In late 2014, I joined a group of photographers out in Joshua Tree, California to attend Phoot Camp. Excited by the inspiration that surrounded us, our inability to sleep resulted in this small series under the desert stars, featuring William Wilkinson, Lisa Weatherbee and Justin Betmann. See them larger, here.
This year brought a number of exiting new experiences, both professionally and personally. I walked 100km, photographed under the stars of the Californian desert and surpassed my record for the most number of shoots in a year! It felt so fast though, and I’m still struggling to understand how I managed to pack it all into a year. Here is my top 14 from 2014 in photographs:
Graze – There were a few new additions to my playful food photography series, including some hot potatoes.
Foliolio – I created a photographic service for designers who want their work photographed well.
Shotkit – I was asked to photograph and talk about some of the gear I use, organised neatly, so I put together a little timelapse video of the process:
360 – Melbourne Hip Hop artist 360, was the subject of an “Ink not Mink” campaign which I photographed for PETA.
Do Lectures Australia and USA – I photographed Do Lectures Australia and also made my way to Do Lectures USA where I met some great minds. I came back inspired and ready to make some big changes.
Oxfam Trailwalker – A painful and exhausting experience, but a truly rewarding and memorable one was training with a group of friends to walk 100km in 34 hours, to raise money for Oxfam Australia, and we did it! Registrations for Trailwalker 2015 is closing soon, get in quick!
Scott Spark – Scott Spark released his new album, muscle memory, which I had photographed the album artwork and promotional photography for. I had taken some playful photographs on a Nishika 3D lenticular film camera during our shoot, which I scanned and turned into this gif:
Peter Berner – I worked with Australian comedian and TV personality Peter Berner, on some new promotional imagery and finally got to use the yellow backdrop that I had been wanting to use for months!
Phoot Camp Selfie – I photographed the most ambitions selfie I’ve ever attempted as my application to get into Phoot Camp 2014.
…And I got in! I photographed this night portrait of William Wilkinson, late at night in the desert at Phoot Camp.
PDN Cover – One of the most incredible things that came out of the Phoot Camp experience was this collaboration with Nate Bolt, who flew his drone across the desert as we captured it’s light painting. We ended up getting the cover of the January 2015 issue of PDN!
Travel things – I tacked on a few extra things to my US trip, which included attending Do Lectures USA, a Creative Mornings summit in New York, catching up with colleagues, friends and family and going to Sleep No More (if you’re ever in NYC, it’s a MUST). This is a summary of the experience in one photo:
Squam Lake – Between events, I spent a day out at Squam Lake, New Hampshire. Exactly what I needed to see me off on the last leg of my journey to New York. I also put a photo essay up on Exposure, which you can see here.
Handy Series – Although still in it’s early days, what started out as a series on gang signs, soon turned into a series on creatives and the work they do with their hands. I’ve got a bunch of people lined up to take part in this project so stay tuned for an update!
And for a special bonus 15th, I wanted to share my favourite gif with a bunch of new friends from different Creative Mornings chapters, getting down and attempting to moonwalk at the Summit After party (photo by smilebooth):
Have a great holiday season everyone and all the best for 2015!!!
I don’t consider myself to be much of a gear head. As long as the gear I use is designed to last and does what a certain job or project needs it to do, I’m not worried. The reality is every job needs different tools, so I have a basic kit that I can rely on, and hire everything else. If I start to use that gear regularly enough, then I’ll stop hiring it and buy it. I was asked by shotkit to showcase what’s in my bag and this is what I photographed. You can see all the details on what everything is here: shotkit.com/mark-lobo
and here’s a little video of the process:
I’m currently on a month long trip across the United States, attending Phoot Camp, Do Lectures and a Creatives Mornings Summit. I found a bit of down time to unwind and reflect on all the great lessons I’ve learnt and people I’ve met along the way. A day out at Lake Squam, New Hampshire was just what I needed to see me off on the last leg of my journey to New York. This is what I saw: 
After hearing about the work I was doing with Foliolio, my Melbourne based portfolio photography business for designers, Jenica from Notely got in touch about working together on the photography for her new range of ‘Simple, Sustainable Stationery’. The idea for the Notely was something that I really wanted to get behind. Not only was the Australian made range environmentally sustainable but it also worked in collaboration with local artists for some of it’s cover artwork, with a solid focus on quality. We decided to go for a very clean and simple style of product photography, to suit the brand. Here are a few of my favourite images from the shoot:
I’ve put together a few more of my favourite product photography projects here.
