Oh my feet are killing me and my conclusion of the day is that I wish fashion week was only one day long! Okay so I'm exaggerating a little but after the extended waiting periods, pushing, squishing and shoving of the media pit and the way poor celebs are snapped a mile-a-minute to death, I was pretty sure this was not my scene. That said, I honestly had heaps of fun watching the shows and found myself looking out for pretty clothes and gorgeous models more than anything else. I am also quite happy with my pics, thanks to my awesome sneaking into good spot skills, and a couple of new and familiar faces that brightened the day.

Although I've been somewhat excited about this in the past week or so, I haven't blogged it because I wasn't sure if it was all going to fall over last minute and I wouldn't be able to get past the rope between onlookers and the invited. So after today I guess I'm shooting fashion week this year!

Thanks to a suggestion from Jo, I'm pretty much doing this off my own back, going in freelance, and merely doing it for the experience and a bit of fun. I would prefer to probably not shoot that much runway and instead take things from a documentary backstage perspective but that's proving a little harder to get but there will be enough of each if all works out I'm hoping! It's opened my eyes to the nature of the Australian fashion scene a bit (given I was pretty much oblivious before) and as much as I love shooting weddings, I thought it might be cool to try and diversify with a bit of work in the editorial fashion scene if possible. I think I'm attracted to the idea of working with a team of people, working to a brief or a concept, and pulling it off as a whole piece...but it's definitely a very interesting industry to break and I don't think I'm quite cut out for it just yet. That said, if you know of an opportunity you know who to call :P!

I thought I'd blog about the experience this week given it's all very new and different with some cool pics to accompany it. Today I turned up for the 'marking of the spot' not really knowing what to expect, or for that matter, what the phrase actually meant. Turns out everyone was prepared with their name/company printed boldly on a large sheet of paper and armed with a roll of gaffa tape to basically make a run for the media box and stake their territory. Oh I wish I had my camera just to show you how funny it looked, in my head it was like playing the newspaper game where the piece gets smaller and smaller each time and you have to figure out how to stand on it without falling off. Lucky for me, I had printed some emails in my bag and had a ballpoint pen on me so I managed to get some paper on the ground as well. In between Vogue, Oyster Magazine, and Fairfax. I think I got lucky!!

So confirmation came through today that I have been accepted as an accredited member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, yay! Massive thanks to James Day and Tim Pascoe for taking the time to assess my portfolio and sponsor my application. But more so thanks for providing me with some great industry insight, and above all reminding me that all of this is, has, and always will be in God's hands.

I thought today I would also leave you guys with some non-wedding industry photographic awesomeness which I have been adoring for a while now - Lara Jade and Joey Lawrence. If my maths are right these guys are still teenagers and they have taken such giant leaps with their passion for creating images it's amazing. Their success comes from a pure love for what they do and they continue to push boundaries as they build both their personal and professional portfolios, it's really refreshing.

Sorry no piccies with this post, but the links here will lead you to a goldmine!!

Yes that's right. Me, hater of all things chain-mailed and first to press delete has decided to share with you twenty random points about yours truly, simply because I've enjoyed peeking at everyone elses...I originally wanted to post each point with an accompanying image, and then realised I'd probably well and truly miss this chain-list bandwagon if I took the time to do it properly. Oh well, you'll just have to do with my plain jane words....