Last weekend my friends and I made a little trip to Chambers Flat Strawberry Farm!

It was such a fun experience to pick our own strawberries and spend the day together. We are all in our late 20’s now and have been friends since we were 12-13. We all have busy lives in different stages of life so we don’t always get the chance to get together, but the few times we do every year is always a blessing and feels like nothing has changed in the last 15 years.

Bringing my film camera was the best idea I could’ve had. Shooting my friends in natural lighting is my favourite things to take photos of and film truly allows them to shine! I chose my Pentax Spotmatic as it had a half-used roll loaded that I wanted to finish (the first half was from mid-2019 when we could still travel and COVID-19 didn’t exist!). The Pentax Spotmatic for some reason isn’t my go-to favourite camera, but it is a wonderful experience shooting with it and I’m always pleased with the results. It’s a great beginner camera and I’d highly recommend it for anyone wanting to get into shooting film.

I truly love my friends and am so grateful for these adventures with them. I highly recommend scouting your local area for different fun activities like this – it’s spring in Australia so it was the perfect time to pick some strawberries and have some fresh strawberry ice cream!

Strawberry fields forever

I can’t believe it’s Halloween again! I thought this year I would post a throwback to last Halloween where I got to spend the day with my friend Simone and her two babies Lilly & Mason. At the time she was pregnant with her third baby, Ella who is now 6 months old. Seeing these photos again make me realise how much things can change in one year and how much the babies have grown and changed! This time last year Mason was very attached to his mum & dad and didn’t really want to know about me when I was around, but now he loves to give me cuddles and is growing into such a sweet little man.

Lilly is getting smarter and maturing every single day and each time I see her I am blown away by how bright and beautiful she is. Her vocabulary is better than most adults and you can have a normal conversation with her like you would any adult and she doesn’t miss a beat. It’s a testament to how good of a mum Simone is, she was born to be one and is doing an amazing job.

Happy Halloween!

All photos taken with Canon AE-1 Program using Kodak Portra 400 35mm film.

Visiting my brother in Melbourne is one of my favourite things to do. We used to spend a lot of time together, almost every weekend and day after school we would hang out at home watching some tv series whether it was Friends, How I Met Your Mother or Charmed, and just bond and hang out. We were born 22 months apart and have always been close, both in age and as siblings. Tom is one of the only people who understands me on a cultural and intellectual level and I value him so much and am so grateful we got to the privilege of being brother & sister in this lifetime.

The one thing he hates is when I make him pose for photos, but I’m glad that he does it, even if it’s begrudgingly and to be honest he is glad too months later when I get the film developed! 

We didn’t get a lot of time to spend together on the trip as he was working, but we did get one day where we got to sleep in, go swimming in the pool, and walk around his town of Richmond. It’s still wild to me that he is almost 26 living on his own, working, studying, with a long term partner. He is so successful and I’m so proud of him for all he is doing and achieving for himself.

Until 2018 I thought my favourite 35mm film was Kodak Portra 400, but Portra 160 has definitely overtaken my love for Portra 400 and I think it’s because I live in a very sunny, well-lit country that doesn’t need a film with 400 ISO. Portra 400 also has a slightly yellow tone that disappears with Portra 160 which is more pink/neutral which tones down the bright yellow Australian sun. Portra 160 hits the sweet spot for me and the colours are more to my taste. I don’t think I’ll buy Portra 400 again anytime soon.

All photos taken on Canon AE-1 Program using Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Portra 160 35mm film.

Last Christmas I went to Melbourne! We usually don’t travel at Christmastime but decided to so we could spend a couple of days in Melbourne with my brother. One of the things I really wanted to do whilst we were there was to visit the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel. In season 2 of the hit Australian tv show “Please Like Me” there is an episode that takes place almost entirely on the wheel and I loved the concept of it. I’ve always been someone that loves ferris wheels and was really excited to see Melbourne from a bird’s eye view.

