There’s a crazy about of fun been happening in Brisbane town hence my slackness in posting on the blog.   Life has been filled with new weekly traditions and living life at a much faster pace than we would ever imagine living at Tully Heads.   This crazy two.thousand.and.eleven is coming to a close and our family is counting down the days to when we can finally say it’s over.   We’re exhausted!!

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to blog about our new life and the fun we’ve been having living in Brisbane but for now I’m more excited about sharing in some photography work I’ve been up to in Brisbane … Introducing the beautiful B family.   We met Michele when she was just a young single teacher.   We’d all been posted to a quiet little school in Laidley and we quickly became fond of her gorgeous smile and warm ways.   Facebook has kept us in touch in more recent years and we’ve been able to follow her dream of getting married and raising two of the most adorable little men you could ever possibly meet.

The other morning we met at Newstead House  and Newstead Park and wondered and played and chatting and laughed and did a bit of this and that … a little like this

Until next time, enjoy.

Cx

You couldn’t say the boys school is massive by any stretch of the imagination.  With four and a half hundred kiddies in it, it’s slightly larger than the mere school my boys are used to at one ninth it’s size.

Over the last 50 day period, the boys have brought up in conversation the idea of having tuckshop on more than one occassion.  For approx. 49 days I have been not so tuckshop organised or rather less willing to give the boys anything other than their nude lunch box … a lunch box filled with all things fresh and healthy packaged in nothing other than reusable containers.

Harry accepts his everyday, moneyless lunch with smiles and pride while Patch on the other hand often refers to my lunchbox ideas as embarrassing adding to his argument that he’ll have to sit by himself AGAIN in fear of being teased.   That by the way in not a reflection on the beautiful, tolerant and accepting school mates he has, but more a element of his imagination and tried manipulation all in the name of t.u.c.k.s.h.o.p.

I’ve resisted tuckshop for a few good reasons.   One being, my stress and emphasis on their ‘no preservative’ diet.   My lack of organisation in having small change available and purchase of brown paper bags has also be quite instrumental to my repeated ignorance to Patch’s persistent argument of having tuckshop.  Mostly however, it’s the last ditch attempt of hanging onto the familiarity of the gorgeous school we’ve left behind.  The idea of tuckshop there, was the odd sausage sizzle fundraising for a local sports star or a local musician off to district or national level in their field of expertise.  It was something special the children would all look forward to for days or weeks.   Tuckshop was a great excuse for everyone to give to a worthy cause.

Today was the last day of term for what has been the perfect start to our new school.  The boys have new friends.  Their teachers are perfect.  They’re happy.  They’re organised.  They’re in a routine.  They’re doing okay.

Today was the perfect day to let go of old thought habits and celebrate new opportunities.

Only once a term though.

Until next time .. enjoy.

Cx

gasp .. sigh …

I think it might be all coming together.

Ssshhhh … it’s not quite there yet but here a sneak peak of the some things I got in the mail this week.

New product lines .. new look .. new website .. coming soon.

Until next time .. enjoy.

Cx

This year has been a huge one for us to say the least.   It all started off with the big bang in February and hasn’t really slowed down since then.  It has seemed like we’ve moved from one massive thing to another with each month that has passed.

Well since moving to Brisbane, after settling the children in school, the next biggest thing on our minds has been purchasing our own house.  A place we can call home once more.   We’re the type of family who like to live in the four walls our bank owns.  I think is makes up feel more secure knowing we don’t have a lot of deposable income.  Like happy children, with a mortgage we have boundaries.    Like many people in our Tully Heads neighbourhood, we haven’t actually lived in our own home since 2nd February 2011.   It may not seem long to some but to the Bofingers, that’s a long time to be nomads … that’s a long time to not necessarily feel grounded.

So for 11 weeks and for months prior to moving, our favourite website has been realestate.com.au.   We have refreshed that site so many times a day looking for a principal place of residence that is infact our own, I do believe we should own shares in it.  Saturday after Saturday we’ve traced through house after house searching for the perfect place to call home.   Our two youngest flatmates have protested from time to time at the boredom and grind and effort of it all.   Actually, I think it may have been the afternoon of the second Saturday we started to get smart and bring along iPads and iPods and by the third week, they were happy to stay in the car while my husband and I romanced our way through each house … hand in hand … as a couple … and a childless couple at that.

