Hong Kong is one of my favourite places to photograph. The whole place is crammed with people everywhere you go. Odds are, a few of them are going to be interesting, right? Let’s find out. Looking through other people’s feeds lately has reminded me that unless an image is shared with others, it doesn’t really […]
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Structuring a Weekend Session
No matter how “arty” an interest is, disciplined regular practice is the best path to enjoyment. Developing and getting progressively better at something is rewarding – whether it be gardening, knitting or something like photography! There are plenty of people who take lots of photos – and happy to get the same results time and time again. […]
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Garry Winogrand – Ideas and Inspiration Part One
Santa tracked down a copy of Garry Winogrand’s “Figments from the Real World” for me last Christmas, and managed to fit in my stocking! As part of trying to get going creatively again, I pulled out the book for the first time as a creative kickstarter. So what did I learn from spending some time with […]
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Glenferrie Station
Glenferrie Station is a surprising location, nestled amongst our quieter, inner city. A short train ride from the CBD, it’s various nooks and alleys are complex and worth exploring. The entire station can be scouted and shot in less than a half hour if you are keen to pop the shutter and then enjoy one […]
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Overcoming Low Points in the Creative Cycle : First Try
Pulling negatives off the developing reels, squeegeeing, drying, and then scanning. The best part of the week is when the image that appears on the monitor is one you love. The images on my monitor have not been particularly inspiring for me lately. When things seem the same each and every week, then you have […]
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Overcoming the Low Points of the Creative Cycle
Sometimes everything looks great in the viewfinder, sometimes things don’t go so well… I have just finished developing some rolls from a weekend in Bendigo with Mrs Streetphotography. They are pretty disappointing. I have been working a bit on urban landscapes, and thought an afternoon walking the mean streets of Bendigo might yield some decent […]
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Working on Story Telling
What does “story telling”mean in street photography? Defining “story telling” in a way that is relevant to street photography is not completely obvious to me yet – it will take me some time to develop a clear style or techniques to help. The first few steps seem to be about bringing multiple planes of subjects into […]
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Square , Landscape, and Storytelling…
I am wrestling on which way to go with this image – square or regular landscape format? Normally, I try to keep cropping to a minimum to ensure I consider composition more actively at the time of taking the shot, rather than just mindlessly popping away, knowing I can crop everything later. Composing with the […]
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Distracted by the Faces
Walking around the city at 6.30am on a Saturday morning is always going to encourage creative epiphanies. Combining a spartan-like early start and caffeine led to the inevitable questions of creative growth and purpose. Have my images been improving? People are my favourite subject for street photography. Capturing a single moment of people’s lives as […]
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Selfie Respect – Part Two
After exploring self portraiture some months back, I had a short crack at it again on recent visits to Hong Kong and Radelaide. I didn’t agonise over it, just popped the camera on a selfie stick or on a flat surface and chucked the timer on. Or, looked for my reflection somewhere… Here is the […]
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Project : Applying “The Bull” Concept to Hong Kong
Whilst in Hong Kong, the notebooks got a fair workout, trying to find a way to apply Picasso’s “The Bull” concept to my visit. Picasso started with a very detailed, and aesthetically pleasing sketch of a bull and stripped away parts of until he felt he had uncovered the essence of the subject. What is […]
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Urbanity Image Review #11
The subject maketh the shot… “There are the two basic controls at the photographer’s command – position and timing – all others are extensions, peripheral ones, compared to them.” David Hurn You can read more about my thoughts on Hurn’s quote here. I had found the spot – which gave a great downward looking perspective. […]
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Project : Pablo Picasso’s “The Bull” – Part One
Everyone needs to continuously make a commitment to conscious learning, or else the spark inside atrophies rapidly. Too much TV, social media, or gaming can dull anyone’s edge. Be more interesting – stop consuming content and start creating it! (although reading this blog is definitely a “continue” and not a “stop”!) “I guess it comes […]
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Working on Selfie Respect… Street Photography Self Portraiture Thoughts
Street photography self portraits… I had an interesting morning a few months back at 5am in Centre Place. This unexpected expedition, along with my admiration for Vivian Maier’s self portraits, has got me thinking about a project theme. As per my usual modus operandi, the first step is to look through other people’s images that appeal […]
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How to lead a more interesting life through Street Photography… First Timer Primer
Things you hear when people are thinking about starting out in street photography… “What book should I read or class should I do?” “Where should I go?” “What is the best camera / bag / lens / etc?” “What do I do if someone approaches me after taking their photo?” The most important response to […]
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Is it a bench or street photography?
