Visual Literacy

As my photography class comes to an end I thought I'd share a few of the snaps I've taken along the way in an attempt to improve my visual literacy. I can now discuss with great aplomb why aspects such as colour, depth of field, leading lines and the rule of thirds are more aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. Alas, I'm still longing to spend more time with my camera.

As the Christmas break is upon us I'm trying to get all my interviews done this week and next. I'm finished with the Burmese, Afghan and Sudanese women and I may just finish the Chinese interviews by this weekend. The Vietnamese mothers may be a little trickier. Ideally, I'd like three more interviews by Christmas eve. So, if you know any women born in Vietnam who have had a baby in Western Australia during the past five years and are willing to discuss their experience of pregnancy and childbirth, please let me know!

Oh, and on a happier note I located my co-ordinating supervisor who was apparently on leave. My 6 month thesis extension has been approved which will get me through to July 2010, with zero chance my thesis will be finished by then. Meh, such is life.

Discovering manual focus...and a random lemon that turned up in the classroom.

Rule of thirds.

Rule of thirds/Depth of field.

Leading lines.

Leading lines.

Leading lines.

Warm image.

Cool image.

Movement/Cool image.

Movement.

Movement.

Texture/Depth of field.

Texture.

Repetition.

Repetition/Depth of field

Repetition/Warm image.

Learning about indoor portraiture...in possibly the worst lighting EVER.

Yay!!

Oh December

It's funny cos it's true. I have a mountain of paperwork and can't find my co-ordinating supervisor. On the plus side, there's only five more sleeps until the institute Christmas party. I will be unavailable for the 48 hours immediately following.

I heart picnics

There's nothing better than great weather, great food and great company. These three things basically summed-up my weekend. What joy.

Garlic prawns straight from the grill. We marinated them overnight in a mix that was equal parts sesame oil and lemon juice, laced with fresh crushed garlic. Dee-licious.

This was a creation I made up on the spur of the moment. It worked brilliantly (thank goodness) so I named it Perfect Picnic Punch: combine 1 bottle of sparkling rose with 1 bottle of lemonade, stir in 2-3 shots of Frangelico, the juice of one lime and 1 cup of frozen raspberries. Chill and serve. Dee-lectable.

Oh my beloved Magnum - how do I love thee, let me count the ways...

The Boy brought out the Uno cards which in turn brought out our competitive spirits. It's a good thing there weren't any children nearby as our language got, how does one put this... a little 'fruity'.

SF made a super creamy and delicious mango cheesecake. Please ignore the smushed side, there was a slight altercation with the esky lid. Of course, it didn't effect the taste at all. Scrumptious!

The weather was sunny and warm, but not hot. The sky was a beautiful blue and the trees gave us some wonderful shade. It was the perfect opportunity to kick back and relax with friends.

It was a perfect day.

There's a doctor in the house!

The rose window and organ pipes in Winthrop Hall

Seven years ago I met a fellow student of anatomy and human biology who was completing an honours research project looking at the effects of insulin-like growth factor on dystrophic muscle, in an attempt to possibly help children with muscular dystrophy. He was friendly, sociable and just down-right nice. Eighteen months later we were an item. I am living proof that there is nothing more wonderful than falling in love with your best friend.

University big wigs

This boy, my boy, had tried to get in to medical school straight out of high school and while he aced UMAT and the entrance interview his Tertiary Entrance Rank fell a few points short. He didn’t give up. He enrolled in a science degree and tried to transfer over, but the competition to do so was extremely high. Again, he didn’t give up.

Just after the formal Class of 2009 portrait

He aced his honours year, improved his GPA, started a Masters degree and studied for months to sit the GAMSAT and the UMAT again (this time scoring in the 99th percentile). Yesterday, 12 years after his first attempt to get in to medical school he stood with 196 other graduands and took the Hippocratic Oath. I am in awe.

Champagne and canapes by the Reflection Pond

It’s been such a long road. Medical School has been such a significant part of our life together. It was 10 months into our relationship that The Boy finally got in to med school. Next year he starts his first ever full time job – as a doctor! It will be such a change for us. Not having to anticipate assignments and exams, not having to worry about accumulating HECS debt, actually having a second income. It’ll be like winning the lottery!

Conversations and congratulations

So here’s to my beloved, a man who didn't give up when others would have. Here's to tenacity, determination and strength of character and here's to all those who are living proof that some dreams are worth fighting for.

