“CAMBODIA WILD – Portraits of hope”

Uplifting images of rescued wildlife from Cambodia

One Night Only Photographic Exhibition & Fundraiser

6:30pm – 9:30pm Friday 14th June 2013

Tompkins on Swan, cnr Dunkley Ave & Canning Hwy, Alfred Cove, Perth WA.

Meet VIP guest MARY HUTTON, founder of Free The Bears Fund Inc.

Tigers, elephants and bears… loved by many, yet adoration is not enough.

They are on the brink of extinction and need our help NOW!

The ‘Cambodia Wild’ exhibition showcases the natural majesty, strength and spirit of rescued animals cared for at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre (PTWRC) in Cambodia.

Photographed by one of Australia’s leading animal photographers, Alex Cearns, this compelling collection encompasses rare and endangered species such as Asian elephants, Indochinese tigers, Sun and Moon bears, Eld’s deer, binturongs, hairy nosed otters, slow loris and many other precious creatures.

All animals deserve the right to roam free in their natural habitat safe from human harm. Yet the devastating illegal wildlife trade, poaching and intense destruction of their natural environment is diminishing entire populations across South East Asia at an alarming rate.

Two groups are making a difference: Wildlife Alliance’s ‘Care for Rescued Wildlife’ program (under the guidance of Director for Wildlife Rescue and Care Programmes, Nick Marx) and Free the Bears Fund (with CEO Matt Hunt) provide compassionate care, rehabilitation and a safe home for rescued animals within the vast PTWRC sanctuary.

None of the animals from the ‘Cambodia Wild’ exhibition would likely exist today without the dedication and perseverance of the amazing members of these two organisations. They provide food, shelter, vet care and enrichment to a growing population of over 1200 birds, mammals, reptiles, and more than 120 bears.

No animal is ever turned away and those who cannot be safely released are permanently homed at the centre.

Together we can support these valuable organisations in their commitment to assist rescued animals.

Cambodia Wild’s soulful and poignantly beautiful images are a testament to the valuable work undertaken to save the lives of these animals. You fall in love with every one as you help save their kind.

Sixty exhibited images are available for purchase on the night and will be complemented by a fabulous silent auction generously donated by compassionate businesses.

We invite you to be a part of this special one-night-only exhibition. Gold coin donation for entry. Cash bar available. Finger food provided.

100% of profits will go to Wildlife Alliance’s ‘Care for Rescued Wildlife’ program and Free the Bears Fund.

Biggest heartfelt thanks to our event sponsors:
Tompkins on Swan,
Fitzgerald Photo Lab,
Anjali Di Silva,
Martin Print
Master Framers Cannington

And to our exceptional event photographer Shannon from Shannon Kate Photography.

Plus love and hugs to our prize sponsors:

Arbonne,
Accor – Pullman Resort Bunker Bay,
Morgan Marks,
Jennifer Skiff – Author,
Karen Wilshaw – Cocos Barefoot Photography,
Scoop Magazine,
Perth Zoo,
Waggy Dog Bakehouse,
The Dog Line,
Zonk Pet Beds,
Bark Day Pawty,
AHG,
Leaf Bean Machine,
The Orangutan Project,
Higher Plane Wines,
Asta Lander – Artist,
Nathalie Jays – Artist,
Artless Impact,
Teangi’s Metal Sculptures,
Furry Souls,
Free The Bears Fund Inc,
Jakes Cakes,
Custom Print and Design Services,
Bee Free Soy Candles by Renee
Julie Grey,
Pandora (Zaine),
That’s Creative,
Veggie Mamma,
Scoop Magazine,
Captain Cook Cruises,
Minx Empire,
City Farmers,
Juliet Marillier – Author,
K9 to 5 Doggy Daycare and Grooming,
My Pet Project

CASH BAR AVAILABLE/ FINGER FOOD PROVIDED

Our travels took us to Bali (to photograph for the Bali Animal Welfare Association), Cambodia (to photograph for Wildlife Alliance, Free the Bears and For the Animals), Norfolk Island (to stay with our dear friend Sorrel Wilby and her fab family), Cairns (to photograph crocs and cassowary’s), Melbourne (to hosting an exhibition of our Bali images at the Bali Street Dog Nights event), and Tasmania (to photograph for Brightside Farm Sanctuary). Between these trips and our wonderful studio clients, we photographed more than 1200 animals, including dogs, cats, mice, ferrets, donkeys, monkeys, sugar gliders, rats, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, birds, turtles, possums, rabbits, guinea pigs, snakes and lizards. Naming them all one by one is a whole other post, haha!

