As I mentioned in the blog on Coogee Pool… there are photos that are gifts… they just happen and you are lucky enough to be there to catch the moment.
This one of the Dandelion was not one of those… there is that moment in Nature, when the first seed leaves the flower… and it would be amazing and a privilege to capture that.
However, Tony saw the perfectly formed, yet-to be blown-away dandelions and conceived the idea of creating the shot.
#1611
He gathered several dandelions… and he and I armed with a hair dryer and a camera, took about fifty shots to get this one!
We were looking for the first seed leaving, with the idea of capturing the sense of “letting go”, of “breaking free”.
But we also wanted to have the image resonnate with people’s childhood memories of gathering and blowing the dandelions as they made a wish.
We began taking photos in 2002 when we had a break from our teaching jobs. As we live near the Royal National Park we went for bushwalks. It was spring and the Sydney Red Gums and Scribbly Gums were starting to shed their bark.
National Park
We were struck by the beauty of the old bark shedding and the growth of the new bark underneath…
the contrast of the old and the new seemed to resonate with where we were in our lives. The extraordinary contrast of colour, pattern and texture were Nature’s works of art…
we simply photographed them.
We were also drawn to the rockpools for the interplay of wind, light, pattern and colour and to the delicate patterning and colour in the Sydney sandstone along the coast south of Sydney.
What had started as a nurturing and healing interest for us became a passion. And in time, with the encouragement of family, it became our business.
Our short excursions in the bush became whole day events as we became more and more drawn to the beauty around us.
In this shot the sun had just come over the horizon and hence the glorious and dramatic change of colour compared to image #649 shot a little earlier, a swimmer had entered the pool and broke the surface of the water, creating a beautiful rippled image of vibrant and extaordinary colour.
I enjoy looking at these three images #2959, #649 and #257 and marvelling at how dramatically the landscape can change in an instant and how something you had not planned or foreseen can suddenly present you with the gift of a beautiful shot. Call it luck, chance or serendipity…Tony and I are always grateful of these moments.
#2959
#647
The shot was taken just before the sun rose over the horizon, so the colours in the sky were muted and soft.
The water in the pool was still, creating a perfect mirror image reflection of the concrete bollards and the sky.
Tony Rea Designs is the creation of Tony Rea and Jane Young. We present our original photographic images on canvas and acrylic. We began our business in 2003 at Paddington Markets, and since then have developed to include selling at Cronulla and Menai.
Jane & Tony
We also work from home and welcome customers to our workshop in Grays Point. On occasions we are asked by customers to advise them on their specific design requirements; we enjoy working on unique and creative layouts.
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