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New Blog - Site :D

2007-12-20T21:40:00.000Z

Hey Everyone,

Ive been working on my own blog for several weeks now in and around work and I can gladly say It is now launched. Im still working on some sub pages but ill be getting those launched tomorrow! I'd love to know all of your thoughts!

Id just like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Holiday.

New things are coming

2007-12-08T11:46:00.000Z

Wow, this is a record for not posting on my blog for such a long time.

If you were wondering where i vanished to check out , its where pretty much all of my time goes into right now.

However i have some new things coming including a new blog for the new year and some other cool stuff!

Addicted to Blogging or not?

2007-09-15T12:39:00.001Z

Well i saw this little test on several blogs so i gave it a try! and i passed as healthy, un addicted to blogging with 60%. It is really difficult to not get indulged in so many cool blogs out there, but i guess maybe i didnt put forums down as blogging, because of so i would be totally ADDICTED.

have a go see how addicted you actually are!

60%

Blog Tig and I've been Tagged!

2007-08-26T09:54:00.000Z

Thanks to mr Erwin Wijanto who just tagged me in his blog game for photographers i and 8 other lucky chosen photographers will have to share 8 interesting things about themselves, and then pass the challenge onto more photographers and hope theyll do the same.

8 things about Ross:

1. Im a mac freak, so bad that even my new golden retriever is called apple ... mac. lol.
2. i love lemon tea and mountain dew.
3. Favourite color scheme is blue and brown, but my photography logo is green and white! makes alot of sense!
4. I am pining to finally get my canon 5d from my nikon d70s and canon 20d.
5. my favourite site is www.opensourcephoto.net/forum - full of great people and lots of great info on photography.
6. I love pizza, especially italian thin based peperoni plus indian but i cant get it here.
7. I cant work on anything without listening to some music whether it be subtle chillout or heavy rock.
8. I love Moldova, the people, the culture but i hate the crazy heat in summer and the bitter cold in winter, plus i dont have air conditioning....YET.

Here are the 8 lucky photographers i am tagging:

1. Eddie Bojorquez - Studio 512
2. Tim Halberg
3. Scarlett Williams
4. Damion Hamilton
5. Dennis Pilapil
6. Chris+Tammie @ LargoPhotography
7. Oleksandr Havrylyuk
8. Joey Lawrence

Denis and Katya - Djs

2007-08-22T08:15:00.000Z

This was an unexpected shoot, i met Denis while walking with some other friends and he asked me to take some photos of him and his partner Katya for their new promo release. Something i have never done before but have seen JoeyL take tonnes of awesome promo shoots. Anyway we met up the next day for an hour and took some photos inside a bright room and then went outside to find a new building in the making. :)

a 4 group photoshoot

2007-08-22T08:04:00.000Z

Max, Costea, Alina and Veronica all came together for a short photo shoot near Moldova's American Embassy. Max left with Sasha my brother in law to Fresno Pacific so i wanted to get a few shots for him and also for his family to have of him before he left. here they are:

all the guys:

max:

Alina:

Costea:

Veronica:

the photos:

The Kurganova Family

2007-08-22T07:46:00.000Z

It was only my second ever family shoot and i was kind of nervous as the dad owns an ice cream company in the Ukraine and i had eaten tonnes of the stuff and so i felt i had to make up for all that eaten ice cream! we went right down onto the beach and took some shots of the whole family, some of the mummy and daddy and then some of the children and of little Inna their relative.

Aya THE LITTLE ONE:

Alla, Yana and Inna:

My Lesya :)

2007-08-22T07:41:00.001Z

It had been a long time since id taken lots of photos of Lesya but at the beach we had plenty of time. She grabbed the famous hat that seemed to have been argued and pulled between all the 5 girls there but i think she won for half an hour anyway.

The props:

The super dooper good looking model: :)

and the photos:

So many babies!