In between each Saturday’s visits, we’d have our real estate iPhone apps set to show ‘newest to oldest’ with our financial guidelines restricting our affordable eye candy and we’d refresh and refresh eagerly awaiting the perfect house for us.

It became a quite obvious at the beginning of this process, that I was in fact going to be quite frustrating to work with in finding the right home.   If you’ve ever visited The Gap in Brisbane, you would know how gorgeous the streetscape is.  You would also notice the amount of adorable homes there are to buy and live in.  Happily.   You may even question why young families might find the process of purchasing a house in The Gap a little difficult.  Every street is divine, each house along it .. gorgeous and with each new quiet cul-de-sac, neighbourhood children play joyfully.    I’m sure that is what my husband has been thinking each time I have bucked at the next available perfectly fine, newly renovated, ‘in our price bracket’ home that has come on the market over the past six months or so.   Each day he sends me links via email with a new fantastic property.  Most times without really looking at anything other than a few photos and the map direction,  I will instantly reply with the (now all too familiar) words  ”It’s facing the wrong way.” or  ”It’s too dark inside.”    The disappointment on his face has become more and more evident with each very quick disapproval I have given.   Most times he’s accepted my response. Sometimes he’s asked for more information.  A few times, he’s commented in a persuasive tone about the brand new kitchen with the industrial-style oven or the fantastic salt water pool in the backyard.   But in his sweet and supportive and loving way, he’s always accepted my disapproval without any real doubt.

From time to time, I have sent him a property link, too excited for words.   “This one’s the one.”  or “We have to look at this straight away.”  With each send I scream and plead and jump and shout.   Loudly.  Excitedly.  Emotionally.   I try to ignore the sadness on his face when he spots the old wallpapered walls that need stripping and repainting or the sixties kitchen that needs modernising or the bathroom that not only has a little grout missing but perhaps needs all new plumbing.   Quickly commenting on the north-eastern aspect or the abundance of natural light in the home, I try really hard to dismiss the disappointment spread across his loving face.

You see, the three year renovations that went on at our little beachshack on Taylor Street, Tully Heads are a little too soon in history to easily forget. The 7 metre storm surge that ploughed it’s way through those renovations, destroying a perfectly good lifestyle back in February this year, is surely by far too soon in history for any grown man or sane woman, to live through another renovation project.  Surely.   Especially when the rebuilding of that storm surged, freshly renovated beachshack is also taking place 1500 plus kilometers away.  Surely.  well, some would think.

In true Bofinger style, we have continued to have many belly laughs along the way, keeping the process of buying another house very real and very honest.   We have broken all the rules in purchasing real estate .. falling in love with many real estate agents, getting to know them on first name basis, chatting to them throughout each week and talking sweet nothings with them at the local shopping village.  We have quickly fallen in … and out of … love with houses that become ‘under contract’ before we’ve had a chance to make decisions.  Sometimes, this love is for different reasons.     Always, there’s been emotion.  Our boys have made comment on the ones they like.  On the ones they don’t.  Giving completely valid reasons, like the smell of the fresh paint on the staircase or the world map which encompasses a bedroom wall or the ‘Star Wars’ lego filled bookshelf or the fart odour in the main bedroom another visitor prior to them walking through has left.   In true Bofinger style, we can’t say the process hasn’t been fun.

One day in the near future, we may well be reflecting back on this post as we sit in the comfort of our own house, requiring the odd renovation or not, in our new neighbourhood.   The neighbourhood we plan to live in for the next twenty odd years.   Possibly for life.    Definitely the one our boys will complete their education.   Regardless of when this might be, it’s refreshing to know we love each other unconditionally.  Regardless of our separate, occasionally frustrating opinions …

Until next time .. enjoy.

Cx

About a week after settling into the ‘new’ school in our ‘new’ Brisbane life, we received a letter home asking for parent class representatives to volunteer.   Although not really wanting to be a parent representative for my son’s new class being new to the school and all, I thought it would be a great opportunity to reply to the unfamiliar, faceless email address, letting them know I was available to help out wherever I could and providing them with my contact details should they wish to call on my helping hands.   I mentioned being new to the school hence not being the most suitable person for the particular role they were asking for but how happy I was to help out wherever I could.  It just so happened, they didn’t have a parent representative for Patch’s class and thought it might be a perfect role for me .. you know, to get to know the other parents in my son’s class … to get to know the area.   When I thought about it, the idea did make sense.  It was a great way to meet other parents.   I didn’t really know anyone.  I had a bit of time of my hands taking some time out to settle the family in.  And being a big city girl now, I had finally rid myself of that ancient cell brick and caught up with the rest of society to get a phone that did everything … including sending urgent emails regarding cake stalls and picnic catch ups and volunteer helpers and all other things to be grateful for in school life, whilst on the run from grocery shopping to networking to walking the kids to and from school.    They were right.  It would be a perfect role for me … if no-one else wanted to do it, that was.   Well, so it happened, no-one else did want or have time to do this particular role and hence, I happily became the parent representative for Patch’s new class.

