The Power Of Passion
Every morning, we wake up and get ready to go about our day. Often this revolves around our hobbies, our job or our business - sometimes all three...
It was a brisk 5AM wake up call on a misty Sunday morning and I had just spent the night out at Haylee's house in Windsor, about an hours drive from home.
Rewind 18 hours and I was sitting in a hospital bed, Snapchatting the doctor stitching up my thumb after slicing it with a stanley knife. I was cutting up some cardboard so that I could place them in with the stickers that I send out, to prevent them from getting bent. I must not have been paying close attention because I managed to put a nice, deep cut through my thumb, and through my nail too! (<-- View at your own risk)
Lucky for me, I can tolerate pain and blood and remained calm throughout the entire ordeal. As I waited to be taken to the doctors, I kind of went into a mind over matter state and focused on my breathing, something I practice each day when I do yoga and meditation. I was losing blood fast and I started to see stars but instead of panicking like my mum was, I just remained calm and patient. This is definitely something I have trained myself to do, as a few years ago I probably would have screamed and carried on but I have learnt that that doesn't solve anything nor does it make the situation any better. I actually shocked myself at how well I handled the whole situation and it made me feel proud at how strong I was. BTW sorry to those who almost fainted when they opened up my Snapchat story, but I think it helped take my mind off the pain and it was nice chatting to those who were sending me messages!
After several stitches and a jab to my arm for a quick tetanus shot, I was good to go so I headed back to work. I work from home on the weekends which allows me to also work on things for stay driven. I kind of have the soldier on mentality and didn't want to waste the day as I had lots to do, so the second I got home, I got right back into work. And besides, I wanted to get everything out of the way as I had plans on driving out to Windsor to shoot the sunrise with Haylee, so I could create some cool content for you guys.
I must admit, I was going to call up Haylee and say I wouldn't be able to make it because realistically I shouldn't have been using my hand, but I decided to stay driven and soldier on. Admittedly it was a bitch to drive a manual car for over an hour with a sliced up thumb and a dead arm from the needle. I was in pain but I knew that the pain would only be temporary and I was way too excited to go exploring with Haylee and put my camera to use (even though I discovered that it would be a challenge without my left thumb - it's amazing how much you actually use it without noticing).
After a somewhat sleepless night with a pulsating thumb, we got up at 5AM and drove out to Richmond Lowlands along with Haylee's younger sister, Molly and her Border Collie, Ben. The best thing about driving at this hour is that no one is around and you don't have to sit in Sydney's notorious traffic.
We soon arrived at the barely visible destination and were surprisingly greeted with several other keen photographers who were amongst a group of horses and cows, waiting for the sun to rise.
Whilst Haylee and Molly set up in front of the lake, I took the opportunity to get some cool, moody photos of my R34. I am obsessed with fog/mist and the early morning stillness made the perfect backdrop. I had seen similar shots of misty roads lined with trees all over my Instagram feed but none with an R34, so I quickly got to work. Every now and then the odd car would appear in the distance heading towards me, so since I parked smack bang in the middle of the road I would quickly move my tripod and race back to my car to put the hazards on + give a quick wave to say sorry for obstructing the way - lucky they were all understandable and simply drove around me which meant I didn't have to keep moving my car.
The entire atmosphere was so surreal. Once I got the shot above, I felt incredibly happy and excited and I knew that it was all worth the pain and the early morning wake up call.
The sun didn't make much of an appearance due to the heavy fog, so Haylee, Molly and Ben the dog joined me with my car.
I think the best part about photography is collaborating with like-minded people and the journey that it takes you on. It makes the entire experience much more enjoyable when you share it with someone who is just as passionate as you are. Haylee has so much talent and I'm always finding her work inspiring. We actually work together during the week and even though we sit one metre a part in the office, we are constantly tagging each other in photos on Instagram that inspire us to get out and capture our own photographs.
Taking photos and creating content is something I really enjoy doing and through this, I feel like I have found my purpose in life. I could have easily stayed at home, but I knew I would have regretted it and been disappointed in myself. I feel as though if you are not passionate about something, you will always find an excuse.
PASSION IS POWERFUL.
And I hope that my work inspires others to get out there and find what it is that they are passionate about. Whether it be photography or cars or even both, don't let anything limit your dreams and don't allow yourself to fear failure, because once you find your purpose and know what it is that you are passionate about, you don't let anything get in your way and everything just seems to fall into place, trust me.