There were TV appearances, business and photographic awards , images published in books and on magazine covers, photos going viral online and viewed by millions, and over a dozen media articles written about our work and studio. This was all fabulous recognition for what we do…

…but the three most important things for us in 2012 involved charity, friendship and a new pup:

GIVING BACK – Charity

Giving back is a large part of what we do. We are compelled to use our images to contribute to the greater good, and this is something we value greatly. Janice Girardi, founder and director of BAWA paid me the greatest compliment earlier this year by saying “Alex does not choose to adopt an animal charity in order to promote the social conscience of her business – she is the social conscience of her business. Her actions are living proof of this.”

In 2012 Houndstooth Studio donated in excess of $500,000 worth of photography services, images, vouchers and/or sponsorship to over 40 state, national and international animal charity organisations. Whilst this makes us very proud, it pales in comparison to how privileged we feel to work with these amazing groups and people who are changing the world. You are our heroes.

Speaking of People….

KINDRED SPIRTS – Friendship

Working with animals 24/7 brings the amazing bonus of meeting many like-minded ‘animal people’. We are blessed to call these people our friends  – Janice and Kim from the Bali Animal Welfare Assocition, Anne Fulwood, Emma and Lizie from Brightside Farm Sanctuary, Jen Skiff author of the Divinity of Dogs, Cam the Badpiper,  Dave, Geoff and Sahara from Diggers Herding, Amy and crew  from Animal Amnesty,  Rebecca from For the Animals, Suwanna from Wildlife Alliance, Suzie from Animism, Rach and Dave, Dr Tiff from Kalamunda Vet, Debra from Oscar’s Law, Morgan Marks, Christine from Keep Talking, Jayne from Heart of Horsemanship, Matt from Free The Bears, Lisa Baker MLA, all of the dedicated staff and vollies who give their time to the charities we work with (Bob, Colin, Karen, Pat, Mel Y, Gaye, Ruth, Nicole, Dave, Liisa, David S, Roz, Nat F, other Nat, Tan, Nick, Edie, Sue, Melita, Katrina, Anita, Cate, Dana, Ash, Mel J, Paula, Sue, Nicole T, Carmen, Lyn, Karen, Sue T, Sharyn, Lisa C, Lisa R, Jeff, Dave T, Jan, Lora, Donna, Kerryn, Helena, Tina, Deanna), our Team Houndstooth members (Dan, Vicki, Talita, Anj, Shannon and Caitlin), and the countless others. You are all family.

PIP THE PUP

Possibly THE BEST event of 2012 was adopting our puppy Pip from Greyhound Angels. She is indeed an angel herself and brings joy, love and light wherever she goes, even in her moments of bouncy puppy madness. We love her more than anything and she makes our home complete.

THE GOOD WITH THE SAD

2012 also brought some sad times and we know for some it was a year they would rather forget. In May my dear friend Richard Barry, a talented photographer and rising star, took his own life. Our BAWA photo exhibition, held just 3 weeks later, was dedicated to him and when  his lovely wife Sam won the huge raffle prize, I wondered if maybe he was somewhere there too. I miss him every day yet am grateful for the new friends I’ve connected with since his death,  who were his friends too. It’s nice to know that even in the darkest times, there are shinning lights.

There was an outpouring of grief when news broke about the passing of Koko kelpie, star of Red Dog the movie. I had the pleasure of photographing Koko, as recently as September. He was a one-of-a-kind superstar without the ego. May he live on forever in Red Dog; a movie masterpiece if ever there was one.

