GreavesArt

John and Sharon Pre Wedding Shoot

2013-05-06T03:55:00.001-07:00

When we shoot a couples wedding, we love to catch up and go through the small details about the day a couple of weeks prior to the wedding. John and Sharon could only catch up in the evening, so we went out and had a bit of fun taking their pre wedding photos afterwards.

They were both so willing to have their photos taken, it was fun trying some different things!

John loves his new car, so a little light graffiti was in order!

Can't wait for their big day coming up next weekend!!

Tash

2012-10-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

It's always a good day when Derek McClure and myself organise what we call our 'PhotoBinge' photoshoots. We basically do a last minute shout out to people who are creative and/or photogenic and offer a 'free' shoot just to test out new gear and techniques. Last weeks special guest was Tash, who I've known for about 4 years, but we've never had the luxury of working together. She's a keen photographer herself, so she knew how to fall right into the moment.... which is very refreshing for a photographer.

The dresses are courtesy of The Retro Clothing Company which can be viewed by clicking on their name for their Facebook page or here for their website.

We love working with different people so if you're interested in a possible future project or PhotoBinge, please feel free to email me your ideas!

Please check out Derek's blog here for his amazing images. We both have similar yet completely different styles which seem to cross over and intertwine every time we shoot together. In fact, if there's one person who I am completely comfortable shooting with and respect it's Derek.

Knights Beach

2012-09-28T00:32:00.002-07:00

If you've ever had a love/hate relationship with someone or something, I'm sure you'll understand mine.

18years ago I ventured out to surf this extremely dangerous wave on a bodyboard.

Both myself and my brother almost drowned after trying to catch one wave..... Such it is with everyone who surfs Knights Beach for the first time.

As far as waves go, this is as fickle as they come, hence the love/hate relationship. For years it can be so fussy with either wind, swell size/period, sand and tides that it very rarely breaks how it should- with what we call wedges. The waves hit the rocks and rebound back down the beach to double the size of the faces of the waves creating wide and thick barrels (also known as tubes).

I have an album on Facebook called 'Bay of Silent Voices' which might sound a bit weird for some people, and that's ok.... but most of the images are of this place. This beach is more than just a beach for me, it's a second home. After sleeping on the beach and in the car, having camp fires, countless positive and negative experiences since I was 15 years old- even when I'm the only one here, the silent voices of the past still speak to me, and that's why no matter how annoyed I can be with the place I still have a deep sense of respect and love for it.

If you think they're dangerous looking waves, you're right. I have almost broken my neck and back many times, while others weren't as lucky. It is a vicious shorebreak, but incredible when it's good. Above Aaron does an Invert- and yes, he got very hurt doing this......

I've tried to shoot the place a little differently, finding that it's not always the biggest of best waves that look interesting. The image above is a good example of how strange the break can get, with big lumps of water rolling around in different directions. After a few years of surfing it you kind of get used to how it works.... But one never really tames it.

These photos cannot do the place justice.... in fact, the photos make it look half the size of what it actually is. Get the timing wrong and you could break your neck. And while you're holding several thousands of dollars worth of camera in your hand, the last thing you want is for one of these bad boys to land on your head!

I'm often asked if I surf (I can't think why) and the answer is always 'yes'... but I am one of the rare ones who rides both a surf board and bodyboard, and enjoy both equally.... but in Adelaide South Australia, when we finally get waves and the right conditions, there's only one place I head straight for- and the surfboard gets the back seat- because if Knights is pumping I want to be out there- with either a bodyboard or a camera.

We may be a bunch of characters and strange blokes, but there's one thing for sure, the blokes I see out there may only be once a year, but we all have the same thing in common- the love/hate relationship with our tiny little bay. Conversation is always warm (unless someone new doesn't understand the pecking order) and you can always count on a chat while you wait for the sets.

Unfortunately to really get a good shot- I need to be in waves that scare me- if I'm not scared I don't really want to bother taking out the camera. So although the photos I've taken over the years are kind of ok- I want bigger and better waves.... It's actually kind of unquenchable you know?

Approximately 20 years ago- I saw a photo of Knights Beach for the first time in a Riptide Magazine Annual taken by legendary photographer Mike Holiday of a bloke named Nick Saunders catching a (what I thought was) huge wave and looking towards the shore. It both frightened me and excited me at the same time...... In fact, if it wasn't for photos like that I probably would never have been inspired to keep bodyboarding. In fact, it's because of surfing that I started to take photos in the first place.... Mike Holiday has passed on now, but if I could thank him for paving the way for my future career I would.

