WHEN OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS... SEIZE THE MOMENT

So this happened today....

I was leaving a work meeting this afternoon and happened to stumble upon a pint-sized talent going by the name of "MISHAP", who was hard at it decorating the facade of the Syrah Bar in St Kilda...

My first instincts were how good it would be to get a photo of this masked crusader while in the throws of her craft, but then considered letting it go till "next time!"

"WHAT AM I... AN IDIOT??" A graffiti artist at work... in no terrible hurry since it was a commissioned job... prop spray cans at the ready and a world of colour as her backdrop. When was it ever going to get easier than this?

Since I had my camera nearby I ventured into the sweet smelling paint fumes and asked MISHAP if it would be possible to steal a couple of valuable minutes of her working time to grab a quick portrait of her at work, to which she obliged...

I suppose the reward was not only a cool portrait of an artist at work, but the opportunity to enter the world of a perfect stranger and get a little insight into her world...

Although not always this convenient, sometimes opportunity just presents itself and you have to grab it with both hands and seize the moment. What is photography anyway if not the capture of fleeting moments?

Check out more of MISHAP'S creations at www.mishap.com or on instagram: @jazmishap

FROM MILAN WITH LOVE

This is a throwback to the day 2 old school Italians connected by their love of fashion, collaborated in the heart of the Block Arcade in Melbourne...

Fiorella Ciaboco, a renowned fashion designer from Milan was visiting Melbourne on the request of friends Adriano Carbone "Master Tailor" and Zina Maria Cozzo, the daughter of Italian royalty in Melbourne "FRANCO COZZO".

Sitting in Cafe Notturno on Lygon St at 4am after a night out and feeling completely sleep and caffeine deprived, I still had no idea I was about to be asked by another mutual friend to take these images "later that morning".

Apparently Adriano and Fiorella were to meet at Adriano's workshop in the beautiful Block arcade where he would show her the finer points of cutting and sewing, while Fiorella laid down some knowledge on figures, forms and shapes. At least that was my take on things as my Italian is about as sharp as a wet stone!

After finally meeting and briefly getting to know Adriano, I thought I'd take a "fly on the wall" approach for the most part of this shoot as to not interfere with the creative juices and passionate thought exchanges between the two.

The light flooding through Adriano's window was occasionally harsh, giving some intense contrast, while at times subtle enough to give me some beautiful tones. So I daren't interfere with a gift from nature and left the flash in the camera bag...

At times the intense fashion talk gave way to jokes and banter, which made for some great images which made depicting the child-like rapport between these 2 creative minds so much easier.

It soon became obvious that despite now living on opposite sides of the globe to each other, their roots were firmly sewn in the same soil.

So half way through the shoot someone finally saw fit to inform me that these images had to be completed by 7pm that night in order to be delivered to Fiorella's husband in Milan at the start of the working day. A pleasant little surprise I didn't see coming half way through the day as I'd been firing away thoughout the morning and had a lot of images to get through.

But to ease my pain, I was invited back to Adriano and Maria's home for some good old Italian cuisine and hospitality, while I set up camp and got cracking on the images and a brilliant serving of pasta.

At the end of the day.... PHOTOS DELIVERED! BELLY FULL! EVERYBODY HAPPY!

FIORELLA CIABOCO: http://sartoriafiorella.com/en

ADRIANO CARBONE: http://adriano.com.au