2007-08-22T07:34:00.000Z

While at the beach i got pretty busy on doing photo sessions of all the people there including the numerous amount of small children that seemed to pop up each day there and well i got asked to take some photos of them. I have to admit i take my hat off to all the children and baby photographers out there as its really difficult to take their photos when they just wont look at the camera! lol. and at one stage i thought the baby was going to hit me, check out the photos below.

but then Sasha had it all under control:

inna and pasha

2007-08-22T07:29:00.000Z

These guys are great. they both are so much fun even if they know NO english, they still manage to get the message across. they where heading out from the beach that night back to their hometown which was nearly 3 hours away and Inna asked for some photos quickly. it was getting dark very fast so we went and grabbed as many photos as we could.

The Beach

2007-08-22T07:23:00.000Z

Its always good to get to the beach from Moldova as its landlocked. We went to the southern peninsula of the Ukraine right beside the Romanian border at the Black Sea and it was incredible. the sunsets and sunrises where both equally as beautiful with deep crimson reds and vibrant oranges right over the horizon. it was so good i even got up one morning at 5am to take some photos and here they are:

we even went to the effort to collect prawns in the morning. sadly it was kinda unsuccessful with only 2 prawns caught. so we just gave up!

safe trip sasha

2007-08-22T07:17:00.000Z

My good brother in law sasha has just been blessed by getting a presidents scholarship to fresno pacific university in California. He left a few days back and is there right now but before he left all of his friends got together to wish him a big goodbye in Moldovan style by having a barbeque!

Lesya couldnt help buy sasha his favourite food from his favourite fast food restaurant. a happy meal from Mcdonalds!

Sergey preparing the food :)

Sport 4 Life

2007-08-22T07:06:00.000Z

3 years ago we started a new sports project called "Sport 4 Life" which involved professionals, students and street children to partake in supervised sports competitions, trainings each week and every so often train with foreign international sports players. My brother in law Sasha had always been the main leader of the sports organisation and this was his last project before he left to fresno pacific university in California.

It was a great project for one area in Chisinau called Buicani. There where 3 sports involved volleyball, basketball and football/soccer. Each sport had different teams of different age groups playing together and against each other in a series of tournaments. in total we had up to 400 teenagers coming to play sports each day, it was brilliant.

the alina and evelina shoot

2007-08-22T06:54:00.000Z

These 2 girls rocked for a photo shoot. they pretty much made my job easy by just snapping! definately 2 very photogenic girls. We had lots of fun going through this old building finding plenty of excellent photo spots with little bursts of light.

AlinA:

EvelinA:

8 years of Agape

2007-08-22T06:37:00.000Z

Lesyas church Agape in the Moldovan Capital recently celebrated its 8 year anniversary. It was an amazing day and it was great to see so many people come together for a blessed occasion.

here are the photos:

VADIMS RETURNING HOME.

2007-07-28T23:10:00.001Z

One of my best friends Vadim has spent the last few months working in Jacksonville in the States and on the 2nd of August he is returning back to Moldova. However a few weeks back we sent him a miss u picture, but now we can say hurry up and get back! :) just want to wish vadim a safe journey back home.

some fancy poses by Nat and Vic

2007-07-28T22:20:00.000Z

We all decided to just go out and take some pics around the local area and well these 2 guys pretty much did my job for me, and i think we got some good shots. thanks guys.

NATA:

VIC:

Once again thanks to both my models nata and vic!

the correct spelling of love is: NATASHA & MIKE

2007-07-28T21:31:00.000Z

Ive had a crazy few days with photography and work, but i got the privilege to spend some time with these 2 amazing guys who had just came to moldova from a camp in the ukraine with kids from chenobyl. But what Natasha didnt realise was how Mike was going to propose to her in her hometown Chisinau, Moldova.

Check out these 2 awesome guys on their proposal night an the engagement shoot the next day.