Well 20 years later here's Nick Saunders again doing the same thing...... Only this time it's me who took the photo.... Proud moment.

If you're ever in Port Elliott- check it out. And drop by the bakery on the way home, best sausage rolls you'll ever buy!

Justin and Liana

2012-09-22T04:12:00.000-07:00

Justin and Liana are good friends of mine who have recently undertaken a fantastic journey of redeveloping an art studio in my favourite town of South Australia- Port Elliott.

The Surreal Art shop has been running for some years now but they are currently revamping the place. I caught up with them today to see how it was all going and took a few shots of them preparing the shop for the launch, coming up in October..

I will be involved with the project down the track, so I'll keep you posted on what's happening soon!

Rachel and Hannah

2012-08-14T05:25:00.002-07:00

I have this little spot.... I wait all year for it..... then it blooms.... for a few weeks..... then I wait again.... for another whole year. Last week I was stoked to be able to shoot with great friends, Rachel and Hannah. We had so much fun, it was fantastic to just relax and play around! No fancy make up, no deadline, no purpose, other than to just hangout and get some shots..... These guys are awesome!

The Written Blog

2012-08-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

10 years ago I decided to write every day..... I held to that conviction for many, many years..... Until my wife Christine went to the Philippines about a year ago, and my writing began to decline. Writing was so second nature it was part of my life, but why had I stopped? Why had it become a chore?

Because of some personal issues I started to devalue what I thought my life was worth.... and it sapped me of the energy required for writing. Photography was a safe place to hide- a creative outlet helping me to focus on others and avoid the issues I had with myself.

In the last year or so, a complete turn around has renewed and re-energized me to the point where I now feel like I actually have something to offer the world again, and though I don’t feel like writing every day yet- I’m realizing that there are a few lessons I want to express or leave behind that can’t be expressed through my photography.

I love Philosophy (which means ‘the love of wisdom’) and deep thinking, but I also love the two-way-ness of discussion which can only be brought about by sitting with someone in person. I can’t stand the way the internet forums can bring arguments and fruitless debates where everyone wants to express their opinion, but doesn’t want to listen to others. Things are taken out of context- or conversely context isn’t given at all........ leaving everyone annoyed and unheard and even more bitter!!

Hence my reluctance to actually write a blog or some kind of online message.

Tonight I have decided to step over the line- and enter the world of online writing, joining the masses. Will I be understood? Probably not... will people think I’m even weirder than they used to? Possibly..... But I write for the hope that at least one person may breath easier tomorrow for having read what I have to say.

And so The Elaboration begins!

If you’ve made it this far I’m stoked... stoked that you think I may have something of value to say- enough to spend a couple of minutes of your busy life to enter the often misunderstood head of Luke Greaves.

I write because this week- some people I care about knew someone who died- who took their own life..... because someone else told me of abuse, which effects them years later.... because someone else who.........

You can fill in the blanks. The list goes on.

There are so many hurt people out there- whom I so desperately want to see themselves as someone of worth- as someone with insurmountable potential and value.

I started photography to supplement working in a job that doesn’t pay well. I have the privilege of working for the love of a job... not money..... but alas, I also have a family- who I love more than life itself.

That’s six mouths to feed.

My job in the school has meant sacrificing the comforts of a normal 9-5 wage, and probably close to $100,000 extra which I could have earned in my old job over the years. But because of the financial pressure I was forced to find some other source of income to keep me in the school. So I started my own photography business, working on weekends and into the late hours of the night.

What an amazing introduction to the life of business!

But now that my taste for entrepreneurship has been sparked, I’ve had to reluctantly make some decisions. One of them is to move on from my school, and move my whole family to another region in order to begin a new phase of our life together. I will be selling my house and stepping out into the unknown. A very hard conclusion to make.

At the same time there are some things I do know- I will be studying business and beginning new ventures through both photography and public speaking, which along with writing is my other passion, and probably the thing I do best.

My vision for photography will still be the same- only I am wanting to launch into a whole new way of going about it. I will be cutting out the superficial work and focus on the more meaningful jobs.

Because I’m seeing how so absolutely precious life is...

How precious people are...

