The Sydney Workshop

On Saturday I flew down to Sydney to have lunch with a bunch of lovely readers and their children. I was a little nervous, because there were kids involved. I don’t know why. I used to be a nanny. I am a mum. Together with Olympus and Rachel Devine, we dreamed up an idea to pass on the passion of photography to a new generation… to my readers’ kids.

I had no reason to be nervous. This lunch we had, it was the best thing I’ve done. The kids were amazing, adorable and so talented. I know when I handed Lacey a camera earlier this year, she flourished, and the same happened at our lunch. They’re so clever. I wish that I’d brought Lacey with me, because she would have loved to be around other kids that shared the same passion with her, plus watching the kids connect with their mums around something they both enjoyed, it was just magic. It was truly wonderful to be part of.

The Grounds at Alexandria blew my mind. I wish it existed when I lived in Sydney. There was so much going on; a farm on one side of us, a BBQ on the other, and then hundreds of people having fun on the other. And then there was us. Aren’t we a beautiful bunch?

Rachel started off by teaching the kids about framing a photo, and thinking about what it is they’re shooting. I gave the kids a little animal each and a cardboard viewfinder so they could explore composition before playing around with the cameras.

We then sat down at ate lunch {the food was OMG, amazing! I miss Sydney food, I do!} and then it was camera time. Each kid was given a tough camera from the Olympus range, and each mum had an OM-D E-M10 to play with. I know a few of you have asked which camera I bought for Lacey, and it’s the TG-3 {it’s almost impossible to break and it’s waterproof too}. Rachel was brilliant at teaching photography in a way that was conversational, interesting and that the kids picked up quickly. It was great seeing them put it into action.

The Grounds has a florist, little vans that sell pastries and doughnuts, and so many beautiful things. Here’s some photos that the kids and their mamas took using the cameras {some guests used the WiFi functionality on the cameras and uploaded their photos straight from the cameras to their phones and then onto Instagram, and all guests for to take home the memory card as well}:

You can check out more photos from the day here on the #olympuskids hashtag on Instagram.

Of course, I went a little crazy with my camera too. We don’t get beautiful flowers like this up the coast.

And these tarts, I so badly wanted one but lunch was so good there just wasn’t room!

 This sign was at The Grounds, and I felt like it was appropriate. A lot of my readers said that they hadn’t spent special one on one time with their kids like they did at the lunch, and the conversations have continued on over this past week – about passions, photography, and I do believe some of them have now added cameras to their Christmas lists. I love that the seed has been planted and they’re enjoying something wonderful.

One of the sweet girls gifted picked me this flower, so sweet.

Thank you so much to everyone that made the trek to The Grounds for our lunch. Some people flew in for it, and others drove FIVE hours. I hope it was worth it.

We, Rachel, the Olympus gang and I, had SO much fun hosting this lunch and watching the special bond between the mothers and their sweet children, that we’ve decided that we need to do it more. So watch out Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth… we’re coming for you. Stay tuned for more details.

Some of the guests that attended are bloggers, and they blogged about it. Read Robyn’s tales of our lunch here, and Vicki’s round-up here, as well as Shani’s blog about it too.

I’m an Ambassador for Olympus. They know my passion, and they help me do really cool things. You can read more about our relationship here.