today i give you exhibit A.. emma & ben, they completely and absolutely nailed it..  they were the wedding & the wedding was them..  there was no distinction or separation.. every place i turned, every sound i heard, every thing about their wedding was so them.. awesome to see, and to record.. it’s not about having a budget of $infinity, or being well connected, or making sure your wedding is better than your friend’s.. it’s about doing what feels right for you..

so, if you’re looking for ideas while planning your own wedding, remember this.. Stay true to thy self.. include things that you love & have always loved.. include things that you know your fiancé loves & has always loved.. express yourselves through your wedding & your guests will be talking about how awesome your wedding was for a very long time.. (and your photographer will be eternally grateful)

emma & ben.. thank you many times for choosing us.. you guys are ace!

big thanks also to: the Regal Twin cinema for letting us in (organized by emma), & Mirra (super venue)..  (ps.. all stationary, styling, & print work was designed & produced by emma)

..:: toddness

Havana Cuba.. It’s one of the most amazing places i have experienced.. Havana is old, it’s crumbling, it’s dusty, it’s dirty, it’s smelly, it’s brutal, hot, scary, guarded, noisy, dark, crowded, & cramped..  AND (not but)..   it’s warm, it’s welcoming, it’s humble, it’s rebuilding, it’s colourful, friendly, loud, tense, crazy, funny, relaxed, musical, beautiful, embracing, & engaging… it’s utterly captivating.

i witnessed some pretty amazing human interactions here & this Cuban experience has affected me deeply..  such an amazingly strong sense of community & support for their fellow citizens, yet contrasted with what i see (on a local community level), as a somewhat fierce, raw, & very direct ‘street’ based justice.. so so interesting to me coming from a society of first world problems like “when the hell are they going to make a 3D TV that doesn’t need me to wear 3D glasses already!”

the following agenda items have recently been bumped wayyyyy up my high priority ‘to do’ list:

 learn spanish

 go back to Cuba

..::toddd xoxo

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..:: t

- Peter Di Antoni (COG magazine)

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i really felt this when peter said it.. he was talking about making his magazine & the freedom that working for yourself brings, & yes, i well and truly feel that freedom, like a dog with his head out the car window… but i also have felt the burden to which peter refers..  every job has good and bad things about it.. the goal is to maximise the good & minimise the bad right?..  the awesome thing is that i have the control to do this.. but the crappy thing is, i also have no excuses – good and bad.. funny hey

there’s nothing stopping you..

awesome film by the theory.. a beautiful little story really..

..:: t

there aren’t many people in this crazy-fast modern techno world that can truthfully say “i love my job”.. so when we were discussing photography for their wedding & locations for portraits, it was annie who suggested we shoot on location at the job site she was currently working on – a new building for medical research (lots of high-tech radio-active spiderman technology), on campus at Queensland University..  my response was, “that’s certainly different, & i’m seriously busting to get in there already, but are you sure you want to go to ‘work’ on your wedding day?” A&M both responded, “wouldn’t that be great – running around in a half-finished building (with all the required safety gear), with our bridal party!?”..  it was music to mine ears..

adventure, excitement, a jedi craves not these things… & Obi-wan will be rolling in his grave, but yes, adventure is pretty freakin exciting..

and annie & michael, with 2 tea ceremonies, location photo tour, & a wedding ceremony in the ‘red box’ at the QLD State Library?.. it was a great adventure.. these guys live outside the box (ironically they were married in a box), but for them, it’s simple – there is no box.. & we love them..

..

  ..::toddd

we’ll get back to you as soon as we can..

I’m in Mexico City.. it’s amazing.. but not quite as amazing as the last 5 days we just spent in Cabo San Lucas Mexico, attending the WhatIf Conference..  It’s a conference for creatives/visual artists/artist-preneurs..  If you are a creative person/artist, & you’re looking to turbo boost your creative juice – open the floodgates & renovate your mindhole, then you really cannot miss the next one.. This was the first.. the first of many.. & to put it lightly, WhatIf is like no other conference I’ve been to.. it’s a different experience all together..

I’ve been writing down all my new ideas.. in the last 4 days, my mind has been like a volcano.. my head exploded (see visuals)..  awesome ideas, like ‘liquid hot magma’ erupting from my brain & flowing 24 hours a day..

in short..  if you’re a photographer or visual artist, you need to get into WhatIf conference..

love you xoxo

..:: t

then when the place gets a little foggy & Santa (bossman) notices him, instantly the others jump on board like Rudolph suddenly got game & is all legit in the ghetto..  Truth beknown, Rudolph was just being himself – and most likely struggling to deal with being the target of ridicule (no reindeer games for him) – & the other nasty reindeer only now think he’s coolio because biggy sees him as top dogg in the fogg when his difference (or gift) becomes useful.. & that’s just wrong..

don’t get me wrong here – i’m really glad things seem to work out for Rudolph in the end.. but my hope is, that year, after all the presents were delivered & Santa returned home for a review/de-brief/evaluation with his reindeer about how things went, he would have set things right.. Santa seems like a pretty decent fellow, & i imagine he would have sent a strong message to his staff that bullying is just not cool, & that we all should be celebrating each others differences, rather than bringing each other down… that, and a reminder about not staying out late on the booze the day before game night..

turns out that Rudolph did go down in history, but i’d like to think it was not because Santa used him as a fog light, but because everyone involved learned a valuable lesson that day in the snow..  Rudolph, i salute you… respec.

merry christmas people of earthworld.. party on & be sure to tell someone you love them..

..:: todd

To be honest, I don’t really know a lot about Adelaide.. but if Ben Folds digs it, then it can’t be a bad place surely?..  so i fly there as a completely blank canvas – keen to make up my own mindhole about how cool/uncool this city is..

for the record, my official position is this.. i found Adelaide to be a visually delightful, & very interesting city.. it has an awesome vibe.. i loved it & look forward to going back..

during our stay, i met 2 young ladies at an industry gala dinner – locals to Adelaide.. in conversation they asked me, “so, what do you think of our town?”.. i told them i loved it, it felt like a great city.. they responded, “you think Adelaide is awesome?..  are you mental?”… our conversation continued & i advised that i was down from Brisbane.. my two new friends went on to say how much they lovvvvvve Brisbane.. “it’s awesome!”, “it’s beautiful”, “it’s aMAZing” etc etc..  to which i responded *surprised* “really?..  you think Brisbane is amazing?.. “Brisbane Australia?”… laughter followed & the conversation moved into the, ‘grass is always greener’ side of things..

i then remembered my excellent friend Hailey, who once told me, “the grass is always greenest where you water it”..

so after flying home, i went straight down to the hardware store & bought a sprinkler   :)

fujifilm X100..

..:: t

- William Gibson (author)