Taking photos for myself and working on personal projects is something that I value strongly as a photographer, but sometimes balancing it with client work can make it a bit tricky and I can go weeks without taking a single frame for myself. I don’t always share every single photo I take or like, nor do I feel like that I have to. But I do feel that sharing my personal work often leads to working with great people on projects that I love to death. So I’ve decided this blog is probably the perfect place to start putting them out there, instead of sitting in an archive! I’ve decided to post a few of my favourite personal photographs at the end of every month. Here are a few from July. It’s interesting to see that this month has been very “Naturey”.
I befriended a horse as the sun rose out in Daylesford, Victoria.
The above is a film photograph from over 2 years ago, but only just scanned it in this month. So I guess that counts. I took an instagram of it too at the time, here’s the iphone version.
July was a month of ridiculous sunny/rainy weather.
In between shoots for Foliolio, I started finding time to shoot for myself.
And I also stood in for myself a bunch of times to test some lighting setups.
I’m so grateful to be going back to Phoot Camp this year. I’ll be heading to Joshua Tree to be reunited with friends new and old, and I can’t wait to see what photographic goodness we can create. This was my self portrait application which I couldn’t have done without the help of some good friends. The idea behind the photo was to accompany my written application, which talked about giving without expectation and referenced a time when fellow Phooter, Ryan Schude stood under an icy cold waterfall, shivering while I took long exposures, all the while saying “I can do another one, I can do another one.” I wanted to tell the story of trying something over and over in order to make something great. See it larger, here.
You can check out the full set of Phoot Camp 2014 attendee portraits at www.phootcamp.com/phoot-2014
I’ve also put together a short video of how I did all the jumps. At one stage I was attempting it with a crutch! Not a safe idea… well the whole thing wasn’t very safe.
You can see some photos from some other Phoot Camps that I’ve attended, here.
I worked with the singing, songwriting genius that is Scott Spark again on the artwork and promotional photography for his new album Muscle Memory, which was just been released. Scott has a real knack for not only knowing, but also being able articulate what he wants to see in the photography that goes along side his music and at the same time was able to give me the trust and confidence for me do what I do best. It’s something I love about working with creative people and I think it shows in the photography and the fun gifs we created with my Nishika 3D lenticular camera.
You can buy the album on iTunes and Google Play
Here are a few favourites from our shoot together:
Working with Jacky Winter’s Oslo Davis and animation team Flutter, they came up with this cute video for one of the tracks, Two Alarms:
(Side note: A few years ago, I actually worked on the photography for Scott’s previous album which you can check out here.)
I was recently interviewed by Jonathan Cherry from Mull It Over. I thought I’d share it here, along with some of the images that I sent through to be featured. If you haven’t checked it out, head over to Mull It Over for some good photographic inspiration.
JONATHAN CHERRY: What did you want to be growing up?
MARK LOBO: I grew up wanting to be a police man, baseball player or comedian. All things that I would have been terrible at!
JC: Who or what is inspiring you at the moment?
ML: Passionate people. It’s a bit broad, but meeting new people who love and believe in what they do really inspires me to create great work and love the process.
JC: What are you up to right now?
ML: I just got back from visiting family in Tokyo, so at the moment I’m consciously taking things a bit slow while I still can. I’m using the time to plan and gather everything I need for a self-portrait application idea for Phoot Camp 2014 (you know, neck brace, dumbbells, rubber duckies, etc. etc.)
JC: Have you had mentors along the way?
ML: I haven’t had anyone that I would officially call a mentor, but I have a group of friends who hold me accountable and help me with the support I need when it comes to making things happen. They are from different backgrounds and live in different cities around the world which I find gives me a fresh perspective and guidance with the obstacles I face and ideas I have.
JC: Where are you based right now and how is it shaping you?
ML: Melbourne, Australia. It’s cold (by Australian standards), it’s beautiful and the people here get it when it comes to people following their passions. There’s a lot of support and it leaves me constantly inspired and feeling comfortable to create. At the same time, there are so many talented people here that it really drives me to create the best work I can.
JC: One piece of advice to photography graduates?
ML: There are a few things I’ll often share with new photographers. I usually send them this link. The most important thing would be to know what you want, which I think works on many levels. Knowing what you want to capture and how you want an image to look before even looking through the viewfinder is pretty important. And in the long term, knowing where you want to be 20 years time helps us make sure we stay on track and brings value to the things we do on a daily basis.
JC: If all else fails – what is your plan B?
ML: I think a plan B would only really happen if I couldn’t physically shoot anymore. I have a tech background and like building things, so I’d most likely be working towards building a web based, photography related business.
JC: Is it important to you to be a part of a creative community?
