Mark Tipple Photo

Silver Mitsubishi

2010-10-19T09:32:00.006+11:00

In 2004 I was living in a tent in Byron Bay and used to hitch to the Gold Coast once or twice a week, sometimes I got lucky, sometimes I walked most of the way. Once on the return trip it took a few hours to get a ride; as the car pulled over I noticed the bumper sticker 'Remember to breathe'. I didn't think much about it back then, now it seems to be in my mind all the time.

Now, I have three words written on my underwater housing. Earlier in the year I was cleaning off the salt after a shoot and saw a marker on my desk. I can't actually say what compelled me to write these three words, but I don't think they need an explanation.
Remember. Love Life.
Both lead to the same thing, appreciation for who we are, for the people around us; for being alive on this ball of rock and water. My personal work is dedicated to documenting the lives of others, their acceptance of the camera and myself into their lives is so personal to me, the relationship that's formed is one that I'll never forget. I hope to not only tell their story but to celebrate their lives - the strength and the courage that lies within each and every one of us. Sometimes we (myself included) forget that.

And to Love Life. To treat each and every day as a blessing.

I just stumbled across this short film, seemed to sum the three words up perfectly. Take some time out to breathe.

Stay stoked.

LOVE LIFE: The Tale of Steve Fugate from Erin Henning on Vimeo.

Photo

Playing catch up.

2010-10-15T18:41:00.000+11:00

I'm pretty bad at this, so don't hold it against me. Ok? Thanks. The GFJ launch was a pretty unique experience and an exhausting one all the same, took some time out to work on the underwater project in South Australia straight after. Without thinking about it I hadn't been home in almost 2 years. Landed in one of the gnarliest storms of the year, tiny little plane bouncing around and dodging trees on the tarmac; Scott's plane was turned back twice, couldn't see the ground at 600 meters. Two days later the weather was that good, not even cold, well, kinda, but the water was clear. Shot some reefs and beachies, got caught inside by one of the biggest sets I've seen in a while, ragdolled to the sand, housing in a vice-like grip bouncing amongst the rocks...no leaks just laughs, got the message and retired for home.
Made 2 for the series, which has just been launched. Winter underwater project, sign off to the cold. See ya next year, definitely not holding my breath for that one.

There's a few things happening with GFJ, honestly I'm pumped on the 'In your world' concept, bringing it from a large scale into a smaller connectible format, last Friday's talk was an intimate discussion with 40 or so people, (I hope I didn't ramble), but we're stoked on the reactions.

From now on in it's both the underwater series and Gfj for my focus, and...uh, this blog...an outlet for my brain rambles...where am I again?

Stay stoked. Connect.

Gallery For Justice

2010-09-01T18:25:00.001+10:00

Launched. Stoked on the outcome, huge props to all involved.
Personally, these stories have been on my mind for the last 18 months since the Indonesia trip. What seemed so simple, be there, focus on the story, and the rest will happen in due time, was anything but. The prevalence of social justice images in our world affects us all, to the extent that I wasn't sure that the people who trusted me with their story would ever have a voice. Sure, I could go around with my pub fuel, tell those who will listen about these people who remain strong amidst adversity, but how does that be passed on after the fact? Nikki's concept was/is simple. Empower others to tell the story. Simple right? From the launch, I hope the flow on effect is apparent. Spread the story.

www.galleryforjustice.org

Chasing the Jakartan Dream

2010-08-20T16:16:00.000+10:00

www.galleryforjustice.org

51º North

2010-07-28T10:04:00.004+10:00

July has been crazy. With a shoot in New Zealand and a 4 day trip to San Francisco, around the same time Jonathon from 51º North contacted me for an interview...huge props for pulling some form of coherency from my rambles, short writeup spells out what's been happening in the past few months.

Check it.
Stay stoked.

http://www.51degreesnorth.blogspot.com/2010/07/will-there-be-veuve.html

Shark Diver

2010-04-28T15:58:00.001+10:00

It's done. Final. Finished. What went from script to screen in record, ahem, a lengthy time is now online, for y'all to have a look at. In all seriousness this whole process has been a massive learning curve for me, not as much as technical 'oh that button does that' it's been more of a personal growth in self realisation. It's been on my mind for a while now, the thought of 'what do you want to do?' Ask yourself that. Now. What do you want to do with your life. Are you doing it? What steps can you take to make it happen? If there's one thing that I try to stay true to is my personal transparency. Be it through my failures, minor successes, public humiliations whatever it may be if there's something to learn, ask it. I might just get it right. One day. Jk. I have no idea what I'm saying. But, it's done, and it's live. Have a look, make us $0.01.

www.sharkdivermovie.com

Forever Enough

2009-12-24T22:57:00.004+11:00

Alright...Christmas Eve and I'm still working. No idea where the last month's gone, although I can say that Shark Diver's off to the editor. From glitch to difference in story it's back on track, one thing off my mind for the moment.

Some new projects are starting to show fruits, pretty stoked on the feedback of the Underwater Project, having flipped a coin most days as to either work or shoot there's only been one day that hasn't proven to be at least something archival, one for the website ala. Tom, new submission coming soon. As for the new year...no idea. My work with the Salvation Army will continue, they've gone from clients to friends, close proximity no problem - see what tomorrow brings. Christmas Day lunch with 1,500 community members, should be an amazing day.

End on a high, write-up from Jeremy to end.

Stay stoked.

The Underwater Project.
Documenting life below the surface.

"I've always been fascinated with what happens below the surface, like what's happening where we can't see." While watching the slide-show on Mark's laptop I'm amazed at the speed that he's got this selection together.
An accomplished documentary photographer, in the past Mark has used the ocean as an escape route for some solace from the projects that he's been documenting. Having only recently picked up a smaller camera and water housing he's been "hanging out" below the surface trying to capture what happens underwater while swimming on a slow summer's day.

"Coming from a surfing background I used to wonder what happens when we're duckdiving, like, what it looks like from a different angle than what we can see. Kinda hard to explain but it has always been on my mind. I used to surf with a small video camera and housing attached to my helmet; it worked surprisingly well but my neck couldn't take the impact and stress when a surfer's caught in the thick of the wave, in amongst the whitewater being thrashed about while I'm trying to duck-dive myself...which is what I wanted to capture, I tried to turn it back on myself to see what happens even clearer but that, uh, sucked. I searched for a new approach to capture what I was seeking, which basically meant getting off the surfboard."

Surfing is a notoriously frustrating sport, where a number of elements have to be present for a good surf session. From the correct wind direction and strength, to the correct tide for the reef or sandbar, to the correct swell direction for the location, which all depends on there being swell present on the day it's enough to turn away the most dedicated surfer to take up tennis, or something less elemental dependent. "So many times back home we've be driving through the bush for 2 hours on a one way track to the reef only to find that the surrounding sand has covered the ledge from an overnight tidal movement making it break wide or just weird...even if the 3 main elements are there (swell, wind, tide) there's always a chance for something unexpected to ruin the trip."

As the Australian summer hits and Mark is city bound for the next few months with film commitments, he has been finding the angles he's always been looking for, even through the lack of quality waves.

"Last week down the road from my house there was a pretty big swell...well, for Coogee anyway, and at the start of the school holidays there were kids everywhere being smashed in the closeout shore-break. I was only in the water for about 30 minutes in the thick of all the swimmers shooting different angles - I was walking backwards as a wave rolled past to shoot the swimmers diving underwater when my legs were taken out from underneath me by someone bailing under the wave, sending me over the falls backwards."
Mark goes on to describe how he was pinned underwater by his weight belt, which was "no problem but the impact of the wave ripped the housing out of my hand and snapped the leash leaving my housing setup tumbling somewhere amongst the whitewater and swimmers. I managed to find it two waves later, just stoked it didn't leak."

Mark agrees that it's quickly turned from "something fun when there's no waves" into a product that's gaining recognition and respect from various sources, if the last month's anything to go by we're sure to be seeing a lot more in the near future.

For more info check out-
http://www.marktipple.com

-Jeremy White.

Worksss

2009-12-03T21:24:00.000+11:00

New Empire's new media is out and full, stoked on some of the design they were able to pull off with my images. Culmination as I'm bound to say. Rufio's launched out on his own with his second clip for the guys, check him out on future projects. Through the shoot and the edit it's sweet to be working on projects with crew who are passionate for what they're both working in and passionate about, for New Empire they're not just musicians but good people wanting to spread the word. Listen up. They'll change a few things.

Ss.

Back from beyond.

2009-11-26T07:16:00.002+11:00

Back on track after some time lying in the lurks, been working on a lot of projects that I can't post the goods as yet. From New Empire's Summer Sky photo and music video shoot to the Shark Divers feature film it's all attached with NDA agreements....meaning I can't talk.

Check New Empire on Dec. 1st, some rather large shoots coming to the public. Saw the music video yesterday, definite props to Rufio Media for coming through with the goods.

Some new leads and frustrations with the old site brought forward the new, taking heed from the Keep It Simple (Sir) Stupid model it's easy for me to update, meaning the problems and delays of the past won't eventuate anymore. Touch wood.
Been working on updating my portfolio also, focused on the commercial portrait side of my work together in one package, been getting some props since it's launch. Check it out with the pdf download link below.

As for now, with the Indonesia documentary still in the works I've got a lot on my plate, lining up some more bands and ideas to shoot, if you're up for some promotional media - be it a music video or photo shoot- hit me up.
Rufio Media's package is on the way also, check it after Dec 1st for evidence of what we've been up to in the last few months. Link to follow.

Old saying but still holds true to this day, Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life.

Stay stoked.
Tipple.

Commercial portfolio download -
http://www.marktipple.com/downloads/Marktipple_portfolio.pdf

New site -
http://www.marktipple.com/

Youth Alive 2009

2009-09-14T19:29:00.003+10:00

Airport blues, Melbourne yesterday now waiting to fly to LA, pre-production on Shark Diver and a break from Sydney for a few weeks, stoked. Youth Alive tour in Melbourne was pretty sweet, after 4 weeks on tour New Empire are an oiled machine, town to town show to show they're getting 'er done, good to see. No dramas from tour manager Rufio to report, smooth sailing for once.

Stayed around to shoot Relient K, props to Jon for getting into it, the other dudes were kinda boring. Dude spends more time with his hands in the air than on his guitar, semi stalked him for their set. Check it.
Anyway...gotta board this 16 hour flight.

Do a good job mate....routine prayer to the pilot...

SS.

News and news.

2009-08-20T11:28:00.005+10:00

Fruits are starting to show evidence of the work that's been keeping me behind closed doors for the past few months, first of which is the new site. Huge props to Luke for hooking this up with all his other work that's been plaguing him ten fold - shoots and contacts flowing like clockwork.
New Empire's tour is in full swing, first show happening at the moment. From the phone call that just came through it's sounding packed, props to all involved. Music video soon to come.
All good for now, see what the future brings. We own the sky.

Stay stoked.

We Own The Sky

2009-07-19T02:44:00.003+10:00

Whelp - Matt's killing zombie's, sugar's rushing, it's 3am and I'm working on the New Empire music video and it's all smooth sailing from here. Owned won 3 awards already and it's just a rough cut, props from a lot of creeps on breaking my back for the 4 day steadicam shoot but I'm pumped on it, still getting through the Road to Canaan shoot and Indo - Open your eyes is off the ground. Stoked.
Check New Empire again.
Do It.
Bail.

Mercy day for Mr. Vengence

2009-06-29T00:54:00.003+10:00

Body's broken brah. Brain's shot. Faded to say the least - rain halted production and gave some solace for my back. 2 days on adaptor and steadicam running through the shed ghetto life lurks doco style and all good so far.
As stated slash related and engraved in stone Road to Canaan soon up foo.
New Empire music video next weekend.

Faded now.
Later.

Stay stoked.
Bail.

Road to Canaan

Green for Opposition.

