The Golden Road to Samarkand

Photos: My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

walkaboutthekimberleys — Thu, 3 Jan 2013 15:17:00 GMT

Sometimes words cannot do justice to the amazing wonders of our world which is what drives me to take a better shot and to be able to show people what is beyond their own backyard. Travel and photography are my passions because they are my obtainable dreams – I have travelled from Africa to Asia and I love watching the quality of my photography get better and better from the experience I gain. I used to get in trouble when I was younger after mum kept coming back from the camera shop with a handful of blurry green photos that I had secretly taken out of the car window on road trips. Now I know I can use a blurry background to make the subject of my photos stand out however I yet to master than skill... thank goodness for digital ! I would love my photography to continue to get better, I don’t want to just take good photos anymore – I want to take great ones. Ultimately, I hope to open my own gallery one day with a combination of my photos with a section dedicated to emerging local talent.

Uni is finished… so what’s next ?

walkaboutthekimberleys — Thu, 1 Dec 2011 15:18:00 GMT

After a four year Bachelor of Arts Degree plus an Honours degree in Modern History, my time as a student has finally reached its conclusion. No more tutorials, no more lectures and sadly no more 10am sleep-ins. The inevitable “so what are you going to do next?” question that plagues every recent graduate, has been stalking me like a hungry lion eying a juicy fat gazelle from the tall dry grass in the heart of the African wilderness. It has finally pounced, sunk its teeth in and is gripping me like a vice. “What do I do next?” Well the obvious answer is to get a full time job hopefully on the career path that I want but as a budding journalist, experience is the key and is also the key that I have yet to obtain.

So my goal – get experience. But after such a full on year of study with Honours, a holiday is also just as important… My solution – combine getting work experience and a holiday!! On December 20^th 2011 I will be embarking on a 14 day expedition of the Sub Antarctic Islands to assist with the filming of a documentary and to work on some articles that I will submit for free to travel magazines and newspapers. The trip begins in Bluff in the very south of the South Island of New Zealand and we head around Milford, Dusky and Doubtful Sounds before heading to Stewart, Snares, Campbell and Macquarie Islands. So what is the extent of my knowledge of the wildlife, environment and history of the Sub Antarctic’s? Limited.

Here are the six things I know about the Sub Antarctic’s:

It is bloody freezing
there are penguins
and seals
and birds
and whales
and that I am going to freeze important body parts off…

Clearly some serious research is in order… stayed tuned fellow nomads and we will gorge ourselves on brain food together!

Photos: Who is Annabel ?

walkaboutthekimberleys — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:09:00 GMT

If you can figure who I am, will you let me know ?

Photos: My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

walkaboutthekimberleys — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:56:00 GMT

Who am I ? I’m 178cm tall, I have red-ish blonde hair, my star sign is Leo, I have an odd obsession with cars and what follows is why I should win the scholarship. I have been extremely fortunate to have parents who want me to experience the world and at age 16 they let me go to Africa on a school trip without them. Culture Shock 101 ! It was without a doubt the most humbling experience of my life, it took me out of my comfort zone with a cold hard slap to the face (figuratively not literally!). Through the scholarship, I would love to learn more about South Africa and show that there is more to the country than the stereotypical issues (not that they aren’t important) that saturate the media. I love getting out of my comfort zone and scaring myself just a little bit, for example – on a recent trip to the Kimberley Region I went in a helicopter with no doors at over 1000ft… personally I like doors on a helicopter but then I wouldn’t truly understand the meaning of a ‘white-knuckle ride’… as I do now. I voluntarily write for the Macquarie University Magazine about anything and everything with the hope that one day I will be able to combine my love of photography and writing. Through the scholarship, I hope to learn how to not just to take a photograph but create it. I would love to begin a career with National Geographic with the help of this scholarship; I have a passion for exploring, experiencing and learning which is why I know Nat Geo is the place for me. One final thing – I am determined. When given an opportunity I do not take it for granted and want to learn as much as I can from it.