Tie dye is to die for

Recently I went back home for a wedding... I spent the better half of Sunday casually ignoring my hang over and cruising the local markets where I stumbled across a lovely gent from Bellingen who spent his days in his back yard tie dying bed sheets to sell at the Jetty markets.

You couldn't help but stop and marvel at the light shining through these beautiful sheets as they blew about in the breeze...We had a nice little chat about his dog and the fine art that is tie dying (he air brushes the finer circles) before I decided to purchase a queen size set of bed sheets to liven up my room.

Despite Vogue Bloggers being somewhat mortified tie dye had made a "comeback" I long ago decided I would never be too young to sport my tie dyed T-Shirt - which funnily enough I also bought in Bellingen over 10 years ago now, so why shouldn't the same rule apply to my bed sheets... who says when your all grown up you've gotta be...well... grown up! Not I!

Polaroid Cool Cam....

Any kind of special edition Polaroid here in Australia goes for around $200 - $380 which I think is a little crazy... I mean come on man, who, in these trying times has $250 to spare on a Polaroid camera - OK OK I've caved once... but it was a really cool camera and totally worth my hard earned cash...

but lets face it that's a habit this crazy cat cant afford on a regular basis so after some serious research, meaning i spent 5 fast minutes doing some serious googling I calculated, literally, that it was cheaper to buy direct from online stores in America... the product AND postage would cost me about one third of the price here in Australia...So this past week i was happily bidding away on the beauty above...

I'd been the highest bidder for a week so you can understand my disappointment when i was out bid in the dying 5 seconds... and lost my precious camera that was never really mine to begin with... however i remain optimistic, somewhere out there in the world wide web there is a pink and gray cool cam with my name on it and I'm going to find her sooner or later.... stay tuned.

Special Edition Polaroid Cameras

We all love a good Polaroid camera, that is of course why you are here... and I've blogged before about various Special Edition Polaroids, first there was the Legoland, then Taz the Looney Tune Polaroid, we've all seen a Barbie edition floating around and marvelled at the "cool cams" not to mention shaken our heads in shame at the Spice Girls Edition - that should of tipped us off right there Polaroid was in trouble...

But now, just when I thought that was it... what else could the lovely people at Polaroid have to offer, I stumble across these two beauty's, above, on eBay.... Ive never seen a HBO Video Special Edition Polaroid before, let alone a McDonald's one - both from a time in the 80's when advertising and marketing where boom industries - you know... back when it was tough to find a sporting event sans Winfield Blue sponsor ship, Naomi Camble didn't get out of bed for less than $10,000 and time wasters the world over rejoiced in the introduction of the Rubik's Cube and The Slinky.

Companies were blowing big dollars on Marketing and Advertisers, who in turn blew big dollars up their noses, branding was the new thing and partnerships were made and logos slapped on anything that made your company raw and cool again. Enter Polaroid teaming up with HBO Video and McDonald's... Well that's my theory anyway.

I'm currently bidding on both cameras, fingers crossed! Click here to visit czengol's eBay America store for more great Polaroid finds.

Earth Hour 2009

I have to go to yet another wedding on Saturday down the coast but rest assured I'll be turning off all our power points and appliances before we go.... don't forget to do the same.... light some candles, make a night of it... whats this have to do with photography you ask? well not much, but lets just say if the world plummets into another ice age or the sun gets so gosh darn hot your trapped in doors for all eternity you wont have much to take photos of now will you!

Where The Wild Things are

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is arguably my most favorite book of all time (sorry J.M Barrie, apologies John Irving, big ups to you still Charles Dickens) Granted the book itself is only 10 sentences long, but they are 10 sentences filled with imagination, joy and possibility, in short this book just fills your heart with love... 

The excited whispers among adults has eclipsed that of their younger counterparts with word of the Spike Jonze adaption soon to hit screens sometime in 2009/2010 and judging by both the film clip and the image released above its shaping up to be one hell of a movie going experience.

Bellingen where my heart is...

