Anne Hayres at Kojo Brown

Anne Hayres singing Jazz at Kojo Brown restaurant in Richmond. Dark environment so was skeptical what I could get. Credits go to the low light performance of the Nikon D3s and 85mm f/1.8 lens. But most of all, to Anne and her band for a wonderful night of entertainment. That Honey Suckle Rose was smooth as silk. LOVE!

L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2010 - Opening Party

Let me begin with an apology first for not updating the blog for a while. It is ironic that I am probably taking lots of pics when I am not updating this page... :P So, what have I been getting so busy with? Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2010.

It was a fantastic week started with a bang at the VIP Opening Party at the Government House. The Government House does open to the public from time to time but I have never been there. Certainly a very beautiful estate. The ballroom was trasformed into a runway with a fairy tale theme. How wonderful!



There was a great ballet performance from the Ministry of Dance, Elvis ('Legend of Elvis') performing with his lovely dancers, many celebrities, lots of great foods and of course a fashion parade as well. Met Megan Gale for the first time. She is as pretty in person as in pictures. :)

Learnt something really funny. There was a brass brand and a professional mermaid model also. She wears a tail and had to be carried in and out. I never thought of that logistic detail! Well done Ruben!


Audi was the official vehicle partner for LMFF. It (TT RS) looked fantastic in front of the Government House at dusk!

Diana Krall Concert - Quiet Nights

One of my favorite singers - Diana Krall, teamed up with Madeleine Peyroux and Melody Gardot and a 42-piece symphony orchestras performed at the Rod Laver Arena on the 26th February.

It has been five years since she last came to Melbourne to perform. In that time, she got married to Elvis Costello and has two children (twins).


Many of the songs performed were all time favorites from her (such as The Look of Love, Let's Fall in Love and Love Letters) with a couple of new tunes from her latest album - Quiet Nights. Her vocal and piano talents did not disappoint.

Would have loved to hear some tunes from her "Girl in the Other Room" album also because it is probably the album that tells more about the artist - featuring some of her own work and about her life, the lost of her mother. "Departure Bay" and "I am Coming Through" amongst others are extremely good.

Must also make mention that Anthony Wilson was fantastic on the guitar. He also performed with Diana Krall at the 2002, Live in Paris concert.

Having said that, another highlight of the evening was the peformance from Melody Gardot. Her voice, control, expresson and emotion that came through her songs were simply amazing! After a little research on wikipedia, my admiration of this talented singer grew even stronger. Melody, all the very best to your career and hope your body will continue to heal over time. Looking forward to hearing more work from you. :)

PS, the pic of the Quiet Nights CD cover is not taken by me, but taken from Diana Krall's website.




Sorry, couldn't get a better close-up from the back of the arena where we sat. Still, hope you enjoy them anyhow. :)

Carols by Candlelights

Not the Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, that would have to wait for another year... This is Carols by Candlelight at Ruffey Lake Park by the Manningham City Council.

What a fantastic event! Everything there were big - the stage, the sound system, light system, number of activities, and the support from the local churches.

But the most important of all - the huge number that turned up for a great night out. The locals obviously know this was going to be a great event (because they have done it 10 times before) so they are very well prepared. Not with brollies (thank God) but with reindeer hats, blankets, eskies, chairs, food, sunscreen, etc. In other words, much more prepared than this photographer was! :P

I was very impressed by the pre-carols programme organised by the local communities and churches. There was a worship band on a little stage singing lots of popular Hillsong songs and spreading the gospel message - the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the message of salvation. And there were face painting, fairy floss, arts and craft, aussie barbie (aka barbeque), on top of the many play areas, etc at the park.

As the name Carols by Candlelight implies, there were candle lights during the carols. Well, my readers, you might know that Victoria has been in drought for quite a few years and any risk of fire must be considered. With the lush green at the Ruffey Lake Park and many native trees there, no naked flame was allowed on the day (is it allow on any day?) so we had this immitation candlelights (torches) which had these little "flames" that actually flicker. What a great idea albeit they weren't nearly as bright as a real candle light would be.



The performances were amazing, loved the kids choir and the band and the many dancers and of course carols. There was even a brief message of hope. What a great night.

This is Alexndra Valmorbida, whom I have photographed before here. Boy, her skills and performance have developed even further! Excellent performance! Well done!



The night ended with a real bang, no, in fact many bangs - fireworks!

That was a fitting finale and also the scariest part of the whole evening for this photographer.. Why? Because I have never taken pics of fireworks before... Yep, never.. until now. Read a little before and asked two friends briefly how it is done, including everyone's friend, Google..

Armed with no more than a couple of tips, I wondered where to place the tripod? What angle will give me the best view? What shutter speed? What aperture? How high will it go? So dark I couldn't really tell... I only managed a few frames of it but thank God that the customer liked it.

Hooo.. a big sigh of relief from the photographer! :)


Thank you very much boys and girls (and your parents for giving me permission to take pics of you).

I know you want to see a few more, so here they are. Nop, Humphrey Bear did not do a double as Santa. Santa was there along with the Santa Sled he just managed to fit into after spending many hours at a gym in Manningham!

Very well done everyone and may the Lord Jesus bless you in 2010.

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week 2009Parade 2

One of my favorite spot is the hair & make-up area. So much energy and excitment. Love taking the artists as much as the art (aka models)!





Kevin Murphy is a major sponsor to the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and responisble for hair styling.

What caught my attention this year is that not only he and his team know how to make hair look great. He has a whole range of products as well, some of which were in the showbag. The range includes shampoos, conditioners, treatments and styling products. For more information, take a look at this.


The Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy was responsible for make-up.

I am sure every job has its ups and downs but these girls were having so much fun I am not sure about the latter! They are filled with energy and they do a great job on themselves (and/or for each other) also. :)

Some took close up pics of their work, such as pics of the eyes or an eye, which just goes to show how serious they take their work and again how much they love what they do!

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week 2009Parade 1

For the fashion week to be such a great success took many people, many of them volunteers, many hours and days of work to put together, working tirelessly putting many thousands of show bags together, putting them out before and between every show, clearing and cleaning up, ushering people to their seat and many more humble and behind the scene tasks.

Well done everyone! :)

BTW, loved the Chai Latte from the Ducale guys. Yum!
The stage set up was all done before I arrive so I don't have pics of AV set up this time. Anyway, hope this pic gives you an idea how it looks. As usual Austage did a wonderful job at it.

Fantastic to catch up with many friends on the media stand and the drinks afterwards... So great to see you all and share the platform for the week. :)


Designs included Akira, Aurelio Costarella, Christine, Easton Pearson, Gwendolynne and MATERIALBYPRODUCT.

Melbourne Spring Fashion WeekFOX Fashion Parade

MSFW 2009 came with a wonderful surprise this year - an extra show - the Fox FM Fashion Parade. So great to see Matt and Jo in person. Jo is pretty as on television and Matt transformed into a great model on the runway.

Jessica Mauboy as well as Cassie Davis were guest performers at the parade and their performances were impressive!


Another really impressive feature of the parade is that there were three models that one would normally not expect to see walking down the catwalk - one who is bald, another born with only one hand and the third is confined to a wheelchair. They were beautful because they were beaming on the catwalk! It was a really moving and uplifting experience. No one could wipe their smiles from their faces that evening. Well done girls!