Not Your Average Agency Photoshoot - UnBasic Agency

When Maddie sent me the mood board for her latest branding shoot I let out a ‘Hell Yeah’.

Maddie and Mick run UnBasic, a digital marketing agency that specialises in bespoke marketing for clients that are sick of the ‘one size fits all’ approach.

I met Maddie during our prep for a charity boxing match with Fortitude Boxing. After contracting me to shoot one of her clients, we have since developed a friendship around dark humour and sarcasm. Her witty humour combined with a borderline autistic drive for marketing lends to an absolute power house of abilities in this digital space.

The man of a thousand expressions. I was in stitches of laughter during our shoot with Mick’s ability change his face into every meme you could imagine. Head of design, I share Mick’s love for BOLD imagery and love looking at his creative work.

With most internal branding being your boring cliche headshots and dull tones, we wanted to make sure you remembered UnBasic when you hit their website, receive a digital pack or rock up to their instagram.

This was a super fun shoot and i’m excited to continue working with UnBasic on some exciting client work coming up next year.

If you’re wanting to have your brand/team stand out I’d love to help! Get in touch and lets bounce some ideas around on how we can take your image to the next level.

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.

Double Denim - Erik & Phoebe

Two of my favourite humans Erik and Phoebe joined me for a personal shoot titled ‘Double Denim’ and damn they look cute!

Rolling up in West End with my 64 Impala we shot a series of couple portraits while dodging traffic through the streets.

I decided to shoot this series on my Fujifilm camera system because in my opinion Fuji’s colours are the most vibrant, classic and superior straight out of camera which lends itself nicely to my style of portraiture.

Fuji’s glass (lenses) is also absolutely beautiful. A lot of modern cameras are clinically sharp, which takes away from the organic look that great portraiture entails. Fujifilm’s lenses are not excessively sharp and have a gorgeous contrast to them that brings a timeless feel to images.

I am excited to shoot more of my personal projects that I are in the pipeline over the next few months so keep your eyes pealed!

Liquid Emotions

In exploring the themes of sadness, loneliness, and isolation, I created the beauty editorial ‘Liquid Emotions.’

Along with my incredibly talented friend Evie, we set out to the shallows of Shoal Point in my hometown of Mackay. Our goal was to capture the side of some women that contrasts with the outgoing, happy personas they often present.

This shoot was inspired by a friend who, on the outside, seems to be thriving and living her best life. But on the inside, she feels a deep sense of loneliness and isolation.

It's so easy these days to assume that everyone has their life together based on the best versions they show on social media, but in reality, we all face the same human struggles, and some people are dealing with much more beneath the surface.

With 'Liquid Emotions,' we aimed to reveal the hidden truths and give a voice to the silent struggles many experience, reminding everyone that beneath the perfect appearances, the challenges of the human experience are real and universal.

'Caught Back Stage'

‘Caught back stage’ Kia and Cam are a super stare couple of dancers that helped bring my idea to life.

The theme was; a wild singer/dancer duo that where ‘caught back stage’ for a quick photoshoot before a show, flexing their designer sunnies that they are never seen without.

As someone myself that is never seen without his sunnies, I love how bold this set has come out, emphasising their cool shades.

Kia and Cam’s chemistry really added to this shoot and I hope to see them when they are back from Europe for another shoot!

The Ringer - BTS

Amongst the rolling hills and red dirt of the outback near Speedwell, I had the honour of working with an Australian icon.

Kelly Dixon has written countless award winning country classics and bush poetry in his career, including some for the aussie legend Slim Dusty. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with him on a music video for ‘The Ringer’, which is a bush ballad based on his retirement.

96 years young, Kelly has retired to his little farm of 150 acres in the beautiful countryside of Speedwell. The serenity shooting in this bushland oasis was so relaxing, and helped lend itself to the slower pace filming tempo I have tried to bring to this film clip.

Keep an eye out for the music video release of ‘The Ringer’ next month and the possibility of getting Kelly one more golden guitar!

Tech Meets Allied Health . DAMIEN ADLER - POWER DIARYS

In a niche sector of the tech space PowerDiary’s are making huge waves with their allied health practice management/scheduling system ‘PowerDiary’. I sat down with CEO and founder Damien Adler for an interview for the latest cover of Allied Magazine .

PowerDiary’s is used in over 23 countries globally and is taking the US by storm becoming one of the leading practice management systems and growing rapidly.

In 2011 Damien (psychologist) was managing his practice with multiple softwares and thought ‘there has got to be a better way’. Bringing on his brother Paul (technologist) the pair brought their skills together to solve the issue for themselves, little did they know that they had started something that will grow exponentially.

Damien, understanding the struggles other allied health practices deal with in their management systems, put it out to practices Australia wide to try help them simplify their systems. But as the software gained adoption they noticed that it wasn’t just Australian companies using it…. UK, US and other jurisdictions globally were signing up and that was when the light bulb moment happened that there software solves a problem that allied health practices struggle with globally.

I sat down with Damien who is an enthusiastic and articulate speaker, and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about the early days, global adoption, the future of allied tech and AI and his love of mountain biking. You can watch our full interview below or download this month’s issue of Allied Magazine here.

Chis from Allied Magazine and Allied Marketing has been working with PowerDiary’s over the years to help them grow in the Australian market. The two were great to work with as it was obvious to see both of their passions for the allied space during our photoshoot.

This is my second cover for Allied Magazine and I am excited to continue shooting together as we cover everything in the sporting and health space, which are both big passions of mine.

Life Outside - ANZAC Day

As a veteran myself I have a special place in my heart for fellow ex defence members who may be struggling as civilians in ‘Life Outside’ the military.

During the interviews I conducted with veterans I wanted to gain their perspective on what are some of their struggles, triumphs and things they think the community can do to help support our soldiers when they leave the military.

A key take away from Jake who was an infantry soldier and sniper, is that, ‘it can be as small as someone talking to us that can make a huge difference in our lives. We are not psychos, we just might be having a ruff time.’

Brendan has gone onto become a helicopter pilot after leaving defence and he thinks that having a clear purpose once you leave the military is key to success on the outside. Finding or creating your own purpose will help you have direction when you are the now master of your own ship.

For Angus, finding a community is key to dealing with struggles on the outside. Having a group of like minded people that you can lean on in hard times and hold you accountable when building your new life.

For this Anzac Day please take the time to just say hello to a veteran. Because you never know what they may be dealing with and this small act of kindness can make all the difference.

Thank you for your service.

Luke

Attila - New Talent

I love the creative collaboration between photographers and models when we set out with no fixed goals but to just see where our creativity takes us.

Greeted by this tall, charming and enthusiastic young man in my lobby, I was taken back by his energy and keenness to try different ideas and modify on the fly.

We worked between a ‘paparazzi interview’, outdoor formal wear (failed haha) and portrait sitting to create some great portfolio pieces.

Very keen to see what we are able to create in the future. Check out the full set in my blog post and give Attila a follow @attila.mbe