I think she said yes

The Engagement Shoot...

thanks to both of you nata and mike for inviting me along to share with you these special moments.

quick photo session

2007-07-24T21:34:00.000Z

Just a few snaps of our church main singer Nata. the 1minute photo session was a frenzy but i quite liked the photos.

thats alot of missionaries

2007-07-24T12:16:00.000Z

Yesterday at church we had not 1 huge 20 people group but a second. there was my irish group and then another american group from north carolina who had a camp and worked with kids in an orphanage in the north of Moldova. it was a long service as everyone was invited up to give some words about their trip and also to have a little sing song!

After church my group all came around to my place for a barbeque! the food rocked, the fresh grape juice from the vines at our house was superb. heres the pics

the church band

the american group

some of the girls from my irish group singing

the barbeque

Geordie enjoying the food.

and if that wasnt enough, we went to another church in the evening and they were asked to sing! i didnt know whether i had a choir or a charity team! :s

charity work, childrens camps and to finish it off 20 irish!

2007-07-23T22:12:00.000Z

For the last week i have been very fortunate to be able help organise a group of 20 irish from carrickfergus methodist come and do some amazing work in a school in a small village called buarci, in the south of Moldova. one week has passed and the children's camp that we had has finished but still there are several more days of building work! until 2 days ago i was spending most of my time helping and joining in there and let me tell you it was great but the weather was soo hot!

but just so you know that we werent working and not getting a 'sun tan' here is the photographic proof!

singing to the children

playing games

last night bonfire

the building project:

an onlooker

i dont know what was in the water...

i just want to thank the team for coming and making such a huge difference.

Honeymoon panos

2007-07-22T23:32:00.001Z

I had never been a huge panorama person however just before my wedding i had 2 big projects all involving lots of panorama shots. well lets say ross enjoyed seeing the results of stitching all the images together so i decided to try making some on my honeymoon to Crete with lesya. heres just a handful of the many photos taken.

At the beach infront of our Hotel

Posing in Chania

Chania Harbour

Gramvousa and Gabos

lesya and her cool shades.

feet dangling free.

a new business card

2007-07-22T23:18:00.000Z

After the wedding and our honeymoon to crete, greece i have finally been able to start trying to get things back in order again and i started with a new business card which i printed out today. i will be changing my postal address so i just ran off a few on heavy card paper, and will wait until i have finished my new home :) for the real cards!

anyway i just wanted to show you!

the knot has been tied

2007-07-21T14:43:00.000Z

Hi guys,

sorry for the long time update, but i think using your own wedding is a good enough excuse as any! right? we had an amazing day, being with our friends, family and many loved ones. the heat was quite difficult especially in a full suit but i think all the guys just survived with the help of back up shirts!

well ill stop rambling and just get on and show you the photos:

what a gap!

2007-07-14T09:55:00.000Z

hey guys,

sorry for the huge delay in any new topics. the wedding has kept me behind on doing most things, and then the honeymoon to crete in greece. it was great. the weather was awesome and their was tonnes to see and lots of photos taken!

today we are all leaving with a charity team to go to a small village in the south of moldova to do a building project on the local school and hold a summer camp with all the children in the village and local villages. photos will come very soon on the wedding, honeymoon and the project!

sorry but once again i need to dash, keep your eyes open for the photos.

the first preview of my suit!!

2007-05-23T08:54:00.000Z

i decided to take a quick shot of my suit, its grey for the one reason that black in a 30-40 degree temperature wouldnt go down well with me and id be melting in my shoes. not somethign you want when getting married! but heres the picture i snapped of it:

the house to be

2007-05-23T07:57:00.000Z

Well i decided to put a few pics up of the house and its renovations, we are now just putting the roof ona dn got everything ordered. its not a huge house but its a comfortable size and it has a nice garden area outside. anyway heres a few shots i took yesterday of the masterpiece in the works done moldovan style. :)

the downstairs open kitchen, living area with a bathroom at the back.

the upstairs to be with a bedroom, second room and office:

my 48 hour day..

