Waterfalls and wanders

A few friends and I headed up to the Blue Mountains over the weekend. Met some great people out bush walking and saw some beautiful scenery. A few shots from the walks around Wentworth Falls.

Portraits

A few portrait pieces from past work.

Studio photos with compact cameras

A friend of mine picked me a flower yesterday, to do the flower justice for its sacrifice, i wanted to photograph it . I only had my compact digital at home, so, what was i to do??
It is quite easy to recreate professional studio lighting at home with a little "McGuyverism" and a basic understanding of light.


On camera flash is never really flattering, hitting the subject with a hard smack of direct light. By directing the cameras flash upwards (fig 1 and 2) and then bouncing it off a reflector (fig 3), it was possible to create a nicer overhead light, creating a moody soft light. The background was simply my bed cover with the area behind the flower built up to create a seamless background.

To direct the camera flash, i used a piece of foil and sticky tape. The reflector was of the collapsible kind that i carry on location, but a white bit of cardboard, mirror, newspaper would have easily worked. Each reflector creates its own unique light and color and it is worth experimenting with different materials.
The image on the left is taken with direct, traditional flash. The right uses the technique described above. The whole process took about 20 minutes, not a long time to achieve a very satifying and beautiful image.

Artist: Beats Off

This is a CD I shot with a local Sydney Hip Hop artist. The brief was that he wanted the artwork to represent his journey with his music. We decided to shoot the whole thing in Kings Cross as that played a heavy influence in his life and music.


He had an idea of the foldout, but wasn't sure as to what he wanted it to look like. In the end he gave me creative freedom and i just started having fun with it. I love this collage, the closer you look, the more you see whats going on, all images were shot on the night and sliced together. The guy with the tatts on his chest actually came up to the camera and started stripping for us!! Classic Kings Cross. Some shot you just cant plan, they just happen.


The inner sleeve is a simple representation of the creative process involved in creating his music. Pen, paper, mic, computer and a beer.

This shoot was a lot of fun, I had a clear idea of what i wanted each shot to look like and i had a plan of how to achieve them. The most important aspect of the process, was staying flexible enough to go with an idea that presented its self randomly.

Have a clear idea and plan of what you want to achieve with a shoot, but dont forget that spontaneity often produces magical results.