2009-06-18T22:10:00.003+10:00

Following the election in Iran from my desk at work and I knew that this would happen. What seemed so tense and humble was laced with a pocket of edge, sure with the 700 + photos from the agencies I'm hard pressed to filter and edit them with keeping the real story in place, but for once I wish I wasn't here doing what I'm doing. It's a far cry from the comfort of commercial shoots in Sydney, sure it's fun and it's reputation building - now at my desk editing All of the Above's shoot I'm thinking bigger. Again.
Heavy handed government shut down my observing at work, head photo brah came to me asking where the shots are, turned him to lens.blog's report - walked away shaking his head. Sentiment felt worldwide, without getting into a whole political debate it's fueling the fire for the near future. When foreign assignments turn into something else, someone else, debate over beer last night and photo creeps nodded in agreement, what's so far away but at our fingertips - until opression kicks in.

What's up? No idea. I need sugar. Or similar. Anyway AotA aka Road to Canaan shoot's moments away. Bail.

Stay stoked.

lens.blogs

For Dip.

2009-05-23T13:24:00.003+10:00

Continuity in the rain.
Bluuur. Shooting so much of late and I can't get around to getting onto this thing, one shot one day is all it is. One for the ages.

Link time -
IC Sydney
IC Site

Stay stoked.

Get Abducted.

2009-04-23T23:25:00.004+10:00

Come get abducted. Come help stop a war. Come be a part of something way bigger than any of us could ever think we could be part of. Come bring a coffee for me and my crew when we're still filming at 4am. Come open your eyes and get a grip on your own lives and realise that this is real.

This is happening.

And we're going to stop it.

Watch this.
http://therescue.invisiblechildren.com/en/#/watch/

Download this.
therescue.invisiblechildren.com/graphics/The-Rescue-Manual.pdf

Attend this.

SYDNEY EVENT DETAILS
Start: Saturday April 25th, 3:00pm
Milson’s Point Station, Bradfield Park, North Sydney
Walk to: Royal Botanical Gardens, Fleet Steps from 4:00 pm-10:00 pm
Sleep at: Hyde Park Barracks from 10:30 pm - Until we are Rescued.

MELBOURNE EVENT DETAILS
Start: Saturday April 25th, 3:00pm
Federation Square
Walk to/Sleep at: Royal Park (Gatehouse Street)

BRISBANE EVENT DETAILS
Start: Saturday April 25th, 3:00pm
South Bank - Outside QPAC
Walk to: New Farm Park

PERTH EVENT DETAILS
Start: Saturday April 25th, 3:00pm
South Perth Foreshore
Walk to/Sleep at: Supreme Court Gardens

Stay stoked.

Apple and Olive.

2009-04-13T21:15:00.004+10:00

Quiet...I know. Super busy working two jobs full time study and making some sort of progress on this Indonesia documentary and I find time for a few shoots here and there....shut up stop complaining I'm the last to say ahha. Pumped on lyfe...end with a catch phraze....

Stay stoked.

Apple and Olive...?
Set-up lagged with a super simple 24" softbox overhead on 1/4, bounced a little off a white sheet on her lap and allowed a little bit of ambient to ring her nose and face...sunset outside not going to lie wasn't ready for the slip but claimed it all the same ahha...chimped a few and changed the position so her eyes wouldn't panda out so much...fine line between the two.

Respect. In fragmented thoughts.

2009-03-18T11:31:00.001+11:00

In early January 2009 Mark Tipple and two journalists from Australia traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia to talk with villagers who leave their family to work in Jakarta. They returned with photos and video documenting the ‘strongest people they’ve ever met.’
The following is a brief essay on the personal struggle that Mark underwent with his ethics and morals while trying to capture the stories.

‘You’re white, 6 feet tall, with blond hair. You’re going to attract attention.’
Put a three thousand dollar camera in my hand and the image just gets worse.

Respect. In fragmented thoughts.

If there’s one thought that plagued me for the four weeks in Indonesia it was how to gain people’s respect.

The idea was to go and talk to people who are struggling to live but still working hard to try and make it on their own, sitting in my room in Sydney a week before leaving I thought I’d be able to overcome the language issues by just asking a local to come into these areas with us and translate.

After the first week I realised how naive my idea had been, sure there are locals who can speak flawless English and Bahasa who we could ask to help us, but if their attitude towards homeless people is one of disrespect, our efforts of approaching these people will be useless.

I spent a few hours talking to a kid in the area one night, learned his opinions on homeless people and the realities of the Jakartan poor before asking for his help, after telling him what we were all about he agreed to take us into a few areas. When his friend in the military agreed to take us along the train tracks into a scavenging community, we thought we were pretty set to do this little project.

However even with a trusted translator and army guide there were times when respect was not easy to gain.

In my mind it came down to the fact that we had access into the area and were safe with our guide, we had a translator who could convey our message to the community and by showing them respect we could gain theirs and they would tell us their story. We brought some money and food as thanks for sharing their time with us, not going to lie I was pretty optimistic about this whole deal.

First glance at the tracks and I knew I had it all wrong.

Witnessing the amount of people living on the rocks alongside train tracks and the fragility of their living environment bringing skepticism and unease I knew that we wouldn’t be able to talk to everyone, to gain everyone’s trust and respect, and the majority of people would be looking at me as though I was exploiting them.
I started filming long lens, by focusing on people at a distance it somewhat removed me from the reality that I didn’t have their permission to film them because they couldn’t see me, when I asked our translator if it was ok for me to be filming he said that it was fine, they’re ok with it, about a minute later I turned the camera off.

Thinking that we had covered all bases in gaining access to this place I didn’t notice the way they were looking at me through the camera for the first few minutes, but when I started looking past their struggles and into their eyes I knew I wasn’t welcome. A university professor friend we met with a week earlier said it plainly to me, ‘…you’re white, 6 feet tall with blond hair, you’re going to attract attention.’ Put a three thousand dollar camera in my hand and the image only gets worse.

While we were leaving the tracks soon after I stayed back a bit to film one scene that’s still on my mind today; a man drying rice on two sheets of corrugated iron in the open air for his meal that night. Flies are everywhere. He scrapes the rice onto one sheet of iron and covers the rice as a train passes him no more than 2 meters away, kicking up rocks and dirt and grease. He places a few rocks on top of the iron to deter the flies and stands to move back to his shelter, notices me filming from a distance with military escort behind me, and his face changes from anguish to frustration, then anger.
Why should I be filming him. I haven’t said a word to him. I haven’t even asked for his name, haven’t shaken his hand, for all he knows I’m a rich white kid filming people to laugh at with my friends when I arrive home from my vacation to tell them how I went slumming one afternoon.

I broke my own rules that day, although it’s one of the most vivid images of the trip it was a lack of morals that more than 30 minutes of my video journal entries will reflect. After this experience we agreed to focus on one of the families we talked to, the mother was more than willing to show us her shelter and talk about her life, and we spent a long time talking with her during 3 visits in the next 2 weeks.

For the last week I was roaming solo, the journalists I was traveling with had to return to Australia for work commitments, and it looked like being the busiest week yet. This "respect" thing was still running through my mind, without having found a focused story I was wondering whether I should just bail my own morals and shoot anything and everything to get some graphic images, to use as shock value if I needed a fall back plan.

On my second to last day in Indonesia I visited Bantar Gebang, site of the largest open-air land fill in Indonesia to talk with the scavengers who travel from villages around Java to work in the dump, to sift through rubbish and pick out recyclable items. We spoke with a teacher at the local elementary school, gained some knowledge of the area, the workers and the families, then moved to the site to see the workers and ask if we can talk with them. After meeting with the manager of the dump and being shown the red carpet treatment; coffee, tea and an air-conditioned escort around the dump, it all seemed a little too ‘nice’.
After a 5-minute drive through the dump we came to where trucks were waiting to unload their cargo and the sight literally made me gasp. Over 50 workers with baskets on their backs climbing, falling, almost playing in the mountains of rubbish, getting covered head to toe with all forms of grime and earth movers working amongst them to move the rubbish further up the hill.

I wound the window down to film when we stopped from a distance...and the manager wound it up. I asked to film the workers (as I had explained in the office that I was here to talk to the workers, not document the dump), he hesitated....and locked the doors. I wound the window down again and he wound it back up.

This was the most graphic scene I’ve ever witnessed. The desperation of the people was clear as they risk their own health to earn money to feed themselves for one day, and the manager was blocking me. I asked to wind the window down, as the tinting would distort the image, and he reluctantly complied. It smelt terrible, which no doubt added to why he was hesitating.

While filming from a distance the memory of the train tracks came back, and my mind started racing. This was almost the same situation as the tracks, there’s no way I could convey my message to all of these people, the noise alone would halt any communication, some of the workers had already noticed me in the car and were looking at me in the same light as an exploitative journalist. I started thinking that the only way I was going to gain the workers’ respect and be able to document them in their environment was to jump in there with them, showing them that I am here to experience their lives and willing to get covered with grime, and hopefully the gesture would be enough for them to allow me into their lives for an hour or so. While picking up my stills camera I asked the manager if I could get out of the car and shoot a few different angles, asked my translator to film while I shoot stills, and basically walked straight up and into the thick of it.

Most of the workers just stopped and stared.
Big tall white guy, plain white shirt and floppy white canvas shoes trudging through the rubbish with a camera and a big ol’ goofy grin on his face. I started shaking everyone's hands and saying the one phrase in Bahasa that I could recall, instantly making them smile and continue to work with me at their shoulder shooting.

I gained their respect pretty well instantly, the same workers who had looked at me in disgust while filming from the car came to me and shook my hand, asked where I was from, and allowed me to follow them around documenting their work. In a weird way it was the most amazing time of the trip, getting covered with rubbish, stepping on god knows what with juice soaking through my shoes; but working with the respect of those around me. I would have loved to stay for longer, but we wore out our welcome with the management in a matter of minutes, and were promptly shown the door.

I know there wouldn’t have been even a quarter of the emotion in the photos if I had been shooting long lens from far. By being close and shooting wide it’s a completely different emotion felt when shooting and reviewing the photos. It’s a bit of a catch phrase in the photojournalism world, but still holds so much power when you’re struggling with ethics and personal constraints.

If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.
- Robert Capa

A lesson learned to make sure that respect is present, that the emotion isn’t faked, and that it isn’t a direct result of the camera being too close to see.

Open your eyes. Indonesia.

2009-02-10T11:59:00.008+11:00

I can't actually say what happened in the last month, like I've been back for 3 days now and friends and family are asking how the trip was and I'm at a loss for words. From the outset it was random at best, making phone calls to NGO's and journalists trying to make contact with the people we were here to ask for their story and we were clutching at straws, many hours spent either roaming around the city or devising plans that may or may not eventuate it was tough times for the first few weeks. Once we got access I'm not going to lie I was overcome with what was before me, feeling out of my league and totally useless with a camera in my hand to do it justice it was hard, hard to imaging what I was seeing. In a way I was telling myself to revert back to photos, this film thing is too hard with the language issues and lost in translation being the biggest thing on my mind, this has to be done with respect and what if the respect is lost in the translation? Lost many hours sleep just thinking where the line stands ethically, like sure we could have just rolled on through these places with cameras blazing, sure it would have been dangerous but we would have got the images that we could then adapt to our own story, but that's the last thing we wanted to do.

It's been done countless times before, a graphic image with Western voice over, saying how hard life is and that Westerners should help these people, but is that the real story? By taking time to find a translator that both we could trust and could trust us, then finding people with respect to take us into these places to talk with the people, even the first few meetings were met with skepticism and hostility, but in the last week it seemed to be all worth while. Having spent the last 2 weeks showing our faces and shaking hands and smiling we gained enough trust for a few people to open up to us, to tell us their story, and I'm still trying to comprehend what it takes to live their life.
While my focus was mainly on film, there were more than a few times I found myself reaching for the still camera, it holds a different power in a frozen point in time, one that film's moving image can't convey. It's something that I continually go between, film or photo, on this trip I must admit that the two fed off themselves as much as possible.

More than anything that may come out of this trip is that people gain more appreciation for their lives, I'm the last to preach to the masses but if we can realise how lucky we have it in the western world, and be grateful.
I'm going to stop this ramble with the same few words that I always seem to live by, however it's with a greater sense of appreciation having met some of the strongest people I've ever met.

