I was recently interviewed for an article in Capture Magazine, an Australian publication for professional photographers. I talk about keeping your social networks fun, finding inspiration and connecting with photographers from around the world. They also published some of my favourite portraits for the piece.

It’s interesting to see how social networks have changed the way I work and seek inspiration in recent years, particularly through my involvement on Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. I can’t wait to see what will come next.

I recently worked on a fun little promo for a great fundraising event in support of those recently affected by the flooding in Queensland. If you live in Australia, or perhaps even if you don’t, you’d probably know about the devastating flooding that has just swept through much of the states of Queensland and Victoria.

It all came and left so suddenly, but a full recovery is looking like it will take months. Since the waters receded, we’ve seen amazing community efforts, from thousands of volunteers, to donations and services in all professional fields. In response to the floods, friends from Josephmark, Map Magazine and Big Fish are doing their part and have teamed up to organise a “Flood Party to end all Flood Parties”, a fundraiser to support the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal, for those most affected by the floods. I love these guys and the work that they do, so it was a real honour to be asked to shoot their event promo image:

So if you’re keen for a good night out, and want to help out, come along to Rise, which will be held at Laruche. Entry is free but you’ll need to register your attendance on Facebook at RISE – The flood party to end all flood parties or by emailing: rise@bigfish.com All proceeds from orders from the “Flood” menu will go directly to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.

If you can’t make it to the event, but still want to help out, you can make a donation directly: here. I live on one of the roads where the flooding occurred here in Brisbane, and was lucky enough to not have been severely affected like many of my neighbours.

Here are a few photos I took of my local shops and the water as they started to recede. My photos only tell a small, perhaps more lighthearted part of what happened and the real stories came from the following days of cleanup, drenched in contaminated mud, helping to rip out entire residences and businesses, to which I didn’t feel right bringing my camera along to.

Perhaps it’s a few days late, but here are some images from my top 10 shoots of 2010! It was an incredible year.

In no particular order…

Japan – Momiji
I head back to Tokyo once or twice a year and most often in the winter time. At this time of the year, the Momiji leaves (Japanese maple) dominate the treeline and cover the ground in parks. I really love the way these leaves look against a nice bokeh.

Phoot Camp – Dan Busta
I traveled to New York, Boston and Los Angeles earlier in the year where I met some of the most inspiring and creative people and took part in Phoot Camp, where I shot this portrait.

Michael Hill Jeweler – Jewelery Photography
To be able to shoot for Michael Hill‘s catalog was a great experience. Working against an impressive existing collection, I learnt a few new tricks of the trade when it comes to this type of product photography. It’s probably some of the best product work I’ve done to date.

TEDxBrisbane – Event Photography
Modeled after the US based annual TED conferences, TEDxBrisbane was an Independently organised TED event. The day included talks from a diverse range of prolific thinkers and doers. I shot all the TEDx events held in Brisbane in 2010 and have been truly inspired by them all.

Green Heart – Campaign and Editorial Photography
I worked on an image library for Green Heart, an environmental sustainability program in Brisbane, with the focus on creating carbon-neutral city by 2026. It was great to work with and meet so many inspiring people dedicated to building a better and greener city to live in.

Philippines – Bohol Island
It was a busy time for me in January. I had just come back from a freezing winter in Tokyo, returning to spend a few hot days in a Brisbane summer. Before I had a chance to settle back in, I was off to shoot a wedding in an uncomfortably humid Philippines. With all the travel, changes in climate, and stress of working in a new environment, just watching the warm rain roll in took me to my happy place. With good music playing on my headphones, a big wedding shoot behind me, and big drops of warm rain splashing off my feet, it was the perfect way to unwind and enjoy the rest of my stay.

Tiger Airways – Cover shot and Editorial Photography
I had the pleasure of working on an exhilarating and colourful editorial shoot for Tiger Airways, which had me following biker Mac Swift around the Tweed Valley in Northern New South Wales. I was asked to capture the journey along some of the Valley’s beautiful rain-forests and beaches, which eventually led me to dangerously balancing on the back of a moving Harley, trying to get the cover shot! Definitely one of the most thrilling shoots of the year.

Von Vintage – Film Photography Project
2010 was a big year for film and creative work for me. With a new Hasselblad, I continued work on my film project, Von Vintage. The site is soon to be relaunched and will also be selling prints! Keep an eye out!

Lomography Spinner 360 – 35mm film toy camera
I’d have to say that my most used camera (other than my SLR) has to be the 360 spinner from Lomography. It’s a camera that literally spins 360 degrees (or more) in your hand, exposing a long strip of 35mm film, including the sprocket holes! I was in Melbourne, shooting the Finders Keepers Markets when I found this puddle. You can also see some other shots of mine on the PHOTOJOJO website!

Fadez – Promo Photography
I worked with former Reds rugby player, Charlie Fetoai and the team at Fadez Men’s Barbershops for a pitch they were putting together for MTV. This isn’t one of the images used, but I found the antics and outtakes to be some of the funnest.

And an extra one of myself from a series I’m working on…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It was a busy busy year, and there were quite a few other shoots that I wish I could have included in this list!  Coming in close, but not making it into my top 10 were : My shoot with Scott Spark, Help Portrait, the BNE project shoot with John Davis and working on the One Punch Can Kill Campaign!

