The 2008 Photographic Review Continues.

• 2008: A Photographic Review – Part I
• 2008: A Photographic Review – Part II
• 2008: A Photographic Review – Part III
• 2008: A Photographic Review – Part IV

July

Another two weeks attending The Annandale Hotel occurred this month.

End of Fashion rocked back in to Sydney’s Annandale Hotel to celebrate a long drought of shows. Support was by friends Cuthbert & the Night Walkers and fellow Sydney band Bridgemary Kiss.

Oz Hip-hop has been big the last couple of years and TZU headed down to the Annandale Hotel to make their presence felt, with support from The Tongue and Rapaport. Oh yeah, I’d also picked up a new lens – a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM – which got an outing at this gig.

World Youth Day was upon us in July so the camera, mainly with the new ultra-wide angle lens on it, came walkabout a bit.

The Annual Pilgrimage (of sorts) once again saw the bogan group from Manly High School’s class 2000 (plus a couple of ring-ins) hit the road up to Mike’s Farm at Ilford for a weekend of doing what we do best. I also got to have a little fun with the new strobist gear I picked up back when the dollar was at parity with the greenback.

During this month I also got myself in over my head doing headshots for my sister and her musical with the Newsouth University Theatre Society (NUTS for short, kinda apt don’t you think?). Not only that, I also did the design work for the programme, the website, the posters and the hoodies.

Finally to round out July I also headed out to shoot Lightspeed Champion at the Oxford Art Factory with Nicholas, this time working with The Sydney Social.

August

August was a fairly quite photographic month for me, however in life it was changing. I moved out of the abode in Surry Hills and took over the spare room at the Haberfield abode of one of my best mates – Stu.

Following up the work I did for my Hannah (my sister) with her production of Man of la Mancha, I also shot the dress rehearsal…

and back stage at one of the nights.

To round out the last month of Winter for 2008 I finally caught up with a fellow photographer from England, Mark Haldane, and his girlfriend Heather Carson while they were in Australia doing some work experience up in the Queensland outback (having flown down to Sydney on one of their two week breaks). I’ve known Mark for quite some time through the ubiquitous intarwebs (he gave me some ideas on faux-cross-processing in 2006) and it was good to finally catch up as I took them from lunch at Manly up to Palm Beach (well, they are hopeless poms and just had to get a shot at “Summer Bay”) before we drove back across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (one of the few times I wished for a convertible) and ended up in Glebe for some hot chocolates at to round out the day. Hopefully both Mark and Heather can return the favour when I hit the shores of England in April!

September

The second day of Spring saw me shoot another gig for The Sydney Social – this time it was a MAX Session recording of Newton Faulkner. I ended up getting to talk to his sister for much of the end of his set and discovered that he was extremely nervous about playing in the Sydney Opera House – and that it was something he hoped for but never imagined would come true. Dreams, huh!

To follow up the midweek shoot I hit The Metro in the heart of the city for some Drum ‘n’ Bass courtesy of our kiwi cousins in Shapeshifter. These guys seriously know how to put on a great live show, and that night was no exception. I can only imagine how they’d bring down the house at the Enmore if given the opportunity. Support came in the form of Ritual & Spike T plus Bondi’s Budspells.

Next up it was a night out at one of Sydney’s iconic music venues – The Basement at Circular Quay. Not only did we have Holly Throsby as the main act, but Youth Group’s Toby Martin took the role of warming up the crowd.

…and closing out the third quarter of 2008 in photos are the local lads from Van She as they hit The Forum at Moore Park to release their album, pulling along Lost Valentinos for support.

The Annual Roadtrip to Mike’s Farm for 2007

My fifth escape with mates from school to one of the guy’s family hobby farm. It’s always good to get away and burn massive piles of dead wood, eat plenty of meat and drink a few beers with mates. Didn’t shoot quite as much as in other years, not really sure why either. Oh well, still pulled off a few classic farm shots.

The Drive Up

Roadtrip vehicle of choice: my Volkswagen Golf TDI

Since I’m living in Newcastle (well, for two more days at the time of writing), I had the opportunity to take one of two routes to Ilford – either down to Sydney and then the same as everyone else, or around the Wollemi National Park and via Mudgee. Since I’ve never done it, I took the latter. The day was extremely misty and I left around 11am from Newcastle. Essentially you head out via towns such as Maitland and Branxton on the New England Highway before turning off towards Denman and Merriwa along the Golden Highway. Outside of Cassilas you throw a left and go down Ulan Road (also known as Roadkill Highway) and you’ll then end up at Mudgee. Ilford is just 45 minutes away to the south, and the whole journey took me about 4.5 hours driving time.