Stay stoked.

Image of the Invisible.

2009-01-07T10:24:00.004+11:00

“You polluted everything and now the 3rd world’s gone.

The water is poison where I’m from the 3rd world son,
700 children died by the end of this song.
Revolution a come where I’m from the 3rd world son,
Constant occupation leaves the 3rd world torn.”
The 3rd World. Immortal Technique.

I wish my brain had an off button.
Seems to always happen this time of the year, with all the consumerism and stupid notions towards ourselves we forget the larger picture. We’re so lucky to have what we have and have the freedumb to make the decisions we do, that we can literally walk into a supermarket and purchase nourishment as simply as we know.
While we spend hours and money worrying about ourselves there are parts of the world where people are dying. Dying from hunger, dying from disease, dying from authoritative suppression. On a personal level I can’t just sit around and say to myself that I’ll try to make a change in the future, that one day I’ll get out there and do what I can. Sure, I tell myself that there’s a lot of other people out there who feel the same, and there are, look at Invisible Children or War Photographer or even Long Way Round and their coverage of UNICEF projects around the world and it’s clear that there are a lot of groups out there striving to enforce strategies for positive changes to be made. But I can’t just sit around and let them do it.
I have to do more.

Faced with the thought of working a menial job in Sydney for the holidays to save some coin before school starts mid February…I panicked. The Western world was busy spending over and beyond their means for the Christmas period, talking about the worst US economy in 50 years and multi-billion dollar buyout packages with a victim mentality from those in the fortunate countries being voiced…and I had to get out.

Last year I bailed to a place where they don’t care about the latest iPod or plasma TVs or even tax hikes, a place where they live off the land and ocean with no running water, no power, no want or need for life to be any more than a roof over their head and their family close and healthy.

I found that life on and island in Fiji, after 6 weeks in the village their simple life started to show flaws and they started asking for help, for money, for my help in raising awareness that even their simple life has it’s hardships.
I was there when Cyclone Gene thrashed Natawa village for close to a week, huts flattened and the village crops were all but extinguished. The government was quick to send through some basic supplies, providing each family with a bag of flour, cooking oil, some sugar and tinned fish, ‘good for the next 4 weeks’ as Semmi later confided in me, ‘but then what?’ At the moment we’re putting together a treatment to return to Natawa village in early 2009 to document their way of life on film rather than in print, although for now it has to be said they have a much easier life than our other island neighbours.

A quick look at Indonesian news reports show the stark contrast between our two countries, we’re so close in distance however our priorities and idelogies couldn’t be further. After a week of downtime from school and the consumerism and Christmas cheer (greed) trying to crush me I decided to spend the summer in Indonesia documenting the issues faced with everyday life there, from extreme poverty to child neglect and governmental suppression. I’m always bailing with last minute decisions and slim slash zero planning, meaning I normally travel solo, however I’m stoked to find that two good friends are ready to drop everything they’re doing and come along to experience a life far from comfort, far from what we in Western society know.

After some basic research an email from a friend who’s travelled to Indonesia a number of times summed up this contrast perfectly: ‘It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful, decent human beings can smile in the face of such economic and spiritual suppression, plus rampant civil and human rights abuse routinely conducted by the Indonesian authorities and businesses. It also amazes me just how people who say they love the Balinese (mainly the tourists who never get out of the resorts) both are blind to and in reality too often contribute to their suffering.’

I must admit similar to the Fiji trip where I went on a whim and a prayer that I could find the life I was searching for, once again with rushed planning and surface research, I’m a little unsure of what we’re going to find. Reports of riots in Jakarta due to Israeli’s involvement in the Gaza strip and the American flag being burnt in the streets and an earthquake hitting eastern Indonesia overnight it’s safe to say I’m more than cautious about what we’re actually in for.
Myself, Thorn and Lauren are going into this with open eyes and open hearts, to bring their story back to our world. Time will tell the extent of what we find, Thorn’s enthusiasm in storytelling and Lauren’s journalistic flair will add to my passion for documenting real life and human emotion.
If there’s a story to be told we’ll do our best to do it justice.

“Time for you and I
to turn on the big screen
see what’s happening'
And as those children die,
pawns in the game of
collateral damage,
The whole world goes mad.”
Fire in the Sky. John Butler Trio.

http://www.invisiblechildren.com
http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=197kBg7uX50&feature=channel

Screenwriting an Apology. Of Sorts. SFS Screening.

2008-12-20T11:38:00.000+11:00

I knew this would happen.

It's all over and I miss it.
Is the grass always greener, is this why I keep bailing whenever it gets too much, when I've missed a few nights sleep in a row and think 'screw this game' and bounce, only to find that when I get to this 'better' place I can't stop thinking about where I just came from?

Flaw in personality I'm the first to admit.
I can't even account for the last two weeks hey, leading up to the screening and trying to get my film finished and fitting in a few shoots and hanging with Jobes before she left for the States made my head spin and think of that other place where it'd all be different and I could relax, now I am relaxed I want to get back into it. Random state of mind I know...and I know I'm not alone in feeling this way.

With a 2 month break ahead I'm sitting on my bed editing the last of the New Empire shoot and I'm kinda bored. Not going to lie the screening was a mess, day one was sweet, ran without a flaw, a positive response from the audience and the actors didn't fight me for cutting all of their scenes and just using their voice over, stoked to be a part of it all, day two rolls up and I'm all over the place. A '3 to 4 photos for the wine sponsors' turned into 274 photos of the whole preceedings, from corporate product placements to promotional event photograhy (one of my absolute least favorite things to shoot) to guest speaker at the lectern showing they actually like us and showed up and said more than a few words....all with 5 minutes notice.

The end result is all that matters now, my smile was as realistic as it could be and I'm a happy photokid, 30 seconds to light the theatre and I'm run and gun style at best. Semi shoot off with another photographer with a tripod while I'm jumping on stage rolling a second lens ahead so I could shoot wide en-route to picking up the zoom and changing before sitting at the back while she sat row 3 happy with her tripod (I hate tripods if you haven't notice)...made a few of the cats laugh and pay more attention to me then the guest speaker.

So...semester one over and I'm still breathing, I've said it all along i'm a doco kid not a drama lurker, with so many interesting and beautiful stories around the world I'd find it hard to swallow a focus on creating a story rather than finding it, each to their own I'm well aware, that's just where my passion lies and my path for the next year slash decade.

Where am I going with this? I don't know. Gotta get back to New Empire. Bail.

Stay stoked.

Eskimo. LMD.

2008-12-01T15:07:00.006+11:00

School is my new home. Seriously. Still trying to make this film work... editing dayze and brain fade is winning. Wonder why i'm paying 2 bills a week too have a place for my bags that i never see, why i'm hanging way too much to see the beach and see the world outside these few walls. Find myself laughing when i'm scanning my bag for a piece of paper and see a toothbrush at the bottom. wandering no longer but still carrying my possessions. Fail. Not alone though, there's a 'set' downstairs that's a makeshift bedroom, the powers that be are unaware we're not even going to film on it but just use it for a place to crash, a place to break up the sonombulance that we're paying for. In more than monetary ways.

Turns out they're looking over my shoulder in my spare time though, with an advanced diploma course in the works for next year they're looking for some promotional photos that 'pop', in the words of someone wiser than me 'we want them to be seen'. Not a bad request for a shoot i guess. The basis being that there's this kid who's working in the city being forced to wear a suit in a job that he doesn't like and all he thinks about is being somewhere else, sure he wears the clothes on the outside but he's trying to get out by his long hair and scruffy appearance...long story short there's a quiet and proper girl at his workplace who notices his non conformity and it affects her and a relationship blooms. I think. I never got a copy of the script. Last minute kinda thing.

Anyway tried to line a few cats up for the dude model, all fell through, the girl in the story was down to help, with the rain falling and the last scruff cat unable to make it i stood in myself, turned out to be pretty easy actually. As always the crew i'm working with help me out more than i could ask for, while i'm setting the lights Sare's on make-up and costume, prepping and just hanging, on this occasion filled in as camera operator too. Froth to have that team around.

Went for a structured glow look that i knew i could make in post, could have just shot available and fixed later, agro way to work i know and pretty much never would unless circumstances forced it...tried a few different things.

Shoot through camera left on full, rim on 1/4 bare behind the wall next to my head, and a small softbox on 1/4 behind my back pointed at Marta for fill. Worked surprisingly well in camera, cut down on the post work i had to do, left me just enhancing rather than creating.

When security warned and threatened with some dumb fine we moved to a black wall...ya exciting i know but with a spectral behind it popped and left me stoked on a 3 minute setup for some closer feels.
Maybe not even 3 minutes hey, like just the shoot through eye level camera left and voice position for the subject to get in the highlight.

Still haven't heard back from the clients, apparently they're in the mountains getting some soul inspiration to finish they're script. Hope they're happy....and that i got the story right....

Stay stoked.

Sonombulance.

2008-11-14T15:31:00.009+11:00

Creep the peeps. Typical standard industry speech but for me it's the last thing I want to do. Seriously. Being the person I want to be on a daily basis is the way I roll, like if there's one ambition that I want to reach by the end of my dayze it's that I haven't changed who I am, and that i've never changed for a job. On one hand watching these cats everyday in the city rushing from home to work and back on the 9-5 routine all dressed the same in black and white suits makes me cringe...one the other i'm stoked to have made it this far by not conforming. Wholly personal i'm the first to admit, but if it's not for the love then what for.

After a failed attempt to listen in class on halloween day (uh...friday) and after the call from home brought it all back to real I had to keep busy, lurked around the place with a camera and a more than willing producer part-time Pete on Oxford street, the kid's likely to be talking not silent from eyes open to eyes shut so he's the man to line up a private 45 seconds for the camera with randoms...leaving me to laugh and shoot a bit.

I admit it was a rushed job at best, best intentions faded fast when I got the over-its before we even parked the car, knowing I was going to crash and have to face the truth we shot for like an hour, maybe, basically did 2 laps of the street, creeping the peeps along the way.

Basic set-up, strobe in a shoot through umbrella, camera left on 1/4 or so, pete holding the fort and holding the umbrella. most were willing, some were skeptical, after the first few Pete started saying we're from Sydney Today or something like that, apparently it's a metro mag that all the cool people know of, probably why i'm clueless and just went along with it. Called out by one girl who actually knows the editor of the mag, shunned it off with a freelance claim.

Whatever it was i'm not sure that we made the most of it, benefits of just doing it on autopilot....if it works it works, if it doesn't i'm not fussed. Kept my mind out of the depths and still stoked on lyfe.

Miss ya brah.

Stay stoked.

Returning Empty Handed.

2008-11-05T22:50:00.007+11:00

It’s tough you know, self critique on a more than personal level.
When you realise that what you treasure with a focus that resembles your own life hasn’t helped you or others it’s a long way to drop in a short time. You call yourself out over and over again and sit back and contemplate opportunities lost and wasted that you’ll never have the chance to get back...the questions enter your mind and it looks like they’re going to stay for a while.
Trying to merge my passion and friends should sound like an easy task hey, but I guess instead of stepping up to the plate I hid in a corner.

Sitting alone miles away from home looking through my thousands of images on 3 different hard drives and all I can find is a measly 10 photos. No chance to take more, no chance for a pick-up, my take on his life summed up in these few photos...and I call myself a photographer.

I’m sorry brah. If my mind had it’s own camera I’d have printed off murals by now, entire walls covered with the laughs and times shared, from laughing at lyfe or writing off the world as it stands now, both of us on a one year bailed university degree high, connected in our own realisation that the academia world just isn’t for us.
Taken too soon, but dang mate you made the most of it. Thanks for being my friend.

Stay stoked mate.

Hanging in the Balance. Sydney Life lyfe.

2008-10-30T19:08:00.003+11:00

Serious froth hey.