After a recent trip back to sunny Coffs Harbour I realised just how much I've been missing the good clean mid north coast air. Do I want to stay in Sydney for ever? No. Do I someday want a holiday house, veggie patch and nice piece of backyard to call my own? Of course. 

So with interest rates down and Kevie O-sevy forking out first home owners grants like they are going out of fashion I figured I'd best get a move on before the moment passed me by... 

I've never been a fan of "new things" when it comes to furniture, dusty old records an second hand books.... So it seems natural i gravitate towards a house that's already seen a lot of living. I like my things to have substance, a history to them and lets face it... they just don't build things like they used to, so when I stumbled across this little gem above in the "old" part of Bellingen on the states mid north coast I was all kind of excited.... at first glance it just felt like home... and with a built in fireplace and floor baords through out... what's not to love?

I realise this is quite possibly the impulse buy to end all impulse buys but hopefully fate is on my side and no one else snaps it up before i can get my pre approved loan approved on Friday! Fingers crossed people.

Earth Hour

Despite Polaroid film becoming a rarity in stock rooms these days... a very expensive rarity at that... I'm more than happy for my Polaroids to come out looking a little like the shots above this Saturday the 28th of March when the second annual Earth Hour is set to take place, not just across Australia (where it began in Sydney 2 years ago) but across the whole damn world!

This years global call to action is expected to see 1 BILLION people turn there lights off for 1 hour, starting from 8:30pm on Saturday the 28th of March.

Click here to find out more

Hey You! Say Cheese! Disposable camera.1

I left a camera tied to a park bench on The Esplanade in Cronulla recently, with a little note to passers by asking them to think outside the square, have a little fun... take some photos and I'll be back later to pick the camera up.

No one stole the camera so Kudos for human decency....There were lots of different shots on the role too - Yay for creativity

The only down side was most people took 3 or 4 photos, using up the role in a few short hours as opposed to the 12 hours the camera was due to be left there, although I'd hardly call that a downside as peoples enthusiasm is very much appreciated remember next time to leave your digital mind frames at the door and save some shots for other folks looking to have some fun :)

Thanks to everyone who participated. Keep your eyes peeled for another camera soon. Click Here to see the whole role

Thank You Technology

Thanks to the lovely people at Stat Counter and countless other human type people that contribute to the world of ever evolving technology I can click on a little button and a map comes up on screen pin pointing the state and/or country of origin of my readers. 

Not only is this pretty damn cool  even by James Deans books, its also nice to know, well not know but be reassured that photography, creativity or a simple love of Polaroid film is universal and transcends the boarders of Iran, Poland, Korea and Mexico... Just to name a few... makes you all kind of warm and fuzzy inside don't it. 

Good times. Great Music

I caught up with a friend for a quiet beer on Friday night.... No huge plans other than to sink into one of the old club lounges at my favorite bar on Broadway and have a few laughs over a few beers and a wonderfully retro coffee table... So when the night randomly took us to CW Stoneking at the Enmore Theatre for his "Love me or Die" tour and I saw not one but two awesome bands... well... needless to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Ive seen C W before and dig his sound but the real surprise this time around was his support act, Mamie Minch who emerged out of the dark to bring the house down with her raw vocals, blues ballads and Memphis Mimmie sound.

The shots above were taken with my Taz 600 Special Edition Polaroid. I love the two photos above.... although I cant reasonably take credit for the second shot as it was the soul sitting next to me that managed to captured Mamie, not to mention our feet emerging from the darkness that is the Enmore Theatre.

Fun + Mental = Fundamental

I wrote early this month about doing a Aussie version of the "Stranger Photos Have Happened" Project... where put simply, I leave disposable cameras in public places and come back later to check out the results its a bit of a test in both human creativity and decency, you know that kind of thing. .. anyway...

This past week I've put two cameras out into the world... the first was taped to my front door and the second to a telegraph pole on "the Esplanade" a concrete strip that crawls along the coast line south of Sydney and is popular among people from all walks of life. There is Shark Island, a world class surf break on one side and a nursing home on the other so I was positive I'd get some varied results....

