The past two weeks have been pretty big. 2 days to myself in Tokyo, 10 days with my client, Sahra from Mindful Matcha, and now a couple days to myself in Osaka. To call this job a simple photoshoot, would really be underselling it. As much as this was a photography trip, much of the time was spent on all-things-business. From strategy, marketing, web tech, website development, social and content marketing, customer service and so on – this was a pretty encompassing. Continue Reading..
60 Guest, at $1,000 per head. This was the entry price for a food extravaganza to support Helping Hoops via the aptly named Cook For Kids with Ben Shewry and Friends. And these friends came from all over the place, bringing their staff too and world class experience. They all donated their time, skills, effort, travel costs, they hustled for food and wine donations. Basically, this night was huge for so many contributors. Continue Reading..
This Good Friday in 2016, The Old Keilor Hotel hosted the Guzzlers Rod & Kustom ‘Cars For Kids’ event. There was live music, hot rods, and of course, a PinUp Pagaent. Heading along with ‘Scarlet Soda‘, I managed to get a few clicks of the girls. Super effort from the PinUps, raising over $5,000 for the Royal Children’s Good Friday Appeal, and lots of fun overall. Continue Reading..
The Queen Victoria Market always has a sense of hustle and bustle when it’s in full swing. From the regular day sessions, where there’s a healthy mix of “get your sausages” and “get the best fresh fruit here” being yelled Continue Reading..
I’ve had my Lensbaby Edge 80 for around two years (at point of writing this), and I’ve never really put a group of photos together that demonstrate the kind of fun you can have with it. It’s not a lens that I’ll have with me all the time, but every now and then, it’s really cool to drag out and have a play.
In terms of how I use it, I really like to try capture a long or elevated shot, that gives the flexibility to make a tilt-shift type effect by bending the lens in its mounting (see this geeky YouTube to learn some more). It’s not something I need to do at any serious level, so the price point (compared to a tilt-shift) really makes sense, and I’m a big fan of it.
There’s something cool about doing this stuff in-camera, and the blur you get when bending it around, is very optically-real. What I mean by optically-real, is this is an effect that happens as a result of real optics changing, rather than trying to mimic the effect in Photoshop. Sure, Photoshop can do this kind of stuff, but at the same time, this lens will also work with 35mm film (I must try that!). But, who cares really, as long as you’re having some fun with it.
I hope these shots can give a little taste of what you can produce. Mostly Melbourne below, but I did recently take it with me to Vietnam for something a little different.
Ho Chi Minh City (i.e. Saigon) is wild. The roads are a sea of scooters, where the scooters swim like a school of fish, but between the main roads, there are connecting pathways which allow for a much calmer way of life.
Coming from Melbourne, Australia, Laneways are just an iconic part of the city, and as much as Ho Chi Minh couldn’t be more different, the back streets and laneways share some similarities. They’re more relaxed, while still being a place to eat; just not as mainstream. You still get traffic, you still get a bunch of people, but for something so close, you see something very different at a much calmer pace.
In terms of exploring, the laneways tend to keep tourists away for some reason. I think it’s got to do with the tribal mentality of ‘hanging out where my people are’, but that doesn’t seem to matter for locals. It just allows curious people to get a bit more of a real look at the daily life. And it’s really cool.
While in Vietnam, I shot a tonne of streets, people, laneways, traffic, etc, but with this post, I’ve tried to put a little more focus on people in the environment. As for a look at broader crazy traffic or specific shots people, those posts and pics will coming soon.
And just for good measure, there’s a few photos of some of the busier streets with people mixed in.
Phú Quốc is about 40 minutes by air from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and is a small island about 50Kms tall, and 25Kms wide. The main town of Phú Quốc is Dương Đông, and I had the pleasure of spending a couple days here to see out the end of 2014. Such a nice little town, and a real change of pace from the craziness of Ho Chi Minh City.
Dương Đông
About half way up the west coast is the main town Dương Đông. It’s got a great night market open from 4:30pm, and up the end of the market is the Dinh Cậu Lighthouse. It’s an awesome spot, with a great view of the town and market below. There’s fisherman, people, and at sunset, a great atmosphere.
So, that’s where I ended up on Saturday 27th December, 2014.
Scroll on for some photographs, and click to see a higher resolution version.