A change in perspective every now and then is so important to understand that we are so consumed in our day to day lives, instead of on the big picture.

Shakespeare famously said, “All the world’s a stage and all  the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

I find that quote to be true. We are all here playing the roles God gave us, just trying to make it through the show as best we can. I love thinking about life in that way as it helps take the pressure off us a little bit.

Initially I was surprised and disappointed that a lot of the photos from this roll ended up as double exposures, but now I love it. I never usually shoot any roll of film with the intent to have double exposures as I like clean, crisp, clear photos that I can put in a photo album for my kids one day, but it’s always good to switch things up creatively every now and then, even if it was an accident.

All photos taken on Canon AE-1 Program using Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Portra 160 35mm film.

On New Year’s Day I ventured up to Brisbane to spend the day with my friend Chynna! We went to the Botanical Gardens and lookout at Mt Coot-tha and got a lot of Vitamin D. Going to the Botanical Gardens and in particular the Tropical Dome was a great start to the year as I’ve wanted to go for awhile now.

Late last year I picked up some Kodak Portra 160 35mm film and couldn’t wait to use it! Although I’d had a great experience with Portra 400, I found that some of my photos were overexposed and maybe I should step down to a less light sensitive film. Fortunately, that was a brilliant decision! The lower ISO works perfectly for Australian weather, and I couldn’t be happier with how the photos came out. The roll started on my last day in Melbourne and ended with Mt Coot-tha and I love every single frame of the roll.

The photos came out so clear, and amazing quality. I did some minor brightness adjustments to make sure the blacks weren’t too black and the whites weren’t too white but these photos were pretty perfect straight out of the camera.

I found that Portra 160 has more natural and neutral colour tones, and has less yellow than Portra 400. Portra 160 think it is the most accurate colour film I’ve ever used and I’ve tried quite a few!

I have a stack of 35mm film I want to get through before buying any more, however Portra 160 is the next film I will be buying and I think will be my new go-to.

All photos taken with Canon AE-1 Program and Kodak Portra 160 film (new fave).

As promised, here are the Hunter Valley Gardens photos!

In my last post I showed my road trip photos from the drive to Cessnock from the Gold Coast. It was my first ever road trip by myself and it was awesome. I listened to a lot of worship music and Kyle and Jackie O podcasts to get through and it was so fun to be alone and have complete freedom. I would love to go on another road trip in future, just gotta figure out where!

One of the highlights of the trip was going to the Hunter Valley Gardens to check out the various themed gardens and attractions they have their. It was a slightly overcast day which was perfect for walking around for an hour or two. Taking photos of my friends and family is one of my favourite things to do and Fiona & Sophie were more than willing to be my models! The Gardens are so lovely but I have to say the Storybook garden stood out the most, it truly was magical.

I loved the trip and the wonderful connected, intuitive conversation I had with Fiona & Sophie. I rarely get to experience conversations like those anymore and it was so soul renewing for me. It’s been a few months now since the trip and although I was only there a few days, I’m still adjusting to my regular interactions with people and searching for that same ease of conversation. I’ve found myself to be very emotional and feeling unfulfilled by conversations since returning home and I’m hoping that feeling passes soon.

All photos taken with Canon AE-1 Program using Kodak Portra 400 35mm film.

In late October I went on my first ever road trip by myself down to Hunter Valley region in New South Wales. Driving down the coast was a pretty calming experience, and I got to see a few things I hadn’t seen since I was a child, like the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour! I also went to Sealy Lookout near the Big Banana and was blown away by both the drive and the view – definitely worth the 15 minute detour.

I stayed with my friend Fiona in Cessnock, and our mutual friend Sophie came to visit as well. The three of us met at University in 2010 whilst studying film & television and I’ve always felt like I have a very deep connection with them. Our trio communicates so well and have so many interests and personality traits in common. I see the parts of myself that I love reflected in them, which is a blessing.

