'On Camera Flash is for Amateurs' - Personal Project

I was recently triggered by another photographer proclaiming that, ‘on camera flash is for amateurs’ , so naturally I grabbed some friends and went out to prove that they were wrong.

I wanted to bring that ‘on camera flash look’ to my sports work as it brings a fresh but nostalgic feel to images. We all remember when our mums would bring the point and shoot and set to auto to our soccer and basket ball games!

Bringing that memory and applying a commercial lens to it was the idea for this shoot. (and to prove him wrong 😜)

As talent for this idea I had brothers Attila and Adam throw down some hoops and have some friendly competition.

I’m weary of anyone that paints any creative tools or mediums with such a broad stroke as it’s not about the tools but how you use them.

I’m stoked with how this set turned out and think I have achieved my point. 😁

I’d love to hear what you think! Do you agree with the statement that ‘on camera flash is for amateur’ or that it’s how you use your tools as a creative?

That Was Close! - Karl Herman

I was about a meter away when Karl came screaming past on the mega rail feature, grabbing his board and giving me a quick glance before grinding his landing and boarding off for another lap around the wake park.

An extreme life enthusiast, Karl is a high level wake boarder, skydiver, wing suitor and base jumper and probably the most genuine bloke I know.

We spent a rainy afternoon in Mackay capturing these bangers for some of Karls sponsors.

I highly recommend checking out Karls Instagram because not only are his crazy antics very entertaining, but he is all a real inspiration taking life by the horns, not taking anything for granted and is in constant pursuit of his purpose.

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.

Stunt Double - Bridget Burt

Coming off the set of 2 movies in cinemas now, The Fall Guy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, is larger than life adrenaline seeker and stunt double Bridget Burt.

Interviewing and shooting Bridget for my personal project ‘Immortals’ I could of literally talked to her for hours about all her disciplines including; skydiving, wingsuiting, flyboarding, drifting, Muay Thai, BJJ, motorbike riding, rock climbing, jet skiing, horse riding, gymnastics and shooting!

Bridget uses Muay Thai and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) to train for a lot of the physical stunts she performs as her role as an extra or stunt double in Hollywood movies.

The body awareness, flexibility and athleticism required for these sports lend themselves greatly to the fight scenes and stunts she has to perform on set.

When she is not training with her stunt double friends in fight gyms bridget is out doing something else considered crazy to us mere mortals. She is an avid skydiver and wingsuiter with hundreds of jumps under her belt but her current thrill she is chasing is upping her ability as a drift car driver.

Bridget can be found as a guest performer at the drift show at movie world but is currently spending a lot of time in Japan, learning how to ‘Tokyo Drift’ her way around the streets with some of the best drift car drivers in the world.

Growing up Bridget was not exposed to this extreme life and is now living out all her childhood dreams that she was deprived of. She started out with flyboarding which quickly led to her being picked up to perform overseas in China to crowds of up to… 80,000!

Bridget is an extremely humble and down to earth chick and I can’t wait to see where she takes her career in the future.

IRONMAN - Zac Dunn

This weekend I will be hanging out with IRONMAN athlete Zac Dunn again as he is in town to compete in the Brisbane Marathon.

Zac and I first met by a chance encounter with a mutual friend on our yearly snowboarding expedition to Japan. Ever since we have shared our love of sports, training and the outdoors.

Zac not only loves the challenge of endurance sports but is an avid lifter with a grueling training regime. This is what leads to his impressive physique, having him usually about 10-20kg heavier than his endurance competitors. 😂

I look forward to watching him rip the marathon and the post event meal we gorge ourselves on, with many laughs and tails of our 6 months since meeting last.

This Jump Is Enormous... Pro MTB Rider Testing

When Sam Frazer invites you to come shoot the gang at young legend Dane Folpp’s place you know I’m there! The afternoon session was a final test for the group before they each head off to different comps around the world.

Sam sending a massive front flip as well as working on his backflip no hander’s.

Eight time mountain bike world champ and olympian Caroline Buchanan with a no hander.