2007-05-19T22:31:00.000Z

Wow what a day, it started at 2.40am today, after only having a 45 minute power nap before getting up again to leave for odessa, ukraine. the roads where empty as usual at anytime after 11.30 in moldova until 9 in the morning and as usual the customs gave us some bother charging us for a supposed days insurance for going into the Ukraine! it was just before 7 when we arrived at the biggest outside market in odessa. odessa is the black sea's largest import port for eastern europe and the market we went to to find lots of goodies for my wedding including my suit is also the largest outside market in eastern europe! oo what a mouth fill!

the place was buzzing int he morning and by 12 it was heaving with people and the temperature had got to have been in the high 20s. But for several hours the search was on for a suit for me and my best men, within 20 mintues we had the 2 dark grey suits for the best men and then we were looking for a lighter one for me. the colour wasnt the problem! the length of the arms where. you see a tall 6"1 thin build with basketball long arms doesnt suit suits in the ukraine or anywhere in Russia! they dont have long sleeved suits! so we had a problem. after going through about 20 other suit shops we finally found one suit which seemed to do the trick. i tried it one, got the seal of approval from the bride to be and closed the deal! :D phewww shopping it really wasnt created for men!

we then headed back on our 4 hour journey to chisinau, moldova from the market to find that we had a surpise for us. a few friends had came around and started to make a barbeque with chicken and pork! my favourite :) it was a great evening even though all of us were exhausted we still had a blast.

but now everyone is asleep apart from me and my little scary friend who joined me on my computer screen!!

but im finally off to bed. Amen! Night guys!

Appy is getting big!

2007-05-18T23:36:00.001Z

A few weeks back i got my 2 month old golden retriever, since then he has grown about 20cms in length and has now became more dangerous than ever for eating everything in his way except our 6 year old german shepherd! we called him Appy which is short for apple! partly because i love apple computers and he loves apple fruits, plus he needed a name starting with the letter 'A' for his dog registration!

anyway today the little messer decided to get photogenic and allow me to take some photos with him and my fiancee!

check him out:

I think the kiss was either to scary or just boring!!

appy just relaxing and enjoying the moments!

Woohooo, my wedding invitations arrived today!! :D

2007-05-18T23:32:00.001Z

Today lesya my fiancee, brought home the printed wedding invitations which we had designed 2 weeks ago. I am really pleased with them and think they look great! they are printed on high quality paper with a glossy print finish and then the inner leaf has a heavy tracing paper with fine matte grey print for our information and name. all we need now is to find a nice pen to write the invitations out!!

heres some photos of one made up:

my beautiful model showing the invitations.

the inside leaflet...

dancing in the moonlight...well no, but close enough.

2007-05-17T20:04:00.000Z

When i was in the centre of the city earlier this evening, i called a friend who asked me to meet her near a theatre. However what i didnt have in mind was that for the next hour i would be watching some amazing dancing from some very talented individuals. i was so lucky to have my camera along with me and so i took a few shots:

Out and About with Kiril and Olea

2007-05-17T08:57:00.000Z

Yesterday we had a great shoot with kiril and olea. It was alittle late at 7 but we dashed to a local park to make as many pictures as possible! We were having a blast until the battery died! lol. a little disappointing but i think we got enough good photos!

Back to back Wedding

2007-05-15T22:37:00.000Z

Last weekend was hard going, 2 weddings after each other. My first double, however i loved it. Both couples where brilliant and we all had alot of fun.

I met Vladimir a few months ago when he came to tell me about his awesome work at the Salvation Army in prison work. He shared the hardships that most prisoners in Moldova face and how he is using every available God given skill to teach several of the prisoners about computers, word processing hoping to give them some hope for a future when they are released. He then shared with me his big surprise of getting married and asked me to do his photography for his wedding which i was stoked about. So finally the day came and it was amazing, these 2 really love each other and it showed all day long.

here are just a few of my favourites:

dasha & artiom | WEDDING

2007-05-11T22:20:00.000Z

This weekend was a special occasion for me, not only did i get to shoot my friend's dasha and artiom's wedding but also it was my first moldovan/russian wedding. The day was a blast, packed fill of fun and laughter. Thanks guys for such a great time.