How short life is.

I’m asking myself more and more- what’s the point?

What’s the point?

When I do things- what’s the point? What message am I trying to convey?

And there’s so many out there who need to see themselves in the image they were meant for, and writing and public speaking is how I would love to do this. I’ve tried to be as positive as I can with my photography- I have an album called ‘Champions’ on Facebook- and another one called ‘Images of the Invisible’ which was inspired by one of my favorite bands- Thrice.

The song goes like this-

“We’re more than carbon and chemicals,

We are the image of the Invisible.”

And another verse

“We were lost now we are found,

No one can stop us or slow us down.

We are the named and we are known,

We never will, never walk alone.”

‘Champions’ was for those who have given so much to me- I just wanted to acknowledge them and affirm them- which some people only for others once they’re in the grave. ‘Images of the Invisible’ is a complete random group of portraits that would show completely different people from all walks of life- but they all have one thing in common....

Ears and eyes......... *

The connectedness of knowing we’re valuable in a community is so intrinsically human- without it we feel alone and disconnected.

Unvalued.

I hope to be an agent of change in this area- and for the last few years I had a dream of starting something called ‘Ministry of Creativity’- which was going to be an avenue to use creative gifts to inspire others to do the same..... that dream is slowly becoming a reality.

Beginning next year.......

So I will be doing photos, videos, blogs, writing and illustrating to get the message out there that everyone is valuable and creative.

But most of all, that they have something the world needs........

And that is them.

So for me, I feel like this new transition into the unknown (yet strangely known) is like the bride in the photo at the top..... I was hoping you were confused as to why I put that in.... even more- I was hoping you had no idea what was going on in the photo at all.

The bride stepping off the ledge.... the mystery..... yet the assuredness that everything is going to be ok, even if we don’t know how we’re going to do it- or how we will land...

What if we fail?

What if we’re making the biggest mistake of our lives?

All questions I’ve had to ask myself.... over and over....

And over....

But I’ve come to the conclusion that living the safe path isn’t always the best choice.

The best choice is to go for the dreams- and if we fail- go for another...

Fail again?

Then get back up, shake the dust off and try again.

I hope to start another page or blog just for writing- I want to keep it separate from my photography business- so tonights blog was more to give you a little sample of some of the writing I will do......

Exciting times ahead!

Luke

*Ears to hear and eyes to see- yes that was meant to be thought provoking!

Wolverine

2012-07-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

Scott had been spending months preparing for a costume party- so I offered to take some pre-party photos for him..... As you can see we had fantastic results! Scott is also a photographer (and a darn good one at that) so we both threw in ideas and bounced off each other getting a good synergy.

The above photo was my favourite- the low key backlighting conceals that he's not the famous actor... but this would make for a good poster anyway.

The above photo was a last minute experiment that I liked... I've kept the post processing to a minimal due to time restraints.

Scott prepared for months so his blades looked awesome.

The cigar was fun- but stank out my studio- and on facebook I wanted to express that we both don't like smoking at all- this was purely for the character portrayal.

Overall- if I could do something like this every weekend, I would be a happy man.... spending time being creative, with no agenda and with a great bloke to bounce ideas off is healthy for a photographers soul!

Tif and Warrick

2012-07-23T02:10:00.003-07:00

Port Power Fundraiser

2012-06-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Talent Company are an amazing group of of talented people who specialise in dance and entertainment. I went to shoot for their show during the Port Power Fundraiser. It was a great night.

The Mods vs Rockers dance was awesome!!

The Beatles Tribute band rocked out, even I didn't see the young lady try to storm the stage, but somehow still managed to get a shot!

I was chatting to these two above just before they went out on stage, they told me they'd give me a signal so I knew when they were going to do the Shimmy...... I love it!

Port Power Club President Brett Duncanson

Lucinda

2012-06-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Model- Lucinda Nicholas

Make Up- Lauren Parkinson

Hair- Anita Johns

Photographer- Luke Greaves

Bridal Dress - Paolo Sebastian

Formal Dress - Charli Rose @ Port Norlunga- Designer Anna Campbell

These images were taken for belleZar who were having their commercial shot at the time. The whole team were busy, but awesome and very good to work with.

