At the end of last year it was time for some R and R and in my world R and R equals Retreat – a 3 day photography retreat with a couple of good friends and fellow photographers.

We decided that it would be a good idea to rent a cottage on acreage around the Boonah area.  We found the perfect place, Rose Cottage, Milford Country Cottages at Boonah.  A nice 2 bedroom spacious cottage set on acreage.  So much to do, photograph and see and that was just around the property, perfect for 3 budding photographers.

Our adventure started with lunch at the local pub before heading back to prepare for our first lesson, how to lift wine glass from table to lips (whoops sorry wrong retreat 😉 ).  Seriously thought after dark we were heading down to the dam on the property to learn about, live composite, a function on the EM1 Olympus.  Night and astro photography is the perfect subject to practise with.   As we got into the play we added some further interest and used our torch to “light paint” the old tools.  For my first time using this feature the results were pleasing and it was well after midnight before we finally hit the hay.

Olympus Live Composite at Work

After a “little” sleep and much coffee we packed our gear and headed out to see the “sights”.  Our first stop for the morning was a little off the beaten track at a place called The Gorge.  A stunning water hole that just appears almost out of nowhere.  After exploring the area until we could go no further on foot , any further we would need to swim, so it was back in the car.

Hidden off the Track – The Gorge

Onto our next destination, Moggerah Dam.  The dam was near full and as we walked the road around the dam wall, the sound of the water was deafening, mountains of water was flowing over the wall, just our luck making it easier to get captivating images and great water effects.

Moogerah Dam

Our last stop over for the morning was the lavender farm and winery, honestly can’t tell you exactly where, all I know it was somewhere out in the country on a road.  Unfortunately the lavender was not blooming however the kangaroo’s were a plenty and so was the wine.  Perfect to end our morning outing, being late December, temps were around 40 and too hot to stay out all day.  Time to download our photos, process and have a learning session back at our accommodation.

Lavender Farm and Winery

There is so much more to our Retreat but best to leave you wanting more (and gives me another future blog post). Before I sign off tonight, need to shout out a plug to Karen Willshaw, our trusty Tour Guide, Karen is running a Photography tour to Vietnam in October this year, highly recommended, and for further information on the tour or to book please visit her Facebook Page

Until next time.

Kassy

July last year I received a call from a very sweet man, Paul, a husband looking for the perfect gift to give his wife.   Paul told me his wife had done a glamour shoot for her 40th.  He thought it was a great idea to gift her another glamour shoot for her 60th, a personalised gift voucher for our You are Beautiful photoshoot experience.

As time went by in July I kept on waiting for the call from her to book in, nothing happened.  Month after month went by and still no call.  Fast forward to January this year, the phone rang … Hi it’s Cheryl here ….  Woo Hoo, finally the call I was waiting for.  Cheryl was excited and was ringing to book in for the shoot.  She was sorry it couldn’t have been earlier.   She had been so busy travelling after her birthday that time had slipped away.  We settled on a date and confirmed with my trusted and preferred Make up Artist (Morgan from Morgan Leigh Makeup Artistry) that she was available.

On meeting Cheryl in person I quickly discovered what a wonderful and bubbly lady she is.  Cheryl has a laugh that is infectious.  Her stories about her life, family, travel and girlfriends are captivating.  This is a true lady who lives life to the fullest and makes every day count.

On her 60^th Birthday they had a party with a dress up theme of “Bollywood”.  Let me share with you it’s not the first dress up party she has attended.  It seems to be a normal occurrence in her life (and Im not just talking about finding something ok from the wardrobe that will do, Im talking full 100% commitment).   She had bought in the outfit that she wore to the party and asked if this could be one of the looks for the day, of course I said yes … let’s do that one last.

Cheryl loves her scarves and I think she has over 100 different ones in her wardrobe. Cheryl bought a small selection to our shoot, all colourful and co-ordinated with her outfits.  Although taking Beautiful photos of Cheryl is my job, it didn’t feel like it, we were laughing often and during make up “touch ups” listening to her travel and learning about her life, it was an absolute joy, I honestly feel that the universe had given me this gift and not the other way around.

Bollywood – Cheryl Style

After a couple of weeks, we met again so I could present her photos, let me tell you it was hard to narrow down just to the favourites.  Cheryl was beyond delighted with the results and chose 7 must have photos for printing.   Our time together went so quickly, I am grateful to leave her with beautiful photos of a beautiful lady and more great memories for her to cherish.

Until next week.

Kassy.