ML: Community is so important. Trust, support and good passionate people are what I look for in a community, which has transpired through a group of big-hearted photographers I met through a photographic retreat called Phoot Camp. When you meet someone for the first time, and feel like you’ve known them forever, that’s when you know you’ve found your community. It’s validating and inspiring to meet other people like yourself.
7 hours from Melbourne in Victoria’s remote North East is where you’ll find Payne’s Hut, a beautiful getaway for city dwellers and tourists all year round. Over the long weekend, Payne’s Hut hosted Australia’s first ever Do Lectures, a one of a kind gathering of like minded individuals, ranging from passionate change makers to social entrepreneurs. With just 70 attendees and 20 speakers spending 3 days together, camping and attending talks and workshops, it’s well described as “a microcosmic community that eat, sing, meet, learn but most importantly, get inspired.” I couldn’t help but draw parallels between Do Lecturers and the “Edgeware” community I was involved with in Brisbane, who even held a conference called “DO Well”. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the DO community and be inspired by some brilliant minds. This is what I saw:
And of course, you can’t have a Do Lectures without using every last bit of energy sending everyone off with full body waves:
Melbourne stayed open over a crisp summer’s night, to transform itself into a visual celebration of art and light. Along with 500,000 others, I flocked into the city to experience what I had only heard about the year before. Despite the crowds, it was a beautiful night to be out into the early hours of the morning. Here are a few photographs of what I saw at White Night.
Semi Permanent in Melbourne had me on my feet for two crazy big days, photographing the event and also shooting some video. A constant highlight was no doubt hearing inspiring, creative speakers like Jessica Hische, Glendyn Ivin and Seb Lester, to name a few, but also to be able to photograph them back stage. It was an inspiring weekend.
Here are a few of my favourite portraits.
I’m so excited to announce my involvement with photographing Chrissie Swan‘s new fashion range, Avella, for Big W. I worked with Big W and Chrissie to create the imagery to be used for the range, on everything from swing tags, to in-store display. I couldn’t be happier with the results. Here are a few of the images from one of their Melbourne stores and catalogue.
Also on the shelves at the store was Chrissie’s new book, “Is it just me”, which I photographed the cover for!
For a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot itself check out the video by Melbourne film makers Alex and Jono Films!
Many thanks to Elleni Toumpas for all her hard work assisting on the shoot, Lynda Evans from Designedly for her ever exquisite post production work, Watercooler for their ongoing support and of course, Chrissie for being such a legend to work with!
There is no shortage of creative inspiration when it comes to working with people here in Melbourne. Over the years I’ve found that apart from the photography itself, it’s the people that I work with that really make the job that I do, something I love. With so many designers and creative people making up my network of colleagues and friends, I’ve decided to reach out to people that surround me with a new idea, which I’m excited to share. It’s called Foliolio.
Foliolio is a basically a photographic service that will help give designers and creatives the representation they deserve when it comes to showcasing their hard work in their portfolios. There is a strong focus on great photography and creating something that stands out from the crowd.
I worked with my friends at Pennant to photograph their business cards as my first Foliolio client. Here are a few of the shots, as well as a behind the scenes video.
You can stay in touch with Foliolio via Twitter, Facebook, or by Subscribing. 🙂
I’ve recently started to put aside a bit of time to focus on a new food photography series that I’ve been working on. I spent a few hours working from my home in Melbourne to experiment with some potatoes that I had been, err… “growing” for a few months. Initially destined for a delicious roast in the colder winter months, it soon became apparent that potatoes growing out of control can look quite incredible. So I left them to do their thing in a cupboard. I’m going to push forward with this series, in the direction of photographing simple, interesting looking foods with a bit of character. I imagined them as a family of potatoes escaping the heat of the oven. Here’s what I came up with:
Here is the previous image from the series:
If you have any thoughts on what food I should photograph next, please feel free to comment and let me know!
Wow. I’m amazed at how fast this year has gone by. I moved to the beautiful, vibrant and creative city of Melbourne, made new friends, watched a billion comedy shows and worked with some incredible new clients. Here is my annual wrap up of my top 13 from 2013.
Michael Doneman – One of my favourite portraits of the year was of Michael, a friend and former business coach.
Bay of Fires – I worked on some editorial photography for a story on “Walks of Australia” One of the most beautiful walks we did was the Bay of Fires, in Tasmania. It was stunning.
Banana shoot – My new business cards will have “Fruit Balancing Expert” written on them. I worked on a few playful food photography images for a personal project.
