Mathilda’s Markets (Canberra Family Photographer)

Monday, September 6th, 2010 / Canberra children's photographer, Canberra family photographer, Personal

 1 lovely comment 

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If you’re like me, you love all things cute. Homemade things are extra cute. Market places are super duper cute. Well imagine a conglomeration of Canberra’s best + finest homemade thingies… all at one market. I know, totally CUTERS!! :)

I’m going to be holding my very first market stall this Sunday, 12 September, at Mathilda’s Markets! Stop by the Hyatt Hotel Canberra anytime between 9am-1pm and come and say hello! Please! :) I’d love to meet you and see your cute little ones. AND to sweeten the deal, I’ll be offering a photography mini session special to those who swing by on the day and book! I know, double the fun!

To be totally and completely honest, I’m totally and completely nervous about holding my first stall. (You can tell, right?) I’m afraid of being the loserly loner standing behind her table all by her lonesome (well, I’ll have my new iMac and iPad with me, but still…). So, in the interest of being a good samaritan, please stop by and say HELLO! :) The Macs and I would appreciate it!

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Fiji (Canberra Photographer)

Friday, August 27th, 2010 / Personal

 21 lovely comments 

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Husband recently turned the big 3-0. Yup… We are officially adults! :) To celebrate this awesome milestone, I booked us tickets to Fiji not that long ago and gave hubby the honour of planning it all. Whatever he wanted to do; wherever he wanted to stay. I promised I’d be game so long as it didn’t involve jumping into caves and swimming with eels (he tricked me into doing this last year in New Zealand… and since then I vowed never to let him plan a holiday again. Until now that is).

We had the best holiday of our lives. Not only did we celebrate his 30th, we got to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary: a lifetime in celebrity years! :) We took the Yasawa Flyer (a big big boat) and cruised out to the Yasawa Islands (4.5 hours away!) and spent nearly a week in isolation with the locals. It was seriously one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen in my life. Everything about this trip was so magical. Meeting the local Fijians. Sharing in a ritual bowl of Kava. Snorkeling and swimming in the clear blue waters. Eating freshly caught fish and lobster. Making friends with other tourists. It was just perfect. Husband did the awesomest job planning the best trip ever.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. :)
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Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2010

Monday, August 23rd, 2010 / Canberra portrait photographer, Personal

 36 lovely comments 

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There are lots of art prizes throughout the world. Local, state and national contests. International competitions. And while each of these contests add much value to the art world, only one can boast the title of “the wealthiest photographic and portrait prize in the world”: The Moran Prize (consisting of both The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize.)

Every year, thousands of photographers and artists submit the best of their best to The Moran Prize: work that symbolises contemporary Australian life. When the contest deadline came about a few months ago, I thought about it for a few seconds and thought, “What are the odds of ever getting anything out of this thing?” and thought nothing more of it. Until my good buddy Dan rang me up. “Pookles, you’re entering, right?? The deadline is tonight!” he exclaimed. “Nah… I’m still a newb. I think I’ll focus on the local awards and try to enter next year,” I said. I was being totally sincere – I didn’t want to stress myself over entering something only to be disappointed. (My new little art ego is sensitive and needs a bit of hand-holding.) “Christine.” (He never calls me ‘Christine,’ so I knew he was trying to be serious.) “Christine, what have you got to lose? Enter that image of the boy in the woods. You have to. It’s brilliant.” What did I have to lose, aside from a bit of pride? “You’re right Dizz. I’ll get to work on it. Eeep! Hope I make the deadline!” And off I went.

I entered.

I waited.

I told myself to forget about it and thought nothing more.

Until.

That beautiful fateful day. I had just flown from Sydney to Los Angeles (en route to Seattle) and checked my email while waiting for my connecting flight. In my inbox was a message from The Moran Foundation. It read:

“Dear Christine, Congratulations on your selection! Your work titled, ‘Alone’ is one of the 2010 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize finalists. Please find attached your image and instructions for your attention. I wish you every success for the winners’ announcement on Tuesday 10th August 2010.”

I immediately called my husband to share the news. And then I forwarded the email to Dan, along with this brief message:

“HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!! PS just landed in lax PPS thanks for encouraging me to enter this, dizz. Loves you!!”

Out of over 240,000 entries, I was selected as one of FORTY finalists for The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize. I KNOW, RIGHT???? To say that this moment was momentous is a vast understatement. It was exhilarating. It was inspiring. It was goosebumpy. It made my heart jump and pound and leap. I wanted to tell everyone at LAX but I knew no one would care. :) However, all of this excitement wasn’t only due to the fact that the Moran Prize recognised my work; I was excited because I knew that I had such a supportive group of peers and family members that had my back. I was excited that I could share this moment with them; and this moment served as a reminder that none of my successes are ever achieved alone. (Which is ironic as the work I had entered into the Moran Prize was entitled, “Alone.”)

Thank you, Dan, for convincing me to put myself out there. And congratulations on becoming a fellow finalist (two years in a row!!) AND Commended Awardee! I can’t be more proud of you than I am right this minute. :) You deserve all of your successes and I’m so happy to know you and have you in my life. And thank you Todd + Alyda for accompanying us to the State Library of NSW on the Awards Night (all the portraits and photographs are being exhibited here for free until 5 September, so check it out if you have a chance!) – it was so great to spend the evening with you all! :)

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And the finalist-making shot (in case you were curious):

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