Flotsam Jetsam

Most often I go for a walk and let a subject find me; I hear it say "Photograph me," then I try to capture it the most appropriate way for the subject.

I consider: the shapes around it and where it sits with in the frame. I look for differences in textures, separation in colours and tones, and simplicity by moving things out of the way. I explore shutter speeds, picture styles, multiple exposures, filters, and more.

These are all just choices; I explore what feels right and follow that path to see where it leads me.

I will most likely experience more feelings of success if I am out early in the day or late in the day when the light is lower in the sky . Regardless I know that the more that I do, the more hope I have in finding a photograph that works for me.

I am the one who must pick up the baton and take responsibility for my creative self. To give myself time each day to find myself. (Above the flotsam).

I found this image from our NZ South Westland Trip that called out to me from my catalogue.
I could see myself as the small figure jumping around above the flotsam and jetsam of the beach, I added the dot for the head and smiled.

Shinjuku - Japan - First Place - Silver Linings Awards 2020 Abstract Category

This was the taken the day after our Nov 2019 Japan Photography Tour finished. Some of our clients had a day to fill in before their evening flight and a few of them had been to Shinjuku before our tour began and were keen to go back to the area and share some of their favourite spots.

So that’s how we ended up in one of the busiest wards of Tokyo. Shinjuku is a major commercial and administrative centre with lots of people. Our group of five were looking down from the movie theatre area of Shinjuku.

It was a very busy scene and I made it feel even busier by multiple exposing the image five times. Changing the camera angle between each frame as I went.

What makes this image special to me was that in the first frame the sign on the left towards the bottom of the frame was lit, then it changed to dark tones. This gave a place where the eye could rest.

I also like the abstract shape that can be found in the high tones that travel down the street.

Swan Creek-Kaikoura New Zealand

This was one of the final images that I made of Swan Creek in Kaikoura. Mike and I were driving along Ocean Beach road when we spied the reflection of light off to the right. When we drove off the road onto the beach we discovered that Swan Creek was not only in great light but it had a beautiful shape. We photographed this location for around thirty minutes moving around the scene and allowing each other to find their place in the landscape to set down their tripod and apply whatever photographic technique that seemed appropriate at the time.

In this shot, I have attached my ten stop Neutral Density Filter so that the shutter speed becomes slow making the watery textures soft and dreamlike.  This happened to be the last frame from that location, then we moved off to look for other subjects to photograph while the light lasted.

F10, 25 seconds, 100 ISO, Focal length 105mm. Canon 5DMKIV

#Rockface collection

There are many places in New Zealand that I love to photograph and I am fortunate to be able to photograph them many times over.

Each time I like to pretend that I have never been there before, I don't want to become too familiar and not truly 'see' the landscape for what it is, on that day, at that time.

As a result, I come away with images that thrill and excite me. 

On this day the light on these Rock formations in the Nevis Valley was at such and angle, I saw faces.

I return home to my studio and print them. Once printed they then exist. 

Catlins-Driveby#

While sitting in the passenger seat (when Mike is driving) I find myself mesmerized by the light that flickers through the branches of trees.

This is not a random shot, I have been practicing this technique for years. The idea is for the viewer to connect with the experience and engage a thought process.

The First 'Draw Portrait'

I find that making portraits of people that I know really enjoyable, especially if I am able to make a ‘creative portrait’.

The initial idea for this series was hatched in 2011 with this image that was made of my daughter Janet. We were actually drawing each other at the time  (I think that perhaps this is the drawing that she made of me) I asked Janet to hold her drawing up so I could to make a photograph of it.  When she peaked around the corner of the page I made this shot I love her beautiful eye. I then went on and made a drawing of my son James and made a photograph of him doing the same thing.  We were holidaying in a caravan at Wombeyan Caves. NSW. Australia.

This idea has become a series that I call them ‘Draw Portraits’.

A big part of the experience is the slowing down of time. Making a drawing of someones likeness is much slower task than that the click of a shutter. In this in time that the sitter and I really get to ‘see’ one another, and spend time ‘being’ in the same space. I am asking the sitter to keep their eyes on me, not a lens. It takes concentration and awareness.

 At the same time people seem to be less defensive about being photographed and enjoy being part of a creative ‘art’ idea.  They seem to enjoy becoming an artwork. Usually by the end of the session my subject is at ease and I take the opportunity to also make a more traditional portrait.

So I get portraits of friends and family that I otherwise may not have had permission to make.

Janet is an artist with her own website check out  Wandering Earth