Very little about the journey was planned, all we knew was that we had 3 days, 2 stops and 15 of us together. I lost count of the number of kilometers we travelled, but it must have been ‘very a lot’ of kilometers if we had been in the trains for a total of about 15hrs each way. Coming along for the journey were also the cinematographers from Ichiro Films who documented our journey which also involved three photographers just starting out in the wedding industry. The three photographers were shortlisted from a portfolio review and interview session, their train tickets and lodging for the trip were fully sponsored by the WPN.

At the end of it, I felt I really enjoyed the journey with everyone. As cliched as it may sound, the trip really offered us all the chance to bond and to get to know each other better. Because despite all of us running separate photography businesses, the guys at WPN are just really great friends that are a blast to be around with.

Here’s a selection of shots from the trip, drop by the Facebook page for a whole bunch more of pics.

“The best camera, is the camera you have.” And that was what made my iPhone the best camera on the trip too.

Though our trip was a short one with ‘work’ as an item on the agenda, we took the time to visit the city, some of it’s historical landmarks and to experience the city life of Phnom Penh. It was an eye opener for me and the short time I spent in the city was definitely not enough, I will have to visit Cambodia again.

And a reason for my want to return to Cambodia is to re-visit the House of Rainbow Bridge. The House of Rainbow Bridge, established by Happy Tree Social Services, is a hospice orphanage for HIV+/AIDS affected orphans.

Happy Tree Social Services established House of Rainbow Bridge Hospice Orphanage in Phnom Penh in 2004, providing a home for HIV+/AIDS affected orphans. There, they receive medication and education, as well as love and care. House of Rainbow Bridge symbolizes a bridge connecting the earth to Heaven. With our efforts, we hope they can complete their last journey with dignity and in peace.
- http://www.happytree.org.hk/

Though we only had a small window to visit the orphanage, the short one hour was the highlight of the trip for me. I cannot take credit for organizing the trip to the orphanage – I knew we were going to make a trip but because I didn’t know what to expect about the orphanage, I think made the visit a little more enriching for me. And as I sit here typing out this entry, I realize I am at a loss of words to express the experience that I know has affected me. So, I will just let these pictures do the talking.

Find out more about Happy Tree Social Services and the House of Rainbow Bridge here –
http://www.happytree.org.hk/home-en

There is no pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, only a dive boat.

Kenken Kebare. Here’s a shot as we were gearing up to dive at Manta Point, Nusa Penida. Caught a total of about 6-8 rays over two mornings, the sight of seeing them fly towards, by and away is amazing. A few more ‘sneak pic’ shots are on my posterous site at dazza.posterous.com/submerged-in-bali.

See you soon. :)

I’ve been staring at this photo lately and realizing that I am nothing. Realizing that I am nothing, without light, people, love and the grace of the universe to witness beauty that is already there.

And realizing that all I am, is but a witness to events, scenes and emotions.

Which leaves me in awe.

Come see it large.

So a couple of weeks back, I headed up down to Sydney with Eadwine and Gabriel for theimageisfound’s first Australian workshop. Apart from returning home a little heavier from Eggs Benedictine, Bacon & Eggs and cafe lattes for breakfast, I came back with new insights, new relationships formed with some cool international photographers, and a new plan for all things dazza.

Anywayz, here are some shotz from Zdyney.

Managed to get some shots for the ongoing We are but little people series.

Sydney in Autumn. Rain, shine, colours. Well rain mostly.

Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser were open and very willing to share and I thoroughly appreciated their no-holds-barred views. I had this feeling that if we lived in the same city, we’d be hanging out, playing Pong and watching Star Wars re-runs all day.

“Craptastic! The clouds have got the sun again!”

“Oh ho ho. Not when I have my power rangers ring!”

I like this image Ead shot of me – I decided to turn Ninja and throw shurikens at the chilly autumn weather.

Gooooodaaaaahhhhh!

Check out my facebook for some other shots from the trip.

I’ve been asked a few times which camera I’ve been using for these panoramic photographs. These were shot on a Lumix LX1 – the 1st generation of the 16:9 ratio chips made by Panasonic. The latest model of this series would be the LX3, which I’ve seen really great samples from – low noise in low light and much better colour renditions. Buy! Buy! Buy! Well, but for now I’d much rather Dive! Dive! Dive!

And that is exactly what I did today on the last full day of this trip. It was meant to be a Fitzroy day, where we planned to just eat and drink in and around Brunswick Street. We headed to Jasper Coffee for some coffee and scones today before we were off to Little Creatures for afternoon beer and some fab grub.