We had a really great time in our few days together – we got aura photos, went to trivia, saw A Star Is Born, and of course, went to the Hunter Valley Gardens which is where I took most of the pictures on the trip, which will be the following post, but for now enjoy the trip itself!

All photos taken with Canon AE-1 Program using Kodak Portra 400 35mm film.

Surprise! I started using my Lubitel Universal again!

A few months ago I started looking into Medium Format cameras and nearly bought one, but figured why do that when I don’t even use the Lubitel I have? I thought about selling it and even put it on Facebook Marketplace and had a lot of interest, which actually made me excited about the camera again. I dug it up out of the camera drawer under my bed and started shooting it! I shot almost 2 full rolls of expired Kodak Ektar 100 at Crystal Castle and I think the photos turned out gorgeous. It made me so excited to be shooting with this camera again – it’s definitely had a learning curve, and been a long couple of years to get me finally excited about shooting it, but now I want to keep going!

As you can see I got a couple of cool light leaks which weren’t very surprising as the camera back is a little loose. After how badly previous rolls have turned out using the Lubitel, I think I finally understand how focusing, aperture, and shutter speed work on this camera and am so grateful that the photos turned out so nice straight out of the camera.

Can’t wait to finish the next roll!

Each year I like to visit the Swell Sculpture Festival at Currumbin Beach. This year my friend Simone, her two babies & I went to have a look. Going anywhere with a two-year-old can be difficult and we experienced a couple of tantrums but overall it was a nice day.

2015 was the best Swell Festival I’ve seen and this year’s was an improvement on last year’s so it fell in somewhere in the middle. The highlight was the bird, and the lowlight was the traffic cone square.

Afterwards we headed to a local park to let the kids run wild. Mason is now able to walk with a little bit of assistance which is soooo cute.

Photos taken with Pentax Spotmatic using Kodak Profoto XL 100 35mm film.

A few weekends ago we were lucky enough to have a long weekend on the Gold Coast! My friend and I decided to make the most of it and head an hour south to Byron Bay to see the sunrise. We got up at 3:30 am and got there at the perfect time. We walked for a few minutes in the pitch black darkness of night and before we knew it the darkness subsided and gradually the landscape was illuminated by cool daylight.

At 5:59am the sun was rising and had shone its brilliant warmth over the lighthouse and the scenery in front of us. The ocean reflected and shimmered with its magnificence, and I felt so at peace.

Whenever I see a sunrise or sunset I feel a rare sense of belonging and tranquility. To see the breaking of dawn on Saturday morning made me feel connected with the world, when I often feel disconnected from the wonder and instead stuck in the mundane, monotonous existence of everyday life.

the dawn is breaking

a light shining through

We had breakfast at a local cafe afterwards and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the empty streets and the early morning.

On our return to the Gold Coast we headed to Springbrook National Park where I shot most of my photos on film (coming soon) and I am so excited to revisit it in summer and swim in the lagoon under the waterfall.

All photos were taken with my Pentax Spotmatic, 28mm lens, and Fuji Pro 400H film.

This year I discovered one of my favourite places on Earth: Crystal Castle.

I went there for the first time a month ago with my friend Simone and her baby girl Lilly and it was wonderful. Before we got there I was feeling really down and low energy, and even just being five minutes away from there I started to feel so much better. It is located in the Byron hinterland with very little phone service, and I think that keeps it pure. When we actually got in there and had a look around and started to walk among the crystals, I felt even better.

At Crystal Castle you have your choice of different nature walks and psychic readings. Both Simone and I got a psychic reading and loved it – it was actually one of the best experiences I have ever had. The lady that read for me was so positive and saw so much potential for me, which made me feel a lot better and gave me the motivation and the pick me up I needed. She was on point with my personality and my gifts. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and to get some negative information or difficult information to handle but it never came which was such a beautiful feeling. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone see all the things you have going for you, whether you are in that energy or not. We didn’t do any of the different nature walks that day as we had the pram with us and the weather wasn’t too nice, so when the opportunity came to go with some of my other friends, I was excited to explore more of what Crystal Castle had to offer.

Brittany, Janice, Sarah and I made our way down to Crystal Castle last Sunday, despite the weather report telling us there may be rain and lightning. We got incredibly lucky as there was no rain and no lightning! It was a beautiful, sunny, humid day which was beautiful and such a relief. I didn’t get a psychic reading this time, but I did get aura photos and was disappointed to learn that my aura was still red. I think it will remain that way until next year when I make a lot of changes to my life and I start a new journey.

My favourite feature of the grounds is most definitely The Wishing Tree. Thousands of wishes and intentions have been set and hung on the tree over the years. Some have fallen onto the ground. My friend Janice said that maybe all the wishes that have come true are the ones that are now on the ground. I loved that. I certainly hope mine will fall to the ground someday. I checked where I hung my wish and intention last time and it was still there.

I’m so glad I took my DSLR as it was a beautiful day and I didn’t want to have to wait for film to be developed! I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed my day there.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend visiting Crystal Castle. There is truly something for everyone, whether you consider yourself a spiritual person or not.

We need to live more.

These words that have been circling my head for the last few months, and honestly, I’ve been trying to do it, hence why I have been pretty inactive on this blog. I’ve done my best to leave fear behind and have been out in the world trying to find the things that fuel me and make me happy, whilst trying to achieve some of the goals I have that have always been a bit more difficult for me to accomplish. In doing that, I have become extremely drained and desperate to travel. Tangalooma Island is only 2 hours from where I live which was perfect as we were only able to go for a couple of days.

The first 2 days of the trip were great – exactly what we needed, but on day three is where things kind of turned for the worst. We went Quad Bike Riding and I accidentally went into a wall that has left a huge, nasty bruise on my thigh. Janice got a bruised foot from doing something that she doesn’t even remember. Then I had my first and only panic attack on Day 3 after I got off the Banana Boat. We managed to end the day with a lovely dinner at Tangalooma’s Fire & Stone restaurant which made up for the kind of crappy day we had.

We found out Donald Trump was elected President on the boat ride home on Day 4, which was the worst possible end to the holiday. I think his Presidency will stir up even more passion and fight in those of us who believe in a globalised world where every type of person is accepted. People have fought for generations to get to where we are and we aren’t going to stop or give up now. Everyone woke up feeling divided today, but I think over the next four years we will unite and come to understand that we can’t keep living the way we have been. We can’t keep on living out of hatred and fear. Love really is the only answer to all of this and I think it’s up to those of us who still believe in love to be the ones to make the change, and do their best to change the world for future generations, as those who came before us did for us.

I had such a great time in Sydney! It’s the city where I grew up and it has a special place in my heart. I took a couple of cameras there so you will be seeing more of my Sydney snaps in future Disposable Diaries.

All photos taken using a FujiFilm QuickSnap (Fujifilm Superia ISO-400 speed film) disposable camera. I got back 24/27 shots.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Over the last couple of months I feel like I’ve abandoned this little blog. There’s no excuse but I will give you the reason why. I honestly believe it’s because I’ve stopped seeing value in my day to day life and don’t feel like it’s worth sharing with anyone. I’ve been struggling with the idea of mediocrity and have recently found out that I’m just like everybody else and I’m not special or different like I used to think I was. Most people already know that about themselves, but it’s really shocked me and made me reevaluate everything. You could call it a quarter life crisis. All of that said, I’m going to try to update this blog more and maybe by doing that I’ll see the value in each and every day again.

Today I wanted to share with my little getaway from this past weekend. I went with my two friends Janice & Sarah to Yamba – a little town just for a quick weekend trip. We all felt like we needed to get away – they had both finished Uni for the year and I have been feeling pretty stressed about my job & figuring out when is the best time for me to move next year.

Photos were taken on my Canon 60D with the 50mm f1.8 lens.