Dec 31 2012

Life is a Road Trip

“When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere.”

 – Rumi

 

It’s the end of the year, the time when you look back at everything that has happened, leave it behind, and look forward to the beginning of a new adventure.  There is something unexplored, unknown  and very exciting that is almost here, but you still have a bit of time to reflect on the past.

It is the perfect time to get on the road. To see  wide open spaces and big sky, to sing songs in the car, to have an unplanned turnoff to a scenic drive, to get on top of the hill to find new perspective, to find a remote and completely empty beach, to go back to the places you’ve been before, that flood your heart with the warmth of sweet memories.

When we travel the hours feel completely different. Days are long. Every moment is honoured. Everything is possible.

According to Aerosmith, “life’s a journey, not a destination”.

But I think it’s a bit of both.  You just need to find the balance. Every tired traveller is grateful for the place to rest at the end of the road.

I am wishing you the most balanced 2013.

Below image was taken at Burra, South Australia, where earth is red and fields are golden. You can’t see it, but behind one of those hills is one of the most iconic Australian scenes  – Burra Homestead, that  was made famous by Ken Duncan, and when it made it to the cover of “Diesel and Dust” by Midnight Oil. It has been photographed thousands of times before. I now have a picture of it too, and you will see it next year, when the present becomes memories.

 

Burra, South Australia

Posted in Personal, Travel
Dec 20 2012

Yoga

“Let the beauty you love be what you do”

– Rumi

 

My alarm goes off at 4.45 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After three and a half years it is still a grand effort to drag myself out of the cozy bed and into the cold darkness, while all normal people are still enjoying their pre-dawn slumber. Thirty minutes later I am in the car, on the way to our yoga school, where I roll out the mat, and for the next one and a half hours all we do is align, stretch, breathe, and then sit quietly, trying to look within.

And all this stretching and aligning and Om-singing somehow does amazing things to your body and mind. From not sweating the small stuff to finding the courage to make a first step on a journey you had only in your wildest dreams.  General floppiness is replaced by fearlessness and strength. You become very aware of what you put into your body and start craving broccoli (true!). Episodes of mild road rage while dealing with Sydney traffic become more rare and then disappear (ok, I am not a hundred percent there yet, but I am getting close). You see more beauty in the mundane, you become more present. Limitations you create for yourself and your old beliefs simply dissolve, setting you free. Kindness replaces impatience.

I can go on forever as there are as many benefits of yoga as there are drops in the ocean – I think every single one of us who practices it would say something unique about how this ancient practice changed their lives.

I was honoured and excited to take the below images for our yoga teacher’s brand-new website, Flying Lotus Yoga –make sure to stop by and read  about Steven and what he offers, plus you will find a much more professionally written text on the amazingness of yoga!

Steven, thank you for every class of yours that we’ve attended.  You make this world a brighter place through your teaching.

Namaste.

 

Sydney Yoga Photography; VriksasanaSydney Yoga Photography; Headstand; SirsasanaSydney Yoga PhotographySydney yoga photography; Adho Mukha VrksasanaSydney yoga photography; padmasanaSydney Yoga Photography; MudraSydney Yoga Photography; OmSydney Yoga Photography; peacock poseSydney Yoga PhotographySydney Yoga Photography, WarriorGyana Mudra, Sydney Yoga PhotographySydney Yoga Photography, eight angle poseSydney Yoga PhotographySydney Yoga PhotographySydney Yoga PhotographyYoga, Sydney Yoga PhotographySydney Yoga Photography; Lotus, Padmasana, yoga, sydneySydney yoga Photography, lotus, padmasana, meditation, yoga

Posted in Sydney Yoga Photography
add a comment
link to this post
email a friend
Jody Ryan - December 20, 2012 - 8:13 pm

These images are fabulous xxx Steven is an inspiration xxx

Harriet - January 13, 2017 - 7:11 pm

Hi Anastasia,
I hope this message finds you well.

My name is Harriet and I am interested in getting some photos taken for my website and social media.

I am a yoga teacher and trained in psychology and my business is based on a fusion of Eastern and Western sciences.

I will probably want some headshots, some pictures of me in various yoga poses, and perhaps some landscapes. I would like some by the ocean/beach and some in a studio.

I wonder what are the options? I think a half-day would be sufficient.

I would like the pictures ready by the end of the month at latest. (Ideally end of next week).

I look forward to hearing from you.

You can catch me on 0403324781.

All the best,

Harriet Sciberras (MSc. Health Psych.)
Holistic Health Consultant

Founder and Director, smile in the sky

smileinthesky.com (website coming soon!)

