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busy week!

Friday, 14 November 2008
This week is just crazy busy. I spent all last weekend doing portrait shots for all the students from Tanya Brooks Dance Academy. There were about 180 kids and most have 2-3 costumes to change into. It was a dance rehearsal and as each dance practice run ended, the kids would come for their photographs. Two days shooting and two days sorting and processing over thousands of photos. My legs got a real work out from squatting and standing hehe.

I went back to the 2nd dance rehearsal on Wednesday to do group shots. We brought along a little laptop so that parents and students can check out their photos.





It was a big operation and I couldn't have done it without my two awesome assistants so BIG THANKS to:
Sririn - for doing the admin and coordinating the girls
Eric - for coordinating the girls, PR, sales, food and everything else! You were so incredibly thoughtful =)

I'm off to shoot an event at a farm tomorrow. I know, two farms in three weeks. I'm farm girl! =) Got a family shoot on Sunday too. Crazy week!

P.S. Got my Macbook Pro back. Costed $135 - not in parts, but in parking fines. D'oh!

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YAY! Starting to get busy aye! Great to hear it! I can't wait to check out some of your photos!! HURRY UP AND BLOG!! :D (14 November 2008 16:04)  

Hopefully something next week. Feels like I don't even have time to breathe right now! (14 November 2008 16:07)  

hi nattnee! i was wondering if you have any photoshoot location suggestions for tall grass/barns/farms around Sydney? (14 November 2008 17:19)  

Hi Joanna, got an email address?
I don't know of those places. Farms are farms and they're not really in Sydney. If you travel 2 hours or so out, I'm sure you will find a lot of awesome location. Barns. We have barns??? =) (14 November 2008 18:18)  

my email address is: joannalee@gmail.com

whereabouts would 2 hrs of travelling equate to? haha, I'm not sure about barns but yeah farms or places with long grass :) is willow glen close ? (15 November 2008 00:51)  

I hear you on the breathing part Natt, can you tell me how to deal with it too? Air, air, I need air! (15 November 2008 23:01)  

Hey Natt, I am so glad to heat it too:) (17 November 2008 17:31)  

poor me, no mbp

Thursday, 6 November 2008
I'm at the Apple store right now, standing in front of beautiful iMac (with an annoying glossy screen). Am I shopping? No, I wish. Unfortunately, I'm here 'cos the screen on my MacBook Pro won't turn on anymore. All it wants to do is show me what black looks like. Not happy Jan.

I totally freaked out and rushed to the Apple Store, only to find out that the genius bar is booked out til 2:40pm. Great. Well I hope they're really geniuses 'cos I want my screen fixed today!!

At least I got lunch at planned today which I can't wait 'cos it's been too long since I had my last Ichiban fix. Still, 2.5 hrs to kill. Argh.


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730

Tuesday, 4 November 2008
That's roughly the number of days we've been married. Happy two year anniversary "bunch"!





P.S. That's rock candy from our wedding...probs not edible anymore =p 

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Happy 2 year bunch... i had a very lovely anniversary :) (04 November 2008 22:58)  

Happy anniversary!! :D Did you keep the rock candy from your wedding? Mmm.. Nothing tastes better than 2 year old candyy! (04 November 2008 23:40)  

Happy Aniversary little sis!!

Hope you guys had a great day.

bb xxx

p.s. loving all the pics :) (05 November 2008 01:55)  

2 years already? congrat! (06 November 2008 02:46)  

image retouching

Sunday, 2 November 2008
Yes I'm still processing the last wedding. I'm processing an entire wedding instead of the usual fav 30 odd images so it is taking a bit longer than my normal speedy posting.

Thought I'd show a before and after post processing images. I'm not sure how far people go in terms of retouching but I really can't stand distracting bits and pieces in the image. Not talking about the usual touch ups of baggy eyes here but I have done things like removing distracting spotlights from the ceiling (obviously they weren't on) and even a whole pram from the background of a shot. It is time consuming but I can't help it as I prefer clean images the way I like it.

I saw the kids playing by the fence and so I ran up to them to get a quick snap. I asked the kids to move along the fence a little bit as they were standing in front of distracting background. I didn't pose them but I love how the little boy just refused to stand with the girls =)





Because this was done pretty quickly, I didn't notice the barb wire running across one of the girl's face. It really didn't look right at all but I didn't want to throw this image away so along with the normal processing to make it a bright and happy snap, I had the annoying barb wire removed. Here is the RAW shot:




I know the wire does add to the framing of the subjects and I do like it but I guess I'm weighing it up against having it cutting across her face which doens't feel so pleasant. What do you think? Prefer the wire gone or not?

