Portrait of a photographer: Sam Broomby
Sam Broomby is an incredibly talented photographer currently based in Canberra (but will be Montreal based as of next year). He has a compelling and evocative photographic style and is a constant source of inspiration for me.
Sam kindly agreed for me to take his portrait last weekend. We spoke about the past and the future I was grateful that he allowed me to capture some of the raw emotions in these portraits.
See his work at www.samuelbroomby.com
Safari diary part 1: Masai Mara
I went to Kenya on safari for our honeymoon in October - it was an incredible experience and I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to describe it. Seeing zebras, elephants, wildebeest grazing together in their natural habitat; seeing massive herds of animals crossing the road infront of us, kicking up plumes of the African dust, sometimes so fast that I barely have time to get a photo with the right framing; seeing predator and prey in the wild- it's nothing like a day out at the zoo.
I thought the fact that stepping out of the vehicle could result in me being quickly and unexpectedly eaten by a lion also made the safari oddly exciting- we're not in Kansas anymore.
Souqs, Falcons, and dunes: 48 hrs in Doha
We chose to do an overnight layover in Doha on our trip from Sydney to Kenya, and another night from Cape Town to Sydney. It was a great way to split up the journey and do a little bit of exploring in a new place without actually spending any more money on airfare.
I really enjoyed Doha. We stayed in the Souq Waqif area both times which made it easy to explore the massive Souqs to my hearts content, get lost in the labyrinthine alleyways, walk back to our rooms for the midday siesta, and then wander around some more at night.
Fashfest 2016 Canberra - backstage and runway
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might have seen my work as part of the Fashfest photography team recently. I was completely floored by the talent and calibre of Canberra based designers, hair stylists, makeup artists, and models- it was truly something to behold. Here are a few images from my gallery.
Maternity Session at the Sydney Botanical Gardens
My gorgeous friend Susan, who I've known since we were kids in high school, is expecting her first child- a girl! We headed to the Sydney Botanical Gardens a few weekends ago for a maternity portrait session.
Portraits at the abandoned Tooth's Brewery Mittagong
The old abandoned Tooth & Co Brewery in Mittagong (otherwise known as Mittagong Maltings) is a big of a photographer's wonderland. When you climb up into the higher levels- the light coming through the roof, the geometry of the beams, the colour of the wood- at the right time of day it is just magic.
A group of us went on a little road trip a couple of weekends ago to do some shooting and scouting- myself, Sam (another photographer), Amaliah (model), and Kirstey (MUA).
Model // Amaliah Cornelius
MUA // Kirsty Anderson
Photography // Me
Colour images edited with LIFE//STYLE Lightroom Preset, Black and Whites edited with B&W Filmic Fade preset.
Winter harvest- Piallago apple orchard portraits
Published in issue 17 of Big Ink Magazine
Models // Amaliah Cornelius & Megan DawsonMUA // Stephanie ChurchStylist // Jessica Di ScipioHair // Renee PoundPhotographer // Jenny Wu
Introducing LIFESTYLE: a clean, modern preset for LR and ACR
LIFE//STYLE is a preset with a clean and modern feel. It is a versatile preset that works with a large range of portraiture and lifestyle photography from couples portraits, family portraits, interior photos, still life, and the plus (+) form is great for editorial work. As with many of my presets, I developed this to create flattering skin texture and tones - aiming to reduce the retouching time in Photoshop.
L//S is not a one trick pony- in higher key (brighter) images, it creates a clean bright airy look typical of lifestyle photography; in lower key (darker) images, it gives a rich, cinematic feel to the colours.
Portrait Session: Samantha
Had the pleasure of hanging out with Samantha last week and shooting some simple 2 flash back lit portraits. The unforgiving Canberra weather has encouraged me to start shooting with artificial light, and I wanted to see whether I could create that soft enveloping quality of light that I like with only 2 speedlights and 1 umbrella. Hope you like the set!
VSCO Cam Legacy 05 inspired Lightroom Preset
The Legacy series is a re-release of the original VSCO Cam presets- from #01 to #10. 05 is my favourite- I love the soft velvety-ness of the tones, and way it suits a wide range of image types from portraits, moody landscapes, and still life.
I've crafted a Lightroom preset which emulates the look of VSCOCam Legacy 05 in 3 different strengths- a regular version, a minus - version (subtle edit) and a plus + version (more dramatic edit), mimicking the intensity slider on the VSCO Cam app.
Available for download at my Etsy Store!
