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 was truly thrilled to be welcomed back to Phoot Camp 2012, a photographic retreat held in a new location every year and sponsored by the always awesome VIRB. I met some incredible new faces and was reunited with a fun group of creative photographers, all of whom I have come to call dear friends.  This year, Phoot Camp was held in upstate New York at Ashokan, and was followed by an exhibition in New York City as a part of Photoville.

I started out with few very loose ideas to shoot, but I consciously decided not to solidify them until I got there.  I really wanted to take on a different personal approach to finding the inspiration for my normal style of portrait work.  It wasn’t until the last day of camp that I realised that I wanted to shoot a series of portraits of “In-Between” moments.  Moments of distraction that get captured before, during and after the “main” photographs have been taken.  I called this series “In Their Shoes” and hope to continue to work on it, in the years to come.  Here are a few of my favourite shots from both the series and camp itself:

While I didn’t manage to do quite as much photo documentation as I had hoped, I was given a Lomokino camera from Lomography to play with, which I feel really captured the “Summer Camp” atmosphere pretty well.  This was shot over 5 rolls of 35mm film during some pretty fun times at Phoot Camp:

And another fun video of the camp from Garrett Cornelison:

And finally, I’d like to thank the most incredible Laura and Brad, our camp councellors, who made this year’s camp such an incredible one.

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.

(Big thanks to Lisa Weatherbee for designing the flyer!)

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:

pictorymag.com/showcases/phoot-camp-2012-roster/

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:

pictorymag.com/showcases/close-encounters-phoot-kind/

I’ve put together a few of my favourite shots from last year below, and you can see more here:

marklobo.com.au/phootcamp2011

And finally, one of my favourite videos from Paul Octavious, the faces of Phoot Camp 2011:

Photographically, it’s been a great year for me, both personally and professionally.  I worked with some amazing people, visited some incredible places and photographed some beautiful things. In no particular order, here are 11 images from my 2011.

I was invited back to attend Phoot Camp 2011 which saw 30 photographers road tripping from all around the United States towards Marfa, Texas.  This was from a stop at the beautiful White Sands, New Mexico.  Neil Berrett puts his body on the line for the sake of photography. Thanks Neil!

I photographed (and devoured) some of the most delicious dishes from Marriott Brisbane’s new restaurant, Motion bar and Grill. Delicious.

The saying “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” was put to the test, leaving my “big camera” at home and challenging myself with just my iPhone. As a result, I fell in love with Instagram.

This was one of the coolest projects I got to work on this year for Made In The Now.  Not only did I get to design and shoot the image for the shirt, but I was also lucky enough to be involved in it’s earlier stages with the t-shirt and model photography.

A huge mile stone for me was launching Von Vintage and it’s online store.  It was a side passion project that had me shooting on film again and intentionally slowing down my photographic process.  I had some great fun exhibiting this work.

I got involved with photographing a poster for Rise, a fundraiser for the Brisbane flood recovery efforts. I love the way it turned out and was happy to hear that the event raised over $10,000 for The Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.

One of my favourite shots that came from my visit to Japan was from Yamanakako, an area near Mt. Fuji where we used to visit every summer.  The crisp air greeted me with a flood of incredible memories from my childhood.

I was invited to climb Brisbane’s Story Bridge and bring my camera gear with me, giving me a refreshing and almost calming perspective of the city.

I felt the immense positivity that surrounded the “Together Brisbane” Campaign and was thrilled to see images that I shot for the campaign on billboards, bus shelters and even on the ground.

I shot some of my favourite photos at White Sands, this is the last photograph I shot there. It was a great afternoon. Cody had just captured a lightning strike on his instax, Nate Bolt started a really fun series and Neil did some epic dune jumping. It was no doubt one of the most beautiful highlights of the road trip.

And lucky last is a 3D image of Daniel Seung Lee, from a project I started called “Ghetto Stereo“. Using two disposable cameras side by side, I created a “Ghetto” stereoscopic 3D camera. I’m currently working on a new series using a “quadra lens” system.

Have a safe silly season everyone, and I hope to hear from you in the New Year!

One of the biggest highlights of last year was no doubt the opportunity to head over to Los Angeles to meet and hang out with some inspiring, creative minds at Phootcamp. This year, I’m doing it all again in Marfa, Texas!  As part of the application process, we had to shoot a self portrait (see last year’s here).  The portrait was inspired by everything I learned at last year’s camp and included a few recurring themes from other people’s photos! The shirt I’m wearing is inspired by this “Nate Bolt!” shirt by Steph Goralnick. The portrait has also been featured along with the many other talented Phoot Camp attendees here on Pictory, an always beautiful and inspiring website created by Phootcamp founder, Laura Miner.  I can’t wait to meet all the new faces and really dig deep into getting creative with such an awesome bunch of people!

Here’s a timelapse video of the creation of the shot!  It was all shot with speedlights, for a higher sync speed and water resistance! Thanks to Elleni, Toby and Michael for all their help!

Here are a few of my shots from Phoot Camp last year:

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 Jeweller – Jewellery 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!