The Photography Blog

Fabulous field guides for my favourite destinations. Full of rich detail to help you make the most of your photographic opportunity on location.

Ewen's Bell Curve

My simple secrets to editing RAW photos that can help any photographer improve their skills. In my new video I walk through examples of how I do my processing, editing and grading, and help guide you towards finding your own style.

Build A Better Time-Lapse

Deep dive into elevating your time-lapse technique from janky to swanky. Super smooth and super lovely. I spent all winter chasing the motion around Melbourne and found a few keys that made all the difference.

Auroras vs Shorts

I'll never forget that night standing out in my shorts and capturing auroras. I never expected that to happen in my home state of Victoria. And it's given me that hunger to get back to Arctic Norway and chase some serious photography.

Why Auroras Look Different on The Camera

What your eyes see and what your camera sees are typically very different when it comes to the Aurora Borealis. Capturing the Northern lights on camera changes our entire perception of this phenomenon, and mostly for the better. Just a word of caution though if you're heading to the Arctic and expect to see those Photoshop colours with the naked eye.

Layers of Colour with ICM

Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) is a doorway to opening your creativity. Here I present a hands on guide to getting started, with an emphasis on using ICM to blend colours and textures.

Panning for Gold in Kathmandu

Panning is a simple way to kill an afternoon and make yourself exhausted. The concept is pretty simple: you use a slow shutter speed like 1/30 of a second to separate a moving object from a chaotic background. Hundreds of your shots will be useless. A rare few will be perfection. Those are the ones you show your friends.

The art of photography is not about the camera, it's about what you do with it. Change your attitude to change your photography.

What Comes After Books

In a world where wisdom and knowledge is changing faster than ever, the idea of physical pages etched with static information is absolutely a challenge. But this goes deeper for me.

Go Slower

The path to finding more joy and success in your photography does not begin with simply doing more, rather it begins with doing things more slowly.

Basic RAW Workflow

Sharing my workflow setup for wrangling RAW files from editing to storage. I avoid catalogues and libraries, and have opted for a much simpler solution to editing and storage.

Half The Job

Taking a photo is only half the job. The other half is editing them. Join me on a visit to temples in the Annapurna Ranges and a chat about the creative potential and learning potential when editing your RAW files.

Getting Out of Struggle Town

Even professionals get stuck in a rut sometimes, but with the benefit of a little inspiration we often find our way out again. On my latest journey through Nepal I found an old tool that helped me see things in a new way.

Be Positive About Negative Space

Negative Space is not empty space. It's there for a reason and it can help you find a path to better composition and more intentional composition.

Very selected features on the hardware, software and extra wares that help me get the job done.

Sony A7 IV Custom Setup

My guide to custom settings on the Sony A7IV, including a free download of my own CamSet to configure your Sony.

TT Artisan 35mm F1.8

Food photography lens for smaller mirrorless cameras. Excellent quality images and a fast aperture make this lens the ideal companion to your APS-C sized sensor such as the Nikon Z50 and Canon R50.

ZV-E1 Still My Favourite Sony

Two years on and this affordable and compact full-frame camera still delivers great results, and still makes us smile. Definitely one of those times when less is more.

Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD

I travelled in the Himalayas for a few months with this lovely lens. If you're interested in more than just tech specs, and what it's like to work with this lens for an extended time then you've come to the right place.

Lumix 100-500mm Telephoto for L-Mount

Superb quality AF and Stabilisation from a modest sized design. This lens brings something very special to the L-mount lineup, and pairs wonderfully with cameras like the Leica SL3 or Lumix S1RII.

Rotating Collar from NISI

NISI have executed an excellent design with well considered detail and smooth operation. We've found this kit to be useful in the kitchen shooting video, and in the Arctic shooting auroras. Excellent bang for buck.

There's more to photography than just the camera. Looking at the bigger picture is good for your development.

Not Every Day

How to find a sustainable way to keep the conversation going – and find a new direction for myself after all these years teaching, learning and sharing the art of photography.

25 Years Later

I started my photographic career 25 years ago. My plan wasn’t so much “to become a freelancer”, it was simply to avoid getting a real job. Every year I didn’t have to go back to the office was a win.

Creatively Valued

Most of the time our clients are wonderful people to work with, because we're helping each other to get where we need to be. But sometimes you end up with a client who actually doesn't value your work at all, and that's a problem in more ways than you might imagine.

Do You Care About AI

The fundamental differences between machine learning and human artistic expression is not something you can teach. It's something you have to experience. That's always going to be the bridge that AI cannot cross.

Photography is My Family

It’s not that I don’t have time for friends and family, it's just that photography IS my family.

Life Without The Algorithm

There's more to photography than being popular. Being genuine counts for something too. In the new frontier of the Fediverse the focus is on enjoying your craft instead of being crafted by the algorithm.

Inspiring destinations that offer something unique for photographers. I love sharing the beauty in this world, and sharing why I think you might want to see it too.

Go Slower

The path to finding more joy and success in your photography does not begin with simply doing more, rather it begins with doing things more slowly.

Morning Glow

The art of finding joy in photography, and making other people happy in the process. Update from Nepal as we wind up the first stage of filming in Kathmandu.

Auroras Dont Come Easy

Part of the charm of the Northern Lights is the very fact that they are not easy to capture. Hard enough to plan your travels to be at the right place at the right time, and even then you're often at the limits of your camera gear and your clothing.

Photography That Loves You Back

It can sound so cliche when people talk of how their time in Nepal has “changed their lives”. But I cannot think of any photographer who visited the Himalayas and didn’t return home renewed with inspiration for their craft and humanity itself.

What Did We Learn From An Aurora Storm

Once in twenty year event rocked the planet this week, creating a moment of opportunity to get out and capture auroras that would normally be out of reach. And for regular aurora chasers a chance to share the joy with a lot more of the planet than usual.

Beautiful Chaos

Nepal is a country filled with rough edges. They are numerous, but they are outnumbered. The solution to any problem in Nepal is to simply slow down. Bistari bistari. Slowing down gives everyone a chance to make room, and then move forward. It's the same for photographers.