Was a pleasure to be part of Tara's journey into Miss Australia finalist contingency. 

Wonderful to watch her blossom into a beautiful young lady.

What a fun shoot I had with this little munchkin!

Miss Scarlett has been placed as a finalist in the Junior Miss Australia Continents pageant for 2017. Her chosen charity is the Heart Foundation. I wish her all the best and hope she goes well. Let the fundraising begin :)

Can't believe its been 2 years since I was the photographer for Zaya's big brother, Milan's, first birthday. Now its Zaya's turn to celebrate!

Hat off to wonder mum Rachael and her event co-ordination talent. Everything was decorated perfectly. All of the guests were entertained with an afternoon of firefighting fun.

​Thank you to the Grech-Sant family for having me along (again). It was an honour to celebrate Zaya's birthday with you all.

Happy first birthday Zaya! 

Its always a pleasure shooting for Show Oz. Having been their photographer coming on 3 years, its great to watch the talent grow. The students are wonderful to work with...so are the staff!

Camden Civic Centre hosted the Show Oz production of Peter Pan Jr.

The cast and crew were simply amazing!

It was great to be there to capture the excitement from rehearsal to curtain close. There is most definitely some great up and coming talent in the Camden local area.

Well done Show Oz! I look forward to your next production.
​

I got to hang with Show Oz (again) at Camden Show.

So many performers representing this boutique dance studio took to the stage and looked amazing!

​Cuteness galore!

I was recently prompted to re-visit some images I took on my road trip around Victoria.

Sometimes I forget all the great places I've walked, if only walls could talk...oh the stories they could tell. 

I'll start by saying...I was invited to this location - no trespassing was involved. Sadly, judging by the state of the place, many have though.

What once was Queen Victoria Sanitarium/Hospital is now nothing but a vandalised, asbestos ridden mess. Some of the graffiti work is great and I applaud the artists (fond of urban art). The crunch of broken glass under every step and having to manoeuvre around things that were once attached to the walls is not so good. So much for heritage listing!

I have been lucky enough to have ventured here prior to the dismay. Nowadays its best viewed from the mature (yet heavily overgrown) gardens. You get a sense of what it might've been like for TB patients basking in the mountain air.

Haunted? There is no doubt a sense of creepiness. Creaking doors and floors. Whistling of the wind through broken windows. Distinct foot steps coming from down the hall!!!

Definitely a great place that will soon be no longer. Glad to have visited and been able to snap away.

A full history of Queen Victoria Hospital can be found here.

If there’s one way to see the amazing landscape that is Australia, it’s off road. Our convoy took a 4x4 weekend wandering from the old Zig Zag railway to Newnes. Zig Zag (at Clarence) is a heritage railway that climbs the face of the Blue Mountains. We have done this via the old steam train many moons ago. Glad to have done it when we did as it has been closed since 2013 due to damage from bushfire.

From Zig Zag, we headed right and followed the State Mine Gully Rd out to Bungleboori then followed the Glow Worm Tunnel Rd to (funny enough) the Glow Worm Tunnel. From the car park it’s a 2km easy grade return walk. The Glow Worm Tunnel is best experienced in a small quiet group (or alone) in the dark. It can get quite noisy when other groups pass through. The Glow Worms look like stars in the night sky.

From the Glow Worm Tunnel we headed back to Bungleboori and turned right onto Blackfellows Hand Rd to try and find the Lost City. This is where it got tricky…they don’t call it Lost City for nothing. No sign posts but plenty of puddles after a bit of rain. There are so many tracks out here, you could end up anywhere. (Future reference: Blackfellows Hand Rd, immediate (L), at powerlines keep straight and cross the lines, (L) at fork, (L) at fork and (L) again - should get you there).

The Lost City is an amazing sight. The rock formations look like ancient buildings and you could easily imagine being in Machu Picchu…if you scrunched your face and looked sideways. You can hear water through the valley and from the top of the rock (down track, to the left) you can see the small dam way down below. Keep an eye out for Mountain Dragons. These teeny weeny lizards are just adorable – as small a 7cm up to 20cm. The kids loved them.

