Mocking Bird » winter

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.

Wandering Neighbourhoods: Snow Edition ii

Amanda — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:00:50 +0000

Wandering Neighbourhoods: Snow Edition

Amanda — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:00:26 +0000

The first Wandering Neighbourhoods for 2011 is a snowy wintery edition around my local neighbourhood- nowhere in particular, just local streets in Vancouver all holding hands to create one glorious, white snow field. This is the first instalment of two as my trigger finger was a little shutter button happy on snow day. I feel it’s only fitting to share these when it’s 36 degrees in Sydney right now.

Can you find snowman of the lanes?

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Taken with a Yashica FX3 35mm camera and Kodak Portra 160NC film.

When Your Camera Isn’t Enough

Amanda — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:00:56 +0000

I watch the clouds roll in and out over this mountain from my office window all the time. It amazes me how quickly the peaks disappear and then reemerge with a smile. With the crazy cold and snow the Pacific North West is having right now, the mountains have been putting on a show for us all each afternoon. The late light glow appears across the tops of the mountains and they look to be painted with white and gold. It’s such a beautiful sight that my camera will never be able to capture.

Have you seen something that you’d like to photograph but feel you wouldn’t do it justice?

Beautiful Sydney in Winter

Amanda — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:33:42 +0000

My sister in Centennial Park, Sydney

So you wouldn’t think that this is the dead of winter here in Sydney, right now. The past couple of weeks we have been having glorious sunny weather that only requires a light jacket. It’s that kind of weather where you instantly feel the urge to lie down in the grass to feel the warmth of the sun caressing your back. It’s like a hug, a warm, sun hug.

I absolutely adore this kind of weather, so this week my sister and I headed out to Centennial Park to have a mini photo shoot. Ducks and geese were splashing in the water (we think some of them were laughing at us), golden, curly haired puppies were scampering through the grass, while the sun was hitting the ponds, making them sparkle. It made me feel warm and gooey inside.

There is one small section in Centennial Park that has a little wooded forest and for a moment, you can imagine you are in a hidden woodland in Europe somewhere. We took Polaroids and played with balloons and heard the click and whirr of the shutter button. I handed her the holga and she inquired, ” What do I do? ” after she had just wrestled with my Canon 40D and all it’s wizz bangery. I laughed and replied, “point it, push that plastic lever”.

It was a happy little lomo moment.

If you are ever in Sydney, just before or around Spring, you must stop by the little wooded forest and pond with the giggling geese.

More photos to come but for now check out these lovely shots…

Image by Lawatt

Image by Hanna Davis

Shooting In The Rain