Looking at all this lighting info at school and reading about these huge Chimera lantern things that can throw the softest lighting over such a huge area and I knew I wanted one. Or two. Whatever I wanted some soft stuff.

Crept into town late one Thursday night looking to shoot something but fell asleep on a park bench under these huge light things instead, so ridiculous hey I was frothing to shoot under them…something somewhere I had to use them, when security kicked me awake I vowed to return. It's like Chimera stuff in Sydney. Froth.

Turned out to be a huge Sydney Life photo exhibit for the next week, made a few calls and got some form of organisation somehow. Storms hit home for the next 3 days, I swear my house was going to fly off the hill and into the water at some stage, would have been cool to shoot then, but I failed and bailed to hiding out somewhere. The night before the exhibition closed the rain ceased and we made it back in there, Sarah’s ease in front of the camera made me stoked to say the least, when I ask her to do something or even just creep and act natural she’s always down to do it. She’s just finished directing a film at school too so she’s on the same wavelength as me when it comes to understanding directors, with so much to think about when your subject can put 2 and 2 together it helps that much hey.

Anyway with too many leaves and not enough time to rake them I think we pulled it off, ended up putting two strobes in the one umbrella for the key, meaning my soft light chimera froth didn’t really eventuate, but I’m still stoked on the look. By having two strobes in the one holder I could throw soft light so far from the source, with a sb-28 and sb-26 on full into a 44” shoot through I could move it back, way back and still have it hit her.

Sydney Life lyfe.

Stay stoked.

This Side of Brightness.

2008-10-22T22:39:00.004+11:00

Soooo frustrating. Rain in October? Huh? Not only did my gear almost break slash did - fogged up the same lens for the second time this year, and I made Manu stand in the rain wearing almost nothing in an alley in Redfern. Safety first thrown right out of the window.

Like a true champ she stood there and didn’t complain as I fumbled my way through the following hour, frustrated by my brain forgetting 2 clamps for my remotes, don’t even have a hotshoe foot thingy for one of them so it was duct tape to the rescue, optical trigger facing the wrong way and I’m wondering why it wasn’t firing, all this after 7 hours of class and I wonder why I have a headache when it starts raining and I see red. And I can’t focus to save my life. My favourite and it’s soft. Huh. Rookie.

Vent over.

So…I wanted a kinda ghetto glamour shoot in an alley just up from school, lurked there a lot in the few days leading up to this shoot, thinking of where and when, obvi it’d be dark or the scare element wouldn’t work, with class until 9 every Tuesday we booked it up with my people, they called Manu’s people and Mr. cuddles was assigned to crowd control.

Whoa this will probably not make much sense.

Back to the basics. Grammar. Started with the two rims like on the ‘I got this’ shoot, another in a shoot through umbrella as fill for the front of Manu’s face, but that sucked. The 44” shoot through was flooding way too much, on low it was too flat, tried to cancel out the rim’s by dropping power, the gaffer tape slipped and ebay guy crashed down to the ground, starting to think it’s karma for skimping on groceries for a week to buy the extra flash. Tried the same setup but with a smaller softbox and closer, got a better look until it started raining and I bailed on soft all together.

Shot a few hard and bare on manu before the rain set in, chimped and saw the rain was really prominent in the frame, gave new life to the feel. Kept the same set-up for the next 20 minutes or so before it really set in, standard 3 point lighting, one after thought would be the flares, at the time I didn’t really care/couldn’t do much about it on the run, but ya one regret after all.

Strange to see how much a theme and idea can be changed on the run when circumstances change, if I had left the fill soft the rain wouldn’t have showed up as much as it did, and I really like the hard look to the others. Changed my opinion on hard light finally.

Stay stoked.

'I Got This.'

2008-10-18T22:36:00.002+11:00

I can’t stop laughing.

Dodging traffic has never been so much fun. Well, so much fun while not being on a bike. Oh and my flash broke. Thought it was the end for the ebay guy but he just lost his batteries as a bus was coming. Not that big of a deal until the optical trigger stopped working. Fail. Made it work finally, put it right behind his head and boomed it hard, created this harsh halo that I think works pretty well, had my room mate holding the light stand with umbrella while ducking and weaving through traffic, serious props Lisa.

Anyway, another Swede shoot, Johan in the middle of the road just up from my white walled house, was kinda trying to show the lights from the beach front below and behind him, while sitting on the roundabout it’d give an urban gritty edge to his look, after chimping a few I just killed the ambient (a little) and went with my lights.

Taxi drivers were the worst, like it’s not that busy here most days, maybe not the best idea to shoot on dark on a 30 degree Sunday with everyone buzzing around on their way home from the beach.

Took a few awkward style shots before asking Johan to model for the camera, like to search deep inside and show me what a soulful and emotional Swede he can be, but with a hard edge and a secret to keep, stock standard director speech at it’s best. He looked at me and laughed, asking if I want a Zoolander pose, to put it in simple English I said, ‘uh yeah’, to which he replied in the greatest line ever heard while on a shoot..

‘I got this’.

I laughed so hard.
Still am.

Stay stoked.

Symbolistic White Walls.

2008-10-14T21:52:00.001+11:00

My room’s white. So white. Just wrote a script on my thought process for class tomorrow, like how my landlord’s trying to justify my rent increase by painting my room a fresh white, like it’s so white I feel like I’m in a hospital and I’m freaking out. It’s white. Caused so many dramas last week with the shoot with Sarah, like no matter what I tried to do with snoots and alfoil and cutters the light somehow seemed to creep around the corners and light where I didn’t want lit.

Found it a real downer for a time hey, thinking what I can do on the run again, where I can put light, where I can put her, shoot against the window (night-time so at least that was black), low power in a soft box to control spill, tried 2 soft boxes with no hard light real close on low power which helped expose her, made it closer to what I wanted anyway, and it was the start of hope. -All dramatic I know, that’s how I roll ahha,- ended up with 2 soft lights close to her, and bounced a hard up into the corner of the roof behind her head, as it lit the walls in the frame it also fell on her hair for a nice semi hard rim light.

Seemed a similar trial to the shoot with Johan in the toilet at school, where the white walls caused havoc again, by keeping them close and low seemed to work more than not. After a few keepers I went back to the hard trio, I kinda hate the thought that all photos must have as much dynamic range as possible, some of my faves have huge flares right across the frame and look to be shot against white seamless, or they’re blown out skylight or something similar…whatever it is I like the look.

With Sarah waiting for me to do something worthwhile I just opened up and powered up, shot a few with blown out highlights, really harsh light on her face and ya just played around with different looks and poses to catch the blown out light, while keeping some of the original feel. as a side note while it's easy to blow out a model's face it's a real trap to keep their eyes the right color and with enough contrast to make an interesting portrait when it's in camera, not going to lie these few have a bit of darkness added to Sarah's eyes inpost.

So happy to overcome a few lighting issues on the run in the last few shoot’s from the lights of the city burning through Ammi’s head to the hospital sterile cleansed room bounce effect of Sarah’s shoot, I’m stoked to say the least.

Stay stoked.

Standing on the Edge of Summer.

2008-10-10T23:26:00.000+11:00

Ugh…semi beat. Just got home from a shoot with ammi, super fun time after a day of doing nothing, no class for both of us and found ourselves lurking way too much…nothing new for us sfs cats. Found a look out slash hill overlooking the city, ya it’s late and my English ain’t so good sorry- wanted to time it for the sunset but we were way early, played around with killing the ambient down to nothing, I was pretty surprised that I could at only 1/250th (canon blah).

Put another flash in the umbrella bracket and both on full power made itself be known haha. Ammi was so patient as I fumbled with the ratio’s, even through my stoke at the control I have over the world’s source I still called out fake, it just looked way agro with the ambient being so low and made me sick…just sat around and talked about nothing for an hour until we could get around to doing something.

Props to ammi for being cool and able to hang out and all, makes my job so much easier. I remember a saying – I’ll probably butcher it here – ‘beware the career that requires a clothing change’ words to live by I think…Ammi’s on board with it which makes me equally as pumped.

Anyway as the light dropped and more options became available we shot off a few of this, a few of that, turned out to be a good thing in the end. Just threw a few around in the shop and I’m probably happier from a semi frustrating (lighting wise) shoot than I have been in a while. I had a few dramas with an ebay bought sb, not too sure what they call perfect working order but this thing ain’t it, busted diffuser and it turns off now and then, and it’s not the batteries, but ya what can you expect from pre-loved ebay goods?

Should have time to post a few more soon, or I’ll just wait until they’re done to post them. Sorry, brain fade haha.

Stay stoked.

Edit: Had a fair few comments on this one in the last day or so, most of the creeps at school chiming in with a question or so, asking if this one's fake or some kind of trick...? Actually turned out to be way harder than i though hey. Trying to move away from the standard 'ok you can't move your head for 20 seconds but you can still write your name without moving ok..?' I tried to think a little more than usual...which meant Ammi was waiting in the lurks for me to figure out what the heck i was going to do about the blurry head syndrome. Shot a few at 10 seconds, f/4 with the first shutter flash sync, but that sucked. tried a few more of her standing still and moving her arms to write, but that sucked. Tried a few of me writing her name for her, but that sucked. After about 10 or so fails, ended up taking the skyport trigger out of the hotshoe, in effect canceling out the flash sync. By shooting with no flash to start with, Ammi was free to run around writing her name free from the blur and strobing effects that were our enemy. I counted to 10 out loud as the shutter was opened, (i used my fingers), having seen where was black in the previous frames and where she could lay down to be lit easily, had a problem with a light burning through her head from the city below, on '9' she hit the deck and i fired the skyport test button just before the shutter closed, and lit her with the softbox from almost directly above her on camera right and a hard light snooted from camera left.. There could have been / is a way easier way to do this, i knew about the 2nd shutter flash sync custom function, but at the time it wouldn't work, might have to read the manual again haha.

But ya goes to show how much a cool model can help when you're trying to think on your feet. Thanks Ammi.

Stay stoked.

Finding Reasons. High Pass Continued...

2008-10-05T21:14:00.004+11:00

There was a fair bit of buzz around school after the '2am high pass' photo's came out, cat's asking how I lit this one and what was the processing for this one, all kinda related to what we're studying (lighting etc) but where the strobe vs. constant lighting varied they were kinda lost. I admit that i'd felt the same in the past, in the first few weeks of session I overheard people talk about redheads and Fresnel’s and 2k blondes, they all pretty much drew a blank look on my face. The last few years of working with sb-26's and ex-430's (blatant name drop I know) were next to useless as we're talking about constant lighting (with power cords? huh?) and not the little golden units that can go anywhere in cyclones in Fiji and up mountains and wherever else my brain wants to wander with them.

Had an hour break in between a meetings and an audition two weeks ago, asked Johan if I could shoot a few photos of him. The innocent Swede smiled and accepted, so I put him in the toilet. expecting him to walk off and kick me in the head I was stoked that he just laughed and stayed put, wondering what I was going to do while I set up my gear. Kinda busy and focussed on the power and all I didn't realise there were a few people watching by this stage. pretty simple set up, small soft box camera right close to his face, but I wanted a spectral highlight around his head that I ended up just using another strobe for, but ya there were about 5 people watching from the doorway. Enlisted Kevin to hold the other strobe, told him to aim it at a brick behind Johan’s head, shot off a quick 20 or so photos, and that was it.

Fairly basic shoot, pretty much just went with a simple system with the lighting, since the room painted bright white the light bounced everywhere to provide fill for the background, kept the soft box close and on low power so there's next to no spill from that, but left the spectral bare and hard so it dispersed everywhere.

To try to relate this to other film students was kinda hard with variable power strobes and not constant output lights like we use on set, instead of gelling with an nd gel I just hit the minus button a few times and the power drops, and the zoom head setting for the spectral instead of closing the flags, all kinda similar but different I guess. Packed up before we could get into radio and optical triggers, all this extra thinking was making my head start to hurt. Jk.

Shot a few more of a bollywood kid jimmy before leaving for the audition, all with the same processing as the last set, but as always with a different spin to them.

Stay stoked.

A Moment Suspended In Time. Day 3.