Peter, Sarah and Lily

2012-06-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

Peter is a fantastic bloke with a beautiful wife and daughter! Originally we were going to do a shoot for his wife Sarah's big pregnant belly, however there was movement at the station a month early and little Lily (the couples first born) came into this world a healthy 6 pounds. So Derek McClure and myself went to visit them to take some shots. It was a great night and we enjoyed their company.

Congrats guys!

A Shift in Format

2012-05-28T03:43:00.000-07:00

I have been a little quiet of late! May has been a bit of a Sabbatical for my business in regards to paid work, with only a few shoots. So I've been able to spend time with both my family and friends.

I have also been able pursue the art side of my craft, which still centres around portraits of course, with the newest member to the Greaves Art company.

Friends, meet Bron, my new Bronica Medium Format camera.

I have been shooting with 35mm film for years, and after a recent display on Facebook in my '35mm Goodness' album I thought it was time to 'up the anti' and move into Medium Format. This desire was confirmed by good friend and professional photographer Stuart Quinn. Stu dared me to begin my MF quest, and because it was my birthday I heeded his challenge and went out and invested in the Bronica.

Is it the best MF camera? Definitely not. I wanted something that I can at least change the lenses and the backs. The Bronica was an affordable option, so if I think this is a direction I want to take my art, I'll invest in something like a Hassleblad or Mamiya down the track.

It was a huge paradigm shift to even load the bigger 120 film in this bad boy, let alone take images!

I was very careful with every photo I took, and I'll even confess my ignorance at how to take off the back of the camera. I was trying to put on a Polaroid back at a studio I was visiting and forgot which latch to undo, and accidentally exposed half the role....... talk about amateur!

Most photos take me several minutes to get the exposures and composition correct, using either an iPhone with a light meter app or a digital camera. The lens is a 75mm f2.8, so it's equivalent to a 50mm length and f1.4 depth of field in a full frame digital camera. Unless you're out doors you need a tripod to shoot, as the camera shutter slaps so hard you get some crazy camera shake.

The image above was snuck in during a Derek McClure shoot I was videoing, I asked if I could take a photo of Luke Ceko (one of our favourite men to shoot with) with Bron. As you can see, it's a very different look to digital.

The image above is my mate Joel. I went to visit him at his work site, and asked if I could take a portrait of him quickly. His crew hung out in the background so I thought this would work for the image, as you can see I was a little wonky with my composition. It was shot at f2.8 so it was a little overexposed.

Each shot costs around $2-$3 so I'm pretty selective at this stage who I shoot with. Once I master it I'm sure I'll be a little more liberal with my shots.

This image was outside just after shooting Joel's. Simon is an old mate who just happened to be visiting the work site the same time as me. I wanted to test out the depth of field, so I asked him to stand back a little and draw in some more of the background above him (I like negative space). It was also shot at f2.8 at 500th of a second which is the maximum speed of Bron.

So am I happy with the results? For my own intense OCD'ness absolutely not. For my first time using the camera and film I'm ok with the effort however. I'm looking forward to using my next 3 films which are black and white, and then in a month or so, I am really looking forward to developing the images in the darkroom again. First time in about 17 years! Keep an eye out!

A Drive with Tom

2012-04-30T04:27:00.001-07:00

I look at landscape photographers who take lots and lots of landscapes and seascapes.... and think....

'Man that's the life'

But there's usually something missing in their shots that I want to see......

A person....

When I drive on my own I think, 'look how beautiful this spot is, if only I had someone to take a photo of here! Well one day I did. And that person is Tom.

Tom Tilbury.

Nothing amazing in the location, but we pulled over and Tom let me take a photo. It was a good day, fun surf and plenty of conversation. Thanks for the day Tom!

Click on the photo to see it larger, I did a little more editing than normal, coz that's what Landscape crew do ;)

Band Shoot- GMF

2012-04-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

GMF

I was shooting GMF live last year and was instantly impressed with both their energy and stage presence. They are young, but not inexperienced.

Lead singer Steph goes off while she sings....

We hooked up the shoot at a location I was familiar with (I'm ok with double dipping) and I could tell after only a few short minutes we would be having fun together. As a photographer, it's an absolute pleasure to work with people that have just as many ideas for shots as you.

(Above) Dani the drummer was awesome to shoot with!

The promo shoot was easily the most fun I've ever had with a band, they all enjoy themselves and are completely comfortable in front of the camera.

They have spent some time travelling over seas with their music already, and eagerly await more trips. They're hoping to go to Cambodia next year for a tour.....