After the success of a small event held in Brisbane last year, giving portraits to the children and families of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Help Portrait Brisbane have been busy planning an event on a much larger scale.

On December 5th a group of local Brisbane photographers, assistants, editors, makeup artists, printers and volunteers will be participating in Help Portrait, a global movement of people who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those in need this holiday season. In a collaboration with Lifeline – Disability Services, Red Cross and Wesley Mission, the team will be giving free portraits and prints to the people of these charities.  Since the event last year, I’ve been inspired to organise a number of different “Help Portrait” styled events, providing portraits to people with disability, terminal illness and the homeless.   The power of something as simple as having a portrait taken always seems to bring a bit of happiness to their days, particularly to those that don’t have the opportunity to do so.

But we need your help. Through donations collected by the public we hope to also provide professional printing on site to give to the guests on the day. We’re hoping to cover a few inevitable costs that go into such events, such as printing paper, ink, snacks for guests and venue expenses.  If you can spare a few dollars, it would go a long way in giving someone a beautiful portrait and making sure events like this can continue to run in the future.

How can you help?
Click “ChipIn!” below, or follow this link to help us fund the cause!  Any donation large or small is appreciated!

MORE ON HELP PORTRAIT:

Initiated in 2009 by a call-out by American photographer, Jeremy Cowart, Brisbane’s collective of Help Portrait photographers hope to establish an ongoing community of hobbyist to professional photographers interested in not just the act of ‘taking’ but also in ‘giving photos’.

For more information on the global Help Portrait movement visit www.help-portrait.com.

I was in Melbourne on the weekend as the photographer for the Finders Keepers Markets, a rapidly growing bi-annual event held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. It was the first Finders Keepers held in Melbourne and was probably their biggest yet. I think it’s says a lot about the creative community in Melbourne. Here are a few of my favourite shots:

I’m currently expanding to base myself out of both Brisbane and Melbourne so don’t hesitate to get in contact for any portrait, commercial or wedding photography in the area!

Dan Busta

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of Phoot Camp 2010 this year. Phoot Camp, hosted by one of my favourite websites Pictory, and sponsored by Virb, was an elaborate and crazy weekend of fun, based out of a mansion in Agoura Hills in LA.   As a newcomer to the camp, held previously in the wilderness of Northern California, I spent a lot of time getting to know the amazing, creative minds that made up the camp and shooting portraits. I came back from the camp nothing short of inspired by the great people and their work.

The official Phoot Camp site has just launched and will be showcasing the work of fellow Phoot Campers over the next few weeks. I had the honour of being the first to be featured. Be sure to bookmark the site which is going to be getting some great daily updates from all the photographers, so check it out!

www.phootcamp.com/marklobo

Simon Biswas

Lauren Randolph

Mark Trammell

Paul Octavious

Jen Giese

Matt Corbitt

And finally, here are a few videos that fellow Phoot Campers Simon Biswas and Paul Octavious put together, the first being the Phoot Camp trailer and the second, a series of video portraits followed by a few time lapse videos:

I’ve always been a fan of the photography in Frankie and clients will sometimes refer to the work they see in the magazine as a reference to photography they like.  So it’s an honour that Scott Spark chose this photo I took to be in his writeup in the mag. You can read and see more photos from my shoot with Scott here.

Scott’s album, “Fail Like You Mean It”, was just released and you can listen/buy it on iTunes or get it at Avid Reader (Brisbane) and JB Hi-Fi.

Well, I’m off to go camping in another country with a bunch of strangers from the internet!  Ok, it’s not really as creepy as it sounds. It all started with a self portrait application, submitted to Pictory, to be a part of the second year of Phoot Camp.  It was an amazing opportunity to hang out, collaborate and meet with inspiring creatives and photographers.  So I’m in Los Angeles right now, in a few hours I’ll head out to stay at a mansion with 27 photographers for a weekend of fun.  That’s pretty much all I really know for now, I’ll update in a few days!

Working with creative people, particularly musicians, is always a pleasure.  It often feels more like a collaboration of creative ideas, rather than a strict brief.  I met up with Brisbane singer/songwriter Scott Spark, to discuss his new album and the imagery he wanted to back it.  We talked about a few themes and locations that he felt would suit best.  Eventually, we decided on two locations, both indoor and out.  Here are some of my favourite shots from the shoot.

Scott’s album, “Fail Like You Mean It” is due for release in August.  For a preview, you can check out his stuff here: http://scottspark.bandcamp.com and on iTunes.

Following a few busy months since my last BNE project shoot, I met up with John Davis a guitar repairer based up in Red Hill in Brisbane.  For those unfamiliar with the project, every person selected for the BNE project is chosen by a previous BNE participant.  John Davis was selected as the inspiration of one of my early BNE portraits, Dan from Dan and Dilmah.

I caught up with John a few days before the shoot at his store and spent a few hours chatting and observing, amongst a constant influx of passionate guitar lovers frequenting the store.  One of the things I noticed about John is that when he was working, he was constantly in motion.  Whether it was chatting to three customers at once or restringing a guitar, the man is always on the move!  I came back a few days later and despite having scheduled the shoot after hours to avoid interruptions, John was still juggling customers and fixing guitars into the night.  This passion for his work, people, and guitars is something I really wanted to capture with this shoot.