Summer Through Mediocre iPhone Photos

Autumn/fall (I am constantly finding myself using American counterparts for Australian things) is in four days?! The other day it was windy and cold and we had a torrential downpour. I even contemplated buying tights?! So naturally, in the spirit of summer ending for another year, I felt the need to reflect on my last summer as a teenager (*sobs quietly*).

Living on the coast has it's perks during summer because I get to do all those cliché things like spending most of my time at the beach. My favourite beach - which most (if not all) of the photo shoots I've done with a beach setting over the past three years have been set there - is so quiet and peaceful yet extremely beautiful.

1. I see summer constantly through creamy yellow filters and perfect shadows / 2. Probably the most perfect beach evening ever / 3. The perfect sunset in Torquay / 4. I'm constantly finding myself mesmerised by water and tides.

One of my favourite things about warmer weather is the sunshine and the shadows and types of light that I really only find during summer. I love stark contrasts and glowing lights and perfect dappled light.

1 & 2. Photographs of Daniel at the beach. Channelling a bit of Max Dupain / 3. Jacaranda trees in Fitzroy / 4. The perfect morning light.

I spent some time in Wangaratta just before Christmas seeing some family and friends. I ran along the bike paths that circled around my house each morning and it made me feel incredibly nostalgic. I took a walk through my old high school, had a bit of a cry (not going to lie) and let a lot of my feelings about my past go.

1. I have no idea what these plants are actually called, but I called them lambs ears because they are so soft. I spent most of year nine sitting around playing with these / 2. Daisies I used to try and make chains out of / 3. The tree canopy that I used to always look up to whenever I was having a bad day. I would lie down on one of the cold steel benches and see this / 4. Warm summer rain through my best friend's window. This morning was perfect in every sense of the word.

In the few days leading up to Christmas it got very cold and rained a lot. I spent most of my time drinking unseasonably peppermint hot chocolate and curling up by our Christmas tree.

1. Whist decorating the Christmas Tree my brother thought it would be funny to decorate Benji in reindeer ears. He doesn't look too impressed / 2. Snuggling up with my laptop next to our tree.

Summer wouldn't be complete without delicious, seasonable food. I've developed a love affair with salad, no I'm not joking.

1. A kind of 'thanksgiving' meal on the first of January cooked by Paul / 2. Madeline cake Paul and I cooked this week for my family and Grandma (she was really excited) / 3. Left over food at Little Creatures which opened around the corner from my house in December / 4. Lots of time spent drinking pear cider because it's delicious. I cannot wait to drink more of it during autumn when they're in season. Yum.

Random snippets from early Jan.

1. A portrait Bonny drew of me at the NGV / 2. Playing on the dance floor at Melbourne Now / 3. Pretty lights at the Surf Life Saving Club in Lorne where I spend most of my summer working / 4. Procrastinating before work by admiring the pretty views of the beach.

More from early Jan

1. We spent basically all of two weeks in January watching the tennis. I took my brother to the Roger Federer charity match which was hilarious / 2. I did two units for my university course over the summer (nerd alert) and spent most of my energy coming up with witty names for my essays while I was writing them. See this post / 3. Silly photos with my Dad (he's a bit of a jokester) / 4. Friendly dragonfly that made my day awesome.

My family went on a fun (sarcasm to an extent) holiday to Canberra and Merimbula in late January. It was fun in terms of getting to see new things/learn new things/be away from home but we also had to share one room at one stage (not so fun for me at least) and our cabin was spider infested which lead to me getting zero sleep. Curse you arachnophobia. On the plus side, the cleaners put kitkats in our fridge every day and we played lots of black jack using the free mentos' from reception as gambling items.

1. Surrounded by swans on the lake in Canberra / 2. Attempting to drive through really thick fog (in the middle of summer?!) only to end in a classic panic attack / 3. Runs along the lake in Canberra during hot and sticky 33 degree heat / 4. Amazing colours from the fires near Merimbula.

Other random memories.

1. Lazing on the tiles with Tollie when the days are hot / 2. Summer: the month that Benji trnasforms from a lion to an actual dog / 3. My brother and I had some fun with the panorama camera on my iPhone / 4. Probably the most important picture from my summer. Dad spilled coffee all over himself in the car three times because he was trying to put sugar in his cup while mum was driving. Don't ask me why he didn't do it before we left but basically he started screaming in a really high pitched voice and accused mum of driving over the bumps in the road on purpose and it was so funny and we were all crying because of it, and it was probably something you had to be there for but gosh. Hilarious.

I kind of didn't include anything from February here, except for a couple of things, because over the past few weeks I've literally just been writing essays and working. I am hosting a picnic/sleep over party for some Rookie girls on Friday so I'll have some more, end of summer-y pictures to share with you over the weekend.