by izskies

Yes, that’s me hurtling to earth, circa 1992. I did this bungy jump in the Kuranda rainforest (Australia) on a dare. And because I bought a ticket for it off a bloke for $15, cuz I’m cheap that way.

The guy who dared me took the picture, and I just noticed on the date stamp that it was Halloween 1992.

In case you don’t believe me, that I might have just pinched any old silhouetted image off the web, I present Exhibit B:

I really did do it on a dare. I get major vertigo when I see the ground at close range. It’s not a fear of heights — that would make flight training impossible — but a fear of falling. A guy I met while travelling dared me to bungy jump, and to shut him up I bought the jump ticket from someone who was leaving Cairns and wouldn’t get a chance to use it but wanted some money for it. Sooner would I part with $15 than my pride, but you know what they say about pride… it goeth before a… yeah.

And fall I did, something I still remember very vividly, although it was so long ago. There were people bungy jumping naked — in those days jumping naked was free — but the girl jumping before me wouldn’t go at the count of three. I figure if you have the courage to take all your clothes off in front of a crowd of strangers, why would jumping off a platform 50 metres from the ground stop you cold? Hmmm. Anyway, I was a little spooked by the fact that she took forever to take her turn. When it was my turn, I did exactly what the operator told me to do: not look down, look at the horizon, and jump at the count of three.

One… two… three… I didn’t even hesitate, but I was well and truly scared. I think I stopped breathing. It was like I was in slow motion, the faces in the crowd rushing up towards me, the palm trees big again instead of little fronds. When my hands touched the water, I sprung back up and that’s when I started to breathe and look around and wish for more airtime. I would’ve done flips if I could figure out where my limbs were.

Next stop? Paragliding, I think.

mirth

I made it through Round 1 of culling the 1100+ photographs from Saturday and picked a few to process. The photo album can be viewed as a slideshow (shows pictures in larger sizes), as thumbnails, or small photos with detail. More photos will be added over time.

Marina and Ross were so easy to photograph — at ease with themselves and always laughing and smiling. You can see in the photographs how affectionate they are with each other, and this makes for very natural pictures. Not to mention a happy marriage!

one fine day

a day I wished I could speak Italian — so many jokes were lost on me!

The photo below is one of my favourites of the whole day. Lorenzo, the principal photographer, did something unintentional and I got the benefit of his boo-boo.

I much prefer being the candid photographer, just so I can get shots like this.

I took this at the salon around quarter past eight in the morning, and even more than 1000 shots later it’s still one of my favourites from the entire day. I took photos from beginning to end (18 and a half hours), a record for me, but it was a major learning experience in wedding photography.

Hats off to Marina and her family — it was a big, wonderful Italian wedding and I was grateful to be there, not just to capture some of the moments, but to witness this happiest of occasions.

an outtake I’m keeping

One quick entry before I hit the sack… I have a 5am start for the wedding shoot. I think I’ll take all of Sunday to recuperate.

This is the last batch of the Sunshine Coast photos. View the whole set as a slideshow (better size), ordered by most recent uploads, or view as thumbnails.

1. the backyard
2. deer sprinting across the lawn - Part 1
3. deer sprinting across the lawn - Part 2
4. deer sprinting across the lawn - Part 3

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

There was a bidding war, but I had a strategy and it paid off. Watching the auction, it struck me as funny that a person “at large” would voluntarily ride pay money to ride in a police helicopter… but one of the health charities it benefits is the Canadian Cancer Society, so it’s all good.

I’ve spent much of this evening surrounded by a pile of manuals, lenses, the tripod, and various photography bits and bobs, trying to get it all straightened out for this wedding. I bought a flash today, a remote control, more bits and pieces, and nearly bought another lens from Craigslist. I got as far as trying this 50mm f/1.4 lens out in a parking lot beside the subway station, but I decided to forgo the prime and make do with the ones I have. I really wanted a wide-angle, and I already have a 50mm prime.

I’d nearly given up on the online auction helicopter ride, but now that I’ve decided not to buy the prime lens I’m going to see if I’m still in the running for the auction item. The bids have been driven up literally overnight, but I’ll see what happens in the morning. The auction completes at 12:00 noon.

I’ve never used a DSLR flash before and let me tell you, it was easier for me to use the camera! I usually don’t read manuals, I figure out new devices by fiddling around with them, but I don’t have the luxury of time to learn everything I need to know by Saturday. I’m giving myself a crash course. I don’t like using flash, but there’s no way around that for shooting any sort of reception. I finally got the two electronic devices to “talk” to each other (maybe I’m subconsciously avoiding using an external flash because of that whole “master and slave” reference), and when I tried to use them in sync with the remote control, I couldn’t get the remote to work…

Oh, for pete’s sake. It’s a tiny stick with one button on it — how can it not work?!? Must be the battery… because that’s about all it consists of!

I want to actually accomplish SOMETHING this evening, so I’m going to post a little four-frame set of pictures I took of some birds in Cambridge last Saturday instead.

sticking the landing

and then there were two

chortle

and… bye!

I’m so outta here!

Last Friday night I fell asleep in my armchair and woke up to this. Methinks it’s not intended for me, for two obvious reasons. Why would I waste a Saturday on my hair???

In the old days, smoking pot and using a telephony device meant accidentally dialling an ex. And taking a very long time to punch the numbers (or, on a rotary dial, false starts with the index finger falling out of the holes. Remember rotary dialling?). Not that I’ve ever done any of that, but I’ve got an imagination.

In 2007, smoking pot and using a telephony device means taking 15 minutes to type out a message like this, then sending it to a total stranger. Except the total stranger sees your number and posts the message on the internet.

scrunchy face

this is SO MUCH FUN

I *love* taking pictures of kids of all ages. They love to ham it up for the camera and aren’t self-conscious so it’s a win-win, as far as I can see. When I was shooting with my Canon A80 with the swivel screen I could take their pictures without looking through the viewfinder or putting the camera in front of my face. With a DSLR you have to look through the viewfinder, so when your face disappears the baby thinks you’re playing peek-a-boo…

gotcha

Getting a longer lens puts me a little more than a baby’s arm reach away, thankfully!

close one

centre of attention

hi!

View all of Parker’s pictures as a slideshow (better size) or as thumbnails.