2008-09-25T20:06:00.003+10:00

5am and i roll in the door completely thrashed from the last 3 days, still a confsuded dumb goofy smile on my face.
Pretty stoked on the last few scenes in the apartment, with a view from the 7th floor overlooking circular quay in the big smoke our attention was distracted more than once not gonna lie. With 3 long scenes to go the emphasis was once again turned to film stock, as we're only running on 3 rolls of film, made my brain hurt thinking of what scenes i wanted to definitely have and others that i 'could do without', 3 of the worst words to ever hear from the 1st AD. last minute meeting with the HOD's brought a scene change, basically re-wrote a shot on the spot due to the film stock and location dramas, but i'll say it again i'm that stoked with the crew i was working with. Just having a few key crew to sit there and listen to me sounding off ideas and talking through a few different versions with made my life so much easier. Whether it was an idea that just wouldn't work in the theme we've set for the film or an angle that may cross the line and leave too many questions in the eyes of the viewer without those cats sitting there and listening this film wouldn't have happened. So, serious props to them.
Day 3 and tempers flared for the first time, even i was feeling the pressure and had to escape for a quick time out, but i wasn't alone so when it was someone else's turn to vent there was no point heightening their aggression by yelling a rebuttal. Goes to show just how long a simple 1 meter dolly wide establishing shot can take, when design are finished then it goes to the camera crew, if it's a setup from scratch it's almost 20 minutes before we're signed on a frame, another 10 for tracks and if there's lighting involved the better part of an hour goes by and we're ready to roll. Not as simple as using a handycam i'm the first to admit. Three days of stress and decisions started to show on the DOP, dealing with his crew while getting readings and lighting changes made me stand back and give props from a distance, working out the ratio's on the fly was epic to see. Definate props for our ring-in taxi man/slave for the three days who wasn't even in the same course but took time off work to come and help/free food, lightened the mood more then once so i was stoked with the general effort from anyone.
All in all it went smoothly, we need another 2 scenes that we'll go for in a week or two when we watch the raws and decide what we can do with the 160 odd feet of film we have left. There's already been talk of the behind the scenes doco being equal if not better than the actual film we're focused on, a quick scan through those raws and i'm laughing real hard at the candids caught on camera. Word of warning - censor all footage filmed at 1am on the first days shoot when it's the hods packing up on location while the minor's are on a train back to sydney sleeping. Questionable to say the least.
So...now what?
Find out soon.
'Dirt.' 22nd - 24th september.

Stay stoked.

How to Call a Bluff. Day 2.

2008-09-24T00:35:00.004+10:00

My eyes hurt that much hey. Woke this morning after the 3am finish last night, the rain outside led to me changing the whole shot for the day. the big guy up above must have been laughing though since after the rehearsals and block through's the clouds cleared and the planning pretty much went out the window as we raced to keep the sunlight. Into the night we went, Nate with steadycam proved a god send as we could pretty much sit back with a few directions and he'd take it upon himself to go with it, had a few times where i couldn't get over the fact that what i could see in my head may not be that easy to reproduce on film. The day scenes i'm still questioning, if we had unlimited film and equipment hire we'd be sweet, but with the second roll of film almost out and a full day's shoot tomorrow i'm skeptical that we'll get it all done. One take wonders they'll be hailing us for the next few years. anyway i'm beat, day two down and i'm happy, biggest day comes tomorrow.

Stay stoked.

Last Train (out of) for Sydney's Almost Gone. Day 1.

2008-09-22T03:38:00.004+10:00

Whelp, day one's over with, still feeling the effects as i'm sure everyone else is. The crew worked from 10am-11pm, had to abandon post to bail for the last train for sydney at 11.30ish, was seriously 'drop everything and get into the cars' kinda deal, leaving the HOD's to pick up a few extra shots. Fell into a false sense of security early on as the rehearsals were running smoothly, we couldn't shoot until dark anyway and thought we had everything in hand time wise, but ya getting home at 3am was never on the cards. That being said it was such a different vibe once the crew left for the train, DOP operating the camera, gaffer was the sound recordist, production design on the boom and the director gaffer loader, all of us laughing way too much for any productive work to be done. Closed the set soon after, had some more laughs with the actors before they left, with us taking our time to pack an entire crew's gear. I doubt I'm making much sense right now as the sleep brain fades are setting in, tomorrow's outdoor shoots may be hampered with rain, but ya see what happens when it happens.

The Lying Lies & Dirty Secrets Of Miss Erica Court.

2008-09-21T21:03:00.010+10:00

"You're going to do good tomorrow mate, just relax and enjoy it. We're going to make a great film."

Not a bad vote of encouragement from my producer.
As Kevin said it all starts tomorrow, the last 4 weeks of pre-production have come down to the next three days. Three days with three locations, 7 actors, 5 pages of script to get through, 3 rolls of film and 14 crew to look after and lead, and i can't wait. I have utmost faith in my heads of department, with Tommy and Johan leading their departments in turn freeing me up to direct my actors up until the camera starts to roll i couldn't be happier with the outcome of the last 4 weeks. Time will tell how effective the message comes across, we changed to mood and look of the film more than once as new ideas are tossed around, more than once i didn't sleep at night just thinking about how we can show the massive contrast of the 2 visually strong stories with next to no dialogue and no time for a back story, short of handing out scripts at every screening i think we've struck the right note with the look now.

Time will also tell how we work together as a crew, far from the lavish HOD tent with video split and multiple cameras and endless film stock we're on a tight next to zero budget feature, sure it's in the hands of students but in my eyes that's the beauty of it. We're under no pressure to conform to what is laid out before us, heck we could have set out to make an experimental out of the square linear epic saga that has no end and face no repercussions, other than staying true to the script out of an affection for the story i read 6 weeks ago i really could have gone anywhere with this.

It's become clear that with my photography background i'm looking at this from a purely visual point of view, sure i'm focusing more and more on the performance now it's closer to the date, but as i mentioned in the film there's next to no dialogue, so i don't think i'm that far off with showing it for what it is.
A portrait of a man's compulsions and demons and his love for his family by keeping them in the dark, not wanting them to be influenced by his actions. The contrast between what we see 'through his eyes' and what we see of his family has to be so obvious, given the 3 rolls of film budget and a beg borrow steal attitude for locations, actors and props we have to be blunt and semi spoon-feed the viewer to get this across.
Long story short and bad english intended... 'I think we got it mate.'

Day one kicks off with a 12 hour day, 1 hour drive to rehersals to day/night scenes we'll make up for it on day 2 with a half day, back it up on day 3 with another 12 hour haul. Might feel like i'm back on the boats but it's what i wanted, use my brain rather than my braun. Or brawn. (spelling?)

Anyway rest assured i'm still loving my lyfe as i go, others wonder at my catch phrase and attitude as to why i'm always signing off or greeting them with a grin and saying 'stay stoked' through a smile, but we have to embrace that we're alive and free to do what we will, dang it could all change in the next moment. But before i get all soulful and deep i'm going to leave it for the next three words to re enforce my stoke.

For the Love.

2am high pass.

2008-09-12T21:22:00.007+10:00

i don't really get into the whole illustration look that plagues commercial photography these dayze. sure there's the top guys who pull it off and by rights have cemented themselves in that niche because truth be told they do it and do it well, but even after just a few minutes browsing flickr there's a whole lot of 'simply' bad attempts.

with forums flooded with 'dave hill look success!' and 'high pass look wanted' it's no secret that there are peeps out there who are trying to simulate their look, be it for personal bragging rights to lesser informed friends or to get a grasp on the industry. from my sidelined position and photojournalism background it's not really practical for me, i'd rather appreciate from a distance and take it for what it is, it's a whole 'nother level of photography.

at first glance it's a heightened attention to lighting, a mostly hard and gritty feel lending to the standout images, then there's the issue of composite images and possible HDR where needed, whether your argument is that there's more time spent in post than on the actual shoot i have to give props where props are due. sure it's a digital age and the tools are at our fingertips unlike even when i started shooting and even i'm a somewhat newb to the game, but i guess i'm taking the canadian standpoint and i'm impartial to the critics.

pretty much any photo of merit gains a smile and a throwback of my left shoulder as i take in what's before me, be it a photo illustration or an available light landscape or a candid snapshot on my $30 polaroid camera i just love that in this world of hate and greed a simple moment can be shared and revisited for an extended period of time.

so where am i going with this ramble? seems like there's one night every few weeks when for no reason i'm awake at 2 or 3am, hanging out waiting to pass out, brain's churning out memories and intentions while i'm daydreaming or planning or just blank faced waiting for the morning. usually i don't do that much that i can call productive, movie or journal scribble brings me back to square one and i look for other brain distractions, but the other night i decided to weigh in to the pre mentioned debate.

a few news a few olds but mostly from the depths, high pass, USM, curves and monochrome layers led to these
few creeps, not going to lie a lot that i tried just didn't work, as i said it's the hard lighting mixed with a grain that's hidden but not overdone that brings the goods, anyway enough from this roam i'm signing out.

stay stoked.

dave hill
joey lawrence
jill greenburg
bill simone

Stepping aside.

2008-09-07T21:20:00.014+10:00

i haven't shot any photos in like a week.
so busy in pre-production for this 16mm film and shooting a documentary at the same time i'm the weaker of the three as they're trying to beat me into submission, with finding locations that fit the script and my wants and needs with film stock on a zero budget feature tends to push aside those situations where i can get out and creep around the place in my own style of stoke.

but while i'm lurking behind closed doors in meetings up in sydney i'm proud to see a few friends in the gong have been roaming around themselves, stuck out in the elements frothing on the buzz.

credit where credit's due.

jessamyn drover.

jobi manson.

jobi actually shot the top photo of AJ, but she used my lighting so i'm claiming credit. (jk)

stay stoked.

callin' me out.

2008-08-26T11:08:00.005+10:00

a few weeks ago phil emailed me and asked how this photo was made, given that it was relatively dark inside and fast movement he was wondering what it took to get this shot. kinda hard to remember exactly as i shot these guys twice with different setups, but here's the deal from memory.

Phil -censored- wrote
at 1:54pm on August 12th, 2008
how did you get a clear shot in the dark zoomed in?

Mark Tipple wrote
at 4:07pm on August 13th, 2008
from memory this was 2 fill strobes, one above camera right, one camera left behind them for a hair light/separation. i know camera right was on half power, the other on 1/8th i think, both at 50mm zoom. used manual focus on a 24-70, stopped down for a bit more depth of field, around 5.6 maybe 8 (hence the strobe power being so high for 'fill' light.) played with shutter speed to balance the ambient but ended up not using it since my green gel was lost in the cyclone (somehow?) and the white balance difference sucked. not gonna lie had to chimp a lot of shots to get them right, but since i wasn't moving for this part of the dance used the focus distance as a guide more than auto focusing. stopping down helped a lot as well, plus i cropped this a little in post so i'm shooting wider than this, with more dof. can't remember much else...only that it was fkn hectic shooting these guys bouncing around the room for an hour without stopping.

phil's a good friend from uni, getting the low down fast with his images. check his goods out here.

stolenphotography.blogspot.com

stay stoked.

Nostalgic For Guillotines.

