Bully snapper’s fave galleries from the past 12 months
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My love of photography began, of all places, in the Mackay court house back in the 70s and 80s.
Daughter of the local sergeant and police prosecutor, I spent a lot of time at Dad’s work.
Back in those pre-digital days, many police had to hone their darkroom skills in order to produce forensic photos and mug shots.
It took too long to send the negatives to Brisbane and it wasn’t appropriate to have crime scene photos processed down at the local chemist.
Whenever I got bored, Dad would spool off a dozen black and white negatives and send me out on the streets of Mackay with a Pentax K1000.
He would then school me in the rigours of darkroom technique.
In later years, I took that camera around the world with me for the best part of seven years, taking photos in more than 25 countries.
I didn’t make the switch to digital until I returned to Australia in 2005.
Now I take photos of CQ locals and visitors for The Morning Bulletin. Here are my favourite galleries from the past 12 months. I hope you enjoy them.
Christmas Holidays in Rockhampton
It was hot, it was loud and it was heaps of fun. The 25th annual Cancer Council Stockland Rockhampton Christmas Parade made its way along Musgrave Street to the cheers of CQ’s kiddies.
Christmas Day and locals and visitors alike headed to our shadier places and splashier water parks to relax after a hearty Christmas lunch. Others went to church.
After New Year’s Eve, and still on school holidays, families kept flocking to water parks around our region, including the Kracken on Yeppoon’s foreshore.
Sports Photos
Now, I don’t know a goal from a try; I just focus on the ball and wait for the players’ bodies to make interesting shapes around it. I leave it to our wonderful sports reporters to give you play-by-play details on who won and how. But there are some sporting experiences which I really look forward to.
First there’s any opportunity to spend a morning out by the sea among people who are way fitter than I am.
Second, what better sport to enjoy in the Beef Capital than bullriding? It’s a real rush to watch in action not only the riders and the beasts but also the intrepid acrobats who step up in between them.
Here’s one gallery of the big guns and another of the juniors who want to grow up to be just like them.
Whoever said “never work with children and animals” is a wuss. Take a look at these beautiful puppers having fun at the obedience trials.
The Arts
Central Queensland is a breeding ground for talent in the fields of music and song, dance and acting. The Morning Bulletin caught up with some of our exports, including Jaime Hadwen and Kara Lane, to see how they were impacted by COVID-19 lockdown.
Back home, the splendid production of Mamma Mia was geared to be a sell-out success, but COVID-19 brought the curtain down after the first weekend.
Six months later, it raised on a production of Seussical the Musical by the Lighthouse Christian School. How cute are those costumes?
Finally, my all-time favourite shoot for the year was a six-part series dedicated to the tenacity of CQ kids in lockdown. I would usually be photographing eisteddfod and school musicals during our cooler months so, instead, I drove out to dozens of driveways and took photos of our CQ dancers rehearsing at home. You can see all six Dancing in the Driveway galleries here.
Thank you to the dance teachers who organised the shoots for me – don’t forget to nominate them for CQ’s Favourite Dance Teacher here – and to the families who made the experience so much fun.
I hope you liked looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. Remember to let us know if there’s an event we can cover for you by emailing morningbulletin@news.com.au