Posted this today on Instagram tagged with #streetphotography without even thinking. Interestingly enough, I had a response from a random on Twitter : I don’t pay much attention to a lot of interweb commentary on stuff. It just never seems to end well, and I have considered turning off the comments function a number of times […]
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Urbanity Image Review #10
Sometimes, ya gotta get back to basics… one of the first things any composition book will teach is to look for natural frames for your subjects. Frames are not something I think consciously about often enough. This shot features a frame within the frame, which helps take the composition heightens the interest. The two subjects are […]
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Urbanity Image Review #9
Taken in Hong Kong, March 2014. There are weddings happening all over Hong Kong during the week. They appear quite random. Just the bride, groom, maybe one or two others and photographers with magnificent kits of gear. Probably not much different to Melbourne, it is just unusual to see them all week on the streets […]
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Urbanity Image Review #8
Taken in Hong Kong, March 2014. Temple Street Night Market. Well, there is a theme here – a few shots from the Temple Street Night Market made the cut, and there were a few more that got very close to be included in the Urbanity Exhibition. The more you practice a skill, the more you […]
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Urbanity Image Review #7
Taken in Hong Kong March 2014. Another ripper from the International Finance Centre. Make sure you give it a good look if you are in town. The simplicity of this image is what I love. Simple tones and colours, clearly framed in three key blocks, let the composition elements stand out. Things in threes continue […]
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Creating Impact – Free Ebook Online – Review
Photographers who take the time to think about their technique, dissect it, and share it are my favourites! After doing some more web research recently, I came across Marie Laigneau’s wonderful little ebook called “Creating Impact”. You can tell how much I liked it by my copious notes captured in the image above… Laigneau is […]
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Free Download of Urbanity Exhibition Catalogue
The Urbanity Exhibition is now complete for 2014! Thanks to those who dropped in to have a look, and a little extra to the peeps who purchased a framed print. If you missed the exhibition, feel free to download a PDF version of the exhibition image catalogue by clicking on the link here : UrbanityCatalogue If you […]
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Urbanity Image Review #5
Beware, I get a bit more technical liney on this one… Taken in Hong Kong, March 2014. I am pretty sure this was at the International Finance Center. A perfect set of circumstances for black and white film… The IFC is surrounded by some awesome overhead covered walkways and connects through to the Hong Kong […]
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Urbanity Image Review #4
Taken in Hong Kong, March 2014. For the record, I shot a total of 32 rolls of Ilford HP5 and AGFA APX 400 on this trip – approximately 1000 shots for a total of 13 final images for the exhibition. A hit rate of 1.3% if my math is correct? Hmmm, if you are going […]
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Urbanity Image Review #3
Taken in Melbourne, August 2014. Location is Degraves Street, I think? The Flinders Street end. The only image in the collection leveraging the use of a model. Sometimes ya gotta try new things. There were a few ideas I had that were going to be much easier to realise with a more predictable set of […]
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Urbanity Image Review #1
Taken in Hong Kong, March 2014. A somewhat “lucky” shot. There are three distinct planes in the image defined by the location of each of the subjects. I am starting to love finding different, clearly defined planes in images. The suggested lines of diminishing perspective (the long arrows!) are accentuated by the lateral lines of the […]
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AAMI Park Stadium
Melbourne is sports crazy. AFL, Rugby League & Union, Soccer, Cricket, and the list goes on. The stadiums for these sports all offer fantastic urban landscape opportunities, and an opportunity to shoot the fans. AAMI Park Stadium has a unique triangle filled roof. There is also plenty of concrete to inspire your photography. The Holga image above […]
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Featured Image – Matthew Joseph – Panoramarama
From the Photographer – Matthew Joseph “This shot is a particular favourite of mine, I took it in March 2005 in Brisbane. I was wandering around the Queen Street Mall and walked into the Myers Centre, I used to come here when I was younger. I wanted to take some above view photos of people […]
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August 1, 2015 