When the wind changes...

Polaroid SX-70 (Gold Frame Colour Shade 680)

Relocation. Most of us relocate at some point in their lives. I have several times. Through all the little Queensland towns I lived in as a child to high school in Toowoomba, moving to Brisbane after graduation, moving to London, moving to Melbourne. There is so much to be gained from experiencing new surroundings & cultures, but sometimes you do feel like you lose many things also.

After I returned from London and moved to Melbourne, I felt liberated & loved discovering a new city. I still love Melbourne, more than ever, but now so many of my friends have moved back from overseas & interstate to Brisbane, I feel like I am missing out. As much as I am in Brisbane quite regularly, a few times per year, it is barely enough time to see all my friends properly, so I have started just making small trips to see just one or two friends (& usually, my parents).

I know a few of my friends wish I would move back to Brisbane & I understand why, but at the same time, I feel like I've spent the last 6 years of my life uprooting myself from location to location. It's time I put a few roots down & I must say that's one of the hardest things to do when you're out of practice. I can't even commit to a mobile phone contract, let alone anything else.

A couple of my good Melbourne friends are moving to Sydney and Tasmania, one is moving back to her her home city & the other is moving for work. They are both moving for very good reasons... but I just don't feel like I have a "very good reason" to be moving away from Melbourne, I've only been here for a little over 2 years & it is only now, starting to feel like home.

If only ruby slippers were real, then all my amazing friends would be but a couple of heel clicks away.

x Mel

Reflections on Blogging

LC-A (various film)

A couple of weeks back, I started the 'Blogging from the Heart' e-course by Susannah Conway. I wondered while I clicked the registration button, "Am I the kind of blogger who will benefit from this course?"... then in the first week, it hit me that this is exactly the kind of course I need.

Those of you who follow me here at milk&miel know that I mostly blog about photography & rarely about myself or my experiences. This really has nothing to do with me hiding behind my photographs or a lack of want on my behalf to reveal myself, but more to do with not wanting to bore people who are after a "photography" blog with personal make/hate/love lists.

But over the last couple of weeks I've discovered that maybe, after all, revealing more of myself on my blog won't drive away the masses, but will perhaps endear more people towards it.

So let me know what you would like to know... what would you like me to write about? 

Because if left to my own devices I will post about my love of Mexican food, my endeavour for the perfect pair of yellow ballet flats, the arguments for & against skinny jeans, Mac versus PC, my longing for New York City and ultimately the dreaded analogue versus digital photography debate (amongst other things).

x Mel

Friends in Black & White

LC-A (Kodak BW400CN)

I often forget how much I love using black & white film in my LC-A... a wander around the streets of Melbourne & a couple quiet drinks with some work friends easily changed that.

The season is slowly changing here, the nights are getting cooler, the mornings have a slight chill, jackets & cardigans are slowly emerging from closets. Soon the light will become scarce & I will be pushing 400 & 800 ISO film through my cameras & watching the leaves fall.

x Mel

NYC - Instant Love

 

 

 

 

Fuji Instax Mini 25

So New York February has come to a (late) close, but I would like to thank all of those who were guest bloggers & for all the lovely comments over the last few weeks. This final NYC post is dedicated to the Fuji Instax Mini 25 & it's instant love of the city. I simply loved using this little camera to create pocket sized memories of NYC & I'm sure that there is something that shines through these photos which feels truly authentic & real.

milk&miel blog also hit 20,000 views today, so thank you all muchly for all the link love & for reading my dear little blog.

x Mel

NYC Guest Post: Elle - Everything Reminds Me of You

Like many girls, when I was in my late teens and early twenties, I dreamed about New York. It was literally a world away from the small town where I grew up in New Zealand. My fantasies were fuelled by classic movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and An Affair to Remember and television shows like Sex and the City and Friends. I spent years in love with a city I’d never visited. I told myself this was where I belonged.

Since I moved to London in 2006, New York is suddenly much more accessible. Just a six or seven hour flight. I feel extremely lucky that my job now takes me there a few times a year. I have just returned home yesterday from such a visit. I added on an extra day and half on to my trip to explore further, and of course, to take photos. The photos in this post were shot using my Polaroid Spectra camera with expired Polaroid Image Softtone film and my Polaroid SX-70 camera with Impossible PX70 Colour Shade film.

I spent an amazing day in Brooklyn – made even more enjoyable by the extremely well-curated City Scout guide produced by the lovely ladies behind the Studio Sweet Studio blog. I loved visiting the places they recommended. I like it when you can visit cities and see them through the eyes of the people who live there, rather than as a tourist.

Now that I’ve been to New York quite a few times…. I’m as much in love with the city as I always was. Possibly more. You see, newspaper columnists don't really have million dollar wardrobes and waitresses don't really live in huge lofts. As my early girl crush Carrie Bradshaw put it "No one has breakfast at Tiffany's, and no one has affairs to remember. Instead, we have breakfast at 7am and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible." Sometimes, real life is even better.

Elle x
Everything Reminds Me of You