the falls

Before my year of endless summer (so over a year ago now!), Dan and I took a trip to Melbourne, Victoria. We hired a car and drove down the Great Ocean Road chasing waterfalls along the way.

all photos edited with my Melbourne Lightroom Preset & Disposable Film Lightroom Preset

joshua tree national park

Where do I even start with Joshua Tree? My time there was a change of pace, a breath of fresh (and sometimes dusty) air amongst the craziness of our trip so far and the craziness that was still to come. The air is still, the heat relentlessly hot, but I felt at peace and a sense of overwhelming calmness and inspiration when I’d sit at the front of our house watching the landscape around me. My eyes were constantly glued to our car window and I felt a sense of nostalgia the moment I was there for a place I’ve never been to before. The best way I can describe Joshua Tree is magic.

Maybe the magic there lies within the fact that the further you’d drive away from the city of Los Angeles, the more it started to look like a different world. That when we first started to see the span of the desert and the mountains and nothing else, that I had to pull over to soak it all in. Or that when I first got out of the car the realness of being in the desert sunk in, the heat was like no other heat I’ve experienced before and I could taste the dustiness of the air every time I breathed in. Or maybe it was that we arrived at our home in the desert in the almost-dark and didn’t get to realise where I was until I woke up at 5 in the morning to watch the sun rise, all the while hearing coyotes howl in the not-so-far distance and watching the jack rabbits and chipmunks come to life when it was cool at night.

Visiting Joshua Tree has been on the top of my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to visit the desert, see the sunrise, watch the stars and just be in this beautiful place. We left New York on the 4th of July, dragging our feet during the long lines at the airport on two hours of sleep. When we landed in Los Angeles, we tetris-packed our rental car with all our luggage and headed off on our roadtrip to Joshua Tree. I drove the entire way there as it’s something I have always wanted to do. The longer we drove the more the city and suburbs disappeared into a dust storm. We took a few wrong turns and missed exits, but we finally got to our first destination in one piece - the world’s biggest dinosaur in Cabazon. It was here that I got my first sense that I was really doing this, that I was really headed towards where I have always wanted to go. The heat was relentless and almost suffocating. But I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

We headed off for the next leg of our trip. By this point we were passing Palm Springs, entering Yucca Valley and the roads look just like they do in the movies. Sam was filming and taking photos for me because the views were incredible and I didn’t want to forget a single moment. The road winds and turns and we drove towards and through the mountain until we ended up in the town of Joshua Tree. We pulled over on the side of the road to take photos with the setting sun, dust flying around us with every car that zoomed past while we were wandering.

The paved road eventually stops and turns into a dirt road along the way to our house. We drive up a small hill and our home is waiting for us. It is an incredible place with an amazing view and big windows to see it all. We unpack our things, take billions of photos in the last light of the day and make a quick dinner. I still can’t believe I am here.

I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Happy 4th of July, America.

—

Another three hour night of sleep and I am woken by Sam grabbing my arm, who was woken by Nat to see the sunrise. As soon as I opened my eyes and saw the amazing colours brewing in the sky, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my camera to sit outside. All we could hear were small sounds of wildlife as we stared at the vast, purple tinted openness in front of us. With no sounds other than a bird whistling a little tune, I watched the sun rise over the mountains in the distance. Something I have always wanted to experience.

The sun was already warm as soon as it trickled over my skin. By the time our house was in the sunshine by 7am, it was 31°C. 

—

Joshua Tree is amazing in the summer. We had a couple of recommendations from locals that we started conversations with that it's better to come in October (when the park is busiest) beacuse the days are warm and the night cools your skin. But we loved it in the summer. We had time to laze around guiltlessly during the day in our beautiful home, we went for hikes in the afternoon in the setting sun and the nights were cold enough to make you forget how hot it was during the day when you'd take out your favourite jumper to snuggle in while watching the shooting stars. In the summer Joshua Tree National Park and the town is so lovelily empty. It felt like we had the whole world to ourselves.

—

I will never forget my time in Joshua Tree. Hiking through the desert, seeing the wildlife, spending my birthday there, feeling so small in a place so big. I remember so fondly the drives back to our home after being in the National Park all afternoon. The sky a dim marvel of subtle colours and the car headlights twinkling in the distance like stars.

