Capturing Humans as They Are - Candid Travel Photography

There’s something special about capturing people as they are—living in the moment, unposed and unaware. It’s about freezing authentic moments as they naturally unfold, without worrying about perfect lighting or staged poses.

When I travel, I seek out the everyday beauty: a fleeting smile, the laughter of locals, or a quiet moment of reflection. These spontaneous, unfiltered moments tell real stories that can’t be recreated or planned.

We all love seeing epic vistas of the grand parts of the world, but I believe that we need to see how people interact with nature and their surroundings. This brings the human element that’s so important to showing what is special about a place.

Sometimes the imperfections of a frame is what helps tell the story of what it's really like in the moment. Bustling crowded ports, out of focus people, angled frames, eaten food or even bad weather can help sell the real experience of a destination.

With my eyes set on the next adventure I’m excited to see how I can capture humans as they enjoy this amazing world.

I Am Stoked - Emerging Photographer Awards

There was some absolutely insane work submitted this year in Capture Magazine ‘Top Emerging Photographer Awards’ of which I submitted 5 of my own projects.

I was lucky enough to have 4 of my 5 pieces of submitted work make it through rounds of judging which blew all of my expectations and am very stoked about the result. Coming away with two top 10 rankings and two commended.

My entires where from 3 different personal projects; Fire Fire Fire, Immortals and Good Morning Vietnam.

For Fire Fire Fire I linked up with the gentleman from D Crew at my home town fire department and shot a series of portraits in their different kit outs.

Rogan Dean is a crossfit athlete I shot for my Immortals project and Good Morning Vietnam was from a holiday earlier this year.

Im excited for my next opportunity to submit in competitions later this year.

Colours of Autumn - Queenstown/Glenorchy New Zealand

Every time I visit the New Zealand countryside it reminds me why it is my favourite place in the world.

I feel like I’m am on the edge of the globe. A far away settlement surrounded by a harsh but beautiful land with many adventures to be had.

Unlike Australia which has 2 seasons (hot and slightly less hot) NZ takes its landscape through the full colour spectrum and Autumn being one of the most spectacular.

With golden hour almost the whole time the sun is up, even the most simplest scene transforms into a painting of shadows, colour and light.

If you have not visited Glenorchy before, at the other end of lake Wakatipu I highly recommend it. There isn’t much there… and thats the point. This gorgeous sleepy little town of 500 people is so quaint with its couple of home baking cafes, lone pub and stunning mountain views.

The crisp stillness in the autum air always brings a calmness over me. It’s hard not to be extremely present when wandering through the many walking tracks and hikes.

I can not wait to visit again.

That Time Up North

In the crispness of my morning walk I found myself day dreaming of this little town at the foot hills of the Eungella range in North QLD, Finch Hatton. On our December holidays last year my girlfriend and I spend the morning exploring this growing hamlet.

This historic little town from the early 1900’s is peppered with relics form a bi gone age and the early morning light was glorious to walk through.

Making our way up the Eunngella range the view from the steep road of the gnawing hillside is spectacular under the mist.

Hidden away down ‘The Diggings’ track is a secret cafe called Eden. Which is easy to see why its named for the amazing countryside surrounding 😍.

Enjoying a coffee and breakfast burger we then played on the giant swing and watched the other adventures play some of the games on the hill.

Some of the iconic buildings in Finch Hatton are the old general store, Criterion Hotel and RSL buildings.

If you are ever up that way the Finch Hatton and Eungella area are worth a day trip with other attractions like Finch Hatton Gorge, Pinnacle Pies, Mt Dalrymple hike and the newly built Finch Hatton MTB track.

Winter Is Coming...

Winter is still over 2 months away but I’m already excited.

I LOVE cold places. I often catch myself day dreaming of snow, mountains, lakes and frozen forests.

These are some of my favourite images from adventures to cold places.

Out the back of a small set of trees at the peak of Iwatake mountain is a bakery with a deck off the side of the ski resort. This is the view from that deck while I enjoyed my coffee and cinnamon scroll.

Zac and I hiking up Lotte Arai Hokkaido before one of the best runs of our life.

Outside a small burger joint in the Hakuba lives a converted old school bus where you can enjoy a beer and a burger after a day on the slopes. Pitvipers, beers, snowboarding 🏂

One of my favourite days boarding was actually on a day of average snow. We hit the park and I set up one of the jumps. Once the park rats worked out that that dude standing on the side of the jump was holding a camera… they began to send it. This guy was super cool.

The open plains in between the mountains of the Mt Cook, Aoraki area New Zealand. We wish we were going on that chopper.

White out in back country Hokkaido Japan.

You can find a vending machine on almost every street in Japan.

Horse riding in Glenorchy New Zealand is up there with one of my favourite experiences. Also Glenorchy is one of my favourite places to visit. It feels like your in last settlement on the edge of the world. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Good Morning Vietnam

On my latest trip I headed to the rich cultural realm of Vietnam.

My journey started in the wet north experiencing the street food of Hanoi, the still waters of Hạ Long Bay and the cultural streams of Ninh Bình. Although we had inclement weather while we were in the north, this only added to the ancient feeling of cultural Vietnam.

Our trip then took us to the tropical island paradise of Phú Quốc where we enjoyed dinner on the beach, drinking Vietnamese coffee while riding around on scooters and the amazing European inspired Sunshine Town.

Finally our journey ended in the nations capital Ho Chi Minh City known to the locals as Saigon. Where the highlight was the historic war museum and Củ Chi tunnels.

Although there was ample scenic vistas to photograph I really wanted to capture the human element of Vietnam. I hope you enjoyed this snippet from my trip and you can see the full gallery here or my travel portfolio on my website.