Earlier in the year I photographed Field Trip Melbourne, a creative conference primarily for artists, illustrators and designers, brought to fruition as a collaboration between Australian Infront and The Jacky Winter Group. What I loved about it was the strong focus on practical demonstrations, rather than just slideshows and presentations that you usually get at most creative conferences. It was one of those days that left me totally inspired and had me constantly distracted by what the speakers were actually creating on stage. We heard from the ever inspiring Jacky Winter artists: Ben Sanders, Eamon Donnelly, Luke Lucas, Madeleine Stamer, Mimi Leung and Oslo Davis. With the next Field Trip event coming up at the end of the month in Sydney, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite photographs from Melbourne.
Field Trippers got some nice goodies from the sponsors. I love my Mail Chimp shirt. It’s so soft.
A long time inspiration of mine, Eamon Donnelly was one of the speakers. I shot this candid portrait of him during an interview with Saxall. It’s probably my favourite from the day:
I met Jeffrey Phillips, at the after party at Strange Wolf. He had drawn a bunch of people he came across that day, including one of the speakers, Madeleine Stamer:
If you’re in Sydney, you can check out the line up and get tickets to the next event on 30th August, here!
I’m pretty excited to be in great company, as one of the judges for the Yellow Pages, Capture the Cover competition. As a Melbourne based Photographer, I’ll be looking at how local residents capture the stories of their neighbourhoods in ways that only a local could. Be sure to check out the Capture the Cover website, for more info on how to enter, as well as a few video tips from myself and the other judges.
I’ve elaborated on my tips here, for photographers keen to get involved with the competition. These are all things that I think about when I shoot:
1) Don’t hesitate and don’t second guess yourself.
If you think something would look good as a photograph, take it. It’s quite easy to question yourself before taking a shot. Often, by the time we even think to take a photo, the moment has passed. Always having a camera close to you and not hesitating is key.
2) Break the rules.
We often hear about the rule of thirds, shooting with the light behind the camera, and correct exposures. However, there really are no rules in photography, only guides. Some of the best photographers in the world are the ones that experiment. Only through that do they achieve something fresh.
3) Know what you want.
Knowing what you want to capture, before you even hold up your camera, is a great way to improve your photography skills. It also encourages a photographer to think more on both a technical and creative level.
4) Anticipate and wait.
Photography can be a waiting game sometimes. We wait for the light to change, or a person to walk into frame. Don’t be afraid to stand somewhere for as long as it takes to capture the image that you really want.
5) Make the most of what you have.
What makes your point of view unique? Focus on that and take advantage of it. An iPhone can be at your side quicker than an SLR can and similarly, a rainy day can give a photograph just as much impact as it would on a sunny one.
6) Have fun!
If you shoot what you love and enjoy it, you eventually become ridiculously good at doing what you love. Find that niche, that subject that inspires and drives you. Some days you’ll find the photos almost take themselves.
I’ve recently started to actually schedule time into my “work week” and dedicate it to working on personal projects. Up until now, my attention was only really given to these projects when I had the time, usually when I was on a break or when convenient. I recently spent a day working on a new approach to photographing food, inspired by the food photography of artist Florent Tanet and photographs I had seen in contemporary food journal, The Gourmand.
After a few hours of experimenting with some fruit, I came up with these two shots. One, a more commercially styled and lit shot, and the other more fun and playful. I hope for this to be the beginnings of a new personal and frequent series of work, looking at food photography in a much more playful way. I’ve put together a few or my favourite food photography projects, here.
I collaborated with “Maker” Adam Head to create an artwork for Seven With Another. The exhibition brings together 14 artists, who are paired up into 7 unlikely teams to produce an artwork around a theme. Our theme was the number 6, hence the six sided cube.
In developing this piece, we sought to explore and express our shared aesthetic interests—ranging from vintage design to the creative application of optical illusion techniques.
Inspired by 3D lenticular prints (in which morphing effects are created by displaying different images as the print is viewed from different angles), this sculpture uses movement, light and reflection to offer a constantly changing visual experience that transitions though moments of clarity and chaos.
A further responsive element was introduced to lift the viewer’s experience from passive observer to an active participant in this process of change. Photographing the sculpture with a flash would trigger a flash from inside the cube, resulting in an explosive burst of light in the resulting photograph.
The next edition of Seven With Another opens Thursday 11 July 7pm at Brisbane Powerhouse.
Here are a few images from the exhibition and behind the scenes. You can also see the video in HD, here.
Michael is my former business coach and founder of Edgeware Entrepreneurship, an education and support system for ethical entrepreneurs. Through Edgeware, I’ve met the most inspiring of friends and through his coaching, have learned some invaluable lessons which I apply to both business and every day life. I wanted to tell a story of Michael’s humility and wisdom through these photographs and in his own words:
“I see in the diptych concept and the pictures you’ve chosen several layers, of framing and meaning. I like the recognition that people have kinda *distributed* identities. It reminds me of the conversation we had on what makes a photographer a photographer ;-)”
We spent the morning shooting a few studio and natural light set ups. Then walked out into a cold wintery morning to make the most of Melbourne’s beautiful light at Carlton Gardens.