Spreading out on to the Great Court Lawn

It's November!

And you know what that means...PEONY SEASON!!

Manual mode

There's nothing overly special about these photos - except they are the first pictures I've ever taken in a fully manual mode. I selected the f-value, I selected the ISO, then I metered for exposure time. They were taken at various places in the building where I'm doing my photography course.

Attending classes has been a blessing as I just don't have the time to read and discover these things for myself. Having an instructor at the front of the class explaining things, showing us what to do, and then correcting us when we need help is exactly how I like to learn.

I just need to play around a lot more outside of class. I'm just so busy there isn't any time pick up my camera at the moment. And with the explosion of Jacarandas around the place at the moment it's a real shame.

I'm also ready to move beyond my current lens which was great for a beginner but is quite restrictive now that there are certain things I want to do and simply can't. Often the aperture just isn't big enough and the quality of glass is good but not great. Also my camera body isn't full frame and only goes to ISO 1600 which isn't ideal for low light situations, especially when paired with a large f-stop value lens.

Basically I need a camera body with a high ISO and lenses with low f-stops. And I'm starting to lean towards prime lenses. They're just dreamy for portraiture. One day I'll have a Canon 5D Mark II and a bag of L series lenses, but for now I'm rewarding myself one milestone at a time. Now I can take manual pictures I'm going to purchase a high quality prime lens. Yay!

On a separate but still photography related issue, I've been receiving requests for quotes for wedding photography! Mainly friends of friends who have seen my pictures through Facebook. Of course I've declined, but it was still a huge boost to my self-esteem to know that their are people out there who think my photography skills are good enough to document their special day. Now if I could only fit some serious practice in, upgrade my equipment and figure out how the hell to use Photoshop!

Laugh out loud

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Well it’s been a while since I blogged. Not because I haven’t wanted to but simply because I haven’t had the time to. Oh yes, and my computer died. Twice. It required two visits from the Dell technician who has basically replaced everything. And I’m still missing an audio device so transcribing is impossible as the computer can’t play the recordings of my interviews. Seriously, with the number of things that have gone wrong I really do think that someone somewhere doesn’t want me to finish this damn PhD! Oh and the TV also died so I haven’t even been able to take solace in a weekly dose of ‘Glee’. I shall overcome.

In the meantime here’s a quick rundown of the fun (read: non-PhD) things I’ve been up to lately.

I caught up with girlfriends for cocktails. These are the banana-split martinis and they were lethal. Mainly because I was in charge of the blender and my understanding of fractions has never been that good. I'm a decimal girl, you see. And who says 'one part' can't be one cup? It's all proportional.

Things were fine on the food front until SF went all Martha Stewart on our arses. I peeled the foil off the dip and opened the crackers. She put out a display of smoked salmon blinis and pieces of rockmelon wrapped in proscuitto. As revenge I ate it all.

I’ve still been making The Boy stop the car so I can photograph things I find aesthetically pleasing, like this beautiful wall in the backstreets of Claremont.

It was draped with the most amazing wisteria I've ever seen. It was in full bloom and extended out over the wall where I spent a good ten minutes snapping away. I'm sure the neighbours thought I was casing the joint.

There were also beautiful roses all along the street. Seriously, hundreds of them in multiple gardens. Between the roses and the wisteria I was in heaven. If there had been a Jacaranda and some citrus trees I wouldn't have left. Ever. In fact The Boy expressed a desire to one day live in this magnificant street, which made my heart skip a beat. Until I found out that the median house price was $4.6 million. That made my heart atrophy and attempt to exit my body through my pelvic floor.

I tried some new healthy recipes from a recipe book a dear friend sent me (thank you SK). This one required gai larn which I could not find for the life of me so I substituted bok choy. Two weeks later I located a legitimate source for gai larn. I'm looking forward to a repeat performance.

I also tried to invent a recipe of my own. Mainly because I had an insatiable craving for hash browns and avocado. Followed a day later by cravings for smoked salmon and blue cheese. I figured why not put them all together in an avocado, smoked salmon and mixed greens sandwich. With hash browns instead of bread. And blue cheese mixed with natural yoghurt as a dressing. It was AWESOME.