BIG LOVES

We want to extend the biggest thanks to you, all of our loyal, kind and supportive clients, friends and Facebook followers. Your excitement and joy for our work gives us the encouragement to keep striving for perfection and continue doing what we love most. We couldn’t do it without you and we promise you wonderful things in 2013 as we take Houndstooth Studio to the next level. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.

In closing, our wish is for everyone to consider doing just one extra thing to make the world a better place for all animals – volunteer, adopt, foster, assist with shelter dog walking, help with transport, run or attend events, fundraise, donate unwanted bedding or towels, buy pet toys, give food, skip the pork at Christmas, help out in the office of your local rescue, choose cruelty free, sponsor a bear, orang-utan, farm animal or koala, sign a petition … no matter where you live or how much you earn,  there are 101 simple ways to make a difference and it all adds up.

Stay safe, hug your pets for us, and see you back here in 2013!

Happy new year!

xxx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVljK6fosDI

For more information on these organisations, please go to;

Wildlife Asia

http://www.wildlifeasia.org.au/

Wildlife Alliance

http://www.wildlifealliance.org/

It was an extremely busy year, resulting in lots of work and not so much play. Seventeen hour days, often seven days a week were common place, and whilst I apologise to my much neglected friends, I also know that the candle had to burn at both ends to grow both the business and our reputation. We exceeded our goals for 2010, which makes all the hard work totally worthwhile – it also means I aim to have a slightly more structured diary this year.

Here are some of the 2010 highlights:

Working to support local and interstate animal causes and charities

We provided fundraising items and sponsorship comprising cash, prizes of Houndstooth Studio sessions, calendar images and artwork, framed and mounted wildlife photographs or many hours of pro bono photography services to: the RSPCA WA, Dogs Refuge Home, Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Animal Protection Society, WSPA, Animals Australia, Stop Live Exports, WA Dingo Association,  Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne, SAVE (Rhino Rescue), Australian Orang-utan Project, Bali Animal Welfare Association, Halfway Home Animal Rescue in Melbourne, Cat Alliance Australia, Greyhounds As Pets,  Victor Harbour Penguin Centre, Animal Rights Advocates, Assistance Dogs Australia, All Creatures Lost and Found, and Animal Aid Abroad.

Meeting Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson

We were invited to attend the Sea Shepherd’s October 2010 fundraising evening as VIP guests. We donated a Blue Clams canvas for the silent auction and were later seated right behind one of my personal heroes, the great Captain Paul Watson himself who graciously signed my copy of his book and inspired me to work harder to assist the Sea Shepherds on their mission. These men and women risk their lives in a selfless effort to stop the Japanese whale slaughter in the Great Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary (something our Government incomprehensively fails to do). We were so taken with their cause, passion and determination we purchased $600 of vegan food and, along with several large bags of vegan groceries from Facebook Fans, delivered it to the appreciative crew of the Steve Irwin.  I was thrilled to meet everyone on board and receive personal a tour of the ship. We are determined to do what we can to support the Sea Shepherd cause and I’ve applied as a volunteer on the 2012 Galapagos campaign.

 Houndstooth Studio in media

 We strengthened our partnerships in print media and regularly had our images published in the Sunday Times, Dogs Life Magazine, National Trust Magazine and featured on the ‘Some Pretty Things’ blog http://www.someprettythings.com/friday-inspiration/houndstooth-studio and several times on Perth based website WANGLE. We even ranked as one of the most popular galleries on WANGLE for 2010 – http://www.wangle.com.au/art-gallery/2010-most-popular-houndstooth-studio. An unexpected surprise!

Our image of Squishy the Rainbow Lorikeet was featured on the front cover of the national photography magazine Photo Review Australia, and was accompanied by a seven page full colour spread and interview in the Sept-Nov issue.

We became a contributing photographer to Solent News, one of the largest photo imaging agencies in the UK and Europe and signed on with For Arts Sake, the largest greeting card supplier in Australia and New Zealand. For Arts Sake will be featuring some of our wildlife images on a premium greeting card range.

