If all things go right, I should be back with photos.

This has got to be the shortest blog post I’ve written yet.

It’s Chinese New Year. I wish you all a happy and prosperous year in the Year of the Tiger! And to any of you still travelling, I wish you a safe and swift journey to your loved ones.

This year I was able to be home with the family to attend Chinese New Year Eve dinner. Despite trying to limit the intake of food, I lost count of the plates of food eaten. It’s the only time of year where I do eat stupendous amounts of food. And later in the evening, I headed out to a temple in Northbridge with my grandmother to bring in the new year with a lion dance and firecrackers.

After this frame, I decided to put the camera down and shield it with my body and cover my ears as the chain reaction took hold. I always forget to take a pair of ear plugs along. If I ever do become deaf, I think that firecracker demonstrations would be a large contributing factor.

The red material around the feet of the lion dancers and performers is debris from the firecrackers. It carpeted the entrance to the temple. Here, the lions are being welcomed into the temple to bring good luck and fortune.

As I attempted to make my way to the door saying goodbye to people, the drawing of the door prizes occurred. It would be rude to leave so I stopped in amongst the crowd. I had popped my card into the bowl and stayed out of curiosity as to what the door prize was. Turns out it was $3,500 of search engine optimisation from the team at Hub Creative. And, yours truly won it.

Not sure what this will mean or lead to but I look forward to working with them. I may even get the website that I’ve only been able to dream about! Won’t that be something?

I’m planning to give it a bit more of a run-through later today and tonight. I have noticed some things such as the colour produced by this lens is much more vibrant than expected. Even though I thought I was prepared for a grainy image. nothing prepared me enough when I viewed on on the monitor. It did take a little getting used to. Having said that, this little lens is opening up new thoughts and approaches to photography. And for a mere $US76.72 from Photojojo’s store, (including postage), I couldn’t have asked for more.

This was my breakfast this morning. Bacon and eggs, (scrambled) toasted sandwich. Much needed after a morning run-around with Australia Post in order to get my lens.

The first photowalk was held at Kings Park with two participants, myself and Tim Pokorny. You may remember him as the photographer raising money for RSPCA Australia by offering to strip off once he reaches AU$520 with his Raunchy for the RSPCA campaign. If you haven’t donated, go do it. At last update, he’s reached $300 so he’s over the halfway mark.

A heads up on Kings Park, (Western Australia’s state war memorial), if anyone feels like visiting. The part along Fraser Avenue where the main cafe and flagship restaurant, Fraser’s is located is currently undergoing construction and a very serious revamp. There’s detour signs and traffic is re-routed to flow along one way routes complete with temporary fencing and earth moving equipment scattered about. In short it’s an obstacle course at the moment, for drivers and pedestrians. It’s all due to be finished by April 2010, hopefully before ANZAC Day. I don’t even want to think about how Kings Park fared on Australia Day but hopefully by ANZAC Day all the work will be finished. It would only be right, otherwise I would feel incensed enough to organise a busy bee to give the folks at Kings Park a hand.

Back to the photowalk itself. There were plenty of people about on Sunday afternoon having picnics or just lazing about on the grassy areas. We chose a path and walked along photographing things that caught out attention. Even though we photographed the same subjects, our points of view differed markedly. The results can be viewed here on the flickr group Camera Walkers. It’s a group I set up for anyone participating in a photowalk to do this and to share photos. Members don’t necessarily have to be in Perth, Western Australia.

While organising this photowalk, Dorrena Ortega of Shoreline, Washington asked if I would be okay if she could take the idea and run with it. I agreed and it wasn’t long that a facebook group called Shoreline, Wa Photowalkers sprung up and were hosting their own event. Five people participated on their first photowalk and it’s been lovely to see what the world looks like on the other side of the planet. They enjoyed themselves so much that they’ve already picked a location for their second photowalk. I’m still tossing up between two locations at the moment and looking rather disorganised. :p

A couple of people have asked about what camera equipment is required. There isn’t any restriction on it. The good old point and shoot, cameraphone, Hasselblad, film, digital or any other device that captures an image is welcome. Even an X-Plane should you have one which would be really cool!