I also made my first attempt at some mini desserts (which were subsequently delivered to the parentals). I was especially proud of the caramel and chocolate slice because I decided to try and marble the chocolate...and it worked! That NEVER happens. Usually when I try to do something off the top of my head in the kitchen it's followed by 30 minutes of crying and several broken dishes. I also made white chocolate tartlets with fresh blueberries and golden syrup. I bought the tartlet cases from the store. Which is fine, 'cause I made marbled chocolate all on my lonesome and it worked - so there!

I started my photography course at TAFE. I go for three hours on a Thursday evening. It's a beginners class so there are moments when I get bored with the repetition but I think that it is the best class for me as I haven't been lost once yet - and I've learnt something new each week. For example, TAFE security guards lock the vending machines at 7:00pm.

I ventured to the local primary school to check out what was happening at their Spring Fair. Then I got concerned that someone would think I was a paedophile as I snapped away at all the kids participating in the kiddie-oriented activities. I felt like I needed to have a kid with me to legitimise my presence but neither I nor any of my friends have kids. So then I felt like a failure as a woman and went home.

I had a little trim. My hair is still quite long, I’m just no longer able to tuck the end of my pony tail into the back of my jeans. Not that I ever did that, because that would be extremely uncool. I'm just saying, if I wanted to tuck my pony tail in to my jeans I could have. I chose not to.

And on the academic front I’ve interviewed Burmese, Afghan, Chinese and Vietnamese mothers and several midwives. I’m about half way through my qualitative data collection. I’ve also been marking for what feels like the past month non-stop, mainly human biology (university and TEE). And The Boy had his final medical school exam this week. Apparently it was just awful and not at all what he and his fellow students were expecting, so now we have our fingers crossed for good results next week. It’s a barrier exam which means he MUST pass it in order to graduate, so I’d appreciate it if you kept your fingers crossed too!

Things I love #8

I'm currently crushing on Glee. It's quirky in such a good way and the songs they perform are simply fantabulous. Lea Michele who plays Rachel has an amazing voice. I am, however, struggling to choose a favourite character. Kurt is excellent value for money but Sue Sylvester is something else. Plus she comes out with all the best lines - even when alone with her thoughts.

"Every time I try to destroy that club, it comes back stronger than some sexually ambiguous horror movie villain."

And while I hear that some Rachel/Puck action is on the horizon, I'm still holding out hope that Finn will come to his senses, hand Quinn over to her real baby daddy and embrace his feelings for the divine Miss Berry. They're just so darn cute together!

Grateful

This week I conducted my first focus group. It was with a group of refugee women from Burma and they were amazing. I was absolutely terrified in the lead-up as I’ve only ever conducted focus groups with white, middle class, educated English-speakers before. I was paranoid that I’d say something culturally inappropriate or I’d offend someone in some way. I needn’t have worried.

I came away on a high having actually achieved something towards the qualitative part of my study (it’s been a long time coming) and also for having spent the afternoon with a group of women who put it all in perspective. Women who are longing to be reunited with loved ones still in refugee camps along the Burma-Thailand border, women genuinely grateful to be in a country where they have legitimate freedom, women who are simply happy to be alive and safe. Women who shed tears as a bicultural community worker translated their words for me. And here I’ve been getting my panties in a twist over a bloody thesis. I cried as I made the drive home. I too am grateful.

Grateful that I have never watched soldiers gun down my friends before my eyes, grateful that I have not had to flee my home and hide in the forest, grateful that I have not been separated from my family in a refugee camp, grateful that I have not spent years as a displaced person. I am grateful that I am loved, healthy, educated and have been given an opportunity to speak for those less fortunate than I am. Suddenly, I have a certain level of pride in my research that wasn’t there before. I am considerably less terrified at the thought of meeting Afghan mothers next week. In fact, I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Wise words from a dear friend

Don't quit when the tide is lowest,

For it's just about to turn;

Don't quit over doubts and questions,

For there is something you may learn.

Don't quit when the night is darkest,

For it's just a while 'til dawn;

Don't quit when you've run the farthest,

For the race is almost won.

Don't quit when the hill is steepest'

For your goal is almost nigh;

Don't quit, for you're never a failure,

Until you fail to try.

I knew it!

