Perks of Being a Tyneesha: How is it December already?

Hello! Welcome to this instalment of my mass info-dump life update series. Truthfully, I haven’t taken the time to sit down, think and write about life’s many events in a few months. If this post is ridiculously long and beefy and you’re too tired to read, that’s valid; enjoy your day. If you want to read it, I’ll try to keep it succinct; no promises, though.

Finished Third Year

A little over a month ago, I finally finished my third year of university. Getting through those last few assignments was a serious challenge. One thing I can say with certainty about this past semester – I had to learn to work through burnout. Returning to in-person classes this year after two years of online learning was incredibly rewarding and physically exhausting. Reflecting on the year that’s been, I am extremely proud and impressed by some of the work that myself and my peers produced. Namely, I made my final journalism project something I really care about, which made it all the more difficult to fight perfectionism but incredibly rewarding to put together. I’ve about a year and a half to go before I graduate, but I’m certain this was the most challenging semester I’ll face.

Some quiet gigs

Every time I write one of these posts, I get to rant about whichever band I saw and how fun the concert was. I haven’t been to anything massive in the last few months, but I’ve seen some calm shows here and there.

Back before Fiji, I dragged a friend along to see Telenova. It was a relatively small show, but I enjoyed it. They made the best of their space, projecting cool visuals on the screen on stage. We even got to speak to the band after the show, snagged a signed tote and snatched the setlist (we got those signed too). I saw some other smaller acts around town last month, including Rum Jungle and Didirri.

Officially launched my business!

I already posted about this when I launched the website a little while ago, but I can’t leave it out of the recap. So, Neesh Photography is officially a registered operating business with a super-friendly & hard working CEO! (it’s me, I’m the CEO). I’ve had a few jobs here and there since launch, but I’ll get into that later. It’s meant a lot of hours on Canva and Instagram, putting myself out there and talking to everyone I meet about it. I’m just starting out, but I’m excited and having fun already. I’ve also been reading a bunch of marketing articles because I deadpan refuse to take marketing subjects as part of my degree.

Imagine the scent of 300 Wet Dogs

Back in October, I got to photograph a flyball competition in Sydney – for those who aren’t familiar with flyball tournaments; it’s basically show-jumping for dogs. It’s a huge community and national event. This meant I had the absolute joy of hanging out with a bunch of cute dogs and taking pictures of them for the team in charge of the competition. They were all so cute and talented! It started POURING down rain later in the day, but we got through it, one paw in front of the other.

Third time’s a charm: I got covid (again)

As my marvellous subtitle suggests, amongst all the mayhem, I managed to contract yet another strain of covid. It wasn’t the most convenient timing, but it forced me to slow down and rest. One of the main reasons this past year has been burn-out-prone is that I’ve been unwell or trying to recover from being sick for most of 2022. Anyone who’s copped a solid bout of the ‘Rona will tell you how extreme the fatigue can be afterwards. This time was so different from the other times I’ve had it, though. It was less chest infection and more bubbling stomach acids. I was mainly just dizzy, nauseous and in pain. I pretty much slept for a week straight.

Summer came in HOT

It’s only a few days into summer, but I’m eating through my fuel, pumping the air conditioner and strongly considering the ocean as a place of residency. In my very informed, unbiased opinion, it’s preferable to be too warm rather than cold – so this is not a complaint, and it caught me off guard. I haven’t made a summer playlist in the spirit of the spring playlist I shared last time, but you can scroll through and judge my Spotify-wrapped playlist if you like!

One Palliative Care Symposium at a time…

I’ve written a little post about this experience already, so check that out if you’re particularly curious, but last week UOW shipped me off to a fancy hotel in Sydney to shoot a medical conference focused on palliative care. I got a little name tag with “photographer” on it – which was pretty exciting. They booked a room for me to stay in the night before, and the hotel had a rooftop spa and pool. It was a tad luxurious. I had fun wandering around the city by myself the afternoon before the symposium and accidentally absorbed a weird amount of knowledge on palliative care policies.

Refinery29 Street View!!!

One fine afternoon, I opened my Instagram to find that my dear friend Georgia had sent me a post made by the ever-cool media organisation known as Refinery29. They were looking for applications by photographers to capture an instalment of their ‘Street View’ series. It’s essentially an article showcasing the street fashion of various suburbs around Australia.

They got in touch and asked me to shoot Wollongong’s first-ever series for the project – and obviously, I squealed like a highly excited pig at the chance to shoot something so cool and so dear to me. Capturing a series focused on cultivating community, lifting up marginalised people and showcasing personal expression? Incredible. What a dream job. I was psyched.

I wasn’t given much time to prepare; I was told the job was mine on the Monday of the week I was supposed to shoot the series. I made it work, though, and I’m so proud of how it all turned out. Check out the article below!

Sydney and I are very familiar at this point

I went back to Sydney last weekend to hang out with my parents and sister. We went and saw the new theme at The Grounds of Alexandria. It’s a Christmas theme, so it got me in a festive mood! I’m excited about Christmas this year; I feel like I am in dire need of a trip home and some good food. I also managed to find some film (at long last) and pick up some books that I’m reading (not to brag or anything, but that’s a big deal).

I’m returning to Sydney later this week to see the Van Gogh Alive exhibition with my dear best friend, who I haven’t seen in what feels like forever, so expect some funky photos from that experience!