After a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, plus the obligatory shopping for the masses, I headed south along the Castlereagh Highway to Ilford and stopped in at a lovely little winery – Logan Wines. I had seen some shots of the winery in the Mudgee Wine Guide and thought it a bit more of a quirky location than most of the other cellar doors in the area so pulled in. Stunning building and awesome vista is what you get as you sample their bottles of wines.

The Farm = Fire + Meat + Beer

The fuel for Bonfire v2007.1 of the trip

Arriving first at the farm, and once I found the hidden key, I started unloading the random assortment of food bought at Mudgee before I saw a cloud of dust approaching as Stu tried to sideswipe me before getting out of the car and cursing about his choice of transport. Apparently his folks car hadn’t lived up to his might Mazda 323 (1970 vintage). Before long we’d got everything inside, lit the first of many fires and setup his new toy – an XBOX Media Centre, complete with all your favourite NES, SNES, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, N64 and more games – enabling us to relive our childhood quarter life crises style.

Duncan arrives at the Farm

Before long Sunny had rocked up and a three player game of the SNES classic Mario Party ensued, causing the cooking of the traditional first night Bolognese to be delayed. The remained of the team for day one – Mike D, Charles, Alistair and Duncan – turned up around 11pm and the evening’s poker tournament began (needless to say I was $5 down rather quickly). Dinner was finally head and people sporadically headed to bed for sleep.

Charles directs the construction of Bonfire v2007.1

Duncan not so impressed with Charles’ construction plans for Bonfire v2007.1

The next day saw firewood collecting get under way relatively early, as we strove to beat the fires of previous years, and Richard pulled up in the Mr Computer Mobile Help Desk car. By dusk we had the first bonfire of the weekend lit and on its way to rejoin the short term carbon cycle.

Beers by Bonfire v2007.1

That night the last of the attendees for 2007 arrived with Tom at the wheel and Foster, Mash and Drew holding on for dear life all the way from Sydney (and looking like they’d most certainly need a beer). In true farm tradition, for Tom that is, the man went on to perform his customary salute to the Dean Farm – a streak in and around the property, this time eschewing the slippers in favour of socks.

Stu, Duncan and Richard discuss tactics

The day had also seen our first “in person” match of Diplomacy.

Construction of Bonfire v2007.2RC

Saturday saw another day of firewood collection, and the planning of the biggest bonfire to date – Bonfire v2007.2RC. Unlike previous years, we decided first to bury a wide trunk like piece of wood in the ground to act as a center focus, and then build the log cabin around it. This year the chainsaw was also utilised to notch the major pieces in the log cabin to prevent them rolling off. To give you some perspective on the size of this pile of firewood, see below for the traditional farm photo.

Doesn’t quite show just how big it is from this angle

We were on the fenceline for a while

Mini-whirley-whirelies were created by the suction due to the heat and small wind gusts

The Drive Home

Unlike the drive up, the drive home was without fog or mist, but the sky filled with cloud. Just one shot from the way back.

Can’t quite recall where this was taken – near Mudgee I think

The Farm Crew for 2007

Definitely a fun and longstanding tradition – number six this year for the trips, and my fifth personally.

Farm Crew for 2007: Back Row (left to right) Foster, Richard, Stu, Sunny; Middle Row (left to right) Mike D, Duncan, Drew; Bottom Row (left to right) Mash, Tom, Me (Joel), Charles, Alistair.

More photos, as always, are available at flickr.

Mike’s Farm Roadtrip – 2006

Well, it’s that time of year again. Well, actually it’s a month later than last year due to the Mike D + Shehadie World Tour, but that has simply amplified the anticipation. The annual trip to Mike’s farm is on once again and I leave tomorrow. Heading out from Newcastle I’ve been faced with two options for traveling – either head to Sydney and then out to the little town of Ilford where we will be for the next few days, or head north west and go via Mudgee and the Hunter. With a day to drive it I’ll be taking the scenic inland route, and hopefully scoring some photos along the way – after all, I’m never anywhere without a camera.

Thought I’d post a few of my favourite shots from previous trips – this being the fifth year I’ve attended, but the sixth annual trip.

Those on the rollcall for this year’s trip include: Mike (obviously), Me, Stu, Charles, Alistair, Richard, Foster, Duncan, Tom, Mash, Sunny (?), Drew (?).

2006

Those present (left to right): Alistair, Seb, Charles, Foster, Stu, Ben, Sunny, Duncan, Shehadie, Tom, Me (Joel), Mash, Mike.

2005

Those present (left to right): Tom, Mike, Me (Joel), Nick, Shehadie, Charles, Seb, Jesse, Sunny, Drew, Stu, Richard.

2004

Those present (left to right): Tom, Sunny, Richard, Alistair, Charles, Mike, Duncan, Stu, Seb, Foster, Drew, Me.

2003

Those present for the walk to Mt Ilford (left to right): Me (Joel), Stu, Charles, Mike, Alistair, Duncan.