I had the honour of photographing Dicko recently, in creating a set of imagery to be used for Watercooler Talent and Media, a company which he co-founded. Although Dicko is probably most well know as the “bastard judge” on Australian Idol, I could not have worked with a more friendly and easy going person. To top it off he later told me I shot some of the best portraits he’s ever had. This is one of my favourite photographs from the day.
I’ve shared a few of these images before, but with the new site design and a proper project section in the works I’ve finally got a place to put them together as a set! These are a few portraits from a fun personal project I’ve been working on and am hoping to start up again here in Melbourne. The series looks at the comically tragic stories behind a number of teachers from around the world. See the full series (to date) and their back stories, here (or click through on their photo).
I teamed up with the good people at Underbrand to create the photographic content and food photography for Sofitel Brisbane’s magazine, Enchanté. Here are a few of my favourite photographs and tear sheets.
This is Paul, a friend and photographer based out of Chicago. He’s a photographer that never fails to inspire me with his knack for creating stunning photographs with a certain beautiful simplicity that will have you kicking yourself, wondering why you never thought of it first. I photographed Paul as a part of my photographic series called, “In Their Shoes“, which looks at these honest moments of distraction that get captured before, during and after the “main” photographs have been taken.
I’ve been a big fan of Creative Mornings talks since seeing the inspiring Laura Miner, founder of Phoot Camp, speak on the topic of “Why We Work“. Last week I was asked to capture the Melbourne event, featuring Beci Orpin, who spoke about happiness and running her own race. Here are a few of my favourite moments from the event. You can check out the full set on flickr, here.
I just got back from a short trip to Melbourne and surrounds where I’ll soon be making my new home. I’ve put together a few images from the trip, in chronological order. Taken on both my DSLR and iPhone, this is what I saw.
It’s been such an incredible year, with fun new projects, exhibitions, new friends, travel and amazing new clients. I’ve put together a wrap up of my top 12 from 2012. And of course, I had to post it on 12.12.12 at 12:12.
Matt Tucker – I helped Matt Tucker document his beautiful tattoos by renowned Japanese tattoo artist, Horiyasu. The final product was an incredible large framed print on metallic paper. It was truly rewarding to work on this passion project with Matt and produce something that he truly loved.
New Zealand – My birthday weekend was spent in Auckland, New Zealand, taking photos and playing tourist in such an incredibly photogenic country.
Phoot Camp 2012 – I caught up with old friends and made many new ones at Phoot Camp 2012 followed by an exhibition in New York. It was truly one of the highlights of the year, with a trip to San Francisco, Chicago and Boston thrown in! The trip also inspired a new personal series of mine, titled “In their shoes“.
Darren Lockyer – Rugby league legend Darren Lockyer sat for his portrait for an editorial piece I photographed for WISH magazine. It was inspiring to work with someone so accomplished, yet so humble and authentic in character.
Finders Keepers Melbourne – I’ve started to focus on working out of both Melbourne and Brisbane. The Finders Keepers Markets, which I also shot in Melbourne a few years back was impressive in scale, as was the beautiful light that hit everything inside the venue.
IPPA award – My obsession with capturing moments on my phone actually paid off (well, slightly), with two of my Instagram photos getting two honourable mentions in the 6th annual iPhone photography awards.
Mark Visser – Sand filled my camera gear as I spent a morning on the beach photographing big wave surfer Mark Visser, most notably known for his death cheating big wave ride at night, which earned him the nick name “Night Rider”.
Von Vintage – I took my Von Vintage work on a road trip to exhibit at analogue gallery, Strip of a Lifetime, in Newcastle. This is a video from opening night.
Go Health – Billboards around the city started to fill up with my work with Go Health Gyms and Big Fish. Seeing work appearing larger than life always invokes an odd, giddy feeling of excitement in me that never gets old.
Foot Locker – I worked on a few Footlocker campaigns in Melbourne and Brisbane with the Famous Group. I ws thrilled to see this Summer campaign finally hit the stores and I can’t wait to see the results from the other shoots.
Sofitel – I worked with Sofitel and Underbrand to create imagery for their new magazine, Enchanté. I shot some delicious looking food photography and got some great city views.
Seven with Another – I teamed up with talented “Maker”, Adam Head, to collaborate on a project for art exhibition, Seven With Another. We created a large spinning cube that would fill the room with light when triggered by the flash of a camera. I’m working on a side project with this piece, which I’ll share soon.
Stay safe and have a great holiday season everyone! I’m looking forward to an even better 2013!
I had the honor of photographing Mark Visser for an editorial piece for United Airlines’ inflight magazine, Hemispheres. Mark is an Australian big wave Surfer, most notably known for successfully riding at the infamous ‘Jaws’ break in Maui… at night. It was truly inspiring to meet and work with such a highly motivated athlete. The assignment was to capture a range of images documenting Mark’s intense training regimen, which I could barely keep up with, with a camera! This was then followed by a range of portraits both in the water and on the beach to cover a good range of options to use in the editorial. Here are a few of the images from the shoot as well as some of the magazine itself.