A bad week

Last week was not a good week for me. In fact it was a turning point. It was the culmination of...wait for it... even more problems with my PhD. I know, shocking. But last week I reached the end of my tether. My primary supervisor is leaving my university to take a professorship at another university. This means I have to find another supervisor to take her place. This wouldn’t have been so bad two years ago but over the past 18 months there's been a bit of an exodus of people in the department potentially related to the area of my thesis topic. As a result there is NO ONE left in the department in my discipline. Either I find a supervisor within the department who is nothing more than a signature on my paperwork, or I move departments. Actually I’ll have to move faculties. That’ll go down a treat.

I’ve had to give up teaching to focus on resolving all the issues associated with my PhD. This has saddened me for three reasons - 1.) I like teaching, I’m good at it and I didn’t want to give it up, 2.) I feel that pulling out mid-semester has put extra pressure on my colleagues. They’ve been brilliant about it all but I don’t like not finishing something I signed up to do, and 3.) I’m giving up a whole lot of money (well, to a student anyway). I’ll be fine, savings will just have to get me through, but the way things are going I’m not even sure that I’ll be able to take up teaching again next year. I’m disappointed.

The other ongoing issues with my PhD are too many to mention and they’d bore you stupid anyway, but I’m feeling seriously let down. But I’ve finally had to accept a horrible truth. In much of life I’m not too bothered how other people go about getting things done but where I am concerned, I am a perfectionist. I do my best every day to try and make sure that my research, my writing, my teaching is of a very high standard. I truly believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I’m an all or nothing gal. My PhD is simply not going to be of the standard I intended it to be. Circumstance and other people have prevented that from occurring. At this point I just have to do whatever is necessary to submit a thesis and hope for the best outcome possible.

Last week, having to finally accept that I just have to let go of my standards was killing me. There was the bitter disappointment, the inevitable ‘why me?’, the anger that I was having to compromise because of other people’s incompetency, and then finally the acceptance that it is what it is, all of this sprinkled with bouts of uncontrollable crying and intermittent insomnia. Yes, it sucks. No, it’s not fair. But in just over a year I will submit my thesis for examination and walk away from this whole ordeal. I will not be defeated.

So I did what I always do when I need to be back in control – I cleaned. In this case I Spring Cleaned. I threw out clothing, shoes, jewellery, make-up, utensils, appliances, books, magazines etc. and sent them on to better homes. I de-cluttered my environment so I could de-clutter my mind. I washed, I wiped, I scrubbed, I swept, I vacuumed, I cried. At the end of it all (it took the whole week) I felt so much better. And perhaps even a little rejuvenated.

Depression and anxiety is rife amongst graduate students and suicide has visited among my associates. I completely understand why - in my darkest moments my mind has wandered there too: “I’m fat, I’m ugly, I can’t even cope with this stupid PhD, nothing is going right, this is not where I wanted to be, I’m just worthless”. But I keep thinking of life on the other side. This is not forever; it will come to an end. Some days it’s the only thing that keeps me going. That and my camera, and surprise bouquets and bottles of wine and lots of cuddles from The Boy. And knowing that one day when the pain has finally subsided, I’ll look back on this and say “remember when...”

Delicious!

I just had to share my dinner from last night. I was so impressed by what was presented to me by my gastronomically talented other half that I took a photo. Yes, I am that sad. But I also enjoyed a fabulous meal so na-na-na-na-na! I partook of herb-crusted pan fried Tasmanian salmon, served on a bed of cheese risotto with a tomato and avocado salsa. Oh, and a glass of Stella Bella pink muscat to boot! Yummo.

I have an addiction...

...would you care to guess what it is?

Perth Upmarket

My colleague Kat had a stall for clothing and artwork called 'Scarlet and the Sea'.

Last weekend a couple of girlfriends and I met up for a birthday breakfast (congrats AL!) before heading to the Perth Town Hall for the September instalment of Perth Upmarket. I’ve known about this market for WA-designed/made products for a while but this was the first time I’ve visited. IT WAS INSANE!

The Cake of Soap stall.

One of the stores I was craving to visit (lemon macarons – HELLO!) had completely sold out of their products and disappeared by the time we got there at 11:20am. The market went from 10:00am to 4:00pm. That should tell you just how many people were there. It actually detracted from the experience. There were queues 5 people deep just to see what the stores had on display, and trying to move was at times impossible. If the market is going to attract numbers like this it really needs to be held in a larger area where there can be spaces between retailers and easier movement for customers. Frankly, I was happy to get out of there!

