nullae paenitentiae
Got the opportunity to shoot 28 Days at The Club House Hotel out in Maitland for I’m With The Band. They’re on their final hurrah tour - calling it quits after a decade of music in Australia. Was great to be able to attend one of the gigs - having listened to a fair bit of their music while growing up - and meeting the guys afterwards was a plus too.
Support provided by local outfits Amathyst + Head of State.
The Graphic Design Portfolio of (the very very talented) Ben Barry (pay Ben a visit at designforfun.com)
The founder of the design forum TheRoot42.org Ben Barry has been let loose on the world and as such is seeking someone to employ him. His portfolio encompasses a large range of works - identity, art direction, photography, typography. You name it Ben probably has played with it. His most recent work has been on Project M that lead to buyameter.org - an initiative to provide water meters to Alabama’s poorest citizens and give them access to fresh water (for the full project look on his site).
I managed to give Ben a hand with some of the behaviour aspects of the site. Using the YUI library made things exceedingly simple, and I’ve since pushed this concept onto the NEOn project I’ve been undertaking at work.
I hope Ben lands a job soon that will see him fully utilised - his talent is immense. So pay Ben a visit at designforfun.com.
Opus Duæ Automatic - new from the workshops of Kinkyform, Electric Heat & Riedel
Yet another beautiful collaboration between Kinkyform’s Lars Amhoff and Electric Heat’s Nigel Dennis, this time working with German Jeweller Martin Riedel, in the form of a limited edition watch. Made of stainless steel and finished with a laser etched face silver and platinum face, mineral glass front and back, bearing the signatures of the designers on the band and engraved with the details of the watch, it has been lovingly hand made. With only twenty five on offer it’s a real gem. Now, if only I could afford art like that (although I’d take the previous collaboration between the artists first I think - The Chair).
So I turned 25. The quarter century. I don’t really feel that old and it’s kind of strange to think that I’ve been kicking around this sphere of dirt for a little over a quarter century. While it’s nothing in the scheme of things (when compared to, say, the age of the earth) it’s still got me thinking even more about my goals for my time here. Still working out exactly where I want to be in say ten years time, kind of know five, but less sure about 6 months/a year. Anyhow, for the fun stuff.
Stuff & Nonsense Lapel Pin
Awaiting for me at home after my almost weekly cruise down the F3 were a few packages on the weekend of my birthday. Both from the United Kingdom, the first was my very British lapel pin from Stuff & Nonsense. The second was my order of moo cards to throw at promoters, bands and fans while I’m out shooting (in the hope of getting more gigs).
New MOO Cards
To celebrate the quarter century mark being reached (after not having a 21st due to the sheer volume of them combined with exam period) I held a small gathering up in Newcastle with friends. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Simon Carter’s World Climbing: Images From The Edge from Alpha, Jared, James and Lee (thanks guys :)), and a chocolate mouse from Stu and Sarah, plus the presence of close friends from Sydney and a few I’d made at work up here in Newcastle.
With eighteen months since my last major camera related purchase I decided I could now afford to buy the lens I’d been eyeing off for some time. So I’ve welcomed the 70-200mm f/2.8 L from Canon into my collection, and it’s definitely become a favourite fast.
The new baby: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L Series lens - it’s pin sharp at f/2.8, absolutely amazing!
My new ring finally arrived in during the week of my birthday (shots to come, when I get around to playing with some sort of macro set up) after 2 years since I lost the one I got when I was sixteen and the family got me a new watch - a Nixon Player (silver face). Also got a few little extras like a mini slinky, Scrubs Season One (thanks Hannah), the movie The Prestige, the documentary on the restoration of the James Craig (my Uncle works on it as part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet and I got to go out for a day on it with Stu in 2004).
My new watch - Nixon Player
Finally, with a print run of photos due to be made in the near future I’ll have some swaps heading out around the world with mates so I’ll have something to put on my walls by people other than myself 
Apologies for the delay, life took a bit of a fast forward this past week. No excuses though.
I got to shoot Central Coast band Something With Numbers with support from fellow coasters The Lazy’s and Melbourne band The Inches at Newcastle University’s Bar On The Hill on the 6th July for local ezine I’m With The Band. This was also the first outing for my new baby - a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L series lens. My first splash out into the L series lenses, and I hate to say it won’t be my last. The clarity of the glass is nothing short of superb, and worth every cent.
The waiting crowd. It took me 25 minutes to get from the gum tree not 25 metres away to where I took this shot.
The gig itself was great, though poor management left people standing in a queue to get in for up to 45 minutes. Not a great way to start, and the organisers should really apologise to The Lazy’s for the lack of crowd (I only got in at the last song, so very few shots of them at all). I was able to shoot upfront for all of The Inches set (which was great guys), but when Something With Numbers came on the photography pit at the front, well, disappeared under the surge of people. Note to Newcastle University: if you’re going to put a crowd barricade up front, bold it to the stage so that it doesn’t just get pushed all the way to the stage. Anyhow, these were the shots I managed to get (had some feedback from The Inches who really like what I got of them).
