Mocking Bird l Vancouver Film Photographer » Sydney

Wandering Neighbourhoods: Beach Suburbs

Amanda — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:56:23 +0000

Sydney beaches are white sand, blue waters, surfing and sun light sparkling like crystals across the ocean. We are extremely blessed to have this as our playground and the more that I am away from home, the more I realise how lucky we really are. The cliché is true.

The little sis and I spent days watching the sea and listening to the soft, crash of the waves. She and I share an adoring love of the ocean and the lifestyle that goes with it. With her olive skin and tousled locks, she fits the bill more than I do. I, on the other hand, have the fair, freckle fabulous Irish skin that runs deep in our family.

Of course, I felt it would be too clichéd to show you pictures of surfers and white sands. You can faintly make out the beach line in the black and white shot of Kelly…if you squint. These are a little taste of our beach neighbourhoods from behind the scenes.

p.s. That was a bloody good cappuccino and if you squint for a second time, you’ll see the Frankie Photo Album book in the middle of that bookshelf. I found our book in one of my favourite book stores, Berkelouw.

All photographs were shot with a Yashica FX3 camera. The first 2 shots were taken with Kodak Portra 400NC film and the remainder with Natura 1600 film from Japan.

Pentimento Love

Amanda — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:00:10 +0000

My love for stationery/gift stores knows no bounds. I could spend an entire afternoon peeking in and between shelves packed with notebooks and hand crafted ribbons. As I have shared in the past, books and pencils always stir up feelings of happiness for me. I’m not sure whether it’s a notion of childhood nostalgia remembering back to the days of the pure glee I got when receiving a new lined journal or whether it just makes me feel like a smarty pants to own diaries filled with hand written scribbles.

One of the stores that makes my heart skip a beat in Sydney is Newtown’s Pentimento. As you can see from the pictures, it’s filled with gorgeous trinkets and hand made wares. There are two walls dedicated to cards and notebooks from France and Japan, while the other houses arty books and quirky ceramics. Those milk bottles are made out of fine porcelain and oh so delicate. A friend of mine works there, so it’s always nice to pop in and have a chat too.

If you ever find yourself in Sydney, make sure you pay a visit to Newtown. It’s bold, colourful and full of gorgeous little stores like this one.

All pictures were taken with a Yashica FX3 camera using that crazy Natura 1600 film.

On Being Home

Amanda — Mon, 31 May 2010 01:03:06 +0000

Here’s a Polaroid tip: when shooting a selfie in full sun, look at the location of your arm/camera before shooting. Adjust accordingly.

So I am back in Vancouver and despite my big plans for blogging from Sydney, life turned out to be far too hectic and far too emotional. I spent lots of time with family and friends, drank many cappuccinos, wandered through all my favourite Sydney stores, saw the beach and had many meals out with friends.

Unfortunately, my dear grandad passed away a couple of days after I returned to Vancouver and I haven’t had words fit for Mocking Bird. I do however, want to thank all the lovely comments I have been getting here. I also want to say hi to all the new visitors whom have found Mocking Bird via Artful Blogging. I’m usually far more friendly and in touch, visitors!

Hopefully Mocking Bird can get back to scheduled programming this week. I will be sharing some more of my Sydney neighbourhoods with you via my film camera and I have to tell you about one of the best stationery stores in Sydney.

June should be an exciting month.

I am meeting up with one of my absolute favourite people for the first time. I’ll tell you more about that in the next few weeks.
We are travelling to Edmonton via awesome Canadian mountains/rivers/lakes for a family reunion.
I was supposed to see U2 on my bday but Bono broke his back, so the tour has been postponed. Will have to find something else to do instead!
Writing/photographing for the book!
Taking one of Nicole Hill Gerulat’s online photo classes which I’m excited about.

How has your month been and what did you think of Lost?!

Wandering Neighbourhoods: Paddington

Amanda — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:00:46 +0000

Over the past few weeks I have been spending some happy soul time with my family and friends in Sydney. Kel and I have been doing some sister bonding whilst walking the streets of Sydney with cameras in hand.

