, I'm not worried about the lump, that is not what is keeping me awake,   it is the lump pressing into me when I lay down making breathing, and sleeping, a smidge difficult that is the issue.  But it won't be an issue for much longer. Roll on Tuesday!

So my last 30 days have been spent running about, having more tests and avoiding the common cold which WILL make my surgery be cancelled again.

But it is not all bad....... there has been some interesting stuff happen in the last 30 days too.  VERY few photos have been taken, but I have had spare time for reading and viewing the images created by others.  Oh and there has been some daytime telly too!  I'm not a big fan of the telly, but there is a new show starting tonight on the ABC that tickles my fancy.  PHOTO FINISH (ABC1 8pm) a show about photography!!!  I'm pretty excited because it is an Australian made show with Aussie amateur AND professional photographers and curators.  I can't wait to see it.

Also on the photography front my 6 months exhibition at the Mater Hospice, which ended up being an 8 month exhibition, came down today.  Rather than store it away it is going up on the conference room wall of a local solicitors office.  GREAT opportunity to be seen and,  hopefully,  be a calming influence on its viewers.

And finally on the photo front I have managed to get my backdrop stand up in the loungeroom and with a little more furniture shuffling I CAN do a 4 or 5 light setup.  I'll get back to that when I'm looking more like Frankensteins monster than I do right now!

Heres the one and only pic taken this week...

Catch up again after the "Grand Opening" !!!

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?

Strange, NOT Strangers

In my last post I talked about the 100 Strangers Project and how I was loving photographing total strangers.  What I didn't delve into was how sometimes approaching a complete stranger is just too daunting a process to undertake.  Some people are easy to approach and shoot, some aren't. Some exude a "leave me alone" presence and it does sap my confidence at times.  So to avoid totally pulling the pin and hiding under my doona I have a side project running where I photograph people I KNOW.  Not being strangers and often being a little strange that series is known as Strange, NOT Strangers!!!

One thing that has come to my attention is that is it often HARDER to convince a friend to participate in my project than it is to convince a stranger.

So if you are reading this and one day I ask you to be my "Strange, NOT Stranger" please give it some consideration.  It only ever takes about 3 minutes and I promise...it doesn't hurt!!!

The following pics are just some of the series......and all these people survived the experience!!

Don't talk to Strangers!

Don't talk to Strangers was a song made popular by Rick Springfield in the 80's..ahhh the good old days....  but his words aren't valid when, like me, you undertake a photographic project where you are tasked with taking a portrait of a stranger.  Well actually taking portraits of 100 strangers!

I lucked across a book by Melbourne man Neil Winch titled "100 Strangers". The book was portraits of 100 strangers and within those pages was a link to a flickr group.  Neil's images were compelling and being a bit of a flickrite  I followed the link and found myself on slapbang in the middle of a group of  nutbags who thought it was great fun to take portraits of complete strangers.  I immediately joined, but took up a spectator role (errr .... read lurker).  How do you start something like this?  On what day do you suddenly decide to walk up to a complete stranger and ask them for a photo?  

For me to opportunity arose on 13 August 2011 when I found myself at the Cessnock Regional Art Gallery.  It was opening night for an exhibition when I realised I was standing very near one of the artists.  Now or never came into my mind and I took the NOW option.  I walked up to the artist and introduced myself and asked if I could take his portrait.  He agreed.  HOW EASY WAS THAT!!!  1 down,  99 to go!!!  Flushed with success of stranger Number 1 it was a mere two days before strangers 2 and 3 were recorded on my sensor.  

So fast forward to March 2012 and I now have 43 strangers completed.....and what a mix they are!

I still have the nervous nellies before I approach someone, I still worry that I have missed focus on a  single shot and I still stumble over my words.  I have a couple of self imposed rules. No cropping and try to get it in a single shot. On the whole I think I am on track.  What I find now is that I spend a lot more time chatting to the subject  that I do pressing the shutter button!  And what amazing stories are coming my way.  I have always had a passion for Maritime History and William Bligh is a hero so how astounded was I when Stranger 9 confessed she is a 9th generation descendant of Fletcher Christian!!! Stranger 42 and I have a mutual friend and Strangers number 10, 14 and 21 all know each other!

So what will happen when I reach number 100???  Well I have bought 100 matching frames so I hope to find a wall big enough to exhibit them on.  

I still bottle it somedays.  I see someone I'd LOVE to photograph, but for a myriad of reasons don't. For those days I have another series.  Portraits of friends called "Strange, NOT Strangers" I'll tell you all about them another time.  So..........who wants to be my next stranger?

#1 Steven

#27 Jessie

#35 Ange

#38 Chris

#41 Lee

#43 Warwick

If you like what you see the whole 43 are visible at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nammo/sets/72157627426152748/ and, even more amazingly, I have since met and been on a shoot with Neil Winch.   I blamed him for this obsession!