Category Archives: art & travel.

• I WENT TO AUSTRALIA.

  15 Feb 2012 juliewilliams

  I’m fresh home from a fantastic trip to the mighty land under. Last year, I was approached by my old friend, Lauren wondering if I’d be keen to make the journey to the other corner of the world to shoot her wedding. Despite my extreme love for the Canadian winter and my intense dislike of hot and humid weather…it was an incredible opportunity to pass up. Before I knew it my calendar was blocked off and the flights were booked. I spent four days in Melbourne and about two weeks in the greater Sydney area.

  During my time away, I realized just how lucky I am for my life in this awesome part of the world. The Canadian Rockies are such an international destination; throughout my time here I’ve had the chance to connect and stay in touch with so many incredible people from all over the world…namely Australia! I had the chance to rendez vous with so many great people from my ski bum days, photography colleagues and past clients…so cool! Each one of them offered the highest level of hospitality imaginable and showed me some pretty neat sites. Stay tuned for a sunset family portrait on the beach and of course the photos of the wedding in Ku-Ring-Gai national park.

  I arrived on Australia Day….we had to catch the fireworks in downtown Melbourne. I fell in love with that city.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Jess [of Jessica and Charlie] playing her VERY FIRST paid gig at the Thornby Local. Such a fun night!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  The view from Jesse and Alina’s apartment in the heart of Melbourne.

  

  Flinder’s Lane.

  

  

  

  An epic Op-Shop outing with Jesse and Alina. I wish I could have outfitted my entire home with the furnishings in these stores!

  

  

  

  

  

  Alina Solberg: likely the most photographed gal in Melbourne. Jesse never leaves the house without his camera.

  

  This city is all about the alleyways and high quality street art. And the coffee.

  

  

  

  

  

  The pretty little Sydney neighborhood of Paddington. Kate, Lauren’s little sister maid of honor [as well as an other old ski bum friend of mine] lived in this cute place and was kind enough to take me in for a few nights…talk about fulfilling her maid of honor duties to the max – hosting the international photographer. Above and beyond! Thanks Kate.

  

  

  

  

  When Ben [the groom] picked me up from the airport he asked how I felt about some 4x4ing on sand dunes…I was so pumped. Our exploring around Stockton took us to an old shipwreck!

  

  

  

  His awesome 90 year old Grandma had been wanting to go 4x4ing with him for some time, so she joined us. The poor gal couldn’t understand a word I was saying through my thick Canadian accent.

  

  Tin City. People actually live way out there.

  

  My old friend Shann, and her sister Karly took me out to the Hunter Valley, Australia’s wine country…only about 45 minutes from their hometown. It was a nice, relaxing day of tasting wines, champagnes, cheeses, chocolates and olive oils. Our culinary tastes have most certainly matured and our idea of a fun outing sure has evolved from our slightly rowdy ski hill days, eh Shann?!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  I recently met up with past clients Fox and Katie when they were back in the Rockies for a winter vacation. This time I was lucky enough to catch up with them on their turf. Katie’s family owns an incredible historic farm on the outskirts of Sydney. Since the gals are also keen photographers, they knew I’d likely be happily overwhelmed to spend an afternoon exploring the property with the camera glued to my face. The little guy in the photos below is their nephew, Cowen and he’s such a rad little kid.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Complimentary gum boots!

  

  Katie’s grandpa had two sheds filled to the brim with countless old treasures. Every item was carefully labelled. The family refers to the space as “the museum”.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  It was SUCH a pleasure to meet up with my old friend Georgie on the steps of the Opera House in Sydney. Georgie and I went to photography school together in Victoria and helped each other through the ins & outs and ups & downs of starting up a photo business back in the early days. Georgie grew up in Tasmania, but is married to a great Canadian guy, Dave. The two of them are in the middle of an amazing six-month holiday…I was so lucky to catch up with them over on the other side of the world and have her by my side to shoot the wedding the following day.

  

• ONE SHOT.

  29 Jan 2012 juliewilliams

  A very quick hello from Australia! I have just touched down in Sydney after a few awesome days exploring the best of Melbourne with a couple sets of local and very hospitable friends. I can’t say enough good things about that city and the extreme kindness I received throughout my entire stay! I managed to survive the 80% humidity mixed with 36C temperatures. This winter-loving Canuck gal is not overly happy to report that same weather seems to have joined me at my most recent destination…that said, I’m just itching to catch up with a whole new bunch of old friends in this neck of the woods and shoot a very special wedding next month.

  From what I could tell throughout my short stay, Melbourne is all about alleyways, good quality street art and the best coffee you’ve ever tasted. This is the view looking down onto Flinders Lane from Jesse & Alina’s apartment. These two have very recently returned to Melbourne after five years of life in Banff and they’ve already got an absolutely fantastic set up in the heart of the city.

  

• A PHOTO WALK.

  10 Dec 2011 juliewilliams

  Sharon and Katie Fox were married here in the Bow Valley last year, 10.10.10 to be exact. Their wedding was just perfect, so cozy and heartfelt. After returning home to Australia following their wedding, the two girls left their careers in the police force to study photography. [Bravo ladies!] Even though they are still in the midst of their studies, I’ve been offering some mentoring help via email. They’ve already launched a website and have been taking several commissions through word of mouth – the best kind of business…I’m kind of proud of them. Sharon mentioned how the career change is so refreshing. Her days as a policewoman largely entailed working with people during negative times in their life, now she gets to see people at their happiest. I couldn’t agree more!

  The duo will be entering their second round of school in the new year. Our mountains are clearly a very special spot to these Aussies, they have chosen to spend the majority of their “summer” holiday in the opposite hemisphere, here in the Canadian Rockies tromping though snow with cold toes, frosty cheeks and numb fingertips fumbling their way around operating a camera in these very foreign conditions. Last week we met up for a coffee, biz chat and a photo walk around the Yamnuska area, while it was crisp and sunny in Canmore, we were greeted with some rather foggy skies east of town.