Paddington is home to Sydney’s fashion strip with plenty of gorgeous designer stores and beautiful streets lined with Victorian terraces. The little sis and I wandered up and down Oxford St peering into cashmere boutiques and at walls lined with shoes. Of course, I dragged her kicking and screaming into Max Brenner (Chocolate by the Bald Man) for a little hot chocolate and a croissant.

I have plenty more Sydney photos to share soon. How has your week been?

p.s. I will be announcing the winner of my birthday giveaway tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Photographs shot on a Yashica FX3 with Natura Classica film (never tried before- film from Japan!)

New Sydney Finds

Amanda — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:19:32 +0000

In my returning to Sydney discoveries, I’m loving:

Children’s store Seed now has a women’s range- gorgeous clothing and accessories!
Gorgeous homeware stores in close by suburbs.
Latest Frankie and Real Living magazines by my bed.
Peter Alexander’s new range in store.
Magnation store in Newtown.
Crust pizza (nothing new- just loving it once more).
Kinokuniya now selling Japanese masking tapes and ribbons.
Wearing Havaianas while everyone is complaining about being cold- for once I’m not the one feeling the cold!
Spending time with the one with the cupcake.

What are you loving at the moment?

And Back Again

Amanda — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:32:00 +0000

Across the seas and land I go…

Next week I will be blogging from the homeland as I am off on an adventure to Australia for a few weeks. I am off to get some happy soul family time with the mumma and siblings and to reconnect with my long lost summer wardrobe.

As much as I will miss my Canadian, with us being our all too familiar 12522 miles apart, I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and friends again. 7 months is a really long time to go without giving your Mum a hug.

I’m super excited to go home and see all the people in my life again but it’s a strange feeling to be leaving my love behind. He had to do this a few times when we were living in Sydney and I was on the other end, watching him leave while I stayed behind and was left alone. So to now be the one doing the leaving feels almost bittersweet.

I’m planning on lots of photography and photo shoots when I’m home in Sydney and will hopefully get to the beach and to wander around the markets that I miss. I’d like to do a few “Wandering Neighbourhoods” from Sydney as that was something I never really did at home.

I’ve also got some happy photography news coming which I was hoping to share with you this week but it hasn’t arrived yet, so that may have to wait!

See you on the other side, unless of course my news arrives. Wink, wink.

Summer Was So Long Ago

Amanda — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:48 +0000

Can you feel it? That special feeling that happens in the in between days of Winter and Spring? Winter isn’t quite yet gone and Spring isn’t quite yet here allowing us to notice little snippets of happiness to come.

Seeing as my last summer day was February 2009, I am crushing on Northern Hemispherian summer like a Japanese school girl on Hello Kitty. The Canadian says he is very proud of me for making it through my first Canadian winter and even though it was “mild”, I did it! So now that the winter coats are being put away for another season, I am starting to think about all the wonderful and exciting things I will get to do here in my first summer in Vancouver.

Back home in Australia, my summer days are filled with the smell of gardenias, afternoons at the beach, escaping to the movies or a shopping centre on super hot days, music festivals, picnics in the Botanic Gardens, living in Havaianas, eating dinner outdoors, walks around the harbour, Sydney festival concerts, pool parties, street cricket, drives to the northern beaches and barbecues.

I have no idea what our summer rituals will become here. The possibilities are exciting and intriguing. I’m super excited about the very late light which we don’t get in Australia. The latest it stays light in summer is generally around 7.30/8pm. I hear it can be well past 9 or even 10pm here. New worldly experiences that are so foreign to me inspire me to discover and observe.

I would love to hear what you get up to in summer time. Got any tips for places to go or things to do? I’d love to do a road trip somewhere. Somewhere where the light is long and low begging to be filmed by my camera.

p.s. The Polaroids above were shot for the most recent Words To Shoot By on the theme of ‘happy‘. Check out the rest of the photographers for this week!

Happy Australia Day!

