Personal Journey and Adventures of Nina

What did you say? Working with children and pets is a nightmare. Not quite, but very challenging. Usually one or the other is ok but put the two together and you will definitely be in need of a calming cup of tea afterwards! 

Because my Flash based website is just SO slow, I decided to launch a new website with Photoshelter to handle the large number of orders coming in for swim action photo's from various meets.  So far, so good. There are a couple of improvements that I would like to see made in the near future but on the whole, I'm pretty impressed. Thank you to all my clients who happily gave me feedback regarding the previous site. It helps to know when you're doing something wrong as well as when you get it right! Here is the link to the new site. It is also available from the splash page on www.ninabeilby.com .

What do you do when the dog has had enough...photograph the children!  Today we were photographing for a pet magazine, ( Pet Industry News )  but Missy, the Labradoodle decided to take a break alas Miss Em was not finished.  It's autumn in Oz right now and the leaves and flowers are all over the ground...such a pretty backdrop (for a short while at least). Em decided herself that she would like to be photographed and had set her pretty dress and shoes out the night before. This always makes for the best shoots. Children that actually enjoy the camera as opposed to those who require bribes or treats!!!

Please meet my lovely friend Siggi.  A busy mother of four happy and healthy children, Siggi is concerned about other children consuming food of very little nutritional value (junk) when healthy food is so quick and easy to prepare. Being a Naturopath, Siggi has a keen awareness of the key elements necessary for the optimal health of the body and mind.  Conversely, she can predict what future ailments lay ahead for those who choose to avoid such a wholesome diet. As such, she has started a Blog where she will share healthy recipes that are quick and easy to prepare. Feel free to visit her blog and try her recipes. Think I'll try the Carrot Cake...yum!

The start of the short course season brings groups of swimmers from around the area aiming to make personal best times for State and Metro which are only weeks away. For me it meant the first time using my Canon Mark IV. I had a few adjustments to make but then got the hang of the amazing rapid fire...a far sight quicker than the Mark II. In addition to the 10 fps, I liked the extra zoom. The 300mm lens is just too bulky for me so it's a nice compromise to stick the 70-200mm on the 1.3x sensor. The lighting at SOPAC is all but non existent. At one stage I was feeling ready to sleep it was that dark. Around 12800 ISO dark. These challenges are sent to try us!

 I was super excited to wait on the rise of the Earth's Super Moon, this past Sunday. I watched the kids frolic in the warm autumn water and sand for some time and was beginning to worry that the headland was rather too far out and that we may have missed this once in a long while opportunity when all of a sudden it was there in all of it's full amazing glory!  These images are all straight out of the camera, no Photoshop, no editing except for the following one which is two exposures (one slow and one fast) combined to get the soft waves. My sensor is completely filthy due to several recent shoots at beach and park locations, so don't look too closely or you will see loads of blobs! 

For my international friends, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. When our troops landed on the beach in Gallipoli on this day in 1915,  an astonishing number of our soldiers lost their lives. The Allied death toll for this tragic campaign was over 44,000 and so it soon became our national day of remembrance. For all those who have sacrificed in the name of peace, we thank you!  Along with the marching soldiers come the many wonderful and colourful bands. Many of our schools perform in the ceremony including bands from both my boys schools, Marist College and Knox. My Son's School Band. As each group passes the War Memorial, they lower their instruments and signs and all eyes are left in respect. If you would like to see more about the Marist College Band, please visit my personal blog . Thanks for reading!

After a few hours of shooting, set changes, outfit and hairstyle changes, we decided to blow off some steam. Just in the casual shirt she came in, Shelly sat for some fun natural shots. We were trying to get the fan going to blow back her hair but it was a mess and we just ended up laughing. The real fun started when Shelly began pulling some amazing expressions. It strikes me how beautiful she remained even when she contorted her face so!