In some current news, I'm excited because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x

The World's Biggest Dinosaur, Cabazon

Experiencing my first sunset in the desert.

The drive from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree.

Seeing little snippets of Joshua Tree for the first time.

Our cute AirBnb rental property - a little pink house in the middle of the desert.

This was our little lizard friend, who we think was dopey from the heat but would always hang out with us when we were outdoors.

Planning on where to go exploring in Joshua Tree National Park. The heat was too intense during the day so we had to wait until the afternoon to go hiking.

I would stare out the car window in awe as we drove through the National Park.

Spending early mornings filling in words for my travel journal and flicking through my polaroids after watching the sunrise.

Celebrating the 4th of july in the desert.

Our AirBnb house had gorgeous windows which spanned from the ceiling to the floor - perfect for gazing out to watch the clouds and animals scurrying around in the bushes when it was too hot to go outside during the day.

My friends and I were all obsessed with seeing squirrels around New York, we couldn't believe how cute a chipmunk was when we saw three of them running across the road!

Pulling over on the side of the road to take pictures at sunset.

We barely saw another car or other people - it felt like we were at Joshua Tree all by ourselves.

There was a hike with desert flowers we wanted to do, but just as we were about to get out the car we realise the were HUNDREDS of bees surrounding us. We sat inside the car looking at them in disbelief (taking pictures of course) and we unfortunately missed out on this hike. Maybe next time! 

Dusk in the desert.

Joshua Tree's main street.

all photos edited with my new joshua tree lightroom preset!

floral melody: white magazine

editorial for  white magazine | issue twenty-seven

photography  myself

model  lauren @ chadwicks

hair + makeup  abbey love

florals  jardine botanic

videography  dan

central park, new york

While I was in New York, my friends and I always made the effort to walk to our destinations so we could soak up every second of the concrete landscape towering around us. Every time we had the opportunity, we would plan our path to our destination so we could walk through Central Park. Aside from the beautiful trees and the lush greenery in Central Park, some of my favourite moments include seeing all the happy dogs getting taken for walks, the quietness of the park early in the morning, watching the squirrels, seeing the contrast of buildings against the trees and having the feeling in some moments that you weren’t in a city at all.

the edge of central park. i love the contrast between the two sides of the road! 

coffee before adventures.

my friend, natalie.

this is sam.

so many dog statues!

and jess! 

a lady was showing us her dog could high-five her.

all photos edited with my new L.A. lightroom preset!

palms | michaela wain for hello molly

campaign for  hello molly

hellomollyfashion.com

model  michaela wain

makeup  lidija j

I'm excited because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x

feels like spring | steph claire smith for hello molly

an afternoon shooting the new collection for hello molly

model  steph smith

hair & makeup  lidija j

I'm excited because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x

the high line, new york

Visiting The High Line is up there in the top 5 day trips we experienced in New York City. The High Line is a two kilometre park running from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street. The most interesting part about The High Line is that it's an elevated park built in Manhattan on an abandoned train line. I just love how they've transformed a piece of industrial infrastructure into a sustainable green park for the public. My friend's and I explored about half of The High Line, walking through the contrast of green against brown buildings, marvelling at the busy intersections from a high up perspective. I'll let the pictures I took tell the rest of the story.

All photos edited with my new L.A. Lightroom preset!

american natural history museum, new york

my friends and i woke up early one morning to go on an adventure to the american natural history museum. i've been to the london natural history museum a few years ago and it was amazing, so i had high expectations this time around. we set our alarms for sunrise, woke up and got ready. we decided to walk to the natural history museum through central park so we could do a little sight seeing along the way to our first stop in new york. central park was beautiful early in the morning, there was barely a soul around and the light was perfect - but that's a story for another blog post! here is our day at the museum. a definite must do from me if you ever go to new york city!

after spending an early morning walking through central park, we arrive at the natural history museum before it opened.

we walked around the streets to do a little exploring and to hunt for some coffee.

we found coffee!! 

we were all obsessed with the squirrels! we don't have any in australia, so every time we saw one we would stop in our tracks to watch it scurry around.

