Devastation of the Victorian Bushfires

A client of mine wanted me to capture the restoration of power to the devastated areas around Kinglake West. They specifically asked me to not shoot outside the area around the easement and substation to respect the people who had lost their lives in the devastating blaze.

All the workers were deeply touched by the disaster and the confronting sights they saw every day. They were finding ways to contribute to the surviving residents anyway they could, mostly by donating their pay, food or goods.

The drive in gave a picture not conveyed through the media of long winding roads with the roadside littered with cleared fallen trees. Each one blocking escape from the inferno. Chaotic cars littered the roads and driveways many with doors left open, some crashed, screaming of desperation and terror. All I was present to during the drive was the horror the poor people must have gone through being stuck in the firestorm. It is mile after mile of scorched earth where everything in the fire’s path is devoured with absolutely nowhere to hide. Houses were reduced to ash, cars reduced to tortured metal and molten glass, and far too much police tape is tied to trees outside properties silently telling lives were lost here.

Very very sad

ACMP Photographer Interviews

I have started a project for our association members where we interview members of a variety of topics with the intention of creating an online resource for members across the country.

Our most popular photography association events are where photographers give talks about many topics such as their approach specific jobs, how they got started, business practice, negotiation stories, advice for emerging photographers etc.

We started the project this week with Architectural Photographer Dianna Snape. Once the style is set we intend to do one a fortnight, quickly building a fascinating and valuable resource.

Here is one of the first drafts

more about "ACMP Photographer Interviews", posted with vodpod

Executive Portraits website updated

A few years ago a few mates organized to have weekly breakfast meetings were we would all look at expanding or creating a new business or project, and we would hold each other to account to make it happen. There was Andor the Graphic Designer, David the Landscape Architect, Colin the mortgage broker and myself. My project was creating a business that could be expanded, be national and survive without me. The result was my second business Executive Portraits www.executiveportraits.com.au.

I have given the site a total revamp and invite you to pay it a visit.

 

My new Executive Portraits website

A new level of busy

I keep discovering I have no idea what busy is. Running 2 businesses, having a family and steadily filling a seven seater car, being heavily involved with 2 photography associations(ACMP & ACOCP) I think I am busy. With the very welcome impending arrival, I think I am about to discover what busy really can mean.

Harry, Kelly and Bump

A suprisingly handy gadget

I shoot a lot of location jobs and ever since I was an assistant I have kept a rough collection of references for locations in the form of brochures, polaroids, transparencies in various formats kept with notes. This information was not very useful because of my irregular notes and being occasionally vague on crucial details, so really my location library was based on the locations I could remember.

This industry is full of gadgets. One such gadget is a geo-tagger which embeds the global coordinates of where you took the shot into the metadata of the file. I thought geo-tagging images was for flickr groups and rich backpackers with too much time on their hands, but I have found this to be a very simple way to build a collection of location shots within Adobe’s Lightroom, where with a simple click on the metadata embedded coordinates, google maps instantly opens. Combined with Google’s Street View, I have a powerful combination of tools for managing and finding locations.

 

Road Location

 

GPS details in Lightroom, the arrow on the right opens the location up Google Maps

 

The location's position in Google Maps

Wiggles in my head

Having a 3 1/2 year old and a 15 month old has steered my listening habits towards The Wiggles and High Five of late. I was asked to shoot for a magazine article that featured prominent people talking about what inspired them and I was shooting the fabulous Deborah Conway and Augie March. I have enjoyed Deb since Do-Re-Me days but Augie March (my apologies guys), I honestly thought I was shooting 2 female artists, but I now know that is definitely not the case (yes, I did feel like a bit of an out if touch old man). I also made a mistake by posting these images before magazine publication. It was quickly brought to  my attention that I had compromised the story’s exclusivity and undermined efforts of people who had worked hard to make the story happen. I removed the post straight away but man!! Did I learn a big hard lesson with that error in judgement.

Anyway, here are some pics from the shoot.

Augie March

Deb Conway and Augie March

Deb Conway and Augie March

My first pic of a missed opportunity

This photo is one I dug out for a magazine article which was my first missed photographic opportunity. I think I was seven and I went to the Canberra Day Parade, float came into view carrying Mickey Mouse and Goofy perched on a set of steps of the sort once commonly wheeled out to airliners. I made a bid for the shot with my  Kodak Instamatic. I just couldn’t get to a front row, and when I got to the front they’d passed me. I got this shot of the backs of their heads going away from me, and all I was thinking was, “missed the shot, missed the shot”… I take alot of care these days to create the best environment to capture the shot, but there is still that chance as there is for all photographers that we will miss “the moment”

 

My first missed opportunity

Best of the ACMP Collection in Canberra’s Showcase Gallery

I have been very active in our industry association for years believing that to being part of the community brings responsibility and it is important to contribute. I am the current ACMP President and was Chairman of the Collection for over 5 years. The FUJI ACMP Australian Photographers Collection is an incredible body of photographic work that spans 10 years. An outstanding concept that photographers entered for the privilege of being judged by respected peers to be included in a body of work that’s intention was to represent the best of Australian Photography for that year. There are no prizes, no giveaways and no individual winners, and still is was of the most hotly contested competitions in the country such was the prestige. Unfortunately sponsorship funding has dried up and the project has been put on hold awaiting reinvention.

To help build the momentum for a this reinvention, I have organized a “Best of the Collection” exhibition that is on show at one of Canberra’s premier venues the Showcase Gallery from August 14-September 21 as part of the inaugural Vivid National Photography Festival.

The Showcase Gallery at dusk hosting the ACMP "Best of the Collection" exhibition

 

The ACMP "Best of the Collection" at Canberra's Showcase Gallery

The ACMP "Best of the Collection" at Canberra's Showcase Gallery

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Dairy Farms with Fog, Rain, Wind and not much Fire

I have just returned from South Western Victoria shooting at Dairies. The first was on top of a hill near the Twelve Apostles and I tell you, the wind was straight from Antarctica! Dairies work no matter what the weather is so we took photos no matter what the weather was. We worked at three different dairies, stood shin deep in mud/cowsh*t/sawdust/silage. We stayed at a dodgy pub without heating or electric blankets, got licked nudged, sniffed, weed and pooed on by cows, broke one and a half of my portable flashes, processed 33Gigs of files………and had a ball. Here are a few pics.

By the third day we weren't bothered by much

 

Guru Cow

 

A newborn calf and mother annoyed by photographer

 

 

Minnie feeding the calves