Josh is a champion and joined the band 7 years ago.

(Above) I liked that these guys asked me if they could do this shot before I asked them..... yet another part of their character I loved.

It was a great opportunity for me to also experiment with some new equipment, they also provided their own lovely assistant for me, who was very helpful with my equipment and even gave us a few ideas.

The spot above was one of those places you wish you could shoot for hours..... unfortunately we were attacked by flying horses with daggers for mouths (commonly known as mosquitoes). In all my years of travelling to remote locations I've never encountered such militant mozzies! These shots were taken in the seconds we could spare in between scratching and swatting our predators. I was even bitten through my clothes.... not cool!

I can't wait to see where these guys end up in a few years, definitely worth keeping an eye on them for sure.

Thanks for the great day GMF, it was awesome working with you! Luke

D800 Review No.2

2012-03-27T03:16:00.001-07:00

Well after using the new D800 for the first time I am both really excited and really nervous at the same time. I was wrong about two things in my previous post...... It performs really well in low light- to my surprise. The huge 36.3 megapixel count did not make a difference with digital noise- it was amazing even at ISO 1600- though I confess I haven't tried it past that.

I was also wrong about the size of the images, the RAW files come out to 45mb per image roughly. Way bigger than what I thought they would...... meaning huge amounts of storage space will be needed.

Joel Durbridge (of Dub Photography) is first to have his portrait shot.

I am nervous, because of the incredible detail of the camera. I use f1.4 lenses, and the slightest little out-of-focus shots will be so obvious it's not funny- there's no hiding mistakes with this bad boy. Ha ha.

Landscape photographers will be amazed. Portrait photographers will see every pore on the skin- so there may be a little work in post production to soften the skin.

Below is a test shot for a quick skate shot we wanted to do. Joel wont like this I'm sure, but the purpose of the shoot was for a project we're working on, so I had to use reject photos.

What's interesting is all the shots aren't edited in colour or sharpness.... yet they are perfectly clear.

Several shots wouldn't work because of the low light with a portrait setting. I recommend the 3D tracking auto focus, or the subject will be ridiculously out of focus. I did find it a little out on a few shots in the low light.

Overall the camera is simply stunning so far. I will not use it for every shoot I do, or I wouldn't be able to store all the images. But for special shoots this camera will produce amazing images.

The video is simply stunning- below is a quick fun shot as we walked up to the above location. Nothing special, but compared to my old camera, the video is incredible. Half the reason I wanted the D800 was so I could dabble in video.... but again, even this shot of only a few seconds was 37mb in size... ha ha sorry Joel, I'm not making you look very good in this blog!

Yes I need work with my video focussing..... ;) and the Blog has taken away almost all of the quality, this video doesn't reflect it at all. I'll upload to Vimeo or something soon once I have some quality footage.

D800 Review!

2012-03-25T22:54:00.003-07:00

I literally just walked in the door with my brand new Nikon D800. I took it out of the box, put on my 85mm and decided to take one photo and do a review. Here it is!

I took this through my dirty window, at f8- so that it would be sharp through much of the tree, but still blurry enough to bokeh a little (blurry background). It was shot at 160th of a second. If you click on the image you will see the incredible quality. But it's only once you zoom in you will see how incredible this 36.3 megapixel camera is. This photo is the only one I've taken at the time of writing this. You can tell I'm pretty excited... enough to share it with the world before I even learn how to really use the camera!

The image was shot in JPG at Large size in Normal quality- 10mb in size. So it isn't even the highest quality- and it is not in RAW- I'm thinking the Raw files will be around 25mb each!

Here is a crop of the same image, as you can see the branch on the right side in the middle is still really sharp even when cropping it in that much.

On my other camera (which is still amazing by the way) the Nikon D700 (12 megapixels) I can only crop so much before the image becomes really pixely, but as you can see below, though a lot of image clarity has been lost- this crop is only a small percentage of the original image- and there is still plenty of resolution.

I've only taken one photo, but I am already impressed. I mainly shoot people (with a camera anyway- I don't do bullets) but the image quality of this camera will be perfect for outdoors and studio work.

The large amount of megapixels is not good for low light, so I wouldn't recommend it for the aspiring wedding photographers out there for a first camera- I would go the D700. But for a second wedding camera or fashion photographer, landscape or studio photographer this camera is perfect.