we purchased a new york city pass to do all the touristy things in new york. we savde a few dollars buying our tickets this way instead of individually at each attraction. 

i absolutely adored all the displays in the museum. there was so much detail in these displays and the museum as a whole was just huge! 

the displays were so realistically that my friends and i joked around that i needed to sneak in some of these photos (like this one for instance) into my poland blog post in the future and the display of the squirrel into my yosemite blog post! 

up to my favourite part of the museum - dinosaur bones! there were some really interesting creatures on display. i loved reading all about them and looking at the intricate models.  

at the space section of the museum. our ticket included a movie to do with the galaxy. however after landing so late the night before, waking up super early and being fairly jet lagged, the four of us felt like falling sleep in the comfy chairs and the dark cinema room! 

the beautiful view of the streets from the museum.

all photos edited with my new lightroom presets! colour images edited with new york | black and white images edited with manhattan

dusk

model  annika @ viviens

makeup  emmily @ depths of beauty

collab with  caitlin may photography

all color photos edited with my disposable film lightroom preset. black and white images edited with oxford lightroom preset.

rain

model  annika @ viviens

makeup  emmily @ depths of beauty

collab with  caitlin may photography

all color photos edited with my disposable film lightroom preset. black and white images edited with oxford lightroom preset.

Canon 5Dmk4 Travel Photography in L.A.

heading to l.a. from sydney.

pastel skies over venice beach as we landed.

flying to l.a.  |  the first thing we did when we landed was eat in n out burger  |  a house we passed on the street

sunset at griffith observatory was magical.

watching the mountains disappear into the l.a. haze.

instagram photos: 1. rodeo drive 2 + 3. griffith observatory 4, 5 + 6. visiting the getty centre 7, 8 + 9. universal studios 10, 11 + 12. disneyland

the happiest place on earth! when i got back home after watching the midnight fireworks over the disneyland castle, i scrawled in my travel journal "i'm smiling the widest smile i have and my insides are made of butterflies. it was one of the most magical days." and promptly passed out of exhaustion as shown by my pen scrawl off the page from the last letter.

early morning drives around l.a.

wandering the streets of beverly hills where the roads are paved through a tunnel of trees and there are picture perfect houses with picture perfect lawns.

on our last night in l.a. before flying out to nyc, we went to see ben folds live at the greek theatre. it was the perfect way to end our trip, watching my favourite artist perform under the stars.

i was obsessed with all the brightly coloured flowers that painted the city of l.a.

after new york, we had a few extra days to spend in l.a. so we stayed in a little house next to venice beach.

walking along the venice canals.

on my birthday we went to the cheesecake factory and six of us chose six different flavours of cake to try. they were all delicious.

i didn't take my camera with me when we were exploring venice beach, so all i have are a few iphone photos.

a bit of shopping on our last day in l.a.

visiting el matador state beach in malibu. you can find that blog post here.

runyon canyon with dan and hayden where they filmed part of hayden's music video at the top of the mountain with l.a. glistening in the background.

the last pit stop in l.a. before driving to san francisco was the charmed house! we stopped by in the morning the four of us - sam, dan, hayden and myself super excited to see it in real life as we all grew up watching the show when we were younger.

we departed cold wintery sydney early in the morning one day in july to get on a mammoth 12 hour flight to l.a. when we landed, we picked up our hire car and it was my first time soaking it all in and driving on the other side of the road. it was magical being somewhere new. we spent four days in l.a. where we did lots of shopping, exploring and taking hundreds of photos before getting on another plane to spend a week in new york. when we got back from nyc, we got straight in the car and drove to joshua tree to spend my birthday in the desert (i'm so excited to share those photos with you!) and back to l.a. where dan and hayden joined us after spending time filming his new video clip and jess and nat went back home. 

i miss the sunny days in los angeles, the big streets, the interesting people, all the amazing food, i even miss the highways and the traffic and crazy drivers. my favourite moment was being at the griffith observatory watching the sun go down, watching the lights turn on in the city. pink, blue, yellow, orange, purple, white, it was stunning. i couldn't unglue my eyes from the sky. somehow i drowned out the noise of the mass of people swarming everywhere at the top of that hill and i breathed in every second of the moments that passed as if i never would again. 

