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.

Fun Food!

Who doesn’t love fun food! I’m talking burgers, chips, wings and sando’s. This month I took my bold, raw, minimal style and worked with Tippler’s Tap on some bright fun food images.

I have been very inspired to shoot some poppy food pictures the last few months so when the opportunity to work with Tippler’s came about I was ecstatic!

To achieve this look I used harsh light. A lot of photographers are scared to use direct flash and rather go the safe option with soft light... Not me. Turn that bad boy on 100%, point it at the subject and let’s get some glistening highlights and crisp shadows.

This kind of set up lends itself nicely to simple backgrounds allowing the subject to pop and be the centre of attention.

What made this shoot so fun for me was the subject matter. It’s not junk food, but it’s not your fine dining experience either. It’s the kind of food that you know your eating when your out with friends just having a great time!

Head chef Jake did a great job preparing the food, styling and even lending his hand for some modelling. (the other hand has fallen victim to chef life a few to many times 😅)

I’m excited to work on more food projects (not just for the post shoot treats 😁) so if you have a client or brief that wants to stand out I’d love to hear about it!

My Favourite Project This Year - ICONS Jewellery

I have been waiting SO long to share these! Earlier this year I shot the hero images for a new jewellery brand ICONS, who are changing the game in the world of modular jewellery.

I met Amrith (founder) on a personal project I was doing (another reason to always pursue personal projects) and from the moment he began telling me about his vision I knew we would be working together in some way.

After showing him my work he immediately said, ‘Dude, can you do your thing exactly how you do it for my brand?!’
Both of us wanting to challenge the norms of our prospective industries I was ecstatic to have creative freedom to bring his vision to life.

‘I want the opposite of the typical soft, earth tone jewellery look for ICONS’, is what was clearly stated in the brief. My style is BOLD, RAW and MINIMAL, so you could say this brief was written just for me.

Amrith made my job easy, already having the shoot concept sorted and model selected. On shoot day with my talented videographer buddy Nick from VSNZ, and incredible hair and makeup artist Tania Travers we proceeded to make some iconic, bold, artistic images.

Not only is the jewellery itself gorgeous but the locking mechanism that attaches each icon to its base is insanely satisfying to play with. This new, innovative patented design is a game changer in the modular jewellery industry.

With heaps of ICONS to choose from and all the bases including rings, necklace, bangle, and earrings, the combinations and versatility of the ICONS platform is endless.

If you can’t tell already I am a massive fan boy of this new brand, and being a bit of a bower bird myself loving shiny things, this project ticked all the boxes for me.

I cannot wait to work together with the great team again and hopefully build a relationship shooting ICON campaigns well into the future.

You can see some BTS from the shoot on my about page here.

'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?