Thank you David Hobby

Ever since I picked up a camera at the age of about 12, right up until roughly three years ago I was an entirely natural light photographer. Flash scared the crap out of me, I hated the look of it and I just didn't understand it.

I remember a pitch black night in the mountains of Uttar Pradesh in India. I had an automatic Vivitar flash and had never really used it. I knew where it went (but had even that wrong as I now know! On-camera flash bad, off-camera flash good) but not really how it worked.

So I bought a roll of print film and shot a whole heap of photos at different apertures to see what the difference in the photos would be. Turned out there was no difference. That's why the flash was alled automatic - it was designed to give you the proper exposure no matter what the aperture was. D'oh. It wasn't TTL but it did a pretty good job. But I was still pretty terrible at using it.

And then about three years ago somebody pointed me to the Strobist site run by an ex-newspaper photographer, the aforementioned David Hobby. To say it changed my world would be an understatement. It completely turned it upside down. I never knew that you could take the flash off the camera. I never knew you could control multiple flashes at once. Hell I had no idea you could modify the light coming out of those things.

Here was a totally new mindset for me. Going from being a passive documentary photographer who spent a lot of time waiting for beautiful light, to a proactive photographer who now preconceptualises a shot before I head out the front door. I've gone from dreading having to photograph anything indoors to actually looking forward to indoor shoots because it gives me a chance to create beautiful light.

The outdoor midday sun now no longer gives me the willies now I know how to overpower it and still have soft beautiful light on my subject. And I can make my son look cool in a way I never could before which gives us quality time together as he actually enjoys having his photo taken.

Why am I mentioning this now, so far down the track? Because I had an assignment yesterday to photograph inside a factory. A factory that required the sanitisation of every little piece of equipment before taking it in. So tripods, light stands and anything else was going to be difficult if not nigh on impossible. So I took in some speedlites (yes I'm Canon hence the spelling) and crafted some mighty fine looking light on a wing and a prayer. With no stands, modifiers or anything just a helpful writer to hold the flash and some nice white walls and roof to bounce it off.

And every prayer I said was a thank you to the great master Hobby. Mind you I'm a definite TTL convert and I know he loves his manual so I'm digging the Syl Area stuff and Joe Mcnally stuff but the person that started it all off is Mr Strobist. There is no possible way I could ever thank him enough for what he's done for my photographic life and career but recommend any of his products or workshops. If you want to learn to use your flash better then this is the place you need to start. Thank you David Hobby. My youngest gives you a big two thumbs up!

Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

One of the great things about photography for me is the entree it gives me into the lives of people I would otherwise never meet.

This was one such assignment to Weipa, up on the western coast of Cape York. The very tip of Australia for those of you who don't know it.

Coincidentally I'd just come back from there on a week-long assignment and got a call to head back there again. Only this time with a special guest.

Olympic champion and all-round beautiful lady Cathy Freeman was filming the second series of her hit TV show Going Bush. In the first series she'd been accompanied by one of my favourite actresses, Deb Mailman. In this second series she was joined by young actor Luke Carroll.

What made it so special was the reaction from the young aboriginal children in the communities she visited. To say that she is a hero to these people is like saying Superman is a little bit special. They were all waiting down on the beach when we arrived and a quick yell from one of the elders and they just came running from everywhere.

We filmed it in quite a secluded location because, basically, we didn't need a riot on our hands! But to see the absolute joy, pride and honour on these kids' faces was very humbling. And Cathy took it all with total aplomb. Cathy is quite a shy person and seemed to feel uncomfortable with all the attention, until she started playing with the kids and organizing running races on the sand. Then the fun was on for young and old.

Fishing with spears, face painting, totem pole painting. We crammed a lot in in a short period of time but it was an experience I will cherish forever. The camera really is an amazing gate key to so many incredible experiences and this truly is an incredible part of the world.

The art of collaboration

For many years (more than I care to remember!) I have been both a photographer and writer. Sometimes I do one or the other, many times I do both. But whenever I do both - ie create an article package - it's always travel or photography related. That's where my strengths and my knowledge lies. Whilst I enjoy photographing lots of different things I enjoy writing about just two things - photography and travel.

So that's why I actively seek out writers in the local north Queensland area, and beyond. To collaborate. There are writers out there with some weird and wonderful specialties who cover topics that I have no knowledge of whatsoever.

Take this image here of a young lady in a pathology lab. Making the photos and meeting the people is the best part of the job. But while I love reading about the research being done, I'm not particularly interested in writing about it. Best to leave that to the experts.

A writer friend gave me a call to let me know she had an assignment to write about university graduates working in the pathology field and whether I'd like to take the images. There's nothing I love more than creating compelling images of ordinary people in their work environment. It's just so much fun and always really challenging. How to make four pathology labs which are all basically the same visually (to the untrained eye!) look individual.

Next week I'm off to photograph a bio-dynamic dairy farmer on the Atherton Tablelands for a national business publication. How did that come about? A local writer I know gave me a call. He'd gotten an assignment to write the article and the editor said he needed a photographer for some professional shots. So by me knowing the writer I get to work on a great collaborative project, and I get to work for publications that would otherwise never have heard of me.

So if you love editorial photography like I do, but you have no particular desire to write, then look at hooking up with some local writers. You'll find the scope of your assignments will really broaden and you just might discover a passion for a totally new industry.

Teach what you know and pass it forward

This post is inspired by a Facebook message I just received. A good friend of mine, Clive Hutchison, used to be the head of the photography department at James Cook University in Townsville.

