Southgate, a public tourist zone near Melbourne’s CBD, has recently tried to ban photographs being taken in that area for fear of terrorists attacks. Their reasoning behind this is that they noticed “a couple of incidents of tourists taking photos of obscure things… it was just the facades of buildings, things that would be of no interest to put in a photo album.” OK, so I don’t shoot happy snaps… does that make me a potential terrorist too?

There are already far too many opinions out there for me to add anything that hasn’t already been said. Let’s just say it’s ludicrous.

There’s an “event” planned for this Saturday at 11am. See the details here.

Spread the word.

UPDATE: The Victorian Association of Photographic Societies has announced they are also having a rally at 9am on Saturday. See here for details.

Last night I had dinner with the nicest couple, Melissa and An. I’ll be shooting their wedding in September and I thought it would be a good idea to have a relaxed catch-up session before then so I could get an idea of their personality and they could get an idea of mine. It turns out that they are super cool and super funny. They are just so relaxed. Elaine and I got on really well with them, and it turns out that they are another “opposites attract” couple. It also turns out they are going to Thailand for their honeymoon, just like we did too!

I’m looking forward to their wedding because it is going to be so great. It starts at 7am and goes all the way through! That’s 17 hours of shooting! Good thing I just got more Ultra II memory cards, eh?

On another note, I consider my business to be in its infancy at the moment… I haven’t even really launched it yet. But of all things, last night I had a double booking! I had already arranged yesterday’s dinner with Melissa and An last week, and then yesterday morning I got asked to do some promotional shots of Silver Leaf, the restaurant I was talking about a few days ago. Unfortunately I had to pass up the promo shoot, which is a real pity because I typically jump at any chance to help friends out with their businesses. Oh well… maybe next time when they change menus…

I was going to hold off for a little while before showing you guys this, but I really couldn’t wait. This is just too good to hold back on.

Below is the new business card for THIA Photography. Ta daaaaaa! (please don’t tell me there are any spelling mistakes…)

It’s one of those flipping books, so click on the top right or bottom right corners to see the back of the card too.

If you’re wondering, the couple on the card are Adrian and Jodie. I took the shot back in June at their wedding at St Ignatius. I have to so sincerely thank them for letting me use their image on my business card because I really thought it would look stunning. It’s such an emotive shot… Jodie just looks so amazingly happy. In fact, she was so happy that she started running down the aisle!

I don’t usually post e-mail forwards here, but this one that Theresa sent me is pretty good. I guarantee no tricks here, no scary faces jumping out of the screen or anything like that.

Find the man between the coffee beans

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

If you find the man between 3 seconds and one minute, then the right half of your brain is developed normally.

If you find the man between one minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein.

If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the right half of your brain is a mess, and the only advice is to look for more of these types of exercises to make that part of the brain stronger.

The man really is there. In fact, once you find him, you cannot miss him afterwards.

I got a good chance to catch up with Roy after dinner on Saturday. He’s a really cool easygoing guy and the fiancé of Denise, one of Elaine’s good friends that she’s met through work. I’m absolutely stoked to be shooting their wedding later this year, in Fiji of all places! Elaine’s going to be there so it’ll be such a great opportunity to have some time away together, cover a wedding, and also get away from this horrible weather we’re having in Melbourne.

Above is a photo of the chapel that Roy and Denise will be married in. How cool does it look? Sometimes as a photographer you have to work hard to control distractions in the background. I think in Fiji my problem is going to be getting them all in!