Amanda — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:54:56 +0000

BBQs, beach parties, sausage sizzles, swimming, and lots of listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 music countdown (or the Anti JJJ Hottest 100 on FBI being led by our mates Angus and Jonny) are pretty much going on all over Australia today. On my first Australia Day away from home, I thought I’d share some of my favourite Aussies around the internets with you. Here you will find a list of talented and lovely Aussie bloggers, photographers, illustrators, crafters and designers.

Absolutely Beautiful Things

Aussies on Flickr

Clumsy Bird, Ash, Kat White, Memetic, Museum of Dirt, James, Joel Courtney, Natasha, Andrew G, Akida, Sapaho, Cybele, Will, Geisha, V, Hooverdust, Lucky.

And if all that isn’t enough awesome Aussieness for you, you can read the adventures my Sean had whilst living in Australia for 4 years. Read about his hilarious encounters with all the deadly, venomous monsters that inhabit our beautiful island at Notes From a New Country.

My Favourite Polaroids of 2009

Amanda — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:00:51 +0000

At the close of each year, on one blog or another I have done a “Best Of” of my own photography. This year I am sharing my favourite Polaroids of 2009. I probably used my Polaroid SX70 more so this year than any other, so I do believe it’s fitting.

This shot was taken on the last day of Summer for in March 2009. I haven’t seen summer since! Oh boy!

Oh, I really did love this portrait I took of my sister in April. It was such a special girls weekend away, just us and our Mum. My sister and I took Mum up to the Blue Mountains for her 60th birthday. We had the most exquisite High Tea at Lilianfels.

This was just one of those Polaroids that made me happy the instant I took it. They are the best kind. That wee cupcake is so cute with it’s lil fluffy top. It was shot in my lovely kitchen in our apartment in Sydney.

Another shot in which my sister plays model. I loved the colours in this. She really is my muse.

Ah, my golden tea cups. I’ve had to leave these babies back at home in Sydney. They are special because I found them at a market for so cheap, yet they are hand painted and Italian. What a find.

This was my 49th self portrait in my 52 week project which was completed this year sometime around July. Boy, was I glad to be done with that. I did quite like how this turned out as selfies with an SX70 are pretty tricky!

I was just amazed by the light streaming through the windows at one of our Glebe cafes. Breakfast in Glebe was a big part of our life in Sydney. I miss it.

Strangely all the cherry blossoms appeared a little early this year in Sydney and popped up before Spring had begun. I was having a wonderful time shooting them all before it was time for us to pack up our lives for Canada.

This is special because it was taken on our last walk around the Glebe foreshore before we moved out of our apartment. Sean and I started our life together living in Glebe so it will always have a special place in my heart. It was hard to leave.

Fast forward past lots of goodbyes and a very long plane trip to the beauty of Canada. This was taken on my first road trip in British Columbia. Often times on that trip I had to ask myself where the hell I was.

Hello Canadian Halloween! Oh, what fun I had playing in the pumpkin patch, carving my first pumpkin and greeting all the trick o’ treaters.

The search for my cappuccinos Polaroids continue in the winter light…

Facing the dark, winter light…

and here we are at Christmas and the fall of 2009.

I have loved shooting Polaroid this year and am excited about the possibilities of more Polaroid in 2010.

Drawing Closer

Amanda — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:12:13 +0000

Hello!

Image by Pia Jane Bijkerk

Life is still crazy around here for me as I embark on my last week in Sydney before we jetset away to Vancouver. My posts have been sporadic, but I can’t wait to settle in a new city to have time to blog all about my new adventures. We have been doing the ‘last’s of everything, including catching up with friends, reminiscing about past times and trying to see all those places we love just one last time.

I broke the news to my students this week too and it didn’t go down very well. There have been tears, lots of questions and promises of Canadian gifts for them. I never imagined my leaving would create such strong reactions.

We are off for our last wander through the city today to soak up the glorious 30 degree weather- probably my last for a very long time!

Link Love for the week:

Pia’s Polaroids are magnificent.

Susannah’s thoughts on her Unravelling Course: I am signed up for the next one and SO excited!

Are you enjoying Beatle Week?

Sketch design site- how pretty is it? Via Tracey.