(because I have to have at least one photo for each post - and I can't show you my new work yet - here's an old photograph I took of a friend's child some time ago at a park)
I've been shooting a lot lately since my Summer holidays started a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to book a lot of shoots before I take a break for the rest of the year. Sometimes I'd hit two birds with one stone and have multiple shoots in the one day (Leon says the correct saying is 'kill' two birds with one stone but I don't like to kill) and I'd come home very late at night with aching shoulders and tired eyes. I've had to upgrade my SD cards to store more photos and hopefully I can save up enough money to upgrade my camera for the new year.
Leon is out of town and I've gone to realise how much I rely on him. He is on the other side of the hemisphere, exploring, learning and recording them all in video form and I want to chase after him and take pictures for memory's sake but I am here, taking pictures for myself.
An earthquake has erupted not far from where he stays in Japan and I still worry about him even though I know he is safe (I received a message from him saying that he misses me and I miss him even more so). He is my best friend after all. I want to show him all the photos I've taken before any one else sees them, I want to tell him about my good days and my bad days. But I guess it is good to have some time apart from each other. I need to learn to depend on myself a bit more.
I'm also becoming more courageous and have befriended some wonderful strangers over the last few weeks. On elevators and staircases and carparks and anywhere unpredictable. Most of them I will never see again and that's the sad truth of it all and without a photograph to remember it all, I feel this need to immortalise them in some stories now that I have more free time to sit and write.
I have family from interstate and from England coming over in the next couple of days for Christmas. Three families all staying under the one roof. It will be busy and chaotic and whimsical. I can't wait for it.
My Summer is already beginning to feel wonderful.