Mocking Bird » Creativity

Does Your Heart Wander Too?

Amanda — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:00:07 +0000

You know when you read a book and it speaks to your heart so clearly that you feel as though it was written specifically for you? I felt that whilst reading every word of Pia Jane Bijkerk‘s My Heart Wanders. If you love to travel, to discover, to follow your heart, to make your home beautiful no matter where you are, then this book will speak straight to your soul.

Pia shares her journey from her life in Sydney to experiences living Paris and finding peace on a quaint little houseboat in Amsterdam. Her words are so honest, yet quiet; and falling into her book is like sitting down to afternoon tea with a friend. It spoke so strongly to experiences I myself have faced and lead me on a journey to one I have dreamt about. Her book is filled with beautiful photographs, doodles and notes that are so perfectly Pia. I fell so deeply into her beautiful world and may have even shed a tear of two. Insightful, poetic and charming, My Heart Wanders is a wanderer’s treasure.

I was lucky enough to spend a lovely brunch with the lady herself while I was back home in Australia and she is just as beautiful in person as she is in book form. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I can’t recommend it enough!

Find information about My Heart Wanders here.

p.s. Happy Australia Day- and yes, I had to share some Aussie love today!

Blogging For The New Year

Amanda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:59:49 +0000

Hello everyone,

Let’s kick off the year with some blog talk. I get a lot of emails from people asking me about blogging in general and setting up a photoblog, and a number of the Shoot By Design participants have asked for advice, so I thought I’d share some of my blogging tips and ideas. I don’t have the biggest blog on the block but I have been doing it for many years and am happy to share the things I’ve learned along the way.

Write with passion and about things you care about

If you love to photograph, write about photography. If you love design, write about that. There is no point in starting a blog on a topic that you are not totally in love with. Passion is infectious.

Have a clear purpose for your blog

Blogs that work are ones that clearly define what they are about and are consistent. Wishy washy ideas and topics make for a wishy washy blog.

Style is who you are

Find a look, feel and voice that is yours and yours alone. The way to figure that out is by doing some self discovery and being honest about who you really are. You are probably never going to see a “What I’m wearing” post on this blog. I love clothes and fashion but the idea of me being a fashion model makes me break out in the sweats and it’s just not what my blog is about. I’ll leave the fashion blogs to the people who do it well. Find your thing, and do it as only you can do.

Reply to comments

I think this one is a no-brainer. The people who comment on your blog have taken time out of their own busy schedules to not only read but comment, so it’s common courtesy to reply to them when they leave you comments. Obviously, if you are getting 50 plus comments on every post, that will become too much to reply to every single one. I certainly haven’t replied to every comment ever written here but I try to get to the majority of them. I also make an effort to reply to comments where a specific question has been asked. This is just my personal opinion and many bloggers may disagree but I think it comes down to respect, old school manners, and building a community.

Build a community

Decide whether you want your blog to be a place where you just showcase your work or a place where community exists. For Mocking Bird, I enjoy having a community to build around. I love that I have regular blog readers and commenters and building the community comes through being engaged, through asking genuine questions of your readers and asking them to share. I use twitter and facebook as an extension of that community also.

Make things pretty

White backgrounds, easy to read fonts, music free (lots of people complain about websites that have music playing as it can be intrusive) and a nice header or logo will go a long way in making people want to come back for more. If you have the cash, hire a designer to give your blog a makeover but go to them with a clear vision of what you want. Speaking of which, mine is way overdue for an overhaul.

Use photographs

They will make your blog far more visually appealing.

People scan the internet and big wads of text are going to put people off. Breaking it up with images can help. We are all pushed for time and unless you are an amazing writer, people are going to pick and choose what they read and what they scan. Break up the text with images and you will get more interest.

And if you are sharing your own photography, post images that are at least 500 pixels wide. You want the photographs to be the focus, so show them off as best you can!

Be Yourself

I’m sure you read this everywhere, but it’s such an important part of making your blog stand out in a sea of tumblrs, blogspots and inspiration blogs. Those quirks and personality traits that make you different…use them, don’t shy away from them. Find the Bjork* inside you!

*Bjork is the only Bjork on planet earth and that is why she is so freaking cool.

These are just some of my ideas and you may disagree with them but I’ve found they work for me. Do you have any other tips you’d like to share? What works for you?

Favourite Christmas Things List

Amanda — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:30:23 +0000

I could tell you that part of the great Winter Embrace of 2011 is really getting into the spirit of Christmas too but for this merry one, Christmas needs no encouraging. It has always been my favourite time of year and there’s really nothing about it that I don’t love. Christmas in Canada is oh so perfectly Christmassy and the experiences I’ve had have already lived up to so many childhood dreams. Rather than making a Christmas gift list this year, I’m making Christmas experience lists. That’s what it’s all about for me…the anticipation, the decorating, the smells, the moments shared with loved ones. So here’s my Christmas list of merry moments.

