Portuguese Tarts

Tonight’s dinner party inspired me to crack out a new recipe – Portuguese Tarts. Let me get this straight from the outset. Cooking is new to me. And I am driven to cook more because I love to eat, rather than because I love to slave laboriously over ingredients, carefully measuring and lovingly mixing, only to have all that hard work devoured in minutes. So I have delved into the world of cooking because I love to eat, but also because I’m easily bored. I can’t live on the same 5 or 6 meals rotated weekly.

So, along came the Portuguese Tart. Maybe my version of these little heart attacks aren’t quite as pretty as they could be, but my god they were delicious.

 

Explorations

As a kid I loved exploring. Under the house, with it’s secret passage that you could access through the workshop was awesome. Through an old pipe that would leave me covered in orange slime was the best.

But I’ll put it out there – I’m also a huge chicken. I can’t watch horror movies. I jump at my own shadow.

So why would I jump at the chance to explore an abandoned building?

Because the kid in me still loves to imagine the stories a disused building has to tell, with it’s aching structure and brittle beams. The light that leaks it’s way in through cracks and the gamble of every footstep you take. The straw that broke the camels back.

This building has been explored many times. The floors are speckled with pidgeon shit and the stench of rodent fur is putrid in places. As our eyes adjust to pitch a makeshift loungeroom becomes evident. Is there someone in the mound of material on top of the mattress? It takes a few seconds to trust we are alone.

The walls are filled with artwork that could only be completed with the time allowed by being hidden. Away from the laneways of imminent discovery where graffiti is a common Melbourne practice. We settle in to this urban gallery and enjoy the treat.

Debuting Frankie Alibi & the Fugitives

There was a whole lotta leadup to this gig. Shooting the promo pics was great fun and seeing them plastered all over Melbourne in the oddest of places was bloody great too. And while Frankie was about to see if he could pull off something he’s never done before, I was looking forward to seeing if I could pull off something I haven’t done in years.

Shooting bands was how I first got into photography. Living in Edinburgh, I used to catch the train across to Glasgow for nights of gritty grrl rock. I’d shoot a role of film, crash on someone’s couch then catch the train back to Edinburgh excited to see what I’d captured. Usually a whole lotta blurry colour, but I thought it was awesome. You might miss the gig the way everyone else sees it, but you get to see it in a whole other way. I love it.

And can I just say, you Fugitives smashed it. What other band could sell out a 300 capacity venue on their debut gig, when barely anyone has heard of them, let alone a note of music? I guess Melbourne was aching for  a 12 piece rhythm & blues band full of some of Melbournes finest musos and fronted by the one and only Frankie Alibi. Where did he come from? He’d have to be the love child of James Brown & Elvis, if they had’ve hooked up and were able to procreate.

So anyway, great gig. Here’s how I saw it if anyone missed it or wants to relive it. Complete with fingerprinting at the door, booty shakin’ to the sounds of support band the ReChords and a bit of cop action at the end to finish things off.

Anyone looking for a band photographer? Contact me here or join me on facebook. Ace.

In the news

 

I’ve recently been doing LOADS of stuff for the Department of Education in Victoria. From Events announcing funding, to school openings to full day shoots for newspaper spreads.

It’s a great chance to check out new schools and every time I go somewhere I think I wanna live there and send my imaginary kids there. Albert Park College is set to be a corker of a high school and I had loads of fun photographing everything from the incredible light filled library, to Andrew Gaze in the basketball stadium and the Principal on the roof looking across the Melbourne city skyline.

Here’s one of my faves from the roof. For those interested I metered for the ambient light to get the city exposure right, then used flash off to camera right for fill. The sun was a bit of a killer coming in and out from behind clouds, but when it was out it worked well to create a bit of backlight.

Enjoy…

 

Frankie Alibi & the Fugitives

Two of my most favourite things in the world are photography and music. When I get to combine them, it rocks (no pun intended).

A couple of weeks ago I hooked up with Frankie and his fugitives to make them some hot images to let the world know about their upcoming debut performance in Melbourne. Look out for posters plastered all over town in a few weeks.

A twelve piece soul group is just what our ears have been aching for. And I have inside info that Frankie has some hot moves up his sleeve to pull out. I think James Brown has just been reincarnated.

You can check out the full shoot, with some great criminal discriptions here.

… Or check out a couple of the mugs below, along with a few behind the scenes shots from Frankie himself.

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Piroj & Viren – Pre Wedding shoot

It’s taken me a couple of weeks to find the time to post this, but it’s not for lack of wanting to! This couple is super lovely and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding next Feb. They are living in Sydney, but took time out to fly down to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago for a city-change. We caught up and took a few snaps. Enjoy…

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Bearded Iris (take 2)

So I can’t get enough of these hats! Here we are again with Nicholas Wilsden’s creations for his label Bearded Iris.

I love that people get to explore their imaginations through so many different avenues. Nico’s calling definitely sits on top of heads.

We opted for  a mannequin for this shoot and with glitter, lighting and a little magic we entered a Milliner’s dream land…