benjiwa

October was pretty intense. I traveled to Melbourne to take part in the 2014 SGAU Melbourne Suicide Girls Shootfest.

Got to meet some absolutely rad members such as @stingerstung, @lizzieskyllas, @electra , @emmameow, @buttermykittens and @opheliacreep . I got to catch up with my absolute favourite australians @exkyu and @countessa and spent quite a bit of time with them including doing some behind the scenes shots at Exkyu's shoots with Countessa, Ophelia and Emmameow. I also got to shoot Diessel's set in their bedroom :) In the process i got to meet the talented and flexible @hyatt (who at one point managd to hold and control 3 separate reflectors).

I was also lucky enough to book out all my photography spots. I only had two dropouts in the end but I got to shoot with hopefuls @ebonyrae @soho_ and @vixenn who all impressed with their amazing, funny and sassy personalities and blew me away with their confidence in front of the camera. I also got to shoot with SG @diessel (who i'm just waiting to hear back from concerning final approval on the edits before submitting the set).

Once Diessel's set is submitted and approved I will have shot 6 sets for SG Member review to date. @sunflower 's set Winter Sun (a debut set for us both) is currently in member review on close to 2K likes. We'd love to get it to 2000 before christmas so please go check out our work and send us some christmas love if you like it :)

I also shot the SGUA ball photos if you've see any of those floating around on people's blogs :) It was a fun night although I got waaaaaaaay too drunk.

November was less than fun for me. My grandfather fell ill with a wasting sickness and eventually passed away several weeks later. Due to this family stress was at an all time high and my father reached breaking point and I eventually bore the brunt of his meltdown (which i why i've not been as active as or late or as responsive to messages). I was also dealing with a lot of job stress due to having to chase down a lot of unpaid invoices and getting last minute calls for gigs or bump ups of deadlines.

I didn't really sleep much and it got to the point where some close friends and colleagues actually pulled me aside to make sure I was okay. My creative work was really the only thing giving me any sort of incentive to keep going and I was lucky enough to get to shoot several great projects during the dark period and got to collaborate with several artists who i have been talking to for months and who work greatly inspires me.

I also picked up the old Pentax ME-Super 35mm Film camera I've ben neglecting and took a breather by shooting some black and white portraits and landscapes.

It's really the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I've finally delt with most of the really big things that have been hanging over my head and im looking forward to a break from the rat race. Im also looking forward to some free time in the evenings to plan my kickstarter.

I'm currently in email discussion with @vita sorting out details so I can shoot a set with her while im overseas in America :) I am so keen to meet this lovely lady and collaborate with her :)

I fly out on friday night and land in San Fransisco for 4 days before hitting Snowmass in Colorado. Gonna do me some snowboarding BRUH!