Favourite Things to Do at Christmas List

Cutting down our own Christmas tree. I’ve done it once and would love to do it again.
Wandering the streets with family looking at Christmas lights.
Decorating the tree and house till I can decorate no more. Ours is rustic and eclectic with treasures from my childhood and travels.
Baking Christmas cookies. I’ve been slack the last few years and have let my sister do it but this year I will bake!
Visiting a Christmas tree farm and wandering the rows whilst drinking hot chocolate. I’m yet to do this with hot chocolate. I must remember to visit at night next year.
Smelling our tree as I walk in the door.
Continue my grandmother’s tradition of lighting the family Christmas pudding with brandy. We’ve done it every year all my life. It’s always a big deal because it often never lights properly on the first go, so we all cheer when it does.
Listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas album. I heart you Vince Guaraldi.
Sending Christmas cards across the seas. I have had these Rifle Design postcards for a couple of years and decided to use them instead of cards this year. They are too cute!
Listening to my Mum read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.
Christmas drinks with friends.
Watching Christmas movies, even though I’ve seen them all as many times as I have had birthdays.
Making our yearly Christmas wish in my mum’s Christmas cake batter. We get to stir three times and make a wish. I never eat the fruit cake, but the smell of it cooking is pure Christmas to me.
Attending the German Christmas market in Vancouver- this was a first this year. It was worth going just to see the wooden stalls all decorated with greenery and lights.
Wrapping presents whilst listening to carols. I love wrapping gifts as much as I love giving them.
Shopping for a new decoration for the tree.
Finding a treat at the bottom of my chocolate stocking. Yes, we have separate chocolate stockings.
Watching The Year Without a Santa Claus and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Seeing Christmas trees strapped to the roofs of cars.

And that’s just some of the things I love to do at Christmas. How about you?

Come back next week for my Ultimate Christmas Experience Dream List.

Find The Beauty

Amanda — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:00:58 +0000

And a ho! ho! ho! to you…

Here’s something a little different for me. I’ve been teaching my Shoot By Design course participants to step out of their comfort zones and I really should practise what I preach, right? So here I am with some darker images with no natural light in sight. I didn’t completely step away from my usual thing but just took one element that is stylistically me and did the opposite. Do you step out of your photography comfort zone often?

Winter 2011 is the year that I embrace rather than retreat. For the past 2 years I’ve whined and grimaced at the darkness of the winter months here in Canada. I’ve spent every wet and miserable day pining for the light from my homeland and I finally came to the realisation that it was a really stupid choice to make. I can sit and wallow and be depressed for 7 months or I can embrace it and find the beauty in the situation. Being that I grew up in a land where the light was never an issue and sunshine was always around the corner, moving to Vancouver (where it is literally one of the greyest places on earth) took a lot of getting used to. I had no idea how much it would affect me and last year was particularly tough. I knew that I couldn’t let it beat me this year, so I’m trying my hardest to embrace it with open arms and find the beauty.

And it’s amazing…ever since I made the decision to adapt, I’ve actually been enjoying it! I’m seeing the fog and the mist as an atmospheric canvas, I’m taking long walks in the forest, I’m seeing a new beauty in the murky light, I’m delighting in wearing boots and scarves and coats, and I’m carving out a new way to take photographs. I’m even shooting a personal project which kind of has me giddy. More on that one soon.

Embracing, yo! <— Jesse Pinkman has a lot to answer for.

Why We Take Pictures

Amanda — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:00:13 +0000

Why do we take pictures?

We take photographs to make the old new. We make pictures to create a possibility out of the impossible. Or is that an impossibility out of the possible? To make stars out of lights, bubbles out of shadows and rock stars out of ordinary people.

To climb, to create, to story tell.

To remember.

Why do you take pictures? Let’s make a list together. Tell me.

How To Feel Unordinary

Amanda — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:55:37 +0000

most days feel ordinary. most minutes of most days seem to lead to more minutes of the typical realities of life. and in those minutes, it all just feels very familiar and ordinary.

in between those minutes, between the moments that the hands of the clock tick over, i am being the only thing i know how to be. i am thinking about creating. i am wanting to create a new story, a new song, a new picture, a new sound, a new photograph. and when i do make something, it’s one of the few things that makes me feel unordinary. the others include moments with my love and time spent discovering new lands.

in those moments that i do feel mediocre and regular, there is an emptiness, a hole that is just waiting to be filled. it always surprises me when all i have to do is start making and the waiting emptiness disappears.

it doesn’t make me rich, it doesn’t stop the dishes from needing to be done, it doesn’t stop the rain, and it doesn’t solve my problems…but it does make me feel more than ordinary.

see…dream…hope…imagine…make…do…go…create…ripen your soul.

