1 post tagged “hafla”

I don’t operate too great on reduced sleep so please forgive me if I don’t make much sense in today’s post. I’ve been busy all weekend working on my folio and sorting out all my pages ready for printing.  I can tell you now, as much as I love working with my digital files on the computer, and as much as I adore photoshop, after 30 something hours of sitting here I’m kinda sick of it.

But it has to be done.  I have another 4 or 5 to do by Wednesday morning so hopefully they won’t take too long.  I finally did up a page of my belly dancers for my folio which I absolutely love (which of course guarantees that my tutors will hate it) and it felt good to be excited about my own work for once.  It’s been a while since I’ve just enjoyed creating something for myself and felt satisfied with it.

I did take some time away from the computer to shoot the Belly Dance Hafla last night.  I was dreading it all day because I was so tired and it was waayyy over the other side of town from me, so it was even a decent drive to get there, but I tried to have a little sleep before I headed over.  Didn’t quite work because as soon as I closed my eyes, all I could see was pixels and layers and levels and colour balance dials… I just started to panic about how much I still have left to do and had to get up.

I got to the concert with plenty of time to spare, which was just as well since there wasn’t a designated area for me so I had to stake out a spot right up front for about an hour until it all started.  That has to be one of the most boring parts of the job, and I was kicking myself that I didn’t bring anyone else with me (like my mum) who would have enjoyed the show and helped guard my spot in case I needed a snack or a toilet break.  I sat in the same place (on the floor) from 5.20pm to 10.15pm and couldn’t leave to go to the loo or get a feed for risk of loosing my spot.  By the end I was freakin’ starving and feeling a bit faint since I stupidly neglected to eat anything before I left home at 4.30pm. On the way home I stopped at the first sign of civilization (KFC) I saw and got a big serve of hot chips for the drive home.  I’ve since discovered that I’m not very good at dunking chips in potato & gravy and driving at the same time (my car is manual and has no power steering) since I ended up with most of the potato & gravy on my shirt rather than on my chips.

When I got home, it was a mad rush to get the images web ready and uploaded as soon as possible for the dancers to have a squiz at.  I got an email from one of the dancers that I’m scratching my head over a little… She requested that I take down the images that have her in them… I dunno, I kinda assumed that if you put yourself on stage and in the public eye, then you can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to be photographed and since I was the official photographer for the night - they all knew I would be there taking photos so it’s not like it was a surprise… I don’t know what the problem is.  I can understand individual pics being taken down, but there are a couple of group ones up there too and I don’t think it’s fair to them to take down the pic because of one person… but then again… Dunno, I haven’t had this problem before.

Anyway, the plus side of the concert was that I got front row seats to see some fantastic women perform.  Women of all shapes, sizes and ages too… It was great! I am so keen to start some lessons. As soon as my course finishes up and I have my time back, I’m going to go to a couple of belly dance lessons. Those women were so beautiful in their costumes, with the bright colours, the hip movements, the jingles of the hip scarves and jewelry and the inherent confidence they exuded.  I don’t know what it is but the music and the dancing and the food… it all just spoke to me.  Maybe I was a turk or an Egyptian or something in a past life, because it all seems to strangely familiar and comforting when I’m around it.  I dunno, that must make me sounds like a total loony and I can’t really explain how it makes me feel.  I just feel it in my bones.  Very weird.  But I love the music, the food, the dancing…  Just love it.

I’m thinking of doing a freelance journalism course over Xmas too.  At least until I score myself a job in the new year.  It’s only a correspondence one through TAFE but I think it will be a handy acompliment to my photography.  Especially if I do some travel next year like I plan, so I can write some articles to go with my photos and send them off to mags.  I’d like to think I’m okay at stringing a sentence together… I mean, I’m not a great writer (like Phil for example) or anything but I do a bit of fiction writing every now and then.  I have two novels (sci-fi and a medieval fantasy thing) on the go at the moment which I have been writing here and there for years. Nothing fit for public consumption of course, but I hope that with a bit of training behind me, the ability to write short articles could become a handy skill to have for future employment.  As long as I still get to take photos. Besides, if the article writing turns out to be crap, well, that’s what editors are for, right? :P

I notice that they also run an ‘Advanced Romance Writing’ course as well.  As corny as it sounds, I can really see myself as a Mills & Boon author one day.  In a little seaside house with a bunch of cats… I write a bit of romance fiction when I’m bored or feeling down now. It’s my way to escape to a world where I have total control and everything works out with a happy ending (surprisingly that’s something my sci-fi/fantasy ones don’t have).  And I can write love scenes to make your toes curl!  I blame my high school sweetheart for that.  In lieu of actually having sex, we created two characters set in a fantasy world to represent each other and would swap ‘love chapters’ we had writen.  No wonder I never got any study done in year 12, hehe.

Had a little bit of a break today so I watched the latest eppy of Survivor: Cook Islands (no links due to risk of spoilers) with the bf.  Don't know if anyone watches it- it's probably the only reality teevee show (other than The Biggest Loser) that I watch and really enjoy.  At the moment I have a bit of a crush on Ozzy.  He's such a monkey! Monkey-ish as in quick, nimble,inteligent and kicks ass in all the challenges.  For a guy who hasn't shaved, showed or washed for weeks, I reckon he's pretty hot.  And 'cause I'm so nice and I like you mob, I'll share a pic or two... okay, you twisted my arm... here's three :P

The bf likes to tease me that I have a celebrity crush.  How embarrassment.

Ah, it’s been refreshing to spend a little bit of time thinking about something other than my folio work, but I must get stuck back into it.  It’s going to be another late night tonight, methinks!

Have a great week, guys!