118 hours and 24 minutes

Last week I took a trip for 118 hours and 24 minutes. Yep, I counted. That's just the kinda gal I am, and also shows I don't take trips often.

I counted many many different allotments of time while I was away. I categorised things into time frames. I made note of the seconds hand on my watch often. I'm not sure why, but it did help me keep track of my head while the days whizzed past, and does mean that I can tell you:

I spent .125th of a second taking the obligatory shot of the harbour bridge. And a further 30 seconds waving to the crazies who were climbing it.



96 hours confirming a new friendship. Bianca Dopson and I have been friends for over a year, but had never met till we arrange to stay together for a few days in Sydney. I've always known she's a fabulous photographer, but now I also know that she can make me laugh until I'm crying, is extremely kind-hearted and has a beautiful way of looking at the world through her camera lens.



My trip would have been a bit ho-hum without Bianca to share it with.

I spent 8 hours at an Australian Community of Child Photographers workshop day where I listened to Mercury Megaloudis and Nicole Boenig-McCrade tell us why photography is their passion and their life.

45 minutes were having lunch at a choclatrie. It was only 45 minutes because Bianca and I were late for a photography shoot. We still managed to consume a praline and chocolate milkshate, a cheese platter and these chocolates. Maybe it was lucky it was only 45 minutes because I could have eaten everything they offered.



I spent 15 minutes trying to explain to Bianca that I had a crush on James Matthison (post Idol, of course) when we saw him in Darling Harbour. He spent an hour dancing with a yellow umbrella.



There was 3 hours dedicated to 5 models, 14 other photographers and 'The Rocks'. The model shoot was organised by Naomi, and gave me a chance to hang out with other like-minded people who think talking f-stops and ISO's is wonderful.



It took 7 minutes to convince Ashley to lie down in the middle of a busy road. 7 minutes well worth it!





There was a good 20 seconds before I recovered from the fright this guy gave me when he popped into my shot.



I spent 45 minutes locked in my hotel room when the door wouldn't open. I then spent 2 hours in the spa in the new (upgraded) room I as given due to unfortunate sticky door.

I spent 8 hours at PMA, wondering the stalls, fawning over the latest and greatest in the photography world and considering pimping myself to Nikon so I can get a new 24-70mm 2.8 lens.



4 hours was spent at the Heartfelt exhibition where I laughed, cried a little, and managed to spill my champagne on the floor not once, but twice.

Too much time was spent negotiating the best way to sit in a plane seat. I've worked it out too - there's just isn't a comfortable way so give up trying.

4 hours was spent at the Brisbane Powerhouse photographing Whint and Dallas for their sweetheart session.



2 minutes was spent posing for this shot with Whint while we tried to instruct Dallas who was taking the photo. Never put two photographers in front of the camera. They think they know everything.



And 118 hours and 24 minutes was spent thinking about Miles and Ryan. Yes, even when I was sleeping. And yes, they were still in one piece when I returned to them. Of course they were. But even though I knew they would be fine, it didn't stop 118 hours and 24 minutes of motherly worry. It was my first ever trip away from them.

So while 118 hours and 24 minutes were spent laughing, photographing, flying, relaxing and revelling, the same amount of time was spent with my heart tied to invisible strings reaching to my sons.

I loved every hour and every minute of my trip, but I also love my heart being home.

* Meaghan

Sneak Peek - Whint and Dallas

* Meaghan

Yep, back from my trip to Sydney and Brisbane. As soon as I work out which way is up again, I'll tell you all about it. And I mean ALL about it. Brace yourself.

Heading up up and away

There's butterflies, and then there's BUTTERFLIES. I've got the latter in my stomach because I'm about to head away for the week. They're both good butterflies and bad butterflies doing what they do best when in a stomach.

Good butterflies because I'm heading up to Sydney for a few days soaked in photography. I'm going to PMA (photography trade show) catching up with other uber-talented photoggy friends, and attending the launch of the Australian Community of Child Photographers photographic exhibition, Heartfelt.



Bad butterflies because I'll be away from Miles and Ryan for the first time for more than a millisecond. I know they'll be all peachy keen staying with their grandparents, but that doesn't stop me worrying, or the butterflies. I think I told them I loved them about a million times more than usual today. At one stage Miles said 'Mum, nuff cuddles' because I was sneaking one in at every opportunity.

I'll see you all in a week when I'm back on deck with lots of photos from my trip, and a report on just how fine they boys were while I was away.

They will be fine, right?

*Meaghan

Sneak Peek - Stephanie and Kris

*Meaghan

Chalkboard Project *1 - Out takes

What's the Chalkboard Project?

I'm very inspired by random acts of kindness. Little things like taking someone's shopping trolley back for them, or letting another car into the traffic ahead of you. Small things that can often change the way a person has been feeling that day. I know that it's the teensy tiny things that will often have what it takes to pull me up off my knees some days. Like Ryan learning a new word, or pulling my favourite jeans off the line ready to wear and they are all warm from the sun. Yep, the teensy tiny things.

So I came across this little chalkboard today, and it gave me the idea to portray my own little acts of kindness. I'm going to use it to write, draw, show things that might make you feel good.

