Journey in Photography

UTAS Photography and Social Media Course. Find me on Instagram: fimorley5

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Sunrise over Mt Stuart this morning. It was bitterly cold, I wished I had grabbed my beanie and gloves before I ran out the door. This is my lazy sunrise spot just around the corner from home, taken from the oval at the local primary school. Not a bad view from there huh? Now I am off to drop my daughter to the airport....I am trying for a non-teary goodbye. I am not convinced I am going to be successful! 😭 #sunrise #mtstuart #home (at Mt.Stuart)

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What a way to welcome the Winter Solstice. Dark Mofo ends with the traditional winter swim. Congratulations to those brave participants. @dark_mofo #wintersolstice #wintersolsticeswim #cold #winter #darkmofo2016 (at Long Beach, Lower Sandy Bay)

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The Dark Mofo red lights have spread far and wide. Boyer Mill has been operating for 76 years producing over 12 million tons of newsprint! It is situated on the River Derwent on the way to New Norfolk. My Dad worked here in the late 1960's and got stuck here for 2 days fighting the 1967 bushfires that devastated Hobart and its surrounds. So much history in everything isn't there. #boyermill #paintthetownred #darkmofo #darkmofo2016

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Cutting down my hundreds of photos taken for project 2 has been quite a task. Firstly I got rid of the ‘failed’ photos - too much light, composition not great, blurred subjects or photos that did not quite fit my decided brief. 

With a combination of self-reflection and discussion with family and friends I got it down to 33 photos as shown on the contact sheets a few posts ago. 

From there I really got harsh and narrowed down the photos that really just showed the organic movement of outdoors and indoors and their natural connection. Finally I made it to 7 photos.

The photos above are the last 4 that did not make the final selection. Why?

The first photo, I felt lacked a little bit on composition compared to a similar one that made the final. The second photo, the chooks this photo showed the chooks in their yard but actually the chooks spent most of their time our of the yard and around the house, their favourite spot being right next to the front door or inside if they could get away with it. The third photo, some unusual flowers in the garden. The tropical flowers in the garden really took my eye as they were so different to what I am able to grow in Tasmania, but this photo did not have enough interest to bring it back to the theme of indoor/outdoor. The last photo showing Rin the dog running up the front path to meet me was hard to cut as I really liked the way it showed the thick lush garden and the way the animals interacted with it, but I felt the other final 7 photos met the brief just that little bit more. 

I would say cutting down the photos to the last 7 was the biggest learning curve for me, I had to be quite ‘tough’ with myself to get there.

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Photo galleries of Tasmanian-based amateur photographer Fiona Morley. The galleries provide imagery of every day events and surroundings; Tasmania's awakening landscape and night-time beauty. And of course, Alfie & co

As a natural progression from my Instagram account, I have been lucky enough to have a clever husband to develop a website for me. I wanted to be able to showcase all my photos in sets or themes for people to view. My dog Alfie and his partner in crime Abby feature very regularly in my Instagram account in between photos of Landscapes including Tasmania and where ever else I find myself. Sunsets, sunrises are also a big photographic interest of mine and I was thrilled to be able to put them all together, the colours really make that set pop. Night photography is another theme on my website, I fell in love with night photography the first time I captured a light trail then I managed an aurora...I was completely hooked. The last theme is titled ordinary, and this is the basis of my whole site; they are just ordinary photos..autumn leaves, birds, animals but those are the important photos the ones that have a story or are taken in a special place. Its the ordinary photos and memories that are extraordinary or extra ordinary as my website says. 

My project 2 for the UTAS Photography and Social Media course I thought would be based on Alfie’s crazy antics, but as travel came at the time I needed to produce photos it gave me a good opportunity to trial some different ideas and photograph styles.

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Digital photography: message and memory

Photographs have a way of transporting us back to the time they were taken and dredging up hidden memories. However, new research shows that in our rush to digitally record every moment we're actually remembering less and less, writes Antony Funnell.

A really interesting article to read and reflect on towards the end of the Photography and Social Media Utas course. 

Taking photos and documenting them is not a new thing for me, in fact I feel it is an important family trait passed down through the generations of my family. Taking photos and putting them into albums was a pastime of my Mother and her Mother, our family albums have always been treasured heirlooms. The love for taking the photos and carefully displaying them in albums with dates and names has always been a carefully followed tradition.