It's only 5 frames per second so I wouldn't recommend it for sports either. Can't wait to get out there and really use it! I'm trialling it for video tonight, so I'll let you know how that goes soon!

Photographers, Videographer and Shark Alley

2012-03-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

I've known them all for years, but we'd never all hung out at the same time.... up until Saturday.

Above- Joel Durbridge- Photographer- Dub Photo

Below- Ben Goode- Photographer- Earth Art

Below- Brad Halstead- Videographer

The idea was to get some shots of the very rare break Shark Alley, and hopefully whatever else we could. Both Ben and Joel are landscape and seascape photographers- me.... I take photos of people. It didn't take me long to find my niche, when I would go shooting with landscape photographers, and I would rather take photos of them taking photos.....

We were also having a play with the new Canon 5DmkIII that Brad brought along. I was more impressed with the 24mm f1.4 lens he brought with it.

Above- Joel takes an image of the sunrise . Click here to see his work

Both Ben and Joel are amazing photographers, who I respect muchly, it was good to watch them apply their craft.

Below, Ben only moments later taking his shot, using filters. Click here to see his work

Shark Alley is not my favourite place in the area to surf- let alone take thousands of dollars worth of camera gear out to take photos. In fact, it took me years before I could muster up the guts to actually paddle the 15 mins to get to the little island where the waves break only a handful of times a year.

Normally when I shoot water I paddle out with my camera, wetsuit and a pair of flippers and that's it- but at Shark Alley- I know I wouldn't make it swimming without a board- so I paddle with a board with my camera on it.

Above- I waited for a couple of other surfers before paddling out alone- after the recent shark sighting I wasn't keen to paddle by myself- being honest.

Above- Karl Morgan snags a nice one.

Below- Brad paddled out before me and scored a couple of waves.

I was out for about 20mins, I only took a couple of shots before a wave took my board from me (my leash was broken) and I had to paddle in to get it. The spot is so far out to sea, I didn't know if I should paddle back to Victor Harbour and take the couple of Kilometre walk back to the Bluff where we were parked, or paddle back around the break. I chose to paddle around- it took about 20mins plus to paddle back and because I had to use my legs instead of my arms (my camera had to rest on the board so I couldn't lean forward) I had severe cramps just as I made it back- just as well I didn't lose my board all together- or it would have been nasty.

Shark Alley is the sort of place I don't really mind if I get amazing shots or not- I'm just always stoked to return alive and uninjured, that's enough for me- this trip was a double bonus.

Another great photographer is Michael Gee- here Brad holds his picture- click here for a link to some shots from Michaels work.

The Coolest Wedding

2012-02-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

As I sat and chatted to Edie and Ricky about their upcoming wedding, I knew we were in for a fantastic day. Little did I know how amazing the photos would actually turn out. Edie is a huge Film Noir fan, and I'm a fan of doing everything different to everyone else, so it was the perfect combo for their wedding day!

Preperation wasn't like other weddings, discussing small details, it was nutting through images of old movies that could capture her passion. The above image was my favourite, and I reluctantly put it up on the internet because I know how us photographers can copy each others ideas, but I couldn't resist!

The whole day turned out to be quite an adventure, the rain made it almost impossible to drive but I was stoked to get some completely different photos to what I normally do.....

So will Film Noir wedding photos be my new Genre? Absolutely not. I love it, but I don't want to go down that path of making all my work the same, be it vintage, traditional or modern (though all good) but I seek to draw out whatever the person is passionate about and constantly progress as an artist. Would I do a Film Noir style wedding again? Only if my client was really, really into it.

My assistant and second shooter was Derek McClure, who did a fantastic job!

This post is to coincide with the launching of our new business page on Facebook, please click the link below and 'like' to support us, and if you're really supportive- ask your mates to 'like' it as well!

Greaves Art on Facebook

A Thousand Words

2012-02-11T02:47:00.000-08:00

As a photographer I always seek to better my skills, well that's kind of obvious isn't it? But I've been battling lately with the concept of writing along with my images. Much advice has come from many a great photographer who has a different opinion about the topic, and I highly regard their opinions with upmost respect.

With every form of art, there comes a time when the artist can stick to what they know, the unspoken (or more likely spoken) rules, or veer off into the unknown of self expression.