So far in the short 8 or so weeks,  I’ve put together the contact list and sent on a few emails regarding parent volunteer information … about cake stalls and carnival helpers needed.   I’ve even been able to send through to some mums and dads, happy snap shots I took from an excursion we went on recently.   It’s been all good.  It’s been a bit of fun.   All practical.  Quick.  Purposeful.  Positive.  They were right, it has been a perfect role for me …

Until today …

About lunch time today, I was out and about doing some day to day tasks at the local shopping village when that new city gal phone started beeping at me.   I knew the familiar sound of the beep.  It was an email alert.   Until lunch time today, I’d hear that sound from time to time and feel a little rush of excitement in anticipation of the alert being a message from a client … new or old, my adoring husband,  one of my northern friends, my sister, my mum.  Sometimes, this rush was a different type of excitement when I discovered it was another email alerting me of new stock from Country Road or Smiggle or Myer or some vintage fashion shop or MadeIt or Pininterest or some other subscription for my latest, favourite shoe craze.   Today that beep started sounding different.  I didn’t just hear one email alert, but heard several quick beeps in quick succession.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.   I heard what sounded like 50 plus beeps.  When I checked this suspicious amount of what was now an annoying alarm bells, I stumbled upon what seemed like fifty plus messages all saying

Mailer-DAEMON@yahoo.com   ….   Failure Notice

Promptly checking these queer looking emails, I quickly discovered I had ‘unknowingly’ sent through to what might have been to everyone in my yahoo address book one of several virus laden emails.  Either that or I had apparently come across a new attitude to life and was all of a sudden calling my friends ‘dude’ and recommending suspicious new places to shop or hang out online with others.

After spending the next few minutes trying to rid my inbox of these links and emails and viruses and bugs via the trusted trash folder, I started getting messages from fabulous friends far and wide warning me that I may well have sent them a virus or perhaps I had a problem or that they did click on the link and there was in fact ‘ALOT’ to buy but they were none the wiser.   (The words ‘ALOT’ were in capitals and distinctly emphasised in a *wink wink*  *nudge nudge* tone.)  You see the funny thing is, many of the virus spam mail I so happened to send through my contact list was worded … “check out this shop” or “you will never want to shop anywhere else” or “this is the best shop ever”.     This wouldn’t sound funny nor appropriate unless you know me personally.  Knowing me personally, one might read this type of message sent from my email account and legitimately think I, Carolyn Bofinger might well have stumbled across another fantastic shop here in Brisbane town and hence eagerly wanted to share with my friends ‘the link’ … after all, I was a shopping girl and I did have an adequant amount of online shops bookmarked for special occasions.   They couldn’t be judged for thinking it would be worth their while, checking back with me as to the validity of the email.   So for the rest of the day, the beeps continued, this time from beautiful friends questioning me or warning me that I might have a problem.   Virus.  Or Shopping.  Maybe both.

After each and every email I received from my fabulous friends, I slowly shrunk further into my seat.  With each new beep I started to cringe some more.   At about the same time my back started curving and my heart started sinking, I realised that not only had these so called ‘shopping’ emails been sent from my yahoo account without my approval and not only had they reached some of my good friends’ inboxes and not only had some of the clicked on the link in anticipation of MY new find, but perhaps they had also reached the inboxes of my ‘new’ contacts on that ‘new’ year three contact list for my son’s ‘new’ class at his ‘new’ school in our ‘new’ Brisbane life.  Perhaps?

It’s after ten o’clock at night now. The beeps have ceased.   At this point in time, there are no emails advising me or questioning me about my so called shopping or virus problem/s from any new contacts I may have added since arriving in Brisbane.   Not one from any contacts on that year three list I so perfectly compiled for that perfect role as parent representative for Patch’s class.  This means one of two things … it just so happens, being the parent contact person for my son’s class is not the perfect role for me and my problem yahoo email account or perhaps, we’re just not that close yet.    Either way, only time will tell.