To top it off we were privileged to be invited by Australia Post to provide wildlife images for a national stamp and first day cover to be released in July 2011.

Expanding our commercial profile

We enjoyed completing numerous commercial jobs throughout the year. One of our more unusual briefs involved very specific instructions to find and photograph the ‘perfect’ greyhound and horse for a new ‘Private Plates Queensland’ (PPQ) advertising campaign. Thanks to our broad network of animal loving Facebook Fans we found Stan, an elegant and handsome ex-racing greyhound and Puff, a magnificent champion stallion, also known in dressage circles as BBD Class Act. We photographed Stan at our North Perth studio and hired a larger space for Puff’s session. Our capable equine advisor Liesa came to oversee any OHS issues and to assist Puff’s owner Beatrix. Stan and Puff turned out to be outstanding ‘animal talent’ and the agency was delighted with the results. Consequently, our images for the PPQ campaign are featured widely in QLD print media, including billboards, busses and on the PPQ website.

Developing Houndstooth Pet Models (Official launch in Feb 2011)

‘Houndstooth Pet Models’ will be a rich source of new animal talent for our commercial and media photo sessions.  We regularly meet so many beautiful, interesting and talented pets we decided to create a registry to meet the needs and requests of our commercial clients. Owners of animals on our register could be contacted to participate in a shoot and be paid either an hourly rate or with in-kind prints or products. The online concept is in development and we’re already accepting application forms from existing interested clients. 

Industry participation

I was honoured to be invited to co-judge the York Society Photography Awards in March. I thoroughly enjoyed attending the awards, and was quite nostalgic remembering how much it boosted my confidence as a photographer when I won the event a few years ago.

I was also invited to judge and present at some of the  Perth district camera clubs, including Swan Valley Camera Club, Workshop Camera Club, Belmont Camera Club, and Westside Photography Camera Club. These clubs are great source of inspiration to photographers of all ages and skills and are full of amazing people willing to share their photography knowledge and experience. Please consider joining a club if you are keen to further your photography hobby!

Growing Houndstooth

As our passion for our business grew so did demand. We increased the opening hours of Houndstooth to 6 days a week and commenced our renovation plans, which included a new pedestrian access to our studio courtyard and a purpose built storage room. Our new interior fit-out will be completed in February 2011 and will include new audio visual equipment, flooring and cupboards.

The great storm of March 2010 saw the demise of our vehicle and in its place we welcomed a black PT Cruiser. The car is everything I’ve ever wanted in a vehicle, and since PT cruisers have won awards for space and design there’s ample room for our mobile marquee, 2 metre long banners and marketing items. It’s a perfect fit!

We’ve incorporated our animal charity work in travel as much as possible and this year worked with organisations in Bali, Adelaide, and on Rottnest Island.  Looking ahead, I was thrilled to be invited by U Design Photo Tours to act as lead photographer on a South African photography safari in Sept 2011. Combining travel and photography is one of the best ways to spend time and enables me get a fix of nature and to grow my wildlife image portfolio. I’m aiming to make time for more of both in the future.

And I couldn’t complete a 2010 round-up without sending a big shout out to our wonderful and loyal Facebook followers – all 2019 of them at last count. This online community of pet loving people is a special place to visit, and I thank all of our followers for commenting on our page and photographs. You are all generously engaged in pet ownership and I truly appreciate your support and time. Here’s the link to our page just incase you don’t know about our Facebook site yet – http://www.facebook.com/#!/HoundstoothStudio

Rounding up the round-up

Throughout 2010 I’ve met and learnt from many inspiring people. I’m proud to call dozens of my studio clients “friends” – some of these people are amongst the best I know! Looking back increases my enthusiasm for 2011! As always I’m committed to taking Houndstooth Studio even further in the realm of professional animal photography and to raising the bar for our clients by learning and growing.

