Brian and Lorna White: Shooting from the hip

A mutual love of pistol shooting brought them together. They have since spent a lifetime shooting photographs, raising a family and enjoying the great outdoors. AS TOLD TO Natalie Holmes PHOTOGRAPHY Wendy Merrick

Brian White

IWAS born in Wellington and met Lorna because we were both in the pistol club. We both represented the state as well. I’ve always been interested in firearms. I basically told Lorna, ‘if you want to go out with me, you’ve got to come pistol shooting.’ That was 60 years ago. I decided that she was a man after my own heart (laughs).

We also loved waterskiing and badminton. After we were married, we lived at Wyangala and then I got a job at Beaurepaires and we lived in Wellington for another 18 months before moving to Dubbo. The doughnut shop we had was something different.

I was employed by Mcleod’s Tyres before then. I was doing double time and did not get the pay rise I was working towards. That prompted me into the doughnut shop. I had been told years before that if you start a business, then food was the way to go. Even with a gem like Lorna as my backbone, it was hard work though and I used to do 17 hour days.

I became interested in photography and got my first camera. In 1978, I joined the Australian Photographic Society and in 1980, I joined the Dubbo Camera Club. I was a mad keen photographer and my best shot was of a rainbow bee-eater which is a very nice bird. It takes a lot of time and patience to be a good photographer. I spent a lot of time at the zoo and on the Rifle Range Rd getting nature shots. We are now both life members of the Camera Club. The main thing that stands out is the composition side of the photo. There are a number of people that can’t get the right properties to form a nice photo, but it is important. At our shop, I did the darkroom work and Lorna was more on the customer side of things.

When we became zoo volunteers, we did early morning walks. I enjoyed being a volunteer. It was a good chance to get out in the bush. I also love doing woodturning, particularly segment work, that’s what I like doing.

When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, it made things difficult. But Lorna has helped me a lot. I couldn’t do without her. She’s kind, she’s learning new skills and I have good family support.

Lorna White

IMOVED to Wellington when I was seven and grew up there. When I met Brian, our dates were always at the pistol club. I’m an outdoors person and our friends were also outdoors people. My first impression was that he was just a good country guy.

We’ve now been married for 51 years. We had a very family-oriented wedding and were married at St John’s in Wellington. Our honeymoon was a night together at the Blue Lagoon Motel in Dubbo. Then we went to Wyangala where we lived while Brian was working there. He had been working on the dam at Burrendong and got a transfer to Wyangala where he was drilling and grouting the dam wall. He previously worked as a tyre fitter.

We were there for three and a half years and our son Wayne was born there. We have two children, a boy and a girl. Sheree was born in Wellington three years later. Brian is also a good dad and would do everything for them.

When we moved to Dubbo, we owned the Dubbo Photographic Centre. A common mistake people make is putting people in the middle of the photo. We also had a doughnut shop for a while at Dubbo Square. When we sold that, we decided to retire then the opportunity for the photo shop came up so we took that.

When Wayne went to school, I worked in the canteen and was treasurer of the canteen committee. That was the start of my volunteer work. When the kids were older, I went to work at the Kids Club at school. We did craft and that sort of stuff. Then I went to work at Dubbo Preschool as a teacher’s assistant. I loved that.

We were zoo volunteers for about 10 years, we were actually in the first group that started. It was good to meet like-minded people. We stopped doing it because we ran out of puff. That was in 1990 and the week before we got out of the shop. We have always done things together.

When Brian was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2001, it was hard for everybody. I said that if there wasn’t a support group in Dubbo, then I’d start one. There was one and I’m the coordinator of the local Parkinson’s support group now.

Brian was always a very active person and has now been restricted. He’s been through many stages. The support group helps everybody – the carers need help as well as the people with Parkinson’s. What the group does is let everyone get together and have a chat. It also gives you motivation to keep going, knowing that the other carers understand. It helps you get up and going and gives you something to do for the day. Like any disease, Parkinson’s makes life difficult. Brian has always spent a lot of time outdoors but Parkinson’s has stopped him from doing a lot of that.

I joined the Dubbo Health Council a few years ago. The health system is changing and needs our help so that’s when I joined. I’ve been the chair for the past 12 months. We have contributed to the hospital and can support them in what they are doing.

I was with the Health Council when it was suggested that we needed accommodation for mums having bubs who weren’t from Dubbo but needed to stay here before the birth. There was nothing except motels and that can be expensive. We got the committee to form Macquarie Homestay. This accommodation is very much-needed as there’s a lot of different causes. Stage 3 and 4 of the hospital redevelopment is going quite well. Working on that keeps me quite busy.