I sat and watched for half a hour this afternoon... curious about peoples reactions... Some walked past and didn't even take note, too consumed with there own thoughts or rushing to make it home in time for dinner. Most stopped and read and a few took photos but what really surprised me was the amount of people that stopped, read the entire note, then with the camera in hand, looked around sheepishly to see if anyone was watching and at the last moment were overcome with a severe case of embarrassment/shyness / self consciousness in general, dropped the camera and kept walking.

This is just a harmful little photographic project to see what kind of creative compositions people come up with when put on the spot, and as previously mentioned its also a little test in human decency, It just never crossed my mind anyone would react so positively only to be over come with self consciousness to walk swiftly in the opposite direction... of course I know a project like this is not for everyone, but whats happened to us as a human race when concern for what other people think dictates our actions? or more alarmingly - our fun?

Its quite the contrast to camera number 2 that is currently taped to the outside of my front door, where only people coming to specifically visit me will happen upon it. They may not get why I'm doing what I'm doing but they pick up the camera and have a go anyway... They know me and I guess have some kind of trust in that the photos are for a fun cause....

The other thing that surprised me was a few random souls had taped there business cards to the note If you were one of those people thank you for your interest and I hope you had fun, as, after all.... that's what its all about :)

The photo above was taken with my (gasp) digital Cannon G9. 12 mega pixels of absolute brilliance.... not so brilliant perhaps is the fact I'm in a toilet cubicle back stage at last years Falls Music and Arts Festival... but a nice cubicle at that don't you think?

Random Looks down...

Its no secret I like taking photos of feet. Its not a weird thing... or some kind of strange fetish, so often we are told "eyes forward" or "look up" all the while some exciting things are happening right under our noses (literally) OK maybe exciting is a stretch of poetic license... but a random look down never fails to produce a interesting perspective and I don't know about you but i like a interesting perspective.

I was interested to see on my stat counter just how popular my random look down posts have been. If you'd like a bit of a re-cap you can click here, here, here, here and here to see past random looks down. Oh and right here too!

This weekend I have a loaded camera and new film to burn... watch your feet people x

The photos above were taken with my good old faithful Polaroid 600 Construction Job Pro out the front of my place at Blackwoods beach in sunny Cronulla. I love how different the colours are between the two.... you just never know how a shot will turn out... a kind of surprise digital just cant give you.

Hola Amigo 610

I just acquired, as in picked up on eBay a new Polaroid "Amigo 610" camera.... and I'm pretty excited about it! Granted its not the prettiest kid about town, but with a name like "Amigo" whats not to love?

Right off the bat it conjures up images of afternoon cervezas, long treks through the desert amongst Mayan ruins... casting for bait fish off-a the coast of Puerto Penasco. Mexico and south America have long been on my list of places to get to, last year, having crossed off Asia, Africa and the middle east off my list (and by no means does "crossed off" indicate i wont be going back) I now have Mexico set in my sights (well after my trip to Nepal in October anyway) and rest assured my Amigo 610 will be coming with me.

Coffs Harbour Feet

There is nothing quite like the feeling of returning home. Especially after you've been away for such a long while... I watched one of my best friends get married. Ran into old friends made new ones - relaxed and breathed in the good clean mid nth coast air.

The photos above were taken with my Polaroid Job Pro Construction camera and the location? you dont want to know...

Hello. I'm a disposable camera

Ladies and Gentleman its time to have a little fun

peter pan syndrome Part 2

A month or two ago I wrote about the joys of child hood in Peter Pan Syndrome... you know back when tying one of mums tea towels around your neck and wearing your undies on the outside meant you were superman... I couldn't help but wonder why the hell, as adults, we somehow stop living like that?

Granted wearing your undies on the outside might be frowned upon in certain social circles but tackling every day with childish enthusiasm certainly is not.....