On a personal note, I lost my beloved cat Kasey on 29^th December. She was 17 years young and lived the best life a little cat could. Last week a client asked if I found it hard to photograph animals all day since Kasey’s passing. On the contrary, it makes me so very grateful that this is what I do…

I look forward to sharing the Houndstooth Studio journey with you all in 2011.

Alexxxx

The centre is operated  by volunteers, and is not for profit. It relies 100% on visitor entry fee’s and donations – so we thought it only fitting to part with a $200 donation to go towards vet care and food. Although the rescued penguins are in care, they are still wild animals. The highlight for me was attracting the attention of a little guy called Neil, by swirling around some leaves and grass. He bounded over to me, fascinated by the movements and sounds of the leaf/grass concoction, and was almost childlike in his wide eyed excitement at seeing something new. It was a touching moment to entertain such a precious bundle of blue, and probably something his parents would have done if he was still with them. You can read my earlier post about the plight of the little penguins here.

Carrying our equipment on Granite Island – Photo courtesy of Erin Smithies

Natural light shots – Oct 2009 & June 2010

Studio light

I also completed a studio session for Tilley the jack russell in Victor Harbor. She is a 12 month old ball of muscle and energy who lives to chase her ball again, and again, and again, and again, and … I think you get the idea! Don’t you just love her?!

Whilst in Adelaide, Erin and I couldn’t resist a quick visit to the Adelaide Zoo to check out the pandas Funi and Wang Wang. They were magnificent to see up close and worth the hype, but  I have to confess it was the four month old meerkats who stole the show for me! Mimicking their parents, they were too cute for words! 1000 photos later I tore myself away from them!

Erin, Debora and I also stopped in at Adelaide Zoo’s sister facility, Monarto Zoo, to spend a day with the keepers – my 7^th visit behind the scenes there over the last few years. Originally an overflow space for the Adelaide Zoo’s larger animals who were off exhibit, Monarto is now a fully fledged zoo in its own right and is possibly the best zoo in the world (well, if not the best, it’s a tie with Singapore Zoo). It’s located an hour’s drive from Adelaide and all of the animals are free ranging in large paddocks or spacious state of the art enclosures.   The behind the scenes tours are hands on with the keepers, driving around the zoo in their utes and getting up close and personal to the chimps, cheetah, rhino, zebra, lions, giraffe, painted dogs, hyenas, and wallabies.  I learnt that you don’t feed a rhino with a flat hand the way you feed a horse!  

One of my favourite animal interactions from this trip was Maureen  the wallaby jumping up onto my camera backpack – whilst it was still on my back! Another  magic moment was one of the hyenas taking a liking to my camera lens and planting a big lick on it, right after eating a huge chunk of stinky horse meat.   

Photos courtesy of Erin Smithies

As much as the zoo has outstanding facilities and standards of care for its animal residents, the best part about it is the keepers. They are inspiring,  passionate and devoted, and I always miss them when I leave! (Hi Tash, Tony, Trav, Mark, Nikki, Emma).

The Cocos Islands themselves consist of 27 islands forming two atolls – 26 of the islands create a horse shoe shaped lagoon, whilst Pulu keeling Island (also known as North Keeling), lies 25km north of the other islands, isolated in the Indian ocean. The beaches have the purest white sand you have ever seen and are lined with coconut trees – and you would be hard pressed to see another person on most of them.  It’s the sort of place where you don’t need a watch, everyone waves, and you never lock your door or take your car keys from the ignition!

It’s also where I captured my most acclaimed photograph, Blue Clams, in October 2008 (which I now sell it as a limited edition print).

Crabs abound more than any other creatures, so  I spent quite some time lying on the beach photographing the hermit and ghost crabs. I was also fortunate enough to see five black tip reef sharks chasing a school of fish in the shallows, whilst standing in knee deep water. Luckily the reefies are harmless, even the one that came straight for me then veered off after a fish at the last second! Managed to catch the action in a blurry video on my point and shoot camera which you can view by clicking here. Good times! Also filmed a hermit crab going for a crazy-crab walk and you can view that clip here. Hmmm, think I will stick to photography, haha!

Blue Clams