I'm often told much "A picture speaks a thousand words" and believe it wholly. But there's another side of me that loves to paint a picture in peoples minds with a thousand words. The other side of the spectrum. Some of the most influencing artists in my life have not been with a brush or a camera, but with words.

Words are beautifully powerful. They can make or break lives.

As a photographer, I'm learning to learn and unlearn the so called 'Rules' all the time. Take this picture above for example- in the past I would've thought, crop it, take out all the distractions, get the shadows brighter, use a brighter flash to bring some detail into the window view, loose the front door, blah, blah blah blah blah.

If I did all that, I wouldn't be seeing this whole picture... I'd be missing a story, a sense of who this man is in his environment. I could've asked him to close his jacket, sit up and pose with his arm on his chin etc etc etc. But I just wanted him to be him.....

As a photographer I think rules, please the crowds.... please the fellow artists who think the image should be the only thing that speaks....

But as an artist, which is what I am before a photographer- I think "It's time to tell the stories... with words... with pictures.. with movies, with whatever means to convey the awesome lives I meet and stories I hear.

I like this picture, I like the distractions- I like people and their distractions...

Underwater Action

2012-01-26T01:57:00.000-08:00

The joys of photography when you're not working for a client is amazing. I love working with clients, it's an honour to be hired for different reasons and giving them images they can keep the rest of their lives. But I originally started photography to capture images of the ocean, some 17 years ago.

So every now and then I love to just experiment and enjoy photography for the reason I started it. This day I went for a surf with an amazing seascape photographer Joel Durbridge. We speak of our crafts often, which are completely different, but our similarities are the ocean and waves. So we decided to take our cameras out into the ocean to experiment. My experimenting proved unsuccessful by my own standards, but it was awesome to watch Joel in action. It's amazing how differently we do things, but I can learn so much from him. We were also joined by a great bloke and fellow photographer Mike Hemus. Mike is the bloke doing a backflip in the photos above.

We went around the cliffs to a cave, where you can swim through. Below is a photo of Mike daring to swim through first. He popped out the other end in about 10 seconds, so I thought I would try taking the camera through. Mike didn't take a camera in his hand.

I had a huge muscle cramp in my left leg only 15mins earlier while diving under water, so I was a little worried about trying the tunnel, but you know I'd be soft if I didn't do it, so I was next. Little did I realise that the housing with my camera would make it harder to swim because of the air. It took me about 20 seconds before I saw the end of the tunnel, my leg tense, my heart pounding and my lungs highly pressured. I was freaking out but still swam on, the shot below was taken as I neared the end (of course even in that situation a photographer has to shoot!) and you can see Mike waiting for me in the image. As I got close to the end, the housing made it hard to get out, which meant I was almost stuck on the roof and had to push myself off the razor sharp rocks. I was bleeding on my hand and foot as a result.

The blokes both were worried that I wasn't coming out.

Mike swam through afterwards with a camera and could also tell the difference. Lesson learned!

Below is a photo of Joel shooting Mike going through a second time. The reason for the fuzzy images is because or our experimenting with narrow apertures to shoot both inside and outside the water at the same time, resulting in slow shutter speeds with fuzzy images. Wish I hadn't tried! But still a bit of fun. I can't wait to do it again!

PhotoBinge '12

2012-01-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

PhotoBinge is where a bunch of us photographers get together and try new techniques with lighting etc. We will ask people if they would like to join us for photos. But sometimes it's the other photographers who are just as photogenic! Below is Nikki, who I was showing how high-speed sync works. It was only a test shot.... But I thought it was worth putting up on here!

Reina

Above is Luke Ceko. An absolute champion and any opportunity to hang out with him is a bonus. He just so happens to be one of my favourite people to photograph!

PhotoBinge happens about 4 times a year. Let me know if you're keen to be part of it next time!

Amber

2012-01-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Looking back at 2011

2012-01-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

2011

2011 was a fantastic year of photos for me. Below are a few shots that I took, but not necessarily the best. They are moments that I enjoyed or have meaning to me. The moment is more important than the image. The image may, or may not reflect the moment well. I strive to reflect the moments the best I can. Here's a few words for each.

Self Portrait 'Dreaming'

The above image was entered into a 'Digital art' competition last year. If you don't know me, that's me standing there. The storm was from Grange Jetty, done in 2010 and the surfing shots were underwater shots I took 2011. The competition needed to be digital art, so I took a self portrait I'd taken of myself with a cup and threw the rest together. The image scored 10/10.