2008-08-25T21:27:00.007+10:00

so now i'm laughing.

seemed like it was only last week that i was hating it and lurking so hard in sydney, wondering why i'm here and roaming around the place just wishing that it'd all get busy and i'd have something to do. not sure if i had time this semester to get a job, not sure what role i'd be playing in the few projects coming up in the near future, it was always in the near future but never now. but now it is now. pretty stoked on the outcome of the last weeks or so, i guess this whole blog has veered from the photo dayze and info into one of the most hated blogs that i can imagine - a travel itinerary, but stay with me brah i'm actually feeling a little like a path is being drawn up before me.

basic history. after the interview in LA promised more than just a passing glance i creeped into sydney film school, (check 'em out) and basically i'm sydney bound for the next year, getting some form of formal training finally. it's come to the stage that i'm sitting in interviews and on the phone with a strong portfolio feeling confident and the enthusiasm and stoke on lyfe is streaming through my veins until the dreaded "so where have you studied?" question.

sure i can wing it as well as the next dude on location and hands on shoots, but before the fact when i have to substantiate my claim to prohood with a piece of paper or a name drop and all i can come up with is "uh, self taught?" and that's all i have don't seem to cut it in the long run. my biggest fear is signing up to years of training when i can't see the finish line, which is i guess why i've never sought to get some training, but this course is over and done with in a year...and it's hands on from day one, (well, week 2 but same thing) so ya i'm pumped.

first film is coming up quick, actually landed the director role so i have to sway my focus from the visual camera kid to the whole sandwich, actor, location and finance drama and all.

but i'm still pumped for it, tick another box on the way through the next year at least. if i can get done what i want to get done i'll be froth kid, maybe my expectations are bulk high but only time will tell, and it's better to aim high rather than realistic right....?

anyway i'm moving away from the technical photo kid to a director/production ramble, i might just throw a few info creeps to break up the beating head against a red producer brick wall but ya see what happens.

stay stoked.

get a grip.

2008-08-11T22:43:00.003+10:00

dang. really should get back onto the program and be the lurk that i'm here to be. kid got a bike. so much fun playing in traffic, when it gets too hectic it's just a simple hop up the the gutter and i'm home safe, so much better than doing battle every time i step into the car to do anything.

pitching today for a feature film we're shooting in 3 weeks, so hectic trying to be the kid in the know when there's a competition amongst newly formed friends but we all managed to pull it off, well a few exceptions to the rules but smiles persisted so see what the powers that be want us cats to do.
so many ideas from a dop point of view, frick it was like watching a movie as i read the script, scrambled some notes down as fast as my pen/brain could keep up with it.

some ledgible, some just random creep filled notions, dolly jib 45* shutter pan lurk handheld thank the big guy for sugar rushes. crashed hard that arvo and finished it off later. if it all works out it'll be sweet, i guess that's what all director cats want from their movies...if they didn't i'd question their motives...way too much work to be heavily involved in something you don't believe in.

seem to be relying on the old school photographic knowledge, since we're bound to reel to reel editing and no final cut telecine photoshop methods i've been deep in so it's all bleach bypass and 45* shutter to get me by. either way i'm super amped for the next few months, everyone keeps saying 'you'll be busy soon' but i'm still lurking way too much when i'm only here to do this so i say hurry up.
but before my sugar rush ends check this.

few updates.
bro hits the bigtime. check this creep/link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMcm_19xYiA&feature=user
brah mythbusters plug.

i'm out...pound and peace.

3 day drive.

2008-07-19T23:24:00.003+10:00

werd. car bound for the better part of this week and now i'm still wired. all i could think of was the end, concentration on the road seemed a distant second of importance over ipod playlists or what movie's lurking on my laptop. not safe to say the least. after the 25th hour on the road i felt as if i had ownership, coincided with the end of work in some one horse town and as they're buzzing to get home and cutting me off the thought of 'been here longer kid' overtook and my once courteous driving ethic was pushed aside for full forced arrogance. kept me alert if anything. sorry if i cut you off.

that being said i'm sydney bound for the next year, the future's set after an interview in LA confirmed what was thinking, i gotta get some formal training. sydney film school is me for the next 12 months, so froth on being a full fledged camera nerd for a reason not just a hobby. lurks up for this happy cat, camera in hand and at the ready run and gun style creeping with credentials will suffice, no longer laying dormant in this oversized novelty body.

one for the road. no..for the love.

Pound and Peace.

2008-05-31T22:20:00.009+10:00

Seriously can’t believe it’s June already. I know it’s an old saying but this year has flown. Seems like a week ago I was in Fiji lurking and hanging with my pacific family. maybe it’s because I’ve been pretty random of late, like the last half of last year has been similar, here there and work coming from all angles now I’m back on the boats it’s time to slow down and focus on the next 2 months instead of the next 2 weeks. Looking through the photos from this year it’s like I’m still living in the time/place that they were takes. From Fiji to the desert to a whirlwind US visit to now back in the desert living new experiences day by day it’s sobering to remind myself that I’m creating memories as I go rather than being immobile and stuck in a situation I can’t change.

I know I’ve been away from this thing for some time now…travelling light saw me bail this typewriter for the primitive form of a ball point pen, trusty weather beaten journal by my side through airports and interviews. From a boat ride in cyclone gene back to the mainland trying to scribe in broken English village lyfe of knowing that any random thought that enters my jetlagged hung over head in Kansas at the airport can be easily scribbled and reminisced on later. With no worries I’m sitting here planning the future, film school application stressed on for a few days and a last minute entry form filled out and handed to the post office in full trust that they’re looking after my future, reluctantly crossed fingers instead of the 23 hour drive to hand it over in person.

But, with so much to catch up on I’m turning this into a photo essay instead of my incoherent ramble, sugar keeping my alive for a while after today’s shark avoiding surf...in reality it was a pretty stupid surf but the rewards outweighed the risk ten fold. But more on that later.

Pound and peace for now. Sit back and relive ’08. The story so far.

Desert Roam.

In a last ditch effort to escape the confines of the big smoke we bailed to the scrub for a week, my commitments for the next 4 months were solid and could only find this time to hit it, in the end the majority of the time was spent in the car…with epic stories to tell. Well, they’re bearable now we’re out of the car…

Kids just love to jump. When the waves fail to show it’s just a logical thing to do…uh I guess. After 5 days of nothing substantial the frustration and pent up energy came out in the following sunset/sunrise. Same dune, same place, different angles. Props to boadie for the remote holding duties.

FIJI.

Not going to lie my big plans of a Fiji documentary have taken a back seat to my other commitments, call it a cop out or an excuse I’m as clueless as you are to why It’s now 3 months after my return and I’m still trying to storyboard at least the intro, but I have managed to seek out my personal collection of photos from the 8,000 jpegs sitting on my hard drive.
I’ll get to the editing one day soon…

Seta, Vomo Island. Fiji.

Staying with the Dau’s was an experience I’ll never forget. They accepted me in to their house on the second night I met them, no ask of compensation no question of my authenticity, face value was their guide. After a week of Narewa lyfe I was itching to go to an outer island, the family was organising a fishing trip around the same time so I asked to tag along…6 locals and one white kid camping on the beach on Vomo island, one side a resort owned by westerners charging up to US$600 per night, the other side was us. Tents and campfires, the Lord above looking after us. Seta cleaning his catch for the nights meal. Fiji lyfe.

Narewa Seventh Day Adventists.

The first contact I had with locals outside of the ‘you buy you buy, come in my shop.’ Naka, sandono was my standard reply in the city, vinaka vaka levu was my reply to the congregation. Accepted and honoured, Sam personally thanking me for attending his church. The pleasure’s mine my friend.

Junior Sivo. Yalombe district school.

My brother for a month, on a day trip over the mountain seeking medical help for the lost aussie we posted up in the boarding house for Natawa as the tail of Cyclone Gene passed over us.

Semi Sivo. Natawa Village.

My friend, my tutor, my guide. After the cyclone passed efforts to replant a years worth of casava seemed to humble the villagers, as they realised they were in trouble. Each plant taking between 3 and 6 months to produce enough root for one meal, problems won’t become visible for another month until the salvaged plants are eaten or rot.

Cyclone Gene. Natawa Village.

Bad weather seems to follow me. Whenever I travel, rain, hail and thunder seem to hit a few days later. Call it a coincidence call it jinx I’m usually ok with it, until two cyclones hit Fiji within 2 weeks of my arrival. Walking through the village as cyclone gene was in full swing I graciously ignored calls to come inside, ‘marika som tea, som tea’ came from every house I passed. Waving them off with a naka thinking I see this kind of weather every time I travel gave me some comfort, until I realised the iron sheets they use for roofing isn’t always nailed down. Added a whole nother element to the mix. Loose sheets flying from roofs, cutting into age old coconut trees, impaling into neighbours walls I bailed pretty fast, talked to David until the squall passed.
One of the alternatives to nails.

Lovo (Earth Oven).

Privileged to attend the back to school feast in Narewa village, they encouraged me to see how just some of the food is prepared. In searing heat (35 + degrees) Vatu worked the Lovo to perfection, heating the rocks and preparing the roots and chicken for the cooking time. Emotions ran high as Sava was leaving for a boarding school 7 hours away the next day.

Without having the former attitude of the documentary that i'm yet to do...with over 1,000 photo's of the states roam i'm going to hold onto them until the next time, safe to say it's not going to be another 3 months between visits...

for the love.

2008-05-10T17:45:00.003+10:00

so...been hectic the last month. from sities dayze to kansas lurks, now it's almost 4am in new york and i'm just waiting for a couch to sleep on. too many times and blackouts to mention, one highlight spring fling in the rain and sleet skanking to stay warm while reel big fish do their thing, super fun a-city surf and dc walks, plymouth snowboarder formal (holy crap) + random hikes and indiana + chicago to kansas (jetlag) roams...safe to say i'm sick of planes but laugh.

for the love. all i'm gonna say.

tuesday..wednesday, april?

2008-03-23T23:42:00.003+11:00

feels like i'm going backwards again...after the whole fiji experience i'm back on the boats jut frothing for the next few weeks, trying to save a buck in the quest for hours...38 hours jumping from boat to boat seemed like a good idea at the time, took 2 days to catch up on that. but in the end with all plans and questions put into action i'm the stronger of the two, sure you can yell at me and say that my deckie attitude just won't cut it on this boat and sure you can say that i may not work out, but since i'm dang one out of many on the floating pontoon strapped into the controls some respect would be appreciated, if you can spell it. 34 dayze straight and i'm out to the states, the fiji experience doco will just have to wait until the near future, basically i'm out of braincells and i'll catch up in a few weeks, should fly by. no brain matter to matter.

effortism is not a word.

2008-02-24T13:25:00.000+11:00

not gonna lie...i'm not doing much. the famed fiji time expression has taken hold on me and i'm not letting it go in a hurry.

living the high life for a week after the long dayze and frustrating times in the village, where one happy camper was constantly asked for money and the topic just didn't seem to go away. from a 5 minute conversation to a hour long relax and hang out with the locals, most of the time it'd end with something along the lines of 'so can you buy me ....(insert anything of value here)'. for the first few weeks i laughed it off saying 'yeah sure i'll send it over', but after a while it started to hit a nerve. instead of blowing up and hitting the water swimming i tried to delve into the issue a bit further, well i am living under this hood of a journalist for the last 6 weeks, and it's not pretty.

a place where it's true that you don't need money, as your parents have planted the farm and as long as you keep it maintained it'll last for the next 30 years, for further food the ocean's a short jump away for easy fishing. the only thing you need money for is a bit of kerosene to power your lamp and a bit of sugar for the eternal cups of tea that they're always drinking, even when it's 35 degrees in the shade. there's a backpacker resort a few bays around who are always asking the locals to sell them some fish, at $4 a kilo a good days fishing can bring at least $20, enough money for two weeks worth of sugar and kerosene, maybe a few kilo's of flour as a treat.
but from what i've seen even that simple form of workis too hard for them.

they have this mindset that white skin equals money, from the countless number of whites going around the islands from resort to resort; one island is exclusive at $1000 a night for a room, but what they don't see (or refuse to see) is the fact that these 'rich' whites have worked hard for up to six months to afford this holiday, so yeah they're going to splurge. they see that and instead of them working hard like the whites, they just 'hold out their hand'. almost a respectful form of begging.i hate to admit that the apathy associated with the village life tried to pin me down as well, most days in the last week i couldn't be bothered walking the 3 minutes to swim, rather sweat it out under a tree at home, or just jump in the river...trying not to drink the water of course. but now that i'm out i'm pretty stoked to have experienced that way of life, i guess the negative side of it was in front of my face more than the positive, but now i'm out i can look back and see both sides of the story. so for now...i'm not doing much.

it's all hotels and guest houses for me, i've put my time in bunking down in a one roomed house with 7 kids and 2 adults, hectic to say the least. i'm actually doing a lot of street work in the next week, going down to suva in a few days to shoot the ghetto parts, i hate to say that they're ruining paradise, but with no bins anywhere they just throw rubbish away without a thought. so where am i going with this?

i forget. fiji time is winning me over haha. bail.

making up thyme.