To those in my yahoo address book who may have received a suspicious … or ‘not so’ suspicious email from me regarding dudes and / or shopping, please accept my sincere apologies for this misunderstanding.  I hope I haven’t caused you any sort of problem.  Virus or otherwise.    This is for you ….  To peace and calm and places where there’s no need for shops.

Until next time .. enjoy.

Cx

He looked at her with sweet sparkles in his eyes.   She smiled sweet smiles whenever he glanced her way.  The looks continued throughout the day.  For every minute they were together.  And apart, catching up with guests.

The love Rebecca and Tristian have for each other is like no other.   The looks they have.  The connection they feel.  The smiles they give.   It’s sweet, old fashioned love.

Rebecca and Tristian wed at the beautiful Castaways Resort, Mission Beach.  Leanne and the staff put on another stunning event with amazing food, great service and decadent decor.

The guests mingled together on the grassy area outside Castaways Resort to witness Rebecca and Tristian’s love for each other.  The friendly, joyous chatter fell silent as Rebecca could be seen in the distance walking in her grandfather’s arms.  Breathtaking moments like these, make weddings beautiful events to be apart of.  The sweet vocals from Andrea, the ‘Wedding Singer’ from Cairns Premier Entertainment filled the gaps between the sounds of the ocean as Rebecca walked down the isle in her grandad’s arms.   The sparkle in Tristian’s eyes matched the collective sunlit reflections on the blue ocean backdrop.

The beautiful ceremony resonated the love in the air.  Bells were ringing in everyone’s ears that day.   It was obvious, this love was a natural kind.   A love that was meant to be.  Yesterday.  Today.  Always.

I had photographed Rebecca and Tristian here for their engagement shoot.   We designed a guest book from their engagement photos which was enjoyed by the guests at the wedding reception.   Cute, sincere messages were entered in the book throughout the night.  Messages of love, Rebecca and Tristian will keep forever.   The party continued well into the night with fine food by Castaways, stunning live vocals by the beautiful Andrea , funny speeches by many friends and family and some of the grooviest dancing by all the guests but especially the best man and grandad!!

Thank you Rebecca and Tristian.  Your day was absolutely delightful, just like you.   I feel so honoured to be part of your special day.

I’ve had some feedback, my blog posts can take a little while to load due to the content of the photos.  I thought I’d try a different format with a few photos of just the gorgeous couple and an embedded slideshow of more eye candy from the wedding.   The full screen video can be seen here via the fabulous Vimeo website.  Couples I photograph getting married, can get over 500 different moments captured.  I really wish I could show you them all.

And the video of more eye candy from the day ….

Until next time … enjoy.

Cx

This weekend it’s carnival time in our neighbourhood.   Coming from living in small, rural areas, we haven’t ever really experienced carnival time before.   The biggest carnival we ever really had was the cake stall at the front of the school on election day or maybe the odd car boot sale.   I remember the buzz around cent sales.   They had a bit of a carnival atmosphere I suppose.

Sunday is Carnival day at Hilder Road State School.   There’s a buzz of activities, busyness, organisation and excitement at the school.   There’s been months of preparation from families and businesses far and wide.  On this Friday morning, it’s all coming together in the community hub that is our school.   Everyone is smiling.   There’s a spring in the steps of kiddies and parents.  The conversations begin and end with ‘C’.

This year, I had the opportunity to donate a prize for the major raffle.   Winners have the opportunity to win

- 7 night family holiday at Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island at Beachies.   Valued at $1350.

- A family lifestyle portraiture package with ME valued at $1000.

- A microsoft software package valued at $1110.

- A Compaq 610 Notebook with Microsoft Office and Business 2010.  Valued at $1180.

I have 10 tickets to purchase so I’ve decided to put down random names of my friends and fans of Carolyn B Fine Art Photography page on facebook.  Just saying.   Just incase you get a random phone call about winning a raffle prize.

I can’t wait to meet who wins my prize and give them beautiful images of their family for their home.   To me, that’s exciting.

To my boys however, the excitement is all about their all day ride passes.

Until next time … enjoy.

Cx

Tomorrow my dadda starts a new chapter of his life.  In a home.  With nurses.  Where he feels safe.