The Missed Society Inc

Amanda — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:00:28 +0000

I’ve wanted to visit Sibella Court’s Society Inc store for the longest time so it was a must on my “Need to Visit in Sydney” list. As you can see from the outside, it’s picture perfect and so utterly quaint that you just want to snuggle into the chair out the front with a book and a blankie.

I could have looked through the windows for hours, but of course was itching to get inside. Unfortunately for my companion and me, nobody seemed to be home. Next time I’m in Sydney, I’ll have to ring ahead and make sure they are open before swinging by. There were shelves and tables full of glorious trinkets that were calling out to be brought home. I love the idea behind the store – valued pieces of eclectic curios found whilst travelling and exploring. Sometimes I come across a place that I feel was created just for me. Do you ever feel that way? Such a glorious little slice of Sydney culture.

You can find The Society Inc in Paddington, Sydney.

What If It Is?

Amanda — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:53:09 +0000

Hello all…

Things have been awfully quiet around here of late and I’d love to say that it’s because I’ve been super busy (which I have) but mostly it lays quiet because sometimes that’s just the way I live my life. Being an introvert means for me that there are times in my life (when things get tough and stressful) when I just need to be still. Still with my thoughts, still with my words, still with the talking.

I’ve been busy shooting, editing, conversing and planning for a number of things and it hasn’t left much time for bending my mind into blog mode. However, at the same time, I feel like I’m sitting on the precipice of a new stage of my life and at times it’s so overwhelming that my first reaction is to retreat. Are you like that? I’m getting better at dipping my feet in the shallow end and taking those baby steps I know I need to take. The first step was saying yes to something that my stomach instantly felt was a no. I’m throwing this out into the world and hoping that there’s someone else out there that needed to hear that I feel it too. I feel the fear, I feel the doubt, I feel the butterflies and the anxiety. But there comes a point where letting the fear control the decisions you make gets really old and you just need to step up.

And so, I leave you with this quote from the ever brilliant Six Feet Under… (David is talking to his dead father, Nathaniel)

Nathaniel Sr: You aren’t even grateful, are you?

David: Grateful? For the worst fucking experience of my life?

Nathaniel Sr..: You hang onto your pain like it means something, like it’s worth something. Well, let me tell ‘ya, it’s not worth shit. Let it go. Infinite possibilities, and all he can do is whine.

David: Well, what am I supposed to do?

Nathaniel Sr.: What do you think? You can do anything, you lucky bastard, you’re alive! What’s a little pain compared to that?

David: It can’t be that simple.

Nathaniel Sr.: [putting his arm around David and pulling him closer] What if it is?

Street Cred Posters and Mammoth Collection

Amanda — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:58:03 +0000

Exciting news to share today! Do you remember the Give Credit Where Credit Is Due posters from a little while back? Pia Jane Bijkerk, Erin Loechner and a group of ladies (including myself) worked together to create a guide for crediting images online. Pia toiled long and hard to create the design and after a lot of requests for posters (and planning) we are excited to announce this set of posters by Mammoth Collection. Mammoth have produced these high quality prints in four different colourways.

Pia received copies of the posters and took these beautiful photographs of the prints on display.

Aren’t they gorgeous? If you would like to purchase one, you can order them from the Mammoth store online.

I’m so honoured to have been a part of this. You can read more about the project on the Mammoth blog in an interview with Pia. Yay Street Cred!

p.s. Mammoth are giving away a print on Pia’s blog! Head over to this post for your chance to win.

Photographs by Pia Jane Bijkerk.

Art Inspiring Art

Amanda — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:00:33 +0000

Today I’m super excited to share something different with you. Let me introduce Australian artist Robyn Edwards, who also happens to be one of my dearest friends. Robyn is a visual artist whose work is inspired by nature’s colours and reflections. Rob is not only super talented but she’s just one of those people who lights up a room and can make you laugh right when you need it.

Recently Robyn has been sharing some of her art work online and I’ve been enjoying her recent pieces influenced by the Australian sea and nature that she loves so. As you know, I love sharing my photography work online and after seeing one of my recent Canadian beach shots, Rob decided to take my photo and create her own interpretation and I LOVE IT!

Robyn worked with acrylics to create this beautiful piece, which she says was inspired by the colours of my Vancouver beach image. She told me that it motivated her from the moment she saw it because it looked so serene and peaceful.

Isn’t it beautiful? What do you think? I am in awe of her talent and so honoured that she used my photograph as inspiration.