a&a's wedding

i had the pleasure of shooting my friend angie's wedding last week. it was a stunning winter's day, albeit very windy, which made life a little tough i have to say.
angela and andrew(her husband, now) were the easiest couple to photograph, so relaxed and chilled and happy to do whatever was suggested to them....including sitting down for a pint of beer! we did shoot before the ceremony tho, so it was understandable!
i had a great time shooting this wedding, it couldn't have been more fun!

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tying the knot

a few week's ago i shot my friends civil union up in auckland. i was a fabulous winter's day with bright blue skies, and it was warm....well to start with, my nose wasn't thanking me for my very summery attire by the end of the evening....i even took my blackboard along and got all the guests to write something for the happy couple while i snapped their pic. here are a few of my favs.

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what can't i see

i have been struggling with inspiration for the last while. there is so much else going on in my life, i guess. being sick and new job take up a fair amount of energy. but then of course i get stressed and frustrated that my residency doesn't seem to be taking shape.
my plan last week while i was away was to concentrate on my reading and go to some galleries, movies, whatever to get inspiration. well, i got to two movies (one nowhere, near, inspirational)...but that was about it!
so still empty. well my notebook has a few more scribbles, but nothing substantial. i'm thinking i actually need to take time and 'smell the roses'. that is the main issue - i have too much stuff going on and i am continually getting distracted by it all.
what i did achieve over the past week photographically, beside my 365 blog, was a photo shoot with my friend's three month old twins. check out some of the initial pics below.
again, i have used some jules bianchi's awesome presets. thanx jules!

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the small things in life

recently i have been doing portraits of my friends kids. as much i love photographing, my forte is really making up shit! being able to tell a story in my own words....like my death series for instance....


this was my the other half of my major last year and i achieved what i wanted to achieve with it. i was amazed i was able to produce this piece of work, esp knowing my lighting skills at the beginning of the year. but i worked hard, and pushed myself, came up with new ideas and techniques and pulled it off.

but i digress......kids portraits....so i have been doing a few, and i have to say i actually enjoy it. we all know i love kids, as much as i don't want my own. so getting to hang out with kids for a few hours and snap is kinda cool. it's also a tad stressful, especially being a bit of perfectionist. you can't with kids, you don't know what you are going to get thrown, what mood they will be in and how they will respond to you. i have to say my time as a santa photographer the past two christmases is actually paying off, a little.
the few shoots i have done so far i have been unable to go back and re-shoot, whcih is an ideal situation with kids....if they ain't in the mood on the day, they ain't in the mood, so you need to reschedule. i had this issue with one of my recent shoots, but still managed to pull off some shots which my friend absolutely loves, yipee! I of course see every perfection, but i am learning that when you are take photos of kids or weddings, or just anyone, the clients are going to love seeing themselves, their kids, their pets looking great, being captured how they see them every day, having that memory.
here are a selection of photos from recent shoots




all images © Kirsty Macdonald

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first day

well not really....but this week was the 'official' start of my year at artist in residence at cpit. on monday there was a meet & greet for the new budding photog's, those returning from last year & the tutors...oh and me.
i got the opportunity to speak momentarily to the group, introduce myself and say a few choice words. i emphasised the point made earlier by the head of school, Hubert Klaassens, that the students should respect and drink in the knowledge of the tutors. the tutors on the photography course are the biggest asset to the course programme. they give their all and make themselves as available as much as possible for students. they are always willing to offer advice and also take on board comments from the students.
hand in hand with the information that comes from the faculty staff, comes what is learnt by fellow students outside of the classroom walls. during my two years as a student, i was lucky enough to have the very giving john o'malley. john would always be coming into school with information, tools and ideas he had found, generally via the internet. his openness to share enhanced our learning environment, and encouraged others to share also.
working in our industry can be pretty isolating, and so the importance of creating great relationships with fellow students can't be reiterated enough. once you are in the big wide world you need to keep learnign and developing and having fellow collegues you can meet regularly with and discuss is invaluable. john and i often meet up and discuss new things we have learn't and discovered which will help both of us grow.
finally as promised - some more of my work :D






all images ©Kirsty Macdonald

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where have i been, what have i been doing

my blogging seemingly has been blocked for the past near 18 months....whoops. that, or life just got in the way. i'm going for the first option. i was blocked. not necessarily creatively, maybe just a little forgetfully...that is i forgot i had a blog! hence i didn't blog. sad state of affairs that.
but it's a new year (yada yada) so time to start anew and continue with more ramblings about stuff.... plus i i'll try and showcase my pieces de resistance....which i'll start now with a few choice pieces from last year......more will follow

this year i have been chosen to be the photographic artist in residence at cpit, where i studied for the last two years. what this means is, i get mentored, get to use the school's facilities and am surrounded by a whole lot of like minded people(or something close to...actually in some [or maybe most] cases the total opposite) for another year. hopefully this will lead to creating some interesting pieces of work that will make you all think a little more about stuff

that's allthe stuff i have for today....it was hard getting even that much...maybe it will get easier again....gotta get back to cooking my dinner(don't have a heart attack)...making a bean stew, off the top of my head even!!!! maybe this WILL be a very different year

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Moments in Time

Our life is full of moments. So many moments. Some good. Some bad. Some memorable. Most not.

The past few weeks have been FULL of moments for me, which has made me think, about moments. What do they mean? Are they literally just that, moments? Or should more be taken from them.

For all of us, some moments stand out more than others. Some are more memorable, some are less memorable… some just stick in our minds for no other reason than they happened. What is it that makes them memorable, even when they are, just, daily happenings?Back to my earlier thought, should I take something from these moments? And if so, what really is more important than the next?

I have recently had moments that will change me, and my life journey. Exactly how they will affect me overall I do not know yet, but I can feel that these moments were more than just your every day events.

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