2008-02-24T13:24:00.000+11:00

Can’t believe I’m saying this…I’m going to Maccas.

Back on the big island after 2 weeks of village lyfe on an island and the golden arches bring me warmth, it’s been so random I can’t even think of where to start. Nothing like starting on a downer, been here almost a month, hit by two cyclones, suffered two staph infections from mosquito bites, typhoid from drinking the water, broken camera (waterlogged), foggy lens, ripped sleeping bag and holes in my feet from lagging on the track home in pitch black…but enough of the negative stuff.

Walking around the village and all I can hear is “Marika Marika Bulla!!” coming from every house I pass, the people here are so happy and proud to show a white kid like me their lives, from the simplicity of it all to the fact that a westerner would choose to stay on the floor in a village than stay in the $60 a night dorm room at a resort a few bays around. From the outset of my time here it’s been an eye opener to say the least, a village where no electricity exists, sure a few people have generators but it’s strictly saved for the rugby on TV, where there are no buses or cars, the only form of transport are boats, a short trip around a bay to their sister village, a few more and the resorts start, the purity of it all makes me smile everyday.

My rookiness was apparent the first day however, me showing up in a place where their main form of food is fish, tried to big note myself and say I’m a tuna fisherman back home. When it comes to fishing with a line and hook I should have just kept quiet. I failed miserably. Still managed to catch two though….maybe I should have just said I stack the net.

Living with a family of 9 has its moments though, in a house about the same size as a family room meant to house them for all meals, sleeping and play there’s never a quiet moment, seriously. One starts crying, one stops, one starts it’s a never ending cycle, I’m stoked I have a bit of space outside under a shed in my hammock. Started seeing red when the cyclone hit the village hard, brought inside when the shed fell down due to the lack of nails (the weight of a few small rocks won’t hold roof metal down in 50+ knot winds) crammed in a house/room with 10 others and my plan for documenting a life away from our ideals seemed shattered. Felt sorry for myself for the next few hours until thinking I should be documenting the cyclone, walked around the village talking to the locals about their houses and all, constantly ducking to avoid flying coconuts and loose roofing metal. Turns out it’s the worst cyclone they’ve had in 10 years, the last one flattened all the traditional Fijian burees so now they live in standard roofed houses, just without nails. Kinda risky.

The initial plan for this trip was to get away from the tourist cycle, the western islands are the route for the 500,000 plus tourists a year, but I couldn’t pass up the contacts I’ve made in the first few days of being here. The paradise I’ve found seems to be tainted though, along with their easy lifestyle and carefree attitude it’s been ingrained that white skin means money, they don’t harbour any animosity openly but behind closed doors, with me included, their attitude changes. It’s hard for me to turn a blind eye to this flaw, I’m always upfront about my background and how I’m here to document their lyfe and help them in exchange for a bit of food and a roof over my head, at the moment I’m re-building the shed for the family I’m staying with and helping them set up a homestay kinda idea, adamant that I’m in no position to stay in the resorts if I wanted to. After a few days and conversations they’ve realised that I’m not just slumming it for a few weeks to look back later and laugh, but whenever a boat load of vavalagi (white people) steam past in the cruise liner the feeling of angst is right back in the open.

So, as for the future of the articles and the direction I’m going to take with writing it…I’m not sure. Do I turn a blind eye to the flaws embedded in this almost perfect society, do I combine the two and try to be neutral, do I give up the pen and stick to photos to tell the story….at the moment it’s the third most important thing on my mind, the doctors come in first.

I’m not even gonna spell check this or read it…just go with it.

Bail.

Initial Conceptions.

2008-01-23T09:36:00.000+11:00

Feels like I’ve been here for a month already.

Seriously I had given myself a few weeks to get to the stage where I’m at now, living with a family infused in their culture, out of the hostel routine, two days after the plane landed I’m living with a family and part of their everyday lyfe. The main reason for this trip is to document ‘a world away’, a world away from technology, a world away from all the consumerism propaganda we’re led to believe we need on a day to day basis. Be it the new iPod, new plasma screen a new knife that can cut through a shoe whatever it is I’m trying to find a simple lyfe amongst these people, where they don’t want, don’t need this stuff that we obsess over. Escaping to Fiji came to mind after continually hearing from friends about how this new gadget will make their lives complete, when they get the money they’ll buy one, and be happy.

Fuck that.

Already I’ve talked to and shared time with families that don’t care what the new technology is, they couldn’t care about how many songs the new iPhone can hold (no this isn’t going to be an Apple bashing article), all they care about is food on the table, a roof over their heads and family close by. The people I’ve met are some of the happiest I’ve been lucky enough to know. Their happiness was summed up by Marlie, a local high school girl (who thankfully spoke fluent English) in the group I was camping with, ‘I guess we just fall back on our jokes and stories to entertain ourselves instead of technology.’
Their family ties are so strong that in the village I’m staying in on the big island I’m a celebrity, like locals who I meet for the first time know all about me, know who I’m staying with and where I’ve come from that all I’m left to say is ‘sarcutha?’, big goofy grin and an outstretched hand.

When I was planning this trip the one resounding idea was that I didn’t want to be just another tourist, that the last thing I wanted to do was fly to Fiji and sit around the pool all day, party at night and fly home a week later without having met a local outside the hotels. Sure I’ve been guilty of that kind of holiday myself, truth be told the first W.A. trip I did I rarely talked to anyone outside of the surf, content to sit in my car and read a book until the sun went down when the wind turned onshore.

Hence the two week time frame. Two weeks to get out and meet people, try to make some connections, try to find someone who knew someone on the outer islands I can live with, in exchange for my work. But I only needed two days.
Walked around Nadi for about an hour through some of the villages close by and heard singing, turned out to be a church gathering and was welcomed with open arms. I only wanted to just peep over a few heads and check it out from a distance, when they saw me they ushered me to the front, handed me a phrase book and a local girl was assigned as my personal translator. Now 9 days later the translator’s my sister, I’m helping her father on his fishing boat, eating, praying, laughing with my new family who have accepted me as one of their own without hesitation, with no expectations of me and are the warmest, kindest most content people I’ve ever met.

However being on the main island they’re still exposed to the commercial side of the Western influence, even though they can’t afford what they see in shops and on TV, probably never will, they still want it, still lust over it in the blind faith that if they could only just have it they would be content. The second day staying with then I made the mistake of listening to my iPod while they were home; the kids pretty much crash-tackled me to the floor trying to wrestle it away, Armini the oldest son grinning from ear to ear with delight at the fact that he finally had an iPod in his house.

It must be said that I’m kind of a hypocrite since here I am trying to document a world away from technology, and in my bags I hold more camera gear and gadgets than I do clothes…tools of the trade is my ‘get out of criticism free card’.

Reflecting on those few days now I’m thinking of a new approach for the theme, I know Fiji isn’t that far removed from the consumerism propaganda we have in Australia, and even the outer islands may still be exposed to the need for these items, but the fact is that they will never be able to afford this technology. Marony (my ‘Fijian mum’) works in a 5 star resort on one of the islands close by, works 6 days a week 9 hours a day and makes around $110 a week. $110 to buy food for up to 8 people a day, (token aussie included) food that’s the same if not more expensive than Australian prices, clothes for her 4 kids, school fees, power bills, mobile phone bills the list goes on, I’ve heard of some families needing to take out bank loans as small as $50 just to survive for the month.

Now just over a week into the trip and I can feel a change to the initial plan, from a world away from the existance of technology, to a lyfe where the want is there, but for reasons varying they will never have these products, but they’re still content with lyfe as it is. So much has happened in just this first week that I can only imagine what the next 10 weeks will lead to, starting to island hop this Thursday, the outer islands might reveal the true ‘world away’ or maybe just a lesser degree, but the famed Fiji time has set in and I’m in no rush.

Bulla vinakka. 22/1/08

hectic. lag. booking. internet. fade. dang.

2008-01-07T17:07:00.000+11:00

dang...hectic of late. when the corporate shoot was all over and done with thought i had time to relax and get caught up on this web stuff...but ya didn't happen, organising for an eventual trip took up most of my time but forgot to book the tickets and just kept checking prices and all, major rookie move not gonna lie but all good now...kicking back with needle in my arm (typhiod immunisation relax) now after just getting back from the desert, flying out tomorrow...sydney for two days then fijian islands for 3 months, not sure what's going to happen but no plans are better than fool proof plans...

can't get no plans wrong.

so...i'll be seeing ya.

Natural Progression...i guess.

2007-12-13T00:02:00.000+11:00

never thought i'd be amped on taking portraits hey, like i remember years ago when someone (could be making this up my brains faded since then) asked me if i could shoot them for a family album and i was over it, like i didn't want anything to do with taking peoples photo. all i cared about back then was shooting landscapes and showing the different faces/emotions of nature. strange to think now i'm looking around the place at real emotions, basically ones that can't be faked...be it they're unaware of being 'on camera' or they're too caught up in what they're doing that the fact that they're being photographed matters little to them, and the real situation shows. it was pretty easy overseas, shooting the homeless crew in cali or the anti war rally in london or even the break dancers in san fran, long lens from a distance, pretty much invisible not altering the scene at all, but now i'm trying, well, starting to get into planning and influencing the scene.

kady.

pretty much the first girl i've shot where we're kinda rookies at the whole thing, like from the poses to the ideas, the first time was just 'uh, walk around and look at stuff', tried to capture the candid feel. super fun though, like learning from scratch...'what i have to interact with the model? never had to do that with landscapes haha...but ya after 5 shoots made me amped on thinking of different scenes and looks to make something different.

sara.

sitting around one night on campus and she came to our common room dressed up and was like 'can we do some shots?' so pretty much a stock standard rush job at 2am but was super fun at the same time, safe to say that since we're already friends there was no awkward moments we just laughed most of the time. one thing learnt from this shoot, so the little floodlights from hardware stores burn hot right, so maybe it's not such a good idea to put one on a windowsill and trust it's going to stay there, lost one bulb in a puff of smoke and the other burnt out with the extra load...end result down two globes and glass in my hand.

the seppos.

end of session is pretty hard on all. the study abroad crew are leaving, exams and parties take their toll on most of us, since i was deferring a session it was the end for me too...kinda played all the goodbyes off with 'i'll be seeing ya, uh...can i sleep on your couch when i'm in the area?' gotta love having low expectations for accommodation. 3 months in a tent will do that to ya haha.
jilljill asked if i could shoot the girls one arvo, i was working flat out and trying to get an essay done and a few other things but heck she's my room mate so pushed the essay aside and called in late to work...gotta love being a dishie. once again laughed more than we shot, after sunset and the crowds thinned got a little spooky with the flash in front of some
abandoned shed...but once again being friends helped turn it into a fun experience.

some dudes...

not gonna lie, i shoot way too many photos of myself. back in lincoln working so much i'm pretty much the only person around, working odd hours doesn't help with making plans with other crew, being tethered definately helps the framing too, but i'm not going to bore you with the hundreds of photos with me doing some kinda weird stuff...then the after shoot photos with me getting the 'over-its' and freaking out with a remote flash or whatever. living with thorn and stiller for a month just recently was epic too, thorn's always keen to get a little spooked out and try some different stuff...creeping out in a water pipe set off a whole 'nother shoot that i'm not going to dare post online.maybe private viewings...nah not even that haha.

but for the near future it's kinda hard to admit that landscapes have been pushed to the back, well i still love them and they still have a place in my work but ya something that i'd never thought would enter has cemented a firm place and i'm actually stoked.

bella isha....october late-

2007-12-03T23:34:00.000+11:00

dang, busy again. well, all by my own means. after the few days on the boat and a few final cut decisions on the railyard promo with beeps i'm a few days behind schedule, well that's a lie because i never live by a schedule, is that even how to spell it i'm clueless, but ya i'm almost in the car on the way back wollongong, just did a shoot with a friends kid, super fun time hey,
makes me stoked to continue the fun ones....lost track of thought sorry i got a 16 hour drive ahead of me and it's already 4pm...a few from before. tried a few different lighting tricks...gotta love aluminium foil hey...that good...something different for me anyway. seeya in the gong.

pound and peace.

action weekend....october dayze-

2007-12-03T23:24:00.000+11:00

railyard's finished, basically left it up to beeps to make a go with it, 'my work here is done' haha, bailed back on another boat with papa smurf for a few days.just what i need another boat. took all my gear for some lyfestyle shoots, turned out pretty cool i think. maybe i freaked pap's out a little i'm not sure but ya got some one's i'm stoked with.
set my umbrella up with the stock standard hard light for hair light...didn't factor in the night's offshore breeze...almost over the side with skyport flash and stand haha. all good though.

october - the railyard....ugh.

