It all comes home to roost.

Well, let me start with a wtf. I just opened up to write, and good old WordPress has updated and changed everything. Talk about taking my thoughts away. Anyway, ‘On with the show, this is it’ – Thanks, Bugs

I am sitting here tonight with thoughts about the novel I am writing and about my art that has made a splash.

The novel is a slow ship from hell, so many thoughts, so much planning, and keeping track of the ‘Characters’, but I need to do, maybe it is semi autobiographical, and maybe it is my story, I just need to tell it. It will get there, of course. I need to be more conscientious in my time management on that behalf. Like stop. buying novels to read, a bad habit, of course. And I need to stop watching about artists, talking to other people about books. And stop buying them.

Buying books brings me to the bookshelf we bought about 7 years ago. Nice bookshelf, good size and all, and I was tasked with procuring it. I did send photos and got approval, of course. Anyway, when we bought this particular bookcase, we might have had half a shelf of books. Mainly books about practical photography subjects (there is a shitload on wedding photography). This damn thing would groan now if it were any less well built. The thing is all but full. There is one space on the top left for a book that will arrive in August, and a few lower down that I will fill with a book or two that will arrive by the end of the week. Other shelves have books horizontally, so they can be stacked next to the verticals, so that more can fit in. Anyway, the problem is a full bookcase. I am sort of proud of filling it, to be honest. A mixture of self-help, novels and photobooks

It is always nice to be acknowledged, and I feel that it has been that sort of beginning of the year for me (still not halfway, so it is still the beginning). Firstly, there was a pay rise, nice but probably didn’t bring me the most excitement so far this year.

My art (photography has always meant a lot to me, and I try to subdivide it, Commercial (birthdays and events and portraits), Pro Bono – cause you have to give back in all you do (though I am cutting this to just one job this year – The Griffith Show), and my personal art. Well, my personal art has brought great enjoyment and delight to me this year.

The above image was entered in the Landscape Awards 2026, hosted by Australian Photography. Yesterday I received an email advising that I had been a finalist in that competition. It was a sort of justification and reminder that I do great work. That makes me get out of bed (well, I am usually up) at ungodly hours and take photos that are usually complicated due to the lack of light, rather than the light. This was taken just on the cusp of dawn, with very little light. I left this shoot with no confidence that the shot would even be there. Slow shutter speeds and camera shake are the enemy. But it is all there. The dawning light, the fog and still water of the lake. I remember coming home with no great expectations of anything being pin-sharp. I flicked the memory card in the PC, imported it into Lightroom, and looked. A very few minor tweaks, exposure mainly, a bit less highlight, and I was mesmerised. I was stoked. I called Anna to look, and we printed it. Looked great, but it wasn’t big enough, Anna said (my printer only does A3 size). I took a USB to Camera House, and the rest was history. The 20-inch by 30-inch print in a lovely antique white frame sits in our lounge room.

The other moment that made me proud was the sister photo of this being displayed in a group exhibition at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery. This sister photo, another view of that last day of winter, was in a most prominent position in the gallery, as you came through the door and turned left onto the exhibit, it was on the right in the second position on the wall. I could not have been prouder that everyone who came in had to walk past it. The comments that I received, as well as the ones I overheard, filled my heart with joy.

It is great to get the imposter syndrome off your back and feel like you are making progress in your field of art.

I just went to grab my byline at the end of each blog, and noticed that it had been a month and a day since my last post. Really, is it that we get older that the seconds get quicker? How I yearn for them to go slower!

Till the next instalment…

Remember to LOVE LIFE!!