It’s a happy time.  Happy words.  Happy hearts.

We all know, it’s the right decision.  For real reasons.  But crying still seems to flow so easily.

It’s hard to hold back the tears in his presence.  I feel my nose tingle.  My eyes well with water.  I turn my head away to find my brave face once more.  Hoping he doesn’t expect me to say anything while I compose my shaking throat.

I know he is going to be happy.  And loved.   Yet still it’s so sad that this time has come.

I watch him shuffle as he walks.  And shake when he eats.  Yet when he talks to me, his words let me know that his soul is stronger and more robust than ever before.

Today he sits in his beautiful water front home. Unmotivated.  Perhaps a little lonely.  Frustrated.   Feeling vulnerable.  With the odd visitor who brightens his world for the little while they are there.

Tomorrow he’ll sit in a room with no particular view.  But he’ll be motivated.  And social.  He’ll feel safe once more.   He will not rely on the odd visitor to brighten his world.  He will become the visitor who sparkles the world around him.

My dadda is a lovely man.   With a heart of gold.  Embedded with millions of tiny diamonds made of love.  For anyone who smiles at him.  He just wants to feel safe again.

We just want him to be happy.

Until next time …

Cx

I’ve posted about my newly discovered business purpose here.   It’s about sharing everyday gratitude for life and love one frame at a time.  It’s about capturing those moments in life we are so grateful for and freezing them to enjoy and remember them forever.

At the beginning of this week, I facilitated my first ever photography workshop for mums.   Teaching them to use their cameras away from the ‘safe’ haven of auto mode, giving them confidence in using the manual setting with a little knowledge and a bit of play, I believe every mum can capture stunning everyday moments beautifully.   Digital cameras are amazing.   They take fantastic photos with the click of a button, straight out of the box … but they take amazing photos when the operator knows how to use the menu and has a little understanding about exposure and light and colour and composition.   A photographer needs a camera for sure.  The camera however needs a photographer more.

So, in the lead up to the photography workshop I spoke to the participants informally and worked out there was a selection of mums who had not taken a photo in nearly two years to mums who had a great camera and safely used the auto mode sometimes happily, sometimes not and other mums who had ventured away from auto and avidly took images of their children.   We began at the beginning with information about exposure.   There’s more on that here.

Together we experimented with using light in the outdoors and searching for great light in the indoors.   We spoke about looking for light and searching for light angles to get the right colour.   We talked about white balance and poured over capturing details.  I gave away tips like  …

- check the white balance setting.

- when taking photos indoors, your subject should face the light which means in most cases the photographer should have their back to the door or the window as much as possible.

- try to be a little higher than the subject so their eyes will catch the light as they look up at the camera.   It doesn’t have to be much higher, just enough to catch the light.

- light can bounce off light coloured surfaces.  If there’s too much glare and your subject is squinting, face them towards the white wall or your white shirt and let the sunlight bounce off this surface to light up their faces or eyes.

- if you’re photographing with backlight, over exposing the image will lighten the subject and eliminate the silhouette factor.   Some aspects of the background may become over exposed or ‘blown out’ but that’s okay if the subject is correctly exposed.

- don’t be afraid to break the rules.

All the while gorgeous little ‘J’ posed and played and smiled and laughed, a little like this ….

Isn’t ‘J’ just the most adorable little girl?!!

There wasn’t nearly enough time to cover all the information I wanted to and no where near enough time to answer everyone’s questions but at the end of the day there were mums who were excited about buying a camera to take photos … excited about using their new found knowledge and confidence in using settings on the camera they had always feared and excited about experimenting with different aspects of exposure one step at a time.  There will be follow up workshops I’m sure but for the time being if you’re wanting to ask a question about putting the {m} in mum or photographing your children, don’t be afraid to use the comments section or email me.   I’m sure if I don’t know the answer, someone will.

Until next time .. enjoy.

Cx

There’s no doubt about it, the two subjects I love most to photograph are children and couples … whether that be in the city, country, vineyard, park, ocean, jetty, at the home … they are my absolute favourite.

I had an old hard drive in tonight doing some work on a project I have running in the background and this is what I found … no words, just sheer wobbles at the knees staring at the cuteness of it all.

So I’ve gone from photographing a destination wedding on Magnetic Island to stumbling across this session from a little while back!   Hoping your weekend was as sweet as mine … and this …

Cx