Field Notes from a Wandering Photographer Episode 6 | 2026: Deserts, Baseball & other forms of Recovery
- Hello Ro Photography
- Jun 10
- 9 min read
Oh my gosh guyssss!
I think I’m starting to remember who I was before so much darkness hit me.
And before anyone rolls their eyes and says, “Easy for you to say, you’ve been road-tripping through America,” let me just say this. I think people look at my life and assume it’s beautiful all the time. They see the photos. The weddings. The road trips. The sunsets. The gratitude.
And don’t get me wrong, my life is beautiful.
But for every wildly beautiful magical moment, there has been something equally dark, difficult, and often something a lot of people have never had to experience.
The last year has contained some of the most difficult things I’ve ever lived through. The car accident. The recovery. The pain. The loneliness. The uncertainty. The endless appointments. The insurance claims. The moments where I genuinely didn’t know what life was going to look like on the other side of it all.
Some days I’ve felt incredibly strong. Other days I’ve sat in my car and cried.
The difference isn’t that my life is easier than someone else’s.
It’s that every day I try to make a choice. I try to look for what’s good anyway. Not because the hard things aren’t real. Because they are.
But because if I’m going to carry them, I’d rather carry them while also noticing the sunset, the matcha, the friend who called, the song on the radio, the wedding that made me cry, the stranger who made me laugh. Gratitude doesn’t erase difficulty. It just stops difficulty from becoming the entire story. And lately, I think that’s what I’ve been finding again. Not a new version of myself. Just the old one. The one that was there all along.
I was talking to someone recently about one of my injuries from the car accident and the possibility that it may be permanent. Almost immediately the response was, “Well, it’s not really permanent. Research changes all the time”. And maybe that’s true. But the conversation got me thinking about something much bigger. One of the most helpful things my psychologist has taught me over the last six months is the concept of radical acceptance. The basic idea is that we stop fighting reality. Not because we like it, and not because we’ve given up, but because exhausting ourselves arguing with what is doesn’t actually change anything.
Instead, we accept where we are right now. We stop demanding a timeline. We stop demanding certainty. We stop insisting that things should be different than they are. And then we keep moving forward anyway. We still do the physio. We still take care of ourselves. We still work towards recovery. We still hope. But we’re no longer tying our happiness to a particular outcome or date on the calendar. That idea has helped me more than almost anything else. Because acceptance and hope aren’t opposites.
Accepting where I am today doesn’t mean I’ve stopped believing things can improve tomorrow. It simply means I’m choosing to deal with the reality in front of me instead of exhausting myself trying to predict the future. I’ve also realised that difficult things make people uncomfortable. Most of us aren’t taught how to sit with someone else’s pain, uncertainty, grief or loss. We want to reassure. We want to fix. We want to find a silver lining. We want to make it better. But sometimes the kindest thing we can do is simply listen.
To trust that the person living the experience probably understands it better than we do. The older I get, the more I think empathy looks less like advice and more like curiosity. Less “Have you tried…” and more “That sounds really hard.”
For someone who has spent most of her life trying to force solutions, radical acceptance has been a surprisingly beautiful lesson. It has taught me that I can accept where I am today while still believing tomorrow might look different. And honestly, that has given me far more peace than trying to control an outcome I can’t yet see.
Anyway just some food for thought… Now back to the blog lol
Before I left Australia, I wrapped up my final weddings of the Canberra season. One at Gold Creek Chapel, one at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and one at the Canberra Rex Hotel. Every couple was completely different. Different personalities, different families, different colour palettes, different priorities. Some wedding days were loud and joyful. Others were quiet and intimate. Every one of them reminded me why I love this job.
I thought by the time I finished the season I’d be desperate for a break.
Instead, within a couple of weeks, I found myself missing weddings again. Typical.
I also finally got to sit with the success of After the Yes. The photos are beautiful. The couples were beautiful. The response was incredible. And the cinematic highlight film from Motion Reel Films somehow captured the exact feeling of the day. Watching something that started as a tiny idea in my Notes app become a real event filled with happy couples, champagne, laughter and connection was such a special experience.
I already want to do it again next year.
Bigger.
Better.
More couples.
More romance.
More magic.
Because watching people slow down long enough to actually enjoy being engaged felt really important. And I think we all need a little more of that.
In Between Shoots
And then I left.
I landed in Los Angeles and spent a few days in Santa Barbara with a beautiful sexy friend of mine, which honestly felt like exactly what I needed. Good conversation, ocean air, good food, and a chance to exhale after what has been a very big year.
From there, I caught the Amtrak back to Los Angeles, picked up my friend Holly @boudoirqueencanberra and we headed towards the desert.
Palm Springs was everything I wanted it to be. Mid-century architecture, colourful doors, sunshine, matcha, Indian Canyons, and the kind of energy that makes you immediately start browsing real estate you have absolutely no intention of buying.
We spent our days wandering, photographing whatever caught our eye, and reminding ourselves that sometimes life is meant to be enjoyed, not just managed.
Then came Joshua Tree and Pioneertown. Big skies, dust, silence, and a landscape that somehow makes every thought feel both smaller and more important at the same time.
And yes, I got naked in the desert.
Honestly, after the year I’ve had, it felt completely reasonable.
Vegas was exactly the right amount of ridiculous. We visited the Neon Museum, wandered the Strip, I wore a black mesh dress covered in stars with nothing but underwear underneath, drank a pina colada, had one of the best Cuban dinners I’ve eaten in years, and felt completely fabulous.
