Maxys Max Media and Entertainment

Yesterday morning - Monday - I was up at 4AM - we have a media media release and blog article to write about our new online retailing video for CLIVE. Writing a press release is somewhat like trying to create a photo, sculpture or video that sells.

I'd spent much of the the last week working on the CLIVE project and as a consequence didn't get any time at all for some creative photography.

Like a daily morning swim, if you stop doing it you very soon sense a void that needs to be filled.

To get my photography fix I'd planned to get down to the annual Sculptures By The Sea exhibition. The Sculptures by the Sea exhibition runs from the south end of iconic Bondi Beach along the coastal path down to glamour playground Tamarama. There are over 100 sculptures to see and inspire.

A look on Flickr and Twitter - "sxsbondi" - there are already thousands of tagged images - a hundred thousand eyeballs.

From a photography point of view you're always looking to do something different - this year I'd organised a model but at the last moment she doesn't have transport and can't make a dawn shoot - great - there will always be challenges - I don't have the time for another casting call - get on with it - procrastination kills.

Monday - 5AM my inner voice said "do it" - I grab my camera and headed off to Bondi - with or without the model.

I'm just going to shoot and see what happens. If anything I can use the experience as a bench mark to see if any progression over the last year.  Going to battle without a strategy - let's just call it "exploration".

I need to be back by 8AM, that means a very quick shoot.

I arrive at the park just minutes before sunrise - joggers run panting along the path - there's not much time to muck about.  You scan the many objects - what's interesting? - "ritual"

My favourite is "Corporate Conscience" - the tree on the desk in the cage.  It reminds me of the limits of corporate social responsibility within the cage of status quo - whoooo deep man!

Over the next hour I explore some images and then back home south at 8AM, I begin what ends up being a large part of the day editing between phone calls and emails - trying to make these pictures stand out from the crowd.

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Photos finally posted at 6PM last night.

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The next morning, now, 7AM.  I am happy with the result?  Not overly.  There was some experimentation in the studio - some learnings - most of the angles were pretty cliched.  In many ways just like going for a jog or a daily blog to keep the skills up.

From an artistic perspective you're constantly looking to explore the extremes - they're OK but these images aren't risky enough for my personal liking and where I want to push things - it's time, energy and focus.  Also, a lot more work to do on skills development.