I take hundreds of photos every year — people, cows, dogs, the weather, events, more people.
I love taking photos and putting a gallery together and creating a picture of the community.
Sometimes my favourite photos are a moment caught unguarded, sometimes it is the meaning of the photo for me or for the person in the photo.
Below are my favourite 10 pictures — not for the technicality but for a whole lot of other reasons. Hope you enjoy them.
Dancing memories
In March this year, Ailsa Hoare was 89. She was helping to promote a dance at Tabulam. Her favourite dance is the Pride of Erin waltz.
“I won’t be able to get up and dance like I used to,” Ailsa said when I was taking her picture. Read the story here.It’s always difficult to take a photo before an event because there are few props. We had an empty hall and Ailsa was unable to twirl about the dance floor like she used to. I had to take this photo quickly. I tried to capture a photo of Ailsa and her memories of dances at Tabulam Hall. I really would have liked a couple (slightly blurred) dancing in the background behind Ailsa. You’ll have to imagine that for yourself.
Walk this way to new arena
In April, Cohen Walker was snapped at the official opening of the Casino Showgrounds and arena upgrade. Read the full story here.Cohen Walker was watching his father do the Welcome to Country at the opening of the arena at Casino Showground. He was just hanging over the barrier. I like this shot because his eyes are so clear. He hasn’t posed for the photo. I feel this captured a moment in his day.
Stalking art
This was taken at the Cassino Art Gallery in Casino. Read about the exhibition here.It’s hard taking a photo of an artist with their work. It’s usually hung on the wall and the artist stands in front of it. It’s kind of an ordinary shot. I’ve taken many of these photos over the years and the photo never does the artists or artwork any favours. So we tried something different at a photo shoot at the Cassino Art Gallery. The artists Laszlo Biro, Christine Cameron, Gwen Gray and Ralph Smith took their work out in front of the gallery building. That was fun – the artists relaxed. But what I really liked was Jelly (my dog, not theirs), stalking Laszlo’s bird sculpture. When I was taking the shots, I was worried Jelly would pounce on the bird and destroy the sculpture (it was made of a soft material). The result is this photo – slightly chaotic and almost impromptu given it was a photo they deliberately posed for. It reminds me to have fun taking photos of people, because if I’m having fun, they could have fun. And I am much more comfortable behind the camera so I like to try and make it more bearable in front of the camera (for some people and there are others who love getting their photo taken).
My NRL journey
In July, Cody Walker came to Casino High School to talk about his NRL journey. Filmmaker Jon Bell was there to speak as well. Read about their NAIDOC visit here.The quality of this photo isn’t great – I took it on my phone. It was an outtake but I’ve included it here because I like the emotion of Cody and the student behind him. They look relaxed and it’s clear from the students’ faces they are enjoying his presence. Cody used to go to Casino High so it must have been a thrill to be back at school during NAIDOC Week.
Truck! Crowds in Casino
The Casino Truck Show was the biggest yet.
The numbers say it all – 600 trucks and more than 30,000 people. It was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in Casino. More photos of the truck show here.
I took this photo from the balcony of the Commercial Hotel. I’d never seen so many people. Crowd shots are tricky. I usually like to have a focus even when it’s a crowd shot. Here I was simply trying to catch the scale of the crowd.
Blak on the Beef Week catwalk
The Beef Week Fashion Parade featured a segment showcasing three indigenous designers and their models. More photos here.Indigenous designers showed their craft at the Beef Week Fashion Show. This young model looked confident on the catwalk. I like how she is looking up and to the side. And how her black outfit blended into the low light.At a fashion show, I take lots of pics (too many) and it takes me ages to sort through them. Light is mostly the issue and you only have a moment to capture the shot as the models walk by. This was one of my favourites from the fashion show this year.
They came, they danced, they laughed
The effort the dancers put into their routines for the Cancer Council’s Dancing with the Stars at the Casino RSM Club was amazing. It was a sold out event and $100,000 was raised. Go Casino. More on the dance comp and winners here.These three were getting feedback from the judges after their routine. I can’t recall what was said but it made them laugh. I like this photo because the girl in the middle is throwing her head back as she laughs. It is so uninhibited and joyful.
Bye bye, butcher
In August, butcher Brett Stuart retired. He had been slicing and serving meat to customers in Kyogle for 44 years. This was such a popular story because Brett is clearly loved by the Kyogle community. Read more about him here.Brett Stuart was quite shy about having his photo taken and the day I was there was his last day at the butchers in Kyogle. Every time I tried to set up a shot, another customer would come in the shop to say goodbye to Brett. I asked him to do his thing in the cold room because I thought he’d be more relaxed not posing for the pic. New owners Abbie Tarrant and Mitch Morgan went into the coolroom with him and as you can see, there isn’t much room. I love the expression on Brett’s face, he’s laughing at a joke someone made and I feel like I captured a different side to him.
Jetpacks zoom over the river
In January there was the Festival of the Waters in Woodburn and the highlight was the Jetpack Entertainment. More festival photos here.What fun the water acrobatics were on Richmond River at the festival in Woodburn. I used my phone for this shot so the clarity of the pic isn’t as good as when I use my camera. I like the feeling of movement and the way the man is arching into the motion. It must be quite a thrill to do these water jet displays.
A model frog
And now for something completely different …This frog kindly sat very still while I took this shot. I caught it sipping from the bird bath at my home. I like the colour and detail of the frog’s skin. Photography slows the world down and we get to see the detail up close and we can our time to look at — really look at it. I felt so lucky to photograph this frog. I chose this photo for the favourites list because it represents the joy of a camera and how lucky I am in life to have the opportunity to take photos as part of my job.