I can't solve the world's problems, I can't fix a tremendous broken heart and most of the time I can't even cook toast without burning it. But I can do this. I can share something of myself in the hope that it brings on a hint of warmth, even just for a split second to you.

* Meaghan

(Miles took all these shots. He giggled and pressed the shutter, and giggled some more. Lucky the camera was on a tripod or else they would have all come out wonky.)

Chalkboard Project *01

* Meaghan

Ignoring the obvious

I'm trying desperately to pretend it's not cold. Pretend that I can't see my breath when I wake up in the morning. Pretend that the birds aren't sheltering under our aweneing because it's too freezing to fly. Pretending that I can't see the wind rolling in from over the ocean.

Nope, it's not cold. Well, maybe a little.

So I rugged up Miles and Ryan and dragged them to the beach for the afternoon. I should have realised from the deserted sand and the ice cubes bobbing in the water that perhaps it wasn't ideal beach going conditions. Should have, but didn't. The boys enjoyed it though. Until they couldn't feel their extremities anymore and begged me to take them home.

Made a video to document my irreverence to the weather. And to remind myself that the beach in the middle of winter is not a good idea should I perchance to consider it again.

Never too cold for the beach from Meaghan Cook on Vimeo.

Stay warm!
*Meaghan

Master of disguises

This kid cracks me up.

Check out his old man mo effort here

* Meaghan


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Commercial Shoot - Sneak Peek

Who would have thought I'd be able to find such gorgeous flowers in the middle of winter?

Will reveal more about the product I was doing this shoot for soon. But what I can say is that I love it, and I use it almost everyday.

* Meaghan

Penny and Luke - Sweetheart session

Penny went off to a day at the races not knowing that she would meet the man of her dream amoungst the crowd. But there Luke was. Tall, dashing, and ready to sweep Penny off her feet.

Five years, a move across the country and back, a beautiful little girl and a new home later, Penny and Luke are getting married. Who would have thought that it all could have started with a shy smile across a busy crowd?



Penny and Luke totally rolled with their sweetheart session.
Me: pretend you're stuck on the side of the road mid way through a road trip.
Them: No problem!
Me: Luke pretend you're fixing the car.
Penny: He's very good at 'pretending' to fix things.



Hello gorgeous girl.



And hello my vintage suitcases!











Love love love this shot of Penny. Wish I had that girl's eyelashes!



A quick costume change and onto the next location. These two know how to do classy perfectly.



So in love. So easy to photograph. So brave in the FFRREEEZZIINNG weather.



The itty bitty love heart one Penny's bracelet showing in this shot just makes me *melt*



I think this photo below would have to be one of my favourites from their session. With every session I do, there is always one moment when I know I've got that perfect shot. I usually do a little gasp and the couple usually think something's wrong. I have to explain that I'm just gushing about their photo. This photo was my gasp moment.





Aw, love them to bits.







Hot hot hot!



I think I got along so well with Penny and Luke because we've got a lot of things in common: we all found love when we least expected it, we've got little munchkins, we've made massive moves recently, and we're all going to keep moving forward making every day better than the last.



Really looking forward to Penny and Luke's beach wedding in November. Thanks Penny and Luke for a great day out. So sorry about the freezing weather. I've ordered warm and sunny for your wedding day!

*Meaghan

Penny and Luke - Sneak Peek

* Meaghan

Supermarket sweep me away

Do you remember that crazy game show back in the 90's? Supermarket Sweep. Contestants were given a shopping trolley, an empty supermarket, and the freedom to cram as much into the trolley as they could. Some guy with suitably bad hair hosted it, and I secretly wished I could be a contestant so that I could fill my trolley with as many suger-laden goods as I could. And cereal, I would have got lots of cereal.

Today I wished I was back in 1994, weilding a shopping cart and could be let loose at the Geelong Mill Markets. This place is vintage/retro/old school heaven. As soon as I walked in there I wanted to grab everything under my arms and take it home.

But I was there on a specific mission to find some old suitcases that I can use in a photoshoot I've got coming up. I wanted old, but not too old. Funky, but not kitsch. Tasteful, but slightly bad taste at the same time.

So I tried to close my eyes to the vintage kid's tricycle, the gorgeous emperor style chairs that would look amazing in my lounge room, and the flamingo pink 70's fridge, and searched out suitcases.

Low and behold, I found them.



And I darn well love them.

What's that on top of the suitcases? Oh um yes, well that's the vintage camera that I couldn't leave the store without.



It's a Coronet Victor. It's designed to take itty bitty 4cm x 4cm photos. It has just two shutter speeds, and two apertures to match. The Coronet Victor cost £2 12s. 8d. in 1959. Sure, I won't ever find film for it, but I love pressing the shutter and rolling the dials all the same.

I'm letting myself believe that someone owned this once, and loved it wholeheartedly. They took photos of their children, the dog, the neighbours peeking over the fence. They captured their little slice of life with it.



Keep an eye out for my sweet Victor and the suitcases featuring in some upcoming photoshoots.

* Meaghan