Here is some footage of Mark Visser riding a big wave at night:
Many thanks to Cody Austin, who generously sent me copies of the mag, all the way from Texas. Thanks so much! 🙂
I’ve been photographing the Finders Keepers Markets since they first came to Brisbane in 2009. It’s always fun to spend a day walking around checking out what people have been creating and saying “hi” to a lot of familiar faces. Earlier this month, I flew down to Melbourne to photograph their Spring markets in the very impressive Royal Exhibition Building. Here are a few of my favourite shots from the weekend.
It’s been a busy, but fun few months with a lot of travel, exhibiting and exciting new jobs. One of my recent highlights was working with The Famous Group to shoot this summer campaign for Foot Locker. The shots are now up in-store promoting Foot Locker’s latest summer collection.
A good friend of mine, Lani recently came across a beautiful vintage hire shop and analog art gallery in Newcastle called, “Strip of a Lifetime“. She instantly thought of my Von Vintage project and urged me to get in touch. I checked them out and fell in love. The shop is home to an original coin operated 1960’s photo-booth and their tagline is, “Dedicated to the preservation of the Vintage Photography Experience”, one of the driving forces behind the Von Vintage project.
The space itself is supported by Renew Newcastle which aims to provide unused spaces to artists, cultural projects and community groups. I couldn’t think of a more like minded endeavor to get Von Vintage involved with. So after exchanging a few emails with owner, Paula Birch, I’ll be road tripping down to Newcastle to exhibit my work on the 27th of September! Opening night will be a part of the Renew Newcastle’s Spring City Walk, which I am very excited to be a part of. And I couldn’t have asked for a better time to be in Newcastle, the exhibition also coincides with the This Is Not Art festival!
Please help spread the word, or drop in if you are in, or able to get to Newcastle! Hope to see you there!
The details:
When: Thursday, 27 September 2012, 4- 7pm
Where: Strip of a Lifetime – Analog Art Gallery
Shop 20, Food Court Level, Market Square, 119 Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle, Australia
Earlier in the year, I worked with the inspiring team at Spur Projects to shoot a video for their latest campaign, “Better If You’re Around“. The video takes a look at the life choices of a young man with the hope to encourage young people to take the first step in talking about depression. It was an honour to work with such a solid and motivated team, shooting over just two days in locations all over Brisbane. I’m so pleased to see that the video has making the rounds online and was even played on Channel 10 News last night. I’m humbled to have been able to be a part of it. Please take the time to watch and share this video as well as support the campaign through Pozible. For more information on taking the first steps towards starting that “tough conversation” visit: www.softenthefckup.com
Crew:
Producer – Lee Crockford
Director – Leah Sanderson
Assistant Director – Chrissie Nowland
Cinematographer – Mark Lobo
Lighting – Hamish Clift
Hair and Makeup – Gemma Elaine
Cast:
Rick Mitchell
Alex Valentine
James Gauci
Finn Foulds-Cook
Mia Carey
Music:
When Will – The Trouble with Templeton
Special Thanks – Damon Klotz, Ehon Chan, Sabrina, Angela and Michael Foulds-Cook, Melinda Carey, & the pensioners whose names we never learnt…
If you’re in New York City, come and check out some of the work that myself and a group of 35 incredible photographers from Phoot Camp have put together. The show is a part of “Photoville” and will include over 30 shipping containers, housing work from around the world. Head over to Pier 3 at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo to see the amazing work that came out of this weekend of 35 photographers taking over a summer camp, but stay for the rest of Photoville: a beer garden, dog run, shipping container-sized camera obscura, and exhibits from our heroes like The New York Times and Magnum.
Try to make it on the 22nd when most of us will be there, but if not, stop by anytime before July 1st to see the show.
I’m excited to say that I’ll be heading back to Phoot Camp 2012, a photographic creative retreat held in a different location every year. This time it’s being held in upstate New York! The image above was shot for my self portrait application. Here are all the beautiful faces of the other photographers that I’ll be joining:
Last year, I was lucky enough to be invited back to join 30 incredibly talented photographers at Phoot Camp. Taking place in Marfa, Texas, the road trip there was an amazing part of the journey and spending time with an RV full of keen photographers was definitely a highlight. Check out the story of Phoot Camp 2011 here:
I recently photographed Australian Rugby League legend, Darren Lockyer on a shoot for Wish Magazine, a publication available through “The Australian” newspaper focusing on “The best of Everything”. The story looks at Darren in his new role as HEAT Architecture Ambassador and was photographed in the lobby of Santos place, designed by Brisbane Architecture firm, Donovan Hill. It was a big shoot for me and really wanted to come out with a few solid images that the publication could use. I even ended up scouting the location twice, just to make sure I could fill the space with the right light and had access to everything I needed on the day! I was thrilled to see that the hard work payed off and that the selected image was used as a full page spread!
Here are a few images from the shoot and the publication:
