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.

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.

As you may know in November I went to Tangalooma Island! It’s only a two hour journey from where I live which made it the perfect island getaway for a couple of days. The only cameras I took were a Fujifilm disposable camera and my Instax Wide 300. I used up all the pictures on the disposable camera and was really happy with how they turned out.

Since I posted a couple of pictures on Instagram the other day quite a few people have asked me what filter I used – I used absolutely no filters and didn’t edit the photos at all. They turned out wonderfully because they were taken on film and film does all of the editing for you. Disposable cameras really are the perfect thing to take on holiday with you – I highly recommend it for your next trip.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Having disposable cameras at parties is one of the best things you can do. It’s super fun and everyone looks awful in photos – what isn’t to like? No matter how great or terrible we look, you can’t deny that the photos are natural and that they capture the moment.

All photos were taken on Fujifilm ISO 400 disposable cameras.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Back in 2014 I purchased my first medium format camera – a Lubitel Universal. It was about $60 on eBay and for some reason I was really nervous to use it because I was not confident in my ability to focus or to set the correct settings for each shot. Surprisingly, the results were so much better than I had anticipated! I love when that happens because sometimes you are completely disappointed by a roll – even though the shots I took weren’t very interesting, I am now confident enough to take the camera out and to use it in various other settings and hopefully capture some fun shots.

Let me know your favourite 120 film in the comments below. I used Lomography Earl Grey 100 for these shots.

Sometimes just three or four hours can repair something that had fallen apart over three to four months. Earlier this year I went down to the creek with my friends – Janice and Brittany wanted to go stand up paddle boarding, Sarah and I were happy to just chill out in the water.

Lots of little things had added up to a friendship falling out and this day was the first time seeing each other since hashing it all out. It was a nice Sunday – we swam for a bit and then got fish and chips for lunch. I hope to have more days like this in the summer.

All photos were taken on a Kodak Underwater camera with Kodak Color 400 35mm film.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Not too long ago I discovered The Indisposable Concept and immediately knew I wanted to do something similar. I decided to bulk buy some disposable cameras on eBay and start shooting!

I really enjoy the look of disposable camera photos, and the ease of taking the shots. You literally point and shoot. I’ve found that it’s a hit with all my friends too – I actually gave one of the cameras to my friend as part of her birthday present and it was immediately a talking point and everyone reminisced about what it was like before we all had iPhones.

As with most disposable cameras, not every shot got developed. I got back 20/27 shots. Hopefully next time more will turn out ok! Not every shot was worth posting either, so these are my favourites.

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Shooting film with an 35mm SLR has been a life changing experience. I’m becoming so passionate and so invested in film photography. I’m hoping my photos will improve in time, and I’ll have more interesting subjects to take photos of. I’ve always enjoyed photos of people, photographers who capture life as it is. I hope I can do the same.

Anzac Jets

Went for lunch with my friend and 22 was the number for my order! I had an immediate positive reaction as 22 is my number

I have no recollection of taking this!

I got this charm bracelet for my 13th birthday but I recently added the airplane to it

Lets pretend this is not a life size cardboard cut out of Harry Styles with a witch hat on

This spider scared the living daylights out of me

Spying through my mail box

Photos taken with my Pentax ME Super and Fuji Color 200 35mm film.I think this camera has really made me fall in love with film again.

I went through a long period last year where I felt a bit discouraged when it came to shooting film, but I’m honestly loving shooting film again. These were shot with my Pentax ME Super and 50mm lens on Lomography Color Negative 100 film. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite film to shoot on – I think I need to stick with a higher ISO speed with the kinds of pictures I take but it’s always good to learn these things.

Also, just so you guys know I’ve decided to implement a posting schedule for the first time – I’m going to post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Friday will be music-based whether it’s a playlist or something else (I have some ideas!). I also want to start doing videos and put my University degree to use.

This picture was so different in person and through the lens when I took it. I had positioned my hand to cover the sun coming in the window so my hand was backlit – I’m a little bummed it didn’t turn out and that the image I saw only exists in my head, but I do like this too.

Birthday confetti

I took this on the bus on my way to work on my last day. I really love the way it turned out.

I could take pictures of the sky forever

View from home – I never tire of it

Pink sky

Beautiful sky

I never get sick of palm pictures

We’re looking down on the clouds…

I’d spent the day with my best friend Emma and we stopped to get Petrol

Car mirror selfie

Little horse charm in Emma’s car

My mum has had this statue forever and I’ve never cared for it much. It used to reside in the lounge room but luckily we’ve moved it to a different room now.

Last day of work. I cannot stress how hot this day was!

It was so hot this day and I felt really bad for this pregnant girl who was waiting for the bus!

Mum walking at the shops

The best time of day for me is between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. when the sun sets.

This was a good day. I chilled at home and read Rookie magazine and then some friends came over.

My favourite time of day to take a bath…

Do you shoot film? Let me know in the comments what your favourite 35mm film is.