Dec 18 2012

2012

“I listen to the wind

to the wind of my soul”

– Cat Stevens

Hey 2012. You went past so quickly. I can’t believe it’s the end of December, and 2013 is almost here.

I’ve been browsing through my Lightroom library, with Pandora Christmas station in the background, and a cup of tea in front of me. Here are a few sweet moments of the year that’s been. From the peaceful Kosciuszko sunrise on the 1st of January, surrounded by light and crazy wide open spaces, to quiet celebrations at our favourite Thai place, to boat rides on Sydney Harbour, to red leaves dancing in the rays of autumn sun, to roaming through the South Island of New Zealand, to picking up sweet pieces from Bowral antique shops, to Hunter Valley sunsets, to spring in full force in Sydney Botanical Gardens, to being over the moon about a new toy, to learning from amazing teachers at photography workshops. Watching the world from so many viewpoints.

These are all memories now, that are captured by my camera and my heart.

 

Posted in Personal, Travel
Dec 07 2012

Connected

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”

– Judy Garland

Sweet moments of connection.Those quiet, lovely seconds when you look into each other’s eyes and see that you don’t have to say anything at all, when all that’s inside your heart, inside your soul is known, is appreciated, is understood by this beautiful person in front of you. You have a secret language that noone else speaks. Every touch is overflowing with tenderness. Your hands are always linked, creating your own little circle that holds a whole world inside. This is love.

And the big day is getting closer and closer, the day when you will stand in front of your family and friends and pronounce the words that will tie the two of you together for eternity. And you will hold your hands, like you always do now. From that moment long time ago, when you first held on tight to each other, riding the bike across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and into forever.

You have found The One.

While we were wandering around Botanical Gardens and The Rocks, and then watched the sunset from The Observatory Hill during Maria and Serge’s engagement session, and as I was capturing their sweet moments I got simply blown away by the connection these two amazing people have. And I am so looking forward to photographing their wedding in January.

Posted in Central Coast Wedding Photographer, Engagement Photography, Sydney Couple Photography, Sydney Wedding Photographer, Wedding Photography
add a comment
link to this post
email a friend
Jen - December 7, 2012 - 10:29 am

I a.d.o.r.e. your work! beautiful…….

Celebrating the Love » Anastasia Photography – Wedding and Family Photographer Sydney Australia Worldwide - April 11, 2013 - 7:42 am

[…] colours of summer evening became the perfect backdrop for the tenderness and sweet emotion, and the connection Maria and Jun […]

Nov 30 2012

What Would My Inner Child Do?

“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”

 – Saint-Exupéry,The Little Prince

The month of November whooshed by, as it normally does, because for whatever reason the Earth seems to spin much faster at the end of the year. The countdown to Christmas started. Both the weather and my brain are heating up. So much to do, so much to do…

When we are kids the weeks that are leading up to Christmas are filled with wild excitement – the tree will soon be up, fairy lights will be wrapped around it, and the house will become a place where magic lives. We have so much to look forward to – school holidays, piles of presents, pretty wrapping paper, plenty of yummy food that you can stuff yourself with, watching all those Christmas movies on TV…

I remember that my favourite place to be at that time of the year was in our living room at night, all by myself, in the darkness, just watching the lights of the tree glimmer softly, changing colour.

When we grow up Christmas becomes another item on the to-do list. Fairy lights have lost their magic a little bit, putting up with glitter that is spread all around the carpet is annoying, prices of everything go through the roof, and Sydney Fish Markets become a dangerous place to be.  It’s just crazy. We rush to finish so many things, forgetting what this season is all about.

And this is the exact time when I need to refer that boring and stressed adult to my inner child. Because that inner child loves Christmas. Even despite the experience of once being buried under the fully decorated, covered in beautiful baubles, amazingly smelling pine tree that fell on me when I was playing under it. I was five. Maybe the tree was over-decorated on one side, I don’t know. The baubles shattered, my belief in Santa Claus didn’t.

November self-portrait is a reminder I am setting myself for the next few busy weeks. What would my inner child do?

My inner child would have her eyes wide-open in excitement, sitting in darkness watching the Christmas lights. I am taller than the tree now anyway, so I know I am safe even if it decides to attack me again.

Have an easy December and a beautiful Christmas. I am off to dig out my Christmas CDs.

This is me many years ago. A few years before the tree incident. Some of these baubles may not have survived:)

Posted in Personal
add a comment
link to this post
email a friend
Sonia - November 30, 2012 - 10:43 pm

Lovely story … and luckily you can now defend yourself from these dangerous attacks! I can’t claim a dramatic story as yours but I do agree, watching the Christmas tree lights at night is a magical moment. Missing my cold nights and the winter lights!