Strawberry and cream cupcakes. Just kidding! They're soap cakes.

I did want to share these photos gorgeous. They were taken at the Cake of Soap stall before one of the women running the stall said “No photos please.” At first I was a bit taken aback. If you didn’t want people to take photos of your products why would you display them at a public market? Then I thought she suspected me of commercial espionage, but that didn’t make sense as I can see exactly what they make via the website. Then I found out there was an ‘official’ photographer for the market so I wonder if they were trying to reserve photo ops for her. Either way I stopped taking photos as soon as she asked me too and didn’t get my camera out again. But these were too good to not share.

Yummy.

Once we’d had a quick look around the markets (with several hundred of our closest friends) we made our way window shopping through town. AL was lucky enough to find her perfect engagement ring – a princess cut, platinum set solitaire at the bargain price of $17,500. It was simply stunning! Not a bad Sunday morning really.

The real thing. What's a birthday without cake? These delightful treats were from the Subi Cupcake Co. With thanks to my good friend SF for chanelling her inner hand model.

Mundaring

Sometimes when I just have to get out of the house The Boy and I grab a bottle of water and a couple of CDs and take to the car for a random drive. It's easy, cheap and surprisingly entertaining. I've become better at remembering to bring my camera along for the ride too.

This past weekend we ended up in Mundaring in the foothills of Perth. We were there just before twilight when all of the animals came out to clean up the picnic areas littered with the remnants of lunching families.

I guess it must be spring as there were so many kangaroos with little joeys popping out of their pouches. This little guy came to inspect my camera. I think he was quite taken by the sound the shutter made. Perhaps he thought there could be romance on the horizon, it being spring and all.

And to top it all off there was a huge apricot tree (or similar) in full bloom!

Isn't the light just lovely?

Sometimes it's good to just jump in the car and drive.

She's there!

The Drama Queen arrived in Utah safe and sound and is looking forward to entering the Missionary Training Centre tomorrow. I miss her so much. I've pretty much been a sookie-la-la for the past two days. Good thing I have essay marking to focus on. Yay for hypercholesterolemia!

Farewell The Drama Queen

She’s finally gone. Six weeks after she was supposed to originally leave for Utah, The Drama Queen departed in the wee hours of this morning on a series of looooong flights to the US. I feel empty. Like I’m not quite whole anymore. And 18 months suddenly seems so much longer than it did yesterday.

Her departure was true Drama Queen-style; late, stressed and with important items forgotten at home. There was an impressive turn-out at the airport considering how late her flight was. And The Chief was almost taken out by security for her terrorist intentions. Seriously.

Leaving my parent’s home in two cars (The German, The Chief and The Drama Queen in one, The Boy and I in the other) we barely got out of the driveway before there was panic over whether or not the front door had been locked. We got all of 30 metres before their car stopped again, the doors opened and searching began as The Drama Queen realised she’d left her driver’s licence in the scanner at home and The Chief needed scissors for some panicked reason. We sent them on and went back for the missing items. We needn’t have bothered collecting two pairs of scissors - by the time we caught up with everyone again The Chief had broken and chewed through the tags she wanted to sever. She’s classy like that.

Getting through security at the airport was plain hilarious. About 40 people must have turned out for The Drama Queen. All of whom made a beeline for the metal detectors when she went through to the gates. I have never heard such a flurry of beeps in my life. We removed clothing, shoes and accessories as directed by the security guards and I had to go through three times, once barefoot before I stopped beeping. The congestion this farewell party created must have been intensely annoying for everyone else. The poor guards were holding up bags and purses shouting “whose is this?” I recognised The Chief’s handbag and informed her that the security guard wanted to identify the owner. She was then pulled aside and given a stern talking to– for trying to sneak two pairs of very sharp scissors into a high security area.

The German hadn’t yet come through so she passed the scissors to him and sent him back to the car to drop them off. He then disappeared for 40 minutes. Because he forgot where he parked the car and it took him that long to find it. Good thing her plane was late. Like I said, her departure was true Drama Queen-style.

Now she’s finally gone and everything is as it should be. I feel empty. Like I’m not quite whole anymore. And 18 months suddenly seems so much longer than it did yesterday.

Because flowers make me happy...

...and my new macro lens makes me happy. And I really need to be surrounded by things that make me happy.

PS - doing a PhD sucks.