Today I still take the photos but the way I display them is different, instead of the old stick in or slid in albums or even the newer scrapbooking art my photos are uploaded onto Facebook or Instagram and my Website for my family to view and the wider world to view. Does this mean I am not looking back on them? Does this mean my family do not return to old photos to revisit the memories? I don’t think so...albums were not bought out every day, only on the occasion when someone wanted to prove a point or on those life changing occasions; such as my Fathers death a couple of years ago. It was a big part of our grieving and coming to terms with him no longer being with us to bring out the albums and search out those funny, special or serious moment that were caught on camera.

Funnily enough only last week I found my daughter looking over my older Facebook photos, admittedly she was looking for a photo to embarrass her younger brother...but it got all of us looking through some old photos online.

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Dark Mofo has kicked off in Tasmania. Spooky visit to see MIke Parr's work at Willow Court in New Norfolk. Interesting to say the least but it was the possum on the loose in the building that stole my show. #willowcourtmeet #darkmofo #discovertasmania #hobartandbeyond (at Willow Court)

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Week 10 Photography and Social Media 

Narrowing down the choices.

Rather than telling a story, my photos are following the theme of living in Queensland; warm climate, rather than the usual cold, and wet at the moment I am used too.

I have got a few photos of outside the house looking in and inside the house looking out.

My question is are these photos going to have enough to tie them together?

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As I came into the outside world this morning after a busy night shift I could see glimpses of the famous Bridgewater Jerry through the city buildings. When I got home I found Mt Stuart was sticking out above the cloud so it was a perfect opportunity to grab a photo. If you look carefully you can see the thick fog rolling down over the River Derwent. I got a few shots in before the fog rolled up the hill and you now can't see your hand in front of your face. You also can't feel your hands or your face! #bridgewaterjerry #riverderwent #mtstuart #sunrise #winter (at Mt.Stuart)

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Week 8 Creating a visual story or work with a theme.

In looking at this weeks content of the course I think I am more drawn to the theme rather than telling the story. Many of my photos often have a story with them but I feel they need words to complete it. While up in Brisbane I have taken the chance to visit the Botanic Gardens to explore further the difference in landscape, flora and fauna from my home town. It was a beautiful warm day with brilliant sunshine, I was amazed at the range in plants from tropical to dry desert plants with some Japanese inspired gardens and a bamboo grove to walk through. Water played a big part in the garden and I was surprised at the huge range of animal life I saw; Water Dragons, Dragon Flys, Coots and Ducks near the ponds as well as Ibis and a Kookaburra catching his lunch. There was a huge amount of very large webs and spiders strung between trees.

So are the photos above enough to be a story of my trip to the gardens or are they a set of themed photos?

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A wider angle of the outdoor dining area, I like the play of light, the lushness of the foliage and the light fitting being off centred.

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Mark purchased his first iPhone in 2012. At the time, Mark, like many professional photographers, scoffed at the notion that the camera inside the iPhone would interest him in any way. He was goaded by a friend into trying the camera. The first picture he took with his new iPhone was a photo of That Tree. He was instantly hooked! Mark had driven past and admired That Tree every day for nineteen years without ever taking a picture of it. Since then, there has scarcely been one day where Mark hasn’t taken a picture of That Tree. The year-long project was completed on March 23, 2013. “That Tree”, the fitting title of a full-color hardcover book. Mark regularly exhibits his photos of That Tree in galleries, and his story has been featured by many worldwide media organizations including CBS Sunday Morning, NBC News, The Daily Mail (UK), The Des Moines Register, and The Sierra Club.

As per last post. Awesome idea...

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Photographer documents a year in the life of a tree on his iPhone

Mark Hirsch publishes images taken using his smartphone through the changing seasons in a book called That Tree

This is an idea I have wanted to try for a long time, I often photograph a tree near my home as it is west of me and sits in front of the setting sun. I wonder what other ideas of subject for a year long documentation process?

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Download Activity PDF401KB, 3pp. By: Catherine Opie Topic: Photographing home and environment Suitable for: Intermediate level, Advanced level Suggested Media: Photography Let me introduce myself. I am an artist whose medium is photography. I f

Some interesting photography documentation ideas.

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The power of photography: time, mortality and memory

We take thousands of pictures nowadays, but do we still cherish them?

Interesting article on various photographers and their view of documented photos.