VIVID PHOTOGRAPHY

I remember having a textural conversation with Mr Todd Hunter McGaw earlier in the year about how one stands out in the crowd with a Nikon D3s (yes even today when everyone has a DSLR). Recently Cath & I walked the streets of Naples with our full kits, and were followed by some unsavory characters. We spotted them and took evasive action.

Street photography, a bit of a recent passion of mine, is best done incognito.

Enter the Olympus OMD. I’ve had this camera for a couple of months now and love it. It’s small enough to cup in your hand, and whilst it’s not perfect, it comes pretty close. Check out this shot from my recent trip to Sydney, taken with the 12mm f.2. – Rich

We were feeling a little guilty about taking Daniel out of his 2nd year of school for four weeks to travel. But when you see an image like this… you forget about the guilt.

Dan is sitting in front of one of the world’s most amazing paintings… The Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio in Naples. He said later he felt the subject matter was a little too MA for him… could be true.

After 36 hrs sitting in an aeroplane or an airport, Cath & I, the Kids, and my Parents, have landed safely in Brisbane. We had a great time in Southern Italy (including Sicily) and Malta, although Daniel & Freya are a little tired of Baroque churches and Greek temples.

Anyone who has travelled to the chaos that is Italy, will understand why we have not blogged our trip so far… it is impossible to get anything to work (including Italians). God love them.

Cath & I agree Naples was an absolute highlight, both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. A photographer’s dream, Naples is a decaying city, with both history and humanity densely piled on top of itself. Cath & I spent a crazy afternoon there walking the streets with our cameras… here is one shot I like.

Throughout the trip I started to form a natural tendency to shoot a particular way. With a 35mm lens exclusively, I started to notice so many wonderful walls, doors, and streets and buildings. Some scenes truly beautiful just on their own.

I started to see these scenes as a stage on which human beings make their way through the world. I started to see compositions, combining the elements of texture, tone, colour, and line. Add to that the human element and you have something akin to a computer game, but in real life. Watching the environment around me, as all these elements came together, became an obsession.

Ask Cath… even the kids will tell you… I was a stalker armed with a camera and a mission: to find the perfect combination of all these elements and create the perfect image.

I had rules, and I stuck to them so vehemently a lot of other photographic opportunities were sacrificed I’m sure. I won’t elaborate here, but I will be creating a limited edition book from the images, and I will blog some of them as I prepare them for the book. In the meantime, here is one I like which exhibits some nice elements.

Here is a great example of why you should never travel with Ian Wilkinson. I know him well enough to never turn my back on him. Never. Ben Clark was not so prepared…