Northern Sky


Welcome to northern sky .com.au...My name is Arran Pratt and this website may give you an insight into my love for the ocean, surfing, skateboarding, photography, art and for life

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'Like totally random stuff'

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July August 2008

Can you get angry...

at a 5 and 8 year old having a water fight in the bath? Well thats one road you can go down. To set the scene, there's little Jasper, who in a addition to 3 newly sprouted teeths(an associated rattiness), seems to a have a hightened curiosity about the world and what's going on around him at the moment, particularly what fun and games his two older brothers are up to at any given moment. I think sometimes I can almost see the frustration in his face because his little brain wont talk to his little legs so he can chase them around the house. Secondly, there our 'cosy' little house where everything (and there is quite alot that goes on in our home) happens in a very small space...so let's just say decent stints of quiet baby sleeps are something of a rarity when dad and the brothers are home. The other night something special happened... Planets aligned and I found myself calmly sitting down to a freshly served up meal I'd cooked out of a 'Bills' book . Both boys were in a bath and wee Jasper was soundly sleeping. Usually the little bloke has an uncanny knack of waking up just as dinner is being served...but this time it seemed like the gods were on our side. We sat down,looked at each other with that 'how good is this' look and took the first mouth full at about the same time as I heard the sound...the sound of water. A favourite movie quote springs to mind "One minute... a peaceful valley.......the next......DESTRUCTION". I did the first automatic response in such a situation, I ignored it... But then, like an approaching thunder storm, the sounds of liquid and associated excitment in their voices got louder till I was almost sure I heard the sound that meant the point of no return... water hitting tiles....It's almost like a nuclear reaction building and building to the point of being dangerously unstable and you've got Homer Simpson (me) sitting at the controls..you get the picture. Now at this point there are a couple of scenorios. Scenario one involved me storming in a yelling at them "what the hell do you think you're doing!! you'll wake Jasper up!!" in my big booming daddy voice, face a nice shade of beetroot red and steam coming out of the ears. Scenario 2 involved quietly 'storming in' face still a nice shade of red and yelling at them through pursed lips, sorta like holding in a sneeze..and equally ridiculous looking. Scenario 3 involved sending mum in to negotiate a settlment mumma style by threatening the temporary removal of some favourite lego and ALL of these scenarios involved the baby waking up and screaming his little lungs out. Well, this story does have a happy ending..in scenario 4 . The boys continued to throw water at each other in the bath and laugh, the baby continues to sleep soundly..and we enjoyed our pasta bolognaise with prosciutto and egg. And the small trade off being the bathroom clean up was a fair deal in my book for some quality dinner time with my lady. Oh yeah, if scenarios one ,two or three did eventuate I still don't think I'd want our life any other way. You can't really get angry for kids just behaving like kids and actually, if I took away all my 'adult' preconceptions I think i'd like to sit in a warm bubbly bath laughing and throw water at my brother......well...maybe...

R.I.P. HIE

Sadly, I 've just found out about the departure of and old aquaintance. Kodak HIE high speed Infra Red black and white film. that has left me feeling a bit melancholy. We go way back ..10 years or so since I've been dabbling in the art of photography we've had a special relationship. The heartache of enthusiastically reeling of a dripping wet roll out of the developing tank to find nothing on it! The risky business of shooting 6 or 7 weddings with the stuff.(and she did come through with the goods) and the elation of suprising me at unexpected moments with some of my favourite photographs. If you're wondering what IR film is by the way,It's film that is senistive to Infra red light,which is off the visible spectrum, the same way normal film is sensitive to normal 'light' the trickiness comes with the fact you can't really meter for the stuff as a light meter or camera works with normal 'light'. It makes the foliage and grass in a black and white photos appear white but the thing I really loved about it was the way sometimes the high lights of a portrait of landscape would 'bleed' through in to the black like a water colour painting.When Kodak announced the news there was 'save HIE' groups on photography forums, but like Polaroid film you can't stop the inevitable. There's another manufacturer making it and I might give it a go one day, but from the accounts I've read it's just not the same. I do have a few rolls I've already taken sitting in the fridge ready for developing..so stay tuned for that one but in the mean time, heres a bunch of pics from the Prattski archives to celebrate the end of an era.

one of the first ir shots I ever took..from the railway sidings at redfern/Central

our first born Fin c2000

the early days

the brush

Fin and Neil the bikie..my favourite.Great guy.great baby,great shot

bosom beach

first shot first wedding i ever did

Ben and Lou

Heather and Kim

Alex and Toby

Jared and Emily

Lately..

July also saw the birthday of our little big boy Fin ..happy birthday little man.

Also bravely..or foolishly (why do so many of my sentences start with that?!)

I've decided to do the 'Yoga Aid Challenge" for charity as the sun rises on the 22nd October 2008 at Umina Beach Surfclub. The aim is do 108 Sun Salutes (sort of like yoga marathon) and as well as being for a good cause (Save the Children) I may actually get some fitness back just in time for Spring..so if you're feeling generous...and want to sponsor me..link below

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/helenmacnair

I'll leave you with some pics from the last 2 months..