i had so many people tell me that l.a. is boring and gross and after spending some time there i came to the conclusion that l.a. is so not magical that it is. it's dirty but quirky. the city is covered in a layer of grime and it's coloured in a soft pastel tone with the most wonderful sunlight you could imagine. while driving around, my eyes dart to the brightly coloured bougainvillaea that climbed, crawled, twisted and relentlessly grew itself to any thing it could hold onto. i noticed that l.a. isn't just one place or a city centre like sydney. it's huge and it's everywhere. i feel like i need a lot more than a week to get to know this place better. l.a. you were a wild ride and i can't wait to visit again soon! 

I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x

all photos edited with my new lightroom preset L.A.!

2015

my year in 100 pictures.

in the meadows. ladyluna fall campaign

fall campaign for  ladyluna boutique

model  sabrina @ balistarz

hair + makeup  abbey love

i loved shooting the fall lookbook & campaign for ladyluna earlier this year. our day started bright and early in the studio where i set up my lights and backdrop to spend half the day shooting the lookbook images. you can find those pictures on the ladyluna website if you'd like to have a look! once we were finished with the studio lookbook, we sat down to eat a healthy lunch before packing everything up and heading out to shoot the campaign.

we all drive and meet up at our beautiful location for the rest of the day, centennial park. the sun was shining bright after what i remember being a week or two of miserable rainy weather in sydney, so we were very lucky and appreciating every moment of sunshine that we could. we start shooting in our first location and eventually packed everything into one car - four girls + dan, lots of clothes, camera equipment and more and drove around, continuously stopping at different locations to shoot.

if you'd like to see some behind the scene photos from the day, i stole a few of the lovely iphone bts snaps abbey love took on the day and put them all together in a blog post! you can find that blog post here.

all photos edited with my Summer Haze Lightroom Preset.

malibu

the heat in l.a. was getting exhausting. day in and out of sunshine and we decided to head to the coast for some fresh air. malibu delivered everything i thought it was going to be. i loved driving on the brilliant coastal road, endless californian ocean to your left and towering mountains to your right. i won't ever forget the sight.

the first picture in this blog post is the traffic on the freeway. one second there was peak hour traffic and the next everyone was zooming past. we found out pretty quickly that you don't fit in on the road in l.a. unless you speed excessively, don't indicate, eat while you're driving and run red lights. it was my first time driving on the other side of the road but i got used to it pretty quickly! the only time i would be confused was when i walked to the car throughout the day and i would always automatically walk to the passenger seat to start driving before realising and running around the car to the correct side while giggling.

i was so excited seeing a yellow school bus for the first time! 

photo pit stops along the way.

a few notes from my travels that i scribbled in my notebook sleepy eyed in bed on the night we got back to our apartment:

//

the sun is a hazy mess on the horizon.

ocean, mountain, desert.

powerlines and palm trees.

//

All photos edited with my Lovestruck Lightroom Preset!

rose tinted

while i was in melbourne a little while ago, i got to catch up with caitlin may and shoot with a group of talented ladies. we met up at caitlin's house in the morning where jan worked her magic on hair and makeup on aimee, then we headed off to our location. while we were shooting, it rained and the sun shone. we pat beautiful horses and ran up and down the middle of empty roads.

collaboration with  caitlin may photography

makeup  janice wu

model  aimee @ vivien's

photos in the field edited with the NEW! dulcet photoshop action | black and white images edited with paris lightroom preset

3inch campaign

campaign for  3 inch fashion

model  megan emmett @ wink

hair + makeup  lidija j

clothes + accessories  3 inch fashion

film  dan @ i make films

www.3inch.com.au

steph smith: hello molly campaign

campaign for  hello molly

model  steph smith

hair + makeup  lidija j

film  dan @ i make films

totem tally campaign - part 2

campaign for  totem tally

model  phoebe @ chadwicks

makeup  rashelle mua

totem tally campaign - part 1

campaign for  totem tally

model  phoebe @ chadwicks

makeup  rashelle mua