We met when he was doing a thesis and his subject was local photographers in the far north Queensland region. He would interview us and spend a day with us out in the field to photograph us as we worked. You can see a PDF of his interview with me on the Mirror to Mirror page at the JCU website. Scroll down to page 112. There's some great interviews with other local photographers there as well so definitely take the time to look at the other PDFs.

Anyway every year Clive would fly me down to Townsville to speak to his graduating class about travel photography. I used to prepare a slideshow of my work and talk about what it was like to work in the industry.

One year I couldn't get time off to fly down there so I did my talk via video link. It was great fun and quite a few of the students sent me email questions afterwards, as they do most years. I always give freely of my time and advice for those who want to make their way in this crazy game. I think it's really important that we educate up-and-coming photographers about what it means to be a professional. Too many photographers complain about how screwed up the business is but do nothing to help those who might not know any better improve their own business practices.

One of the students at that video link, Heather Grant, just sent me a wonderful message to let me know that she had taken all my advice on board and had just spent a long period of time travelling through Canada, the US, Europe and Thailand photographing all these projects. Now she's planning on heading back to Canada at the end of the year and spending her weekends seeking work in New York. She still references the big, long email I sent her when she makes career path decisions and just wrote to thank me for being so sharing with her.

From my perspective it was nothing. Happy to help. But to receive such a lovely letter and words of thanks was truly humbling. And to know that I've just helped one person follow their dreams is a truly amazing feeling.

So I would encourage you to share your knowledge with those who would seek it. Whether it be business-related, photography-related or just life-related. Pass it forward. Remember what it was like when you were learning and pass your knowledge on. The rewards will come back to you tenfold.

Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

One of the things I love about my job is the amazing people I get to meet. I've always been fascinated by the other professions that people choose to follow in life.

One of my longest and favourite clients is James Cook University. They always seem to come up with these amazing lecturers and researchers to photograph and send me out there to do my thing.

A morning out on the ocean with jellyfish researcher Matt Gordon was one of those assignments. The sun was out, the ocean was glassy calm and Palm Cove was looking like paradise on earth. Only we were just off the beach scouring the pristine waters for deadly box jellyfish. A total contrast if ever there was one.

Jellyfish are a fact of life in the tropics during our wet season. You definitely don't ever want to be stung by one, but these guys catch them on a regular basis so they can study them to find out more about them, and possible ways to cure people once stung.

So my job was to follow Matt and photograph him while he worked. My aim was to show the serious nature of the work, highlight the scientific equipment they used and provide images for the marketing department to promote the great work they're doing.

But I also wanted to show the environment. I'm big on environmental portraiture. I love to show the surroundings that shape a person's work and life. So when we were cruising up the beautiful coastline it was a no-brainer to contrast a serious looking Matt, looking for box jellyfish, with the beautiful tropical scenery in front of us.

Sunrise over Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas

One thing about photographing sunrise here in far north Queensland is that it's usually cloudy. Actually to be more precise, there's usually a big bank of clouds right in front of the sun.

The rest of the sky can be totally clear and there'll be a great big cloud right in front blocking the sun coming through. Or maybe that's only on the days when I get up early!

Either which way it completely changes the way you want to photograph at this time of the day. When the sun is nice and clear and shining beautiful light on the beach where I'm standing (and it's usually a beach - what can I say!) then I often reach for the wide-angle lens.

But when it's cloudy like this then usually the area where I'm standing is just really ordinary. There's no golden light, no nice long shadows. Just plain ol' ugly, boring light.

And that's when I reach for the telephoto lens - the longer the better. Because often all the action is happening way out on the horizon. Even if the sun is hidden behind the clouds you often find it sending shafts of light down over the water. Lots of beautiful light in the sky, just none close to where I'm standing. And because of the huge range of contrast between the sky and the ocean, it often turns a really dark shade - almost black - allowing you to create some really graphic compositions.

So if you're up this way on holiday and disappointed because it's a cloudy sunrise - consider it par for the course and reach for the telephoto lens.

Using your photography skills for good

If you're searching for things to photograph, just not inspired by anything why don't you think about helping somebody out who could really use it?

I have a general rule about donating my photography. I only do it for groups whose cause I passionately believe in, and everybody else working on the project has to be doing it for free as well.

A lot of charities have budgets and can afford to pay for quality photography. Indeed if they don't pay for the best they don't get fantastic images which help them bring in much-needed donations. But there are small, local charities run by volunteers who need all the help they can get. And seeing as I'm not a particular expert on tropical frog diseases I figured a great way to help out would be to donate some time to go in and photograph sick frogs.

This shot is one of the only ones I have that doesn't show yucky diseases (well visually yucky anyway). This images shows a normal, healthy frog on the right versus the small, yellow frog on the left which has an unknown infliction which causes it to go this colour and impeded its growth.

It was taken at the office of the Frog Decline Reversal Project which very conveniently happens to be just down the road from my house. I'd read about them over the years and knew they did great work and so I gave them a call to see how I could help. Turns out they don't really need pretty pictures of frogs for advertising but they do need someone with a knowledge of off-camera flash techniques to highlight symptoms of the diseases they've been discovering.

So now I go in every few weeks and photograph new cases for them, which all contributes to them being able to share their knowledge with scientists all around the world and help cure the frogs. Pretty pictures? Not by a long shot. Make me feel good to be able to help someone? Without a doubt.

So if you're feeling a bit lost with your photography and not really sure what to point your camera at then why not consider helping somebody who could really use it. You'll hone your skills and generate some good karma all at the same time.