Keeping all things Peter Pan'ish in mind (as you do) the boyfriend and I had a dinner party on Friday night for a few of our lovely friends... The word dinner party normally conjures up all kinds of adult type scenarios don't it? Crystal stemware and es cargo? table settings, 3 course meals and your Friday night best... but where is the fun in conforming to those adult type scenarios i ask you?

We traded the Crystal stemware and es cargo for Dodgy Mexican cerveza and home made pizzas. Forfeited the three course meal and fancy table settings... hell we even got rid of the table and took up residence on the lounge room floor and best of all our Friday night best's we're swapped for our god damn Pyjamas amongst games of Pictionary..... that's right, you heard me! We had a PJ Party and by god it was fun!

Alcohol content aside it was essentially just like when we were kids. We sat about in our Pj's drawing funny pictures and laughing till our stomachs hurt.... and I for one plan to live like that more often!

"Taz" Polaroid - Welcome to the family my man

Six months ago I lost my job. The company went into liquidation. I found out when I was in the middle of Egypt, having blown every last cent I had on camel rides and some damn fine hash'ish I was less than impressed about the prospect of arriving home broke and somewhat jobless. 

Fast Fwd 6 months and I'd long ago given up any hope of seeing a cent that I was owed... I didnt even bother notifying the people responsible for battling for our hard earned cash that I'd moved house. 

Enter a random day off work, a chance meeting with a old co-worker who happened to mention our compensation cheques had been mailed out all but 2 days ago and me racing to my old house to sneak a peak in the new tenants letter box and low and behold my cheque was there... all red and yellow and pretty in its express post envelope and POW I could now afford a new (as in old) Polaroid... 

Enter "Taz" the Special Edition Polaroid from the good people at Looney Tunes, I have not been able to turn up an iota info on why exactly the little tazzie devil that could was selected above all the Looney Tunes characters to be turned into a special edition Polaroid, all i know is he hit stores a little over 10 years ago... If anyone has any info I'd love to hear about it. 

Secret garden. Polaroid heaven

This is where I spent sporadic summers crouched under large pine trees with my homemade crossbow (yes crossbow) waiting for the slightest glimmer of movement from the enemy, and when I say enemy I mean my big brother James. 

At the time i was probably only pushing 5 maybe 6 years old and our imaginations would run wild in this mysterious thing called my Nonno's backyard.... The Back Shed was  a scary and exciting place where we would sit for hours playing with non's tools... and off course assembling the aforementioned crossbows...

I remember one day ducking for cover into the chook shed as the enemy closed in fast behind me. I heard the whoosh of his little wooden BBQ skewer fly past my little blond head, only to whip around and realise he'd accidentally shot one of the chooks fare up the backside!

Ahhh the memories... Needless to say our little arsenal of home made weapons were confiscated soon after (Sorry Non)

These Photos were taken on my Polaroid 600 Construction Pro!

Monster Children

Well aware a lot of my readers are from the foggy Don (hello London) it recently dawned on me you may not have had the pleasure to stumble across Monster Children.... As much as the title sounds like Mary Poppins's worst nightmare, it is in fact a freak'n cool magazine... and judging by the cover of their latest issue they love Polaroid film as much as we do.

Is this You Photo Project

Ever stumbled across a photo on the ground on your merry way home? or jumped into a photo booth with your friends only to find passport shots left behind by some random stranger? Ever think they might just want that photo back? The dudes at "Is this you?" did, and they've gone all good Samaritan on the world and have created a home for these photos online in a bid to reconnect them with their rightful owners.

Not only is this a bloody nice thing to do, its a great place for a giggle if you have some time to waste... Click here to check out the goods!

Karma Calculator

This has nothing to do with Photography... Unless of course you stole someone's camera.... or perhaps are guilty of flipping the bird in one family portrait for grandma too many... 

Either way Click here to calculate your karma....

Resurrecting The Disposable Camera

That's right! I'm buying in bulk baby! Alliteration aside I'm pretty excited about this purchase. Stay tuned for the Australian version of "Stranger Photos have happened" A social experiment in human decency... and a little bit of fun too!