Portraits in abandoned spaces // Megan
There's something poetic about abandoned buildings. Often there's enough left behind to give you clues about what it was like in the past, and without realising it you naturally fill the space with your imagination.
This vacant nursery is just beautiful to photograph portraits in. The ivy creeping over the windows have grown through little cracks in the wood, so a little bit of the outside has made it's way indoors; and on a nice day the light filtering through all the windows is soft and glowy. On the day of the shoot, it was rainy and so dark I wasn't sure whether I was going to get any decent images (hello Canberra winter!)- but after looking at the back of my camera, with images shot wide open at 1.6, it was like my camera could see what my eye could not. Check it out!
Model: Megan Dawson
Introducing Foodie- a delicious Lightroom Preset for Food Photography
Hola!
I crafted a Lightroom preset specifically for my recent natural light shoot for The Pasta People. The visual style of the images they wanted to go with their brand was modern but earthy and laid-back, "like in Jamie Oliver's cookbooks". More or less a modern filmic look.
Sitting down to edit the images I decided that I needed faded highlights and blacks, as well as crushed details in the shadows (creating 'blockier' shadows, if that makes sense); some selective desaturation of greens and acqua tones, a shift from true red tones to tangerine to give tomatoes and chillies a bit of pop; increased in luminosity in reds orange and yellow tones to create clean looking highlights. And I called it 'Foodie' !
I tried these edits on some other images and realised that they worked quite well for night time restaurant lit images too- but with reduced contrast and a toned down version of the preset I used for the Pasta People shoot. So as per usual, I've created the preset 'Foodie' in a regular version, a PLUS version (more dramatic), and a MINUS version (more subtle for images that are already high contrast, and night time artificially lit images).
Downloadable at my Etsy store!
Food photography: Pasta People Canberra Shoot
It was my absolute pleasure to do a photoshoot for Pasta People, who are expanding the online presence and ecommerce for their pasta store (currently at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra). Very soon now their popular flavoured dried pasta and preservative free vacuum sealed sauces will be available to be purchased online. Hurrah! Gluten intolerant pasta lovers should be pretty excited about their gluten free pasta offerings too.
It was a really fun shoot, with Lily and I working on the food styling; her husband working as the lighting assistant (reflector holder); Phil working as errand boy; and food photography by me. Eating the cooked dishes at the end was a team effort.
Amisfield Winery and Bistro: Queenstown NZ
On our last day in Queenstown we managed to get a table at Amisfield Winery Bistro for their famous Trust The Chef menu. This is 4 courses using dishes selected by the chef based on fresh produce available on the day, with matched wines. I managed to get photos of 3 of the courses and the amuse bouche but got distracted by my hungry belly and forgot to photograph the cured salmon course. We left very very full and a little drunk. Good times!
Rain, fog, and waterfalls in Milford Sounds New Zealand
We spent 4 days in New Zealand last week- I don't normally go on such short overseas trips, but there was a 24hr Jetstar sale and we got flights from Sydney to Queenstown for $130 each way!
Milford Sounds has been on the travel bucket list for awhile, and it was absolutely SPECTACULAR. They say it's one of the wettest part of the world, which gives rise to lush rainforests, beautiful moss covered birch trees, and hundreds of waterfalls running off the sheer cliff faces after rain.
It was particularly wet on the 2 days that we were there, which made for dramatic waterfalls but also made it very difficult to take photos because the wild winds and sideways rain splattered my lens as soon as I got outside to take photos, even under cover. Lesson learnt- bring lens hood next trip!!
Hypebeast HB1 inspired Lightroom Preset- Savage 1
VSCO x HYPEBEAST Preset collection (HB1 and HB2) was created by the fashion and lifestyle collective HYPEBEAST. The collection has a very street style, editorial vibe- the HB1 in particular. I love the clean highlights and the gritty bluish toned heavy fade in the shadows. Perfect for street photography, fashion blogging, urban landscapes, and editorial style portraiture.
In my HB1 presets, I am emulating the tone curves and colour shifts that gives HYPEBEAST HB1 it's look. I'll break it down as we move down the post.
Elly + Poppy // Gooromon Park Canberra
I had the pleasure of photographing Elly at Gooroomon Park Horse Riding School in Wallaroo a couple of weekends back. With a background of horse riding and a degree in animal behaviour, you could say that she was a certified horse whisperer!
Makeup by Michelle Bui, floral crown by Lady Larissa floral designer.
notes: shot with Canon 6D, Canon 85mm 1.8, Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art lens, Tamron 24-70 mm 2.8 ; processed with my VSCO Cam M5 -inspired Lightroom Preset.