Though what is needed is a sense of fun and a pair of good walking shoes.

I only wish I was staying longer. The weather is simply amazing especially when an ocean mist rolls in completely obscuring the horizon from view. The sky here at times dominates the landscape, no matter where you are. The weather changes every 15 minutes in Melbourne. In Esperance, the change can be as quick as 5 minutes and quite difficult to pick. I’m thankful that I packed a couple of jackets. Needed them today.

That stops now. And well before I forget the fact that I enjoy photography and that I have fun behind the lens.

Wait! What’s a Photowalk?

Well according to the fountain of all knowledge Wikipedia,

“Photowalking is the act of walking with a camera for the main purpose of taking pictures of things that the photographer may find interesting.”

How does this help my lack of ability of going out shooting with other photographers?

That’s where you come in. Yes, you, particularly if you live in Perth, Western Australia, because I’m inviting anyone with a camera to come join me at absolutely no cost. It’s a photowalk and a chance to try out things, learn and to meet other photographers. Well, you get to meet me but I’m not rich and famous, (yet!). I’m organising this thing so it’s best that I turn up.

But I only have a [insert camera type here]?

So what? It takes photos right? That’s all you need. Work with what you’ve got. Got a better camera than me? Bring it along and witness the camera envy. Just make sure you know how to use your camera though. I may know how to use my camera but chances are I’ve got very little idea about how your camera works.

Will there be a theme?

Strictly speaking, no. I’m leaving it open and letting the location and participants of the photowalk dictate what gets photographed. Though there may be a suggestion thrown in now and again, either from me or from any requests people may have.

When?

The last Sunday afternoon of every month, 3:00PM – 5:00PM. First one will be on the 31st of January.

Where?

Various locations about Perth. I’ll be going north and south of the river. I’m still yet to decide on the location of the first one.

So…if you’re interested, drop me a message here or on my facebook fan page. Would be great to have an idea of numbers.

No, this is about Tim, a software engineer with a penchant for photography. Also someone who I do take great pleasure in encouraging to buy various bits of photography gear. Current plan of attack is to get him to get a macro lens. Apart from being a swell guy, he has a soft spot for critters and has come up with a project. A project that I would be far too scared to undertake. I simply don’t have enough courage required, but Tim does.

Okay, now for Tim’s idea.

Tim is wanting to raise AU$520 for the RSPCA in Australia. He wants anyone to donate and then tell him about it by sending in a copy of your tax invoice from RSPCA via email, tpokorny AT gmail DOT com with “Raunchy for the RSPCA” in the Subject heading. Tim’s goal target is AU$520. Why not more? He’s set a realistic attainable target that can be reached.

What happens when the target of AU$520 is reached?

Tim will take a self portrait of himself, minus boy bits, and upload it to his flickr stream for everyone to see.

And if you’re on twitter, Tim will update from his account @soporificfrog, with an update of the running total as it passes every AU$50. Currently the total stands at AU$150.

Why am I telling you about this?

I like animals and I support the work that RSPCA carries out in Australia. That and I am far too gutless to pull off an act of this magnitude.

For full details of this, please go visit Tim’s blog post here and consider participating by donating. It’s just the cost of two fancy coffees that would mean the world of difference to an animal helped out by the RSPCA.

For those with the strongly held belief that Twitter is a waste of time and that it’s a land of gibberish. You’re possibly correct but then you’re most likely reading the wrong tweets, (status updates on twitter). Twitter is what you make of it.

So what’s this @togmentor? It’s an initiative started by Craig Ferguson, (can also be found on twitter, @cfimages), to bring new and aspiring photographers and professional photographers together as part of a mentoring programme. It’s informal and creates conversation between people, something of which is becoming an archaic practice as people adopt keyboard warrior mentalities.