Dane sending a massive triple tail whip 180… and he in only 16 🤯.

Baxter Maiwald with a 360 front flip.

Watching these guys and girls was truly breathtaking to watch. Multiple times in the session my mouth was on the floor. I can not wait to get out for the next one.

Be sure to check out their instagrams for some videos of them sending the noise 🤘.

Luke

Mt Coot Tha Trails - MTB

Hitting the trails testing this week with fellow creative Nick Ravn and mountain bike athletes Bergen O’Neill and Noah Davidson.

We hit the trails in the dense bushland of MT Coot Tha which provided some challenging conditions to test our skills against a busy backdrop and fast riders.

Through the bush we found some great framing between peep holes and speckled light creeping through the canopy.

Noah and Bergen are both competitive MTB riders who spend their time racing between Brisbane and the iconic Tasmanian bike park Maydena.

The wooden bridge shot is one of my favourites from the afternoon, especially with Nick laying down and putting it on the line to get the shot! Committed to the craft.

I am also a sucker for back lit photos and especially this one with the evening sun shining through the forrest.

I look forward to creating with these guys again and please be sure to give them all all follow on their socials.

Send It!!! - MTB

Sitting there ‘ready’ to take the shot, my mouth dropped as Sam Frazer sends an enormous back flip over a massive jump. Needless to say I wasn’t ready for him to send it like that after only being at the park for 5 minutes 😅. ‘Send it again please’

These are some of my favourite images form my session at Boomerang Farm MTB with professional riders Sam Frazer and Ted Oakley.

The intention of the day was to show the scale, speed and size of the tricks you can throw at this park.

Some of the jumps were absolutely massive for us mere mortals and these guys made them look like play.

Shooting conditions were tuff as there was a lot of distractions in the back ground with the forrest and these guys were ripping some serious speed to keep up with.

Im stoked with the set we were able to come away with, be sure to check out the full set here and Sam and Ted’s instagrams to see more of what these guys can do.

Hidden Trail Riding With Sam Fraser - MTB

At the crack of dawn professional mountain bike athlete Sam Fraser and I crept our way through the bush at Brisbanes Mt Coot-Tha to a hidden bike track he knew to rip some lines.

Sam is a sponsored DHARCO athlete and also has his own company assembling top of the line MtBike tyre assemblies Gibson Components.

In preparation for an up coming pitch Sam an I ran through some close up wides, telephoto key hole hole and lifestyle shots. Im super excited to the image library I’m assembling this weekend when we head to the famed Boomerang Park MTB.

Be sure to check out Sam’s Instagram reels to see him sending some wild back flips and monster whips!

IRONMAN - Ride

Part 2/3 of my IRONMAN - Swim, Ride, Run series ‘Ride’.

Banging out 60km to over 90km sessions a couple times a week when in prep for an IRONMAN is an incredible amount of volume for normies like us but athlete Zac Dunn froths them with ease.

This set was shot at a gorgeous spot in my home town Mackay and I really enjoy the back lighting coming through the pine trees making it look like it could of been shot in the hills somewhere else in the world.

Keep an eye out for my final set ‘Run’.

IRONMAN - Swim

Part 1 of 3 for my Ironman Swim, Ride, Run series.

Athlete Zac Dunn on his morning training session. An absolute mountain of a man, Zac’s morning swims are minimum 3km and consist of a combination of long slow swims and interval sessions.

The half in half out of the water shots are a favourite of mine and make Zac look more like a super hero. Keep an eye out for the next set in the series ‘Ride’.

Speed - Pain - Adrenaline!

I LOVE ADRENALINE. Always have and always will. I have loved riding motorbikes, flying in choppers, combat sports, and snowboarding my brains out ever since I was young child… and nothing has changed 😅.

It excites me to no end to bring my passion of photography to my love of adrenalin sports and capturing those intense split second moments, that if you blink you’ll miss them.

Adding sport back into the portfolio I am excited for some shoots I have in the pipeline for next year including Trophy Truck off-road racing, Surfing, and Freestyle Motocross.