Josh and Tara

Josh contacted me about doing a couple shoot. He was going to propose to his girlfriend and wanted to capture the moment. It was a beautiful shoot to do and I was honoured to be part of their day. This shot we did because the night before Tara had a dream where she was putting on her shoe and Josh was in the back of the ute. I loved the idea and we shot this.

Jasper Ashmoore- Knights Beach

I love to surf and bodyboard. I also love to shoot it. This shot is an incredibly hard shot to get. And expensive. My housing for my camera has a flash port, so I was keen to get a night/dark shot. I had just bought a new 8mm lens, and an 8mm port- I'd paid over $1000 for the new parts, and was keen as to combine it with the flash. I was stoked to get this shot of Jasper. Not long after this a huge wave pounded me and threw me down so hard I lost grip of the camera and soon found I'd grazed my brand new 8mm port!

There is great sacrifice with photography sometimes. But if I can get an image that someone will cherish the rest of their lives it's worth it! I hope Jasper will always love this shot!

Mike, Kath and Shasta

I was thinking one morning, 'Man I'd love to do a shoot for some kids who aren't well or something.' I was thinking of a hospital or something like that. More for using my craft for a purpose you know. Not just to make money. I had no idea how to go about it.

That afternoon I heard from Mike, an old housemate who kicked me out (ha ha, not really) because he was getting married to the lovely Kath. It had been years and we'd lost contact to some degree. I heard they'd had a baby and there were a few complications, but not much detail other than that. He contacted me about some mail that had come for me. I said 'lets catch up!' and asked if he was working- he told me that he and Kath were both full time carers for their boy Shasta- who has serious breathing problems.

I couldn't believe it. I went straight up when could, and saw the seriousness of their baby's issue. We organised to have a shoot for them. It was a couple of weeks later, and it was the most satisfying family shoot I have ever done. They love their little boy so much, even though they are almost home bound all year round. You'll notice the little white thing under his chin, that's to help him breathe.

A beautiful shot, and a beautiful family.

Kids Portraits???

If I do family shoots with kids, it's usually for friends or relatives and I prefer outdoors, natural shots of the kids enjoying themselves, not sitting in a portable studio trying to make them smile! Some people are gifted at the later... not me!

This shot is amazing to me, one because the little girl is gorgeous, the lighting is beautiful. But the thing that amazes me the most is that she's actually looking at the camera, and well! She's was only 2 years old! Pat on my back ;)

Beauty Shoots

I never used to like it when people posed. I thought it was fake and they looked pathetic.... until I started taking my photography more serious. I've taken countless of thousands of photos of people who don't really want their image taken. Why? Insecurity? Possible. I'm sure there are many reasons. Some even duck and hide their faces from me! But someone wants their photo, that's why they hire me! But we all look at the photos, look straight at ourselves and judge the whole image based on how we look. If we look bad it's a bad photo- right?

Now I absolutely love it when someone poses! When they really want an image, when they look at the photography knowing that they're beautiful

I never set out originally to do beauty shoots. I'm not the biggest fashion fan, it changes every week, costs us a lot of money and the list goes on. But a beauty shoot is different. A beauty shoot for me is about the person and the surroundings. I'll ask them to wear what they want, what represents them as a person.

We all love the beauty of a sunset or landscape. But most would have to agree that it's the human being that is the most beautiful image on the planet.

The above image is my friend Karina. I was hanging to take images with the blossoms of this location, and I had about a 2 week window. Karina was more than willing. She is a former model and loves to still take photos with me at times, just for the sake of photos. She is beautiful inside and out and has been like a sister to me over the years. Her husband is a good mate as well, he is an absolute champion. I loved this shot.

Some of the images from the shoot can be seen in an earlier blog called Karina- Click here to see

This shot is of a great young lady named Olivia. I teamed up with another photographer/friend Haley from See.Sound Photography. Chloe Smith was the MUA.

Luke and Lauren Wedding

2012-01-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Luke and Lauren are a great couple. Luke surfs.... need I say more?

The wedding was fantastic, the weather was good to me with a beautiful natural diffuser (commonly called cloud) and not much wind. We all had a great day and the whole crew rocked out till the late hours of the night.

Congrats guys! It was fantastic to be part of your day!

Liana

2012-01-01T17:40:00.000-08:00