So what’s involved? Well, you do need a twitter account which is free and very obtainable at www.twitter.com. Choose a user name that isn’t too long. Then follow @togmentor and then start tweeting, (talking). By sending a tweet to @togmentor or using the #togmentor hashtag to describe what you need. This will then be broadcast to everyone following @togmentor and someone will respond. How certain am I that someone will respond? Fairly certain. Think of Twitter like an online chatroom that never closes.

You can ask for advice in starting out or even for a bit of critique. There may even be the opportunity to meet another photographer. It’s what you make of it.

More details of the @togmentor mentoring initiative can be found at Graig’s website here. If this weren’t enough work for Craig, he’s also embarking on a very ambitious Project 365 where he’s providing a photography tip each day for a year.

Who am I on Twitter? @LoneFemaleTog and I tweet a lot with a lot of people, often with photographers. For me, it is a source of inspiration, camaraderie and fun. It has gotten me through some of the darker moments when I have questioned picking up the camera. Without it, I wouldn’t be the photographer I am today.

While it is a noble idea to collect the photographs into a book to sell to raise funds for 2010’s Help-Portrait event, it creates liars out of the photographers, make-up artists and assistants on the day. Imagine approaching people and trying to explain that you now want their permission to have their photo published in a coffee table book to be sold worldwide. A book that they would most likely never see, read or even care about. I cannot do this with a clean conscience. To them, I am going back on the promise that their portraits would never be published by me or anyone.

Worse still, I’m allowing someone else to profit from them. That’s what I became angry about. So what if I get my name credited on the photo amongst hundreds of thousands? So what if I get a photo of mine published? Whoopee, lets break out the champagne and have a parade to celebrate making a profit from those less fortunate and from those who wish to live a private life away from the publicity. I’m not that kind of person.

So yes, I took to twitter and facebook to let Jeremy Cowart and his team know that I did not want a part of this and that I was against making any profit from Help-Portrait. I found that I was not alone in being against the idea of a book.

In the height of my angry statements I did label Jeremy Cowart a liar and questioned his original intentions of Help-Portrait which can be seen here on twitter. And from Jeremy, I got a reply, most unexpected but I got one which can be seen here from his twitter account. I was most delighted to hear that the idea of the book has been put to rest. At least, for now.

I came away from Help-Portrait with trust earned from the people I photographed on the 12th of December. I did not know that I had it until days after the event. People have come up to me and thanked me for their portraits. One gentleman says hello to me every time he sees me wandering through the city streets looking for a photographic opportunity and it is always a pleasure to speak with him. This may not sound much to anyone else but it is something I hold more importance in than a coffee table book. And I will do my utmost to keep it.

I have nothing against wanting to bring awareness to people less fortunate whether it be the issue of homelessness, domestic violence, rape, abject poverty, and mental illness, just to name a few. So far in what I have seen and experienced in almost three decades on this planet, awareness has not provided a warm meal, roof over heads or even a sense of belonging for people. Awareness has not provided answers. People can be as aware as they like about issues but it’s about time people started doing something practical for those who are in need of help.

If in the future, a book is to be created, I would like to see emphasis on the experience that photographers had in participation than photos presented prettily in a book. The organisation of model releases well before the event would be required, not only to allow photographers to organise events but also to allow relationships to occur between the subject and the photographer. Due to the nature of the event, photographs summarising the day or a chain of events on the day should be allowed in the case where portraits are not obtainable. Funds raised from the sale of the book should be returned to organisations that work with people in need, not to fund the next Help-Portrait event.

I will be reading the conditions of Help-Portrait 2010 before deciding whether I want to create an event under their auspices or to go it alone.

PS: I hadn’t expected the first post for 2010 to be so forthright and angry but this is important and I’m making my position known.