Chrissie Swan – I worked with the beautiful Chrissie Swan for some imagery to promote her new book. I also worked with her on a different shoot, but more on that in the new year! 🙂
A New Von Vintage Print – A few old negatives were unboxed, scanned and I finally released another print for my film photography project, Von Vintage.
Semi Permanent Melbourne – Semi Permanent in Melbourne had me on my feet for two crazy big days, photographing the event and also shooting video. I saw some great speakers and came away totally inspired. This is a portrait of fellow photographer and speaker, Magdalena Wosinska.
Dumbo Feather – I finally got to work with Dumbo Feather on this shoot with Jaron Lanier in Sydney.
Dare Iced coffee – On a caffeine high, I photographed some product and lifestyle shots of Dare Iced Coffee’s new cold pressed coffee range at St. Ali in South Melbourne.
Dicko – I had the honour of photographing Dicko, in creating a set of imagery to be used for Watercooler Talent and Media, a company which he co-founded.
iPhone Photography Awards – In the cold of winter, I received a few honourable mentions for some of my Instagram photos submitted into the iPhone Photography Awards. This was taken during a Melbourne heatwave, and had me wishing all year for that warm weather to come back around again. Still waiting, Melbourne!
Otway Harvest – Travelling with a group of international journalists, I worked on capturing the food culture of Melbourne and surrounds. The highlight was shooting at Otway Harvest, the beautiful ocean side truffle farm of chef, Steve Earl. I’ll put together photo essay of this trip once the story is published in the new year!
The White House – I photographed a few businesses at their amazing shared work space known as “The White House” for Est Magazine, home to extraordinary ethical businesses like Small Giants, Dumbo Feather and Tom Organic. It was such a beautiful space to shoot in, I want to live there.
Awkward Melbourne Family Portraits – And finally, something silly for the silly season – On a beautiful Spring day, a group of friends reenacted a few of our favourite poses from Awkward Family Photos.
Stay safe and have a great holiday season everyone! I’m looking forward to an even better 2014!
I have been following the work of Melbourne based magazine, Dumbo Feather for quite a while and have always dreamed of shooting for them. Their stories always feature the most inspiring of minds and their photography and layout is gorgeous. Earlier in the year, I reached out to them by sending through a mocked up Dumbo Feather magazine which used my own photos for the cover, contents page and also images from a story I had shot in Melbourne a few years earlier. They liked what they saw and got a chance to head in to their beautiful office space in St. Kilda for a meeting.
A few months later, an opportunity came up to photograph a story for them in Sydney. The subject was Jaron Lanier, a multi talented man with an amazing story, and the creator of virtual reality. I photographed Jaron at his Sydney hotel, right before he was to leave for a flight back to San Francisco under a pretty tight schedule (like, really really tight). It wasn’t quite the style I had initially intended on shooting for the magazine, but I couldn’t be happier with the images I captured and how they were used.
Here are a few shots of both my mocked up magazine and the final printed version of the story:
And here was my initial Dumbo Feather mock up cover and contents page:
Otillo is a keen photographer who I met through a good friend of mine. He’s been wanting to get a bit more experience as an assistant, so I brought him out on an editorial shoot at Melbourne’s Brighton Beach. After the shoot, I took this portrait of him and quite like the idea of starting a new series on my assistants. While I have quite a lot of photos of assistants “stand-ins” during test shots, I like the idea of shooting them in situ. So here’s the first of the series!
Keep an eye out for more from the series in the coming months in my Projects Section.
I had the pleasure of working with F4 Consulting to create a series of lifestyle photographs to promote Dare‘s new range of cold pressed coffee. I shot a range of editorial and lifestyle photography of both the coffees themselves and their Coffee Ambassadors: Salvatore Malatesta, owner of Melbourne’s St. Ali and their head barista and 2013 AASCA Coffee Championships winner, Matt Perger. It was a fun day of shooting whilst highly caffeinated at St. Ali in South Melbourne, working out of both the cafe and cupping room. These are a few of my favourite shots.
Melbourne’s famous Meatball and Wine bar is home to some of Flinders Lane’s most mouth watering dishes, many of which I’ve been wanting to photograph and of course, devour. I recently got to shoot in there on an assignment for Est Magazine, which proved to be a fun challenge. Wanting to shoot naturally lit and in a tight and dim light space left me with very few options, but had me shooting (and contorting) in ways I seldom do, which was great for the result. The brief was simple : To capture a few moments during a meeting between Est Magazine’s Sian McPherson and the founders, James and Tamara, of boutique hotel guide and booking service, Mr & Mrs Smith. It was a lively interview, with many laughs and honest moments, something I love capturing in photographs. Here are a few of my favourite shots. You can read the full interview, here.