We still had plenty of daylight so decided to head out to Blackfellows Hand Rock. As the road states it takes you directly there. We did this trip a long time ago and I didn’t remember it being as rough at it was. The area has eroded over the years. This land is of the Wiradjuri people and the cave art shows the spiritual connection place of other tribes would meet. From the carpark it’s a small uphill walk. I felt a little intimidated walking up to the overhanging cliff face and seeing all the cracked sandstone…balancing…waiting to squish me like an ant. Instead of back tracking, we decided to head to Lithgow and pit stop at Blast Furnace park.

A great day for off-road adventuring. Next trip is already planned.

I have a nine year gap between my eldest and my youngest. My last born has just graduated from primary school and attended his year 6 farewell. Its a little emotional as the year closes we are experiencing 'lasts'. All of the assemblies and award days. Especially when they play the memory dvds. Tears are flowing.

As this boy ventures into high school, I hope he grabs every opportunity he can to learn and grow to be best man he can be. 

​Love him beyond infinity. xx

Finished up this year with one last round of physi photos.

Macarthur Physical Culture had their club competition 2nd December. A wonderful display of the years syllabus from all age groups. 

I've grown close to this club and love to watch how all the girls support each other as with any club really.

​The motto 'have fun and make a physi friend' shines.

Love to all and wish everyone a safe and merry xmas and birght new year.

xx

Currently in crazy edit mode going through the gazillion pics that were taken at  the Show Oz annual show off.

This was a wonderful event that was full of the most cutest performers.

It was a pleasure to capture all the smiles and costume changes.

A big thank you to Show Oz for their continued support xxx

A massive THANK YOU to Show Oz for having me as their photographer once again. 

On this night, the girls were presented with their BDA exam results and there were smiles far and wide.

I can't recommend Show Oz highly enough - the teachers are worth their weight in gold!

Congratulations girls xx

I love this time of  year! lycra, swarovski, bouffants!

After learning all of the syllabus it was off time to shine those ballets and hit interclub competitions. My daughter scored her first first place at Moorebank's 22nd Interclub Challenge. To have this judged by the Edith Parson's School of Physical Culture president made it all the more special. So extremely proud of her and her achievements.

I must say it was pretty cool to be driving home and seeing a familiar image.

John Walton has his council election signage on every street corner.

Proud to see my image all about the shire.

​Best of luck John :)

x

When people ask where I live, I'm in two minds to divulge. Its not only hard to describe, buts a great 'secret' spot. We've lived here for the past sixteen odd years and absolutely love it.

At 12:13am 6th June 2016, we received the NSW SES txt that the 'Wallacia Bridge is closed, isolating communities on the western side of the Nepean River. Don't attempt to cross while barriers are in place'. We had already heard that our other limited access points were blocked by a wall of water and later of the utter devastation of the historic town of Picton. The one downside to living semi-rural is that we are literally living on the edge of nothing-ness. We have limited roads and have bushland as far as the eye can see on the west and are bridged in on the east because of the Nepean River. We have been completely cut off from the outside world twice now. The first time was in 2001, we were trapped by the boxing day bush fires for three days with no power and a trickle of water. Thats by no way a complaint as there were countless others who lost so much its hard to comprehend. Our little community still bears the scars.

With no word of when the river was expected to subside, the husband and I ventured out to Norton's Basin to have a look at the raging river. The thunderous roar was almost deafening and our views limited. We hiked it all the way to the bottom only to be faced with the path cut off by water.

This morning the water had now dropped considerably and the council engineers have inspected the structure of the bridge and the road has been declared open. Access to the outside world has been restored (damn lol). And although we've missed two days of work and the kids two days of school...we wouldn't live anywhere else (yet)!

Nic x

I had the pleasure of meeting this lovely gentleman and providing images for him to use in his running for council.

As he said 'A selfie just won't cut it'

I'm glad to have been able to hear it from the horses mouth (so to speak) - core values, intentions and passion for our community.

A vote for John Walton is a vote for a better Wollondilly!

I wish you every success John :)

Talk about a warm April. Too nice to not get outdoors and enjoy it.

We hooked up our camper trailer for one last harrah (before we sell it) and headed south. We normally head further south but thought we'd venture a little closer for a change. My grandparents live in the area and it was nice to relax and spend some time with them in their hometown.

Shellharbour Tourist Park is one of the last south coast camping places to offer waterfront sites. Million dollar views at a bargain price. Its fantastic to wake up and take a few steps towards the ocean for spectacular sunrise shots. We were treated to a pod of around 20 dolphins that spent a whole day frolicking around the harbour. 

Besides lazing around there were a few photo ops with my dear friend Mandy...we might have still been in our pjs but we caught some great sunrise shots. Bass point offers Bushrangers Bay for great snorkelling and the view near Red Sands Beach is great to snap a sunset - image below. 

I met Scott the photographer from Southern Sky Images and learnt a bit about what its like being a travelling photographer. Heading off the beaten track and being paid for it sure beats a 9-5 in Sydney!

I'll add a Shellharbour page to my travel tab in galleries to showcase what I managed to capture.

Looking forward to the next destination on the list :)

Nic x​  

I grabbed some pic's of Show Oz & Mac Physi's collection that was held on the ANZ stage at this years Camden Show.

Although it was an absolute stinker of a day the little performers strutted their stuff and looked AMAZING!

Well done teachers and performers :)

​...and thanx again for having me along xx

There's no better way to start the new year by taking a relaxing coastal holiday.

We spent a wonderful week away with family friends in a fantastic holiday house across from the Crooked River at Gerroa on the Kiama Coast. Lucky we managed to book the week we did as the week prior was drenched with relentless downpours. The sun gods chose to rain for our holiday week *huge smiles*.

Massive kudo's to South Coast Holiday's! They were so easy to deal with from first contact to after we had returned home. We will definitely book through them again.

North end of Seven Mile Beach is one of the best swimming beaches I've been to. Perfect levels, no drop off...medium breaking waves and its patrolled. The Crooked River is great for fishing (low tide) and kayaking (high tide) - also great when the prawns are running :D If you don't manage to catch dinner, there is the Gerroa Boat Fisherman's Club (Fisho's) just up the road - their menu selection is huge and yum and they have the fastest service ever.

For the photography side of things...dawn and dusk are of course divine! Although this was a holiday to switch off before getting into the bump and grind of the working year, I only got the camera gear out a few times. Wandering around first thing in the morning in Gerroa is like you are the only person alive. I thought there would be plenty of early morning walkers...the place was blissfully deserted. Catching the sunset on the beach or up at Gerroa Headland / Black Head Reserve lets you take in the length of the beach and mountain landscape. The views seem to go on forever and at the very far end you can see Coolangatta Mountain. Night photography is fun when the prawns are running as you get plenty of reflective light trails with everyone in the water with their torches on the hunt.

All refreshed and back at work with the next break already booked. (Is it February yet? lol)

Wishing everyone a great new year.

Nic x

I'd like to thank the beautiful team at Show Oz and Mac Physi for allowing me to not only photograph their wonderful club at their annual showcase event, but for welcoming me into their ladies team. They assisted my daughter with extra classes leading up to State Competition and welcomed her to display at Showcase. 

Pop on over and check them out - https://www.facebook.com/showozandmacphysi/

Is a blessing to have them as extended physi family xxx

My daughter is heavily involved with Edith Parson's Physical Culture. She loves it! awe heck...we both do!

She has been a member of Oran Park Physi for the past 5 years and with each year, I have made it tradition to put together a photobook - 'the physi year that was'.

Forget new Ipads and flash pandora charms...all she looks forward to each year is her physi photobook.

Massive thank you to Harvey Norman and their easy to use online photobook maker. Even though my OCD shines and each year the album is black linen hardcover...they have a large selection to choose from.

Two more events to photograph then I can submit this baby for printing. 

Although I wish my full-time job was to travel and photograph interesting, breathtaking locations...my current day job consists with working for a well known charitable organisation with people who are facing varying degrees of crisis.

The calendar has been relentlessly chock a block and this no doubt this takes its toll physically and mentally.

I could feel myself getting to the point of 'No TV and no beer make Homer something something'...it was definitely time for some much needed self-care!

A day atVilla Thalgo at The Sebel Resort and Spa in the Hawkesbury Valley was in order.

WOW! is one word to describe how luxuriously amazing this place is. The staff are pleasant and the treatments are to die for. You leave walking on cloud 9...and planning a return visit. Highly highly highly recommend! only suggestion is to book early as their calendar looks similar to my work calendar.

Refreshed and revitalised, ready to tackle the silly season now :)