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Nice shot Natt ! (04 November 2008 16:34)  

That's great retouching skills you got there!! :D But that's also such a Nattnee shot too! (04 November 2008 19:43)  

Gone baby gone! I like your retouching work, I know where to find you if I need you! (07 November 2008 23:28)  

back from bathurst

Monday, 27 October 2008
I'm sooo tired right now. I didn't even drive at all on our long journey to and from Willow Glen and I still feel like I need to recover.

Lots to be said about the weekend but I'll wait til my brain catches up with me. I think it's still in transit from Bathurst =p

Some random things that got me hopping out of the car on our rocky ride up the long three-gate driveway to the farm house, the day before the wedding. 










It was a shame this nice overcast sky wasn't around on the wedding day but at least it wasn't raining either =)

Other snippets of my life:
- Got my tax in on time this year
- Bought our first plant (more like a pot of flowers)
- Made guacamole for the first time

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I can't wait to check out your shots from the wedding. :D :D :D (27 October 2008 19:57)  

Hi Natt, I can't wait too :) (28 October 2008 21:10)  

mihaela & shehaan: wedding

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Once again, I had the pleasure of being a part of the JSP team last Saturday for the wedding ceremony and location shoot of Mihaela and Shehaan. 

My day started a bit differently and it involved packing my gear and hemming my new pants =p
The dryer shrinks everything so I bought a new pair of pants and had to take it up 10cm!! Seriously, don't the fashion industry understand that not everybody is big and tall? Some of us only grow sideways you know.

I seem to keep bumping into people I know at weddings as of late. Last time was while I was taking a group shot and this time was while the processional was happening. I was taking photos of bridesmaids coming down the aisle when I saw a familiar face through the viewfinder. I took the shot, checked the LCD and scratched my head (in my mind, not literally). I looked up and she smiled at me, confirming that I know her.

Now I know this first photo isn't for everybody but I kinda like that sense of the bride and her father appearing out of the light. If anyone happens to like it, let me know so I won't feel so abnormal =)




















Mihaela's parents embracing their new son in law =)




Shehaan didn't smile very much during the ceremony. I later learnt that he was a little conscious of doing so as he thought he didn't have a nice smile. He couldn't be more wrong 'cos I think his smile is gorgeous!!










Nothing beats natural light in my opinion.






The girls.









Corina - the lovely bridesmaid that surprised me during procession.











I'm off to the farm wedding this weekend! The weather better be good! =) 

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Natt, these are gorgeous! The light is gentle and the moments are beautiful, have an awesome time at the farm wedding!! (22 October 2008 07:19)  

I must say, you work really well around Jenny! :D These shots are great!! :D (22 October 2008 10:39)  

Hey Natt,wow wow wow! These shots are so beautiful :) (22 October 2008 14:21)  

I'm very proud of you Natt! ;) And like Trish said - have fun at your farm wedding this saturday! (23 October 2008 00:10)  

Ooh I LOVE that first shot! Very cool! They're all great! (23 October 2008 00:46)  

Your comment on jasmine's blog was soo cute! Wow you blog is also awesome. There is plenty of room for many talented wedding photogs. (23 October 2008 08:53)  

jessica: portrait

Tuesday, 14 October 2008
If you've been here before, I'm sure you would've noticed the adorable girl with curly blonde hair and incredible blue eyes sitting right on top of the page. She has been watching over this blog since it went live and I think she deserves a little post of her own =)

Jessica is as cute as a button and toally a delightful little girl. Jess has so much energy and during the hours I spent with her, she would walk and walk and walk. The only time she stopped was when she was having a sandwich break. I really got a work out that day from following her around!

This was taken quite a while ago now and Jessica was one of the first portrait sessions that I've done. It was at the beginning of my transition from photographing landscapes, flowers and things to capturing people. I remember browsing through the images on the LCD of my camera while driving home. I felt a different kind of contentment from doing photography. The pictures meant something more because it wasn't just a pretty flower or a nice building. It was the smile and the spirit of a child. The pictures of somebody's daughter.




















P.S. Driving while checking your LCD is just like driving while on the mobile phone. Not good. 

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they turned out really well! the fourth last one is awesome (14 October 2008 20:35)  

Hi Natt, Nice photos ! I love the last shot:)Did you got my email last week ? (14 October 2008 20:45)  

Wow, very impressive photo blog...especially this post..of the little child...came thru ur blog from JSP. (15 October 2008 12:09)  

These are just gorgeous! She is such a darling! :D You did such a great job with these... Really!! :D (16 October 2008 13:42)  

The photos are so gorgeous! Where did you take the photos... the ones in the park? (21 October 2008 22:12)  

Hihi~~ new visitor here :) came from JSP.

your photos are so cool! I really liked the first one and sixth. especially how the girl's eyes are so bright.

I was wondering what kind of lens you used for those two shots? (30 October 2008 10:55)  

Joanna, I used the 50mm f/1.8 and the 70-200 f/4 L. (30 October 2008 11:12)