2007-11-30T22:40:00.000+11:00

had all the stuff set up last night..lights camera clothes ideas laptop cables you name it, took us like 3 hours until the real gold started to flow. by combining forces we can overcome the odds and make something that we can all be proud of and make it all for one one for all....frick who am i kidding i'm just sleep deprived and my ideas are just grasping at my fingers...blah whatever just have a look for yourself.

fi and beeps doing their thing.

october - the railyard.

2007-11-30T22:32:00.000+11:00

backing up the wedding shoot with my own studio type of deal, making it pretty dang obvious that hey i'm making do with what i can get...blew even myself away with the results. got a few random ideas for the skate park promo, from fi models to clueless kids to hardcore opera backing music it's going to take a fair bit longer that a week but dang it it'll be worth it..put the effort in now and reap the rewards when it all comes through...-brad read, 'i'm asking for money when you're famous because of this' haha.

managed to 'aquire' a length of white backdrop for the price of a beer, 15 minutes of toolshop time it's hung on the wall and with no one to shoot -
made it all before the arranged time- i'm shooting myself, one real one setup for y'all

but ya i'm amped on the shoot. they're getting here in like 20 so i gotta um..well do nothing for the time being.

ain't honesty bliss?

october -still -weddings

2007-11-30T22:18:00.000+11:00

first glimpse of a wedding photo guy's lyfe and uh...they can have it. haha. nah turned out pretty sweet, stoked it's my friends sister and we're all pretty much the same dumb kids just cruising with no conformities so we can do pretty much anything and still smile and laugh...seriously the dude who created smiles and laughs i gotta buy you a beer.
started out with a few set-up photos of the makeup and hair...the artist was trying to tell me what to do and the photo's that i should bbe taking...trying to do my job for me...made me block hey...amped that she wasn't invited to the ceremony haha..

managed to get a few cool ones of scatty and his sis in the front yard, basically we were running late for the ceremony...-ya traditional i know- so before the traffic rampage of niel's shocking driving thought we better take a few happy's, i don't know much but when they're just standing there smiling i kinda dry retch -reach?- i can't spell either dang it. looking through the lens and i'm like 'well you're bro and sis can you fight or something?' i guess they were waiting for the frustration to show and were more than happy to follow...but ya still just a snapshot type...

made it to the place before the groom split, reasured him and all was sweet, roamed around for a while after just shooting. props to scatty for the supurb voice activated light stand moves...few more for the vault. note to self - maybe stop drinking and actually plan the shoot for a wedding instead of trying to wing it...can't really say, 'ya we'll do it again tomorrow.' duh...

october -early.

2007-11-30T22:07:00.001+11:00

holy crap...hectic. random lyfe again.
the seppos wanted to bail when the weather hit again, me with no job and a short life expectancy on my house jumped in the car and bailed back to wollongong with them...so nuts hey we're just sitting around after checking the dismal surf, they were bummed on it's prospects and were keen to head back along the coast -great ocean road to bega and up the south coast to the gong- in like 90 minutes my house was packed into my car and with fingers crossed i'm on the road to adelaide, hoping my car would make it and i hadn't forgotten anything important. drinking in the gong now after 4 days on the road and seeing all the crew so i'm amped, saw a few waves at bells but after the boy's car got broken into and camera gear stolen in adelaide i left all my stuff at home, took it back to the roots and searched for the source not for the image -ya soul-..super fun though. flying back to adelaide tomorrow -thurs-, got the wedding shoot on the weekend and the railyard promo the week after so ya should be a busy few weeks in a-town.

few last glimpses of home...tears..

september-ish.

2007-11-30T21:48:00.000+11:00

so...after the boat dayze i'm still in -censored-, waiting to hear about a promo movie for a friends skate park that he wanted made...after all the talking and whatnot it's still kinda up in the air, so just kicking it at home for a few weeks. had a few waves and killer times, no sharks which kinda made me blue, but stoked at the same time. got the wedding next weekend so i gotta move out of my house and back to adelaide to do the shoot, might be able to line the skate park promo at the same time. would be good- few of the lads from uni are her for a while, super cool to hang with, epic to see their reaction to the lyfe i take for granted.

secrets.

back from the dead.

2007-11-30T21:17:00.000+11:00

dang...been random for so long now it's all been a kind of reluctant reproach to my thoughts, not saying that it's a bad think i love talking to my weather beaten journal but ya this place has suffered....so since i'm holed up in adelaide for the next week editing a corporate shoot i'm going to go back in time to where i left off....seems like ages ago but stick with me it'll be fun. -i hope haha.

after all the traveling and randomness of the last few weeks it's all slowed down like my laptop trying to compress the shoot in 26 hours(?) get a grip leaving me dayzed and frustrated to say the least. today is today but i'm going back in thyme.

The Simple Lyfe.

2007-11-07T15:41:00.001+11:00

"I guess it was the only thing I tried that I liked doing that I was good at…um, if that makes sense."

After just 20 minutes sitting on the porch with Mark it's clear that this 20 something, quiet, self confessed big kid with an oversized novelty body is one of a kind. His photos are just starting to come out of hiding from the depths of his backpack and into exhibitions and on his web page, something that he says was just a progression from "handing a few hundred photos to people and saying 'do you want to see my photos" he says with a laugh.

"My dad got me my first SLR camera for my 20th birthday, I can remember having the lens and body in each hand and not having the faintest idea of how to put them together." Now a few years later he’s got his favourite photos hanging on the wall, showing the good times from roaming around the world to the secret waves he's found around his home town in South Australia.

"I was so scared. The first time driving in America on the wrong side of the road and I had the manager of the hire car company sitting next to me. First corner I tried to indicate to turn right or something, but the windscreen wipers flew in front of my face… felt a little stoopid (laughs). Drove like 8000 kilometers to Alaska in 13 days, all solo. Pretty fun trip, but real tiring."

He’s just returned from an around the world "wander", started off partying in California with friends, then drove the monstrous drive to Alaska seeing the entire west coast of America and Canada, "but then I ran out of money. Worked in Canada for a while, then bailed through London and Canary Islands before returning to Australia with a maxed out credit card and no job. "All good now though."

As we watch the sun set over the bay in front of us, he gets a little jittery. A self confessed trigger happy photographer, he used to take photos of everything and anything, but now he's getting a little tired of the same old outdoor set-ups. "I want to tell a story through my photos, more than it saying 'well gee, that looks nice'. So after wasting a month sleeping on Doops' couch in California I decided to go back to school." Currently studying journalism back in Australia, he's trying to get a foot in the photojournalism door. His dream job is to be sent on assignment to cover a story through the photos, write the article, design the layout and "read it aloud to people as they eat their breakfast (laughs). Nah I just want to take the photos and use my sight to make people stop and look."

I ask him about his life back home and it sounds like a lie.
"I work on fishing boats to earn enough money to explore the coastline for waves with a few friends on our days off, but when winter comes I head for the sun. Apart from Canada and Alaska I haven't had a winter in about 4 years. Just always go to the Gold Coast or Byron, somewhere warm. But yeah, where I live is my favourite place out of everywhere I've been for sure. I love it," he says with a smile.

A few stray questions about girls and he noticeably withdraws, he met a girl last year in Canada and fell for her pretty hard, "but I had to leave, had to get out of winter. I was so pale from lack of sun and I kept emoing out all the time, just wasn't myself. I was washing dishes in a really fun restaurant for $7 an hour, working so much just to try to get a bit of money together to try and pay off my credit card after the Alaska trip, met some cool people though, but pretty much all the money I earnt was going straight on food and rent...while my credit card was gaining interest. I felt like I was living in the 30's during the depression. No money, walking 3 miles to work every day in two foot of snow, minus 15 degrees with the wind-chill, and yeah, I just had to get back to Australia. It was the hardest decision hey, when I said I was leaving she formed so much hatred for me, like broke my heart and didn’t talk to me for the rest of the time I was there, we hardly even said goodbye. So hard hey."

In the whole interview this was the first time I didn't see him smile, proof of the hurt he feels inside. Kid got heart.

With the mosquitoes buzzing too close to my ears for comfort we retire inside for a sample of his work. I’m bombarded by literally four hundred 6x4 prints, the pile’s huge, and all he can do is laugh, "this is why I need a web page." Flicking through the select 'few' I stop at what turns out to be his favourite photo to date. It's a black and white photo of a surfer punting an air on a head high wave, with a lighthouse and rocky outcrop in the background. "I kind of visualised this one before I even got there, so stoked it turned out hey. It's in Canada, their version of Byron Bay, a full on hippy, small, tourism sustained town, on Vancouver Island. I heard about the place and just showed up there after getting bummed out in the big city (Vancouver), didn’t know where the surf spots were or if anyone even surfed there, so I just walked around for a few days and had a look. I was there for 10 days and didn’t see any good surfers or waves, but I had heard that a sponsored rider lived close by and his friend worked in one of the surf shops in town, after a bit of snooping I found out what car he drove and um.. (pauses) I pretty much stalked this guy on the last day I was there (laughs). I sat in the café next door to the surf shop for about two hours before I saw his car pull up, he was there to pick up his girlfriend or something I can't remember but I overheard him saying where he was gonna go surf, so um...I ran out to the road and hitched a ride to that beach before he got there. Hid in the bushes and shot for over three hours and yeah, it all worked out in the end. Spent the whole ferry ride back to the mainland going through the photos and this is the only one that I liked. So stoked on it though."

After spending a few hours with Mark I'm sure it’s this determination to hide in random bushes and stalk pro surfers, or drive 8000 kilometers solo that's going to propel him into the scene with his photos, he wouldn’t show me any of his writing because "it's not ready yet and my journal's mine, like you probably wouldn’t understand it anyway (laughs)". When he finds his niche in the industry, keep an eye out for him.

This kid's not going to fade away.

thanks mate.

2007-08-31T22:47:00.000+10:00

i'm at a loss for words. my soc lecturer died on tuesday. the guy feared by many, those tight pants and stern voice shattering most essay's, 'does anyone have an essay plan to show me?' - dude it's due in 6 weeks i haven't even looked at the question yet.
the last conversation i had with him was one of the most inspiring ones of my time at uni, in the brief 2 minutes he amped me to follow my dream down a different path than the uni spiral, 'there's so many options in front of you, you have the photography skills, the media agencies are so huge that they'll froth on a different approach to the norm. for your ideas you may not even need this degree.'
every tute was basically an impromptu story time, from his broad knowledge on basically everything he'd never fail to divert from the subject with a story about the romans - the settlers - environment, basically anything that had a pun at the end it left us looking around with a sombre muted look, i actually looked forward to his tutes. that's a lot coming from me.

rest in peace phil.

thoughts into practise.

2007-08-30T21:51:00.000+10:00

been kicking around a few ideas of late, i guess since the sports photographer job at the times was taken before i arrived in town i've been thinking of a new approach to the standard 'action' shot. thought about camera angles/lenses, hook a couple of boom extension poles together, a fisheye and a few pocket wizards for the birds eye view, probably not practicle for most sports, maybe tabletennis...not a big need in this town, but in the same