Then came Antelope Canyon, which somehow looks even more incredible in real life than it does in photographs. And considering how many photographs I’ve seen of Antelope Canyon, that’s saying something.
What made me laugh most was that I was surrounded by people who had clearly packed for an expedition. Hiking boots. Backpacks. Tripods. Walking sticks. Technical adventure gear for days. Meanwhile, I showed up in a bandeau top, gaucho pants and my Birkenstocks. At some point I kicked the shoes off altogether and spent the afternoon happily wandering barefoot through the sandstone walls. Which, honestly, feels like a pretty accurate summary of how I move through life.
Everyone else has a plan.
I just keep following whatever feels beautiful.
After that it was New York. Atlantic City with my dear friends Victor and Ben, a Yankees game, and the simple joy of catching up with people I love. There was something really comforting about being surrounded by familiar faces on the other side of the world.
And then eventually, Hancock.
French Woods Festival. I’ve worked here since 2017, and returning this year felt different.
These days I run the Art Department, overseeing twenty subjects, more than twenty-five staff, and hundreds of children every day. It’s busy, creative, occasionally chaotic, and I absolutely love it. There’s something really comforting about returning to a place that knows you. The routine, the people, the forests, the familiarity of it all.
Walking back onto site this year felt different.
Not because everything is magically fixed.
Not because life suddenly became easy.
But because for the first time in a very long time, I felt like I could see myself again.
I don’t think I realised how much energy I’d spent surviving until I arrived somewhere that felt familiar enough to finally put some of that weight down.
And that’s been the biggest surprise of this trip so far.
I thought I was coming here to teach art.
Instead, I’m remembering who I was before everything got so hard.
A Hilary Duff Emergency
Before anything else, I have some very important business to attend to.
After missing out the first time around, I somehow managed to get tickets to see Hilary Duff in Philadelphia on one of the very few days off I have this summer. Which feels like FATE guysss! I’ll be going with a friend I’ve known for almost a decade, and we are currently deep in the highly important and incredibly serious process of designing matching t-shirts for the concert. I’m going to put the options below:
Please vote either 1, 2 or 3 from left to right. This feels like a decision that should absolutely be crowdsourced.
Work Stuff Before I Forget
A quick little business update while I have you here. 2026 weddings are almost full.
I only have two dates left in November and one in December remaining. BOOK ME ♥️
2027 is already busy.
Which feels slightly ridiculous considering it feels like I was just announcing that bookings were open. If you’re planning a wedding and you’ve been meaning to enquire, this is your sign.
I’ll also be bringing back Front Door Sessions when I return to Australia. If you’ve never heard me talk about them before, they’re exactly what they sound like. Short, relaxed family sessions photographed at home, documenting the beautiful ordinary moments that make up your real life.
They’re also the most affordable way to have your family photographed by me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about studio sessions lately too.
Maybe.
No promises.
But my brain is full of ideas.
While I’m here in upstate New York, I’d love to work on a few creative concepts and personal projects, so if you’re local and would love to model for something a little fun and different, keep an eye on my socials.
And if you’re newly engaged, don’t forget you can still download my free wedding guide Bring snacks, Kiss slow, Trust me. It’s packed with everything I wish couples knew before planning a wedding, and it’s a great place to start.
Things I’m Vibing
Matcha in absurdly large American cups.
Music playing literally all the time. Mostly the Rochella playlist.
Headscarf’s & Earplugs
My red and white striped canvas bag.
These sunglasses I bought from Kmart that have somehow become part of my personality.
Airport bookstores.
Desert sunsets.
Baseball games.
My JOVS Laser Face Mask - I’ve actually been using it. Dry, sensitive skin needs consistency more than miracles, and this has felt genuinely supportive.
Collagen powder stirred into whatever I am drinking, because future me will be grateful.
The Morning Made Vanilla Matcha Latte. Obviously.
Pure Encapsulations Magnesium at night before bed
Teaching art.
The feeling of being anonymous in a new country.
The feeling that everything might actually be okay.
My Skincare Ritual - I have dry, red, sensitive skin and I am determined to make it better! All the things I’m using are linked below if you’re interested:
Morning
Water
Barrier Serum (The Ordinary)
Mineral SPF50 (I’m still figuring out what sunscreen I like so if you have any suggestions drop a comment below!)
Night
Warm water / washcloth / Mukti Cleansing Balm
Favourites from my iPhone Camera Roll
What’s Next
For now, summer in New York, teaching, creating, making things. Hopefully turning the song I accidentally wrote on the back of a grocery receipt into something real. After that? More adventures, more stories, more photographs and eventually Australia again. There are weddings waiting for me when I get home. There are projects already brewing. Until then, you’ll find me somewhere between an art studio, a baseball game, a road trip playlist and whatever adventure comes next. Still looking for the LOML, potentially in a desert, potentially at a Yankees game, potentially while ordering a matcha, I remain open-minded.
And that’s it! The life behind the scenes of Hello Ro Photography an Australian lifestyle and wedding photographer. If there’s something you’d love me to write about, maybe a behind-the-scenes topic, a favourite shoot, or even what I’m packing for my next trip — leave a comment below or DM me on Instagram at @hello.ro.photography. I’d love to hear from you.
If you’d like to see more of my work, visit www.hellorophotography.com or find me on Instagram at @hello.ro.photography.
Ro xo
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