Orphans in Uganda

Back in the day, when I had a ‘real’ job (read, worked for someone else) I always hoped to travel to interesting places, especially overseas. There was a lot of paperwork and permissions to be gained, and for one reason or another, never eventuated.

Then I quit and started my own business. That was in 1996 and every year since then I have traveled overseas with work. It wasn’t my plan. It just happened that way. In some years it was just a single trip. It was enough. Now, I do more work overseas than in Australia.

I always wanted to visit Africa. When the opportunity came my way to work in Uganda (Uganda!) I couldn’t believe my luck. What I didn’t count on was the depth of admiration I would have for the local Ugandans I worked with and for the sense of purpose when I met orphans such as these – orphaned by an aids epidemic that continues to ravage much of Africa. This is why I do the work I do.

Monument Valley, USA

I was studying part-time at RMIT for a degree in Media Studies. Imagine my delight when I discovered the subject ‘Cinema Studies’. Each Tuesday afternoon we would traipse into the old theatre on campus and watch a movie. It was my introduction to many classic movies  -Singin’ In the Rain, Metropolis, The Searchers, Blade Runner – and to genres such as film noir, and westerns. Each Wednesday evening we would talk about the movie we’d seen, learning about sub-text and visual language. Little did I know how useful that would later become when I started facilitating.

So when on a trip in Utah and Arizona, Monument Valley didn’t seem that far a side trip. It was. But it was worth it.

Visual

This is one of my favourite sites at the moment. It’s an Australian site that promotes art and photography. You can make cool t-shirts, order prints or cards. And what I love most is that its front page changes every day with a collage of themed images. Go on, go and have a look at REDBUBBLE.

Time well spent

Here’s some images from my recent trip to the US. I was there on holidays, and to attend the Applied Improv Conference in Portland, Oregon.

The highlights were the scenery, autumn colours, fresh snow, Yosemite (wow!), indulging my passion for photography, sharing the improv conference with my good friends Anne Pattillo, Geoff Brown and Chris Corrigan and the deepening friendships that develop from shared experiences, seeing Geoff and Chris improvise music on stage in Portland, and reconnecting with old friends. There were also some people I missed, and some new friendships forged, many ideas, time to reflect, laugh, and re-energise. Time well spent indeed.

Stepping into manual photography

Here’s a photo that I took today. It’s unremarkable, really. And as I continue on my photographic journey I hope I will eventually have some remarkable photos to post. But back to this one. It represents a learning journey, because it’s one of the first photos I’ve taken on my gorgeous new Canon Powershot G10 camera using completely manual settings.

It’s SO easy to use a camera on automatic mode. Point and shoot. But I’ve found it’s made me lazy. I don’t think so much about the photo. I don’t consider the light and the composition. I don’t care enough.

So, I turned off the automatic function and re-learned ISO settings, shutter speed, aperture, and depth of field. I’m often frustrated when taking photos because I know what I want to acheive but am unsure how to do it.

As someone who makes a living out of training others, it’s a useful reminder to be the learner – to struggle with concepts, to try and fail, to feel the frustration, and the delight when I move a little closer to what I want to achieve. Today was another step on the journey.