'prune' my one little word for 2016

So 2015 draws to a close and what an incredible year its been. With my trip to Africa and Annie's trip to China it will be a hard year to top.

For the last two years I've been using Ali Edwards 'One Little Word' concept to live by. Click on the link and Ali can explain. I haven't done her workshops as my one little word venture has just been for me.  In 2014 my word was 'No' but used in a positive way. In 2015 my word was 'Seek' and that fitted perfectly in oh so many ways

For 2016 my word is 'Prune'. Not the fruit, but as in to trim, to cut, to nurture new growth, to do away with the old wood. The word came to me when I was mowing my lawns and thinking about what am I going to do with time now that I'm not photographing families as part of my business anymore. Besides scrapbooking more than I have in the last couple of years due to lack of time, I need something else to stimulate me. And that's when 'Prune' came to me.

You see, I planted my gardens 15 years ago, when I had a blank canvas to start with. Kym and I scalped the front yard and started with bare soil to bring to life. This allowed me to plant a very low maintenance garden complete with automated watering systems and plants that didn't need a lot of attention. So when I was mowing my lawns it came to me that I hadn't once 'Pruned' my garden in all of the 15 years since I created it. So perhaps its time to give it a little attention. Besides the mowing and using Roundup I've done nothing else.That's what I call low maintenance.

And with further thought, 'Prune' can mean so much more. I can weed out time wasting activities and distractions from my life so I have more time to nurture my kids and family. That includes myself with caring for my ongoing shoulder/elbow/wrist issues. With careful and attentive pruning my close friends will remain rock solid and dear to me.

I'm sure as the year 2016 goes along, there will more occasions when 'Prune' will be relevant and applicable.

summer storm

After a 42 degrees celsius stinking hot day, this front rolled in with vengeance. This was the leading edge that blew its guts out and pummelled the dry thirsty ground with rain. The wind blew two trampolines (that I know of locally) and smashed them both to bits. One was only built that morning and the little fella only had 20 mins of jumping on it, and that evening it was no more.

The temp dropped a fast 10 degrees as the front rolled over and the rain fell with vengeance. The scent of the rain on the hot earth was sublime.  

19 September 2015

Late summer light = bliss on a stick

dear santa

I'm up to date atm with all my photography commitments which are winding down for the end of the year. Just one more commercial shoot and 2015 is done.

So last night when I couldn't sleep for various reasons I got up and scrapped. And by 4 am I had this page done.  

Wilna Fusrtenberg's print cut silhouette files are D.VINE. She's my go to spot for ideas and inspo.  This LO is loosely based on her Christmas Coffee Cup front cover.

harvest 2015 images

Isn't it funny how one thing can roll into many things.

I had a brief from Pringles Crouch John Deere Dealership to capture an image or two to feature on large bar fridges that are to be given to their clients who had bought a new Header this season. This is one of three final images showcased on those fridges.

That image led to a request by a neighbor to capture his machine out in the paddock....

... which led to a 3 day commercial shoot with Ramsey Bros Case IH dealership to support a crew of 4 that came from Adelaide to shoot vision for a corporate video and footage for 3 tv Commercials. I shot the stills for brochures, websites and the like.  Again that lead up to these twilight images.....

... which then lead to another private inquiry for a client and his implements in the paddock.

I've also a number of images with the headers under our great southern night sky with all the stars ablaze too, but I'm loving the twilight images more.

The really gratifying aspect about this run of Harvest shots is that the fellas have been requesting them. And that means a lot.

To say I've been a tad busy in the last couple of weeks is a gross understatement. That's not including shooting images to promote the Cummins Christmas Wonderland, shooting my last family photoshoot (which was such awesome fun), photos of my own kids at their various end of school year functions, shooting a few shots for a friend for her christmas cards, and other little bits and pieces.