In the mid-1990s, while living and working as a freelance photographer in Edinburgh, Scotland, I spent a year or so living in the area known as Gorgie - Dalry to be specific...16 Cathcart Place to be even more specific.

Cathart Place was lined with stark, featureless tenements, and one day after arriving home from a job, I was walking to the flat when I heard some shouts of excitement bouncing off the tenement walls. I looked up and saw two of the local kids, who I knew by sight alone, tearing down the footpath being towed on their rollerblades by their dog (who I also knew by sight).

I smiled to myself and then thought as they whizzed past, 'hang on...that could make a photo I can sell to the newspapers...'.

I was freelancing so was always on the lookout for a job/photo I could sell to the newspapers, and two kids being towed on their rollerblades by their dog...well, the dollar (pound) signs began flickering in my eyes as the cash register rang in my head!

I called after the kids and when they came back to where I was I told them if they'd mind doing that again while I got some photos. They knew I worked for the papers and were excited at the prospect they might get in the "Rec'rd" (Daily Record - Scotland's biggest selling tabloid). I, too, was excited that they might get in the "Rec'rd" and make some money for me.

The kids got their dog to tow them to the end of the street and they performed their routine for me while I got some front on shots of them belting down the footpath towards me.

Happy that I'd got a front on shot, I also wanted to get a side on 'panning' shot (achieved by following the subject with your camera and using a slow shutter speed, so the subject is sharp - in focus - and the background is blurred).

The poor dog, now panting, towed them to the end of the footpath and, having picked up momentum, sped past me. With the dog's well-being in mind, I didn't ask the kids to do another run for me (although they would've gladly done so if it meant getting in the "Rec'rd").

Being the mid-1990s and about 10 years before the advent of digital photography, I was unable to check the back of the camera to make sure I got the shot. Instead, I had to hope and pray that there was something on the film in my camera.

I processed the films in my flat and half and hour later held the negatives up to the light. The photo you see here was the one good panning shot I got.

I sent one front on photo and a panning photo to around half a dozen newspapers and, quite content with my afternoon's 'work, sat back and spent the afternoon relaxing. The next morning I went and bought the newspapers I'd sent the photos to and revelled in the fact 3 of them had used the photos - all up I'd made a couple of hundred quid for something that had fallen into my lap.

The kids were, of course, over the moon that their photo was in the "Rec'rd" - they were going to have bragging rights at school for a long time!

Gear used - Nikon F90X camera, Nikkor 50mm f1.8 lens, Fuji 400 ISO colour film

I was waiting to catch the ferry from Circular Quay to Milsons Point in Sydney, when I saw the seagull sitting on the pylon. The Sydney Opera House made for a great backdrop, so I took a couple of frames as the seagull sat there. I wanted it to get up and fly off, so I kept the camera trained on the scene.

I stayed this way for quite a few minutes, willing the seagull to do what I wanted it to, but it didn't seem in a hurry to go anywhere. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the ferry approaching the dock but still I kept the camera trained on the seagull. I even contemplated throwing something at it if push came to shove.

Finally, as the ferry docked and everyone started getting off, the seagull stood up and took a couple of steps. I knew it was going to take off and, as I saw its wings lift upwards, fired off a frame, then several more as it sailed out over the water of Circular Quay.

I wasn't sure what I got ("if you see it, you've missed it") and excitedly looked at the back of the camera. I hit the back button several times until I got to the frame I wanted and couldn't believe it when I saw its wings perfectly upstretched moments before lift-off.

Gear used - Nikon D5000 camera, Nikkor 28-105 f3.5-4.5 lens (with macro), 200ISO

To see more images like this, go to - www.giuliophotography.com.au

This is one of the few times a photo replicated - exactly - what I had envisaged.

In 1991 I was sent out west on assignment for the Courier Mail newspaper. The story was that the town of Middleton, located in the middle of Queensland and consisting one building - the pub - and with a population that varied between 4 and 6, was going to be getting its first phone, a solar-powered payphone (up until then, they only had two way radio).

Myself and the journo were being to accompany a team of Telecom (now Telstra) technicians who were going to be ceremoniously 'throwing the switch'. We left Winton early one morning and, after a one-and-a-half hour drive, arrived. As I'd imagined, there was virtually nothing there. It was desolate...and hot! Even at 8.30am.

So, the photo I'd imagined was a line of people queuing at the phone box, silhouetted against the morning sun (I knew we were going to be there early).

After saying g'day to the two locals, I ran this idea past them. They looked at me like I was an alien and their response - "But we wouldn't queue for the phone, mate. There's no one here. We wouldn't need to..." - wasn't what I was hoping for. After much cajoling, I finally talked them into standing in the phone box with the Telecom technicians queued outside.

The two locals still didn't know why I was doing this and continued the "you're an alien" looks as they made their way to the phone box and I positioned the technicians.

With that I ran to where I was going to take the photo, got down as low as I could, and fired off a few frames. The sun was still low enough that it snuck into the top of the frame and what I could see looked exactly as I'd imagined it. And I love the fact one of the Telecom guys, without me telling him to do so, put his hand up to his hat, giving the photo a real country feel about it.

Gear used - Nikon FM2 camera, Nikkor 24mm f2.8 lens, HP5 B&W film (400 ISO)