Chili + Tomato Mussels @ Little Creatures

Communal Dining @ Little Creatures

With food in bellies and more importantly beer, we headed off for coffee along Smith Street before calling it an afternoon. Having already shot some 1200 photos on the DSLR, the batteries were running dry and so was my inspiration to shoot. So I decided to stow the DSLR and tried rattling off with the iPhone’s built in.

I then managed to satisfy my craving for a thick juicy beef steak at Joe’s Garage – a 400gm Char Grilled Ribeye Steak, over mashed and vegetables. This was preceded by a Lamb Loin Roquette salad and a Pea & Ham soup. BURP…..

I’m done jumping on my luggage to squeeze all my purchases and off tomorrow morning for a last round of cafe latte, bacon and eggs, before heading to Coles to squeeze in more tid bit snacks for loved ones.

Catch ya from the airport maybe.

Breakkie After

Did you ever wish you could have more or even stop time? Well, I wish I could have today.

Visiting NGV International today, I lost track of time pondering over exhibits and visiting the museum store, which made me rush through the remaining exhibits in quick time before the museum closed. It put me off that I had not planned for the day at the museum well enough and had to zip through it. And set me thinking about how my next vacation (when and if I can plan one) is going to be like.

I didn’t shoot very much today, perhaps I was in a reflective mood today, observing, pondering and wandering, but we did end up joining the Friday bar hopping crowd. We started off at Riverland Bar, where the mostly yuppy crowd of suits were at (kinda like a Boast Quay venue+crowd). Our awesome host – agent 001 – Ooi – joined us and we headed to Chinatown for what has been the worst meal here, at a Shanghai-nese restaurant – bleah, so oily I’m constipated.

Croft Institute 

Melbourne’s service lanes and back alleys are what makes this place special and really the hidden venues are the vernacular of the city’s bar culture. How cool is it, to observe someone walk down an alley, make a turn and disappear? Disappear into a bar tucked out of sight, amidst the smell of rubbish. So me!bourne. So we disappeared into Croft Institute (was quite puzzled the place hadn’t done any re-deco after all these years and at the crowd looked like lawyers, hmmm things actually did change) and then headed to one I didn’t know exist – Sister Bella.

Anyways, here are some photos and some from a dodgy iphone.

Note: Was too tired out last night, so this became a morning post. :P

The weather today was a comfortable high of 25oC and it was a lovely day to finally be able to walk around in short sleeves, so we made our way to Obscura Coffee. Obscura was opened by Thom an old classmate of mine from Swinburne. He pulled us a couple of cafe lattes and we ended up buying a few packets of Obscura coffee blends. Thom sources his beans from around South East Asia and produces his own blends of Obscura coffee. Check out the website and order a few samplings won’t ya?

Thom working the machine.

Check out the awesome thick, thick crema!

As I roamed the city today, I felt the buzz of Christmas, watching tourists & locals shopping for presents and children in awe of Christmas decorations. And then I started missing being a kid…

This little fella was squashed up against the glass ‘fish tank’ snoozing at a pet store in Melbourne Central SC.

There’s an issue of Men’s Health that says, guys who walk their dogs, attract more woman. Proof? Exhibit A.

Oh, here’s a funny story. When I first got to Melbourne in ’01, I spent my first year in the ‘sticks’ in a suburb called Berwick, now those familiar with Victoria will know how far that is. So I had to take the train for the first time to Uni, I paid for my ticket and validated it at the machine. Anyways, there wasn’t very many people at the station and as the train pulled up, I stood in front of the doors waiting. ‘Eh? How come the doors not opening?’ I wondered as I turned to my left and right and saw other passengers at the other doors getting into the train. ‘EH?’. I looked around and started to get a little frustrated ‘What the?!’. And as I peered down, I notice a door handle ‘Hmmm… is this for…’ And just as I was about to reach down to open the doors, the train pulled away, with the rest of the passengers in the train staring at me, probably thinking ‘What a silly boy’. Doh!

Headed to Evolve the Swinburne Grad Show which was held at the ACCA. Free drinks, schmoozing, chats with old classmates – now in the industry and lecturers from the day. Some nice work in a really awesome building, how often does an architect get away with using rust as the finish to the exterior cladding? Love it, cool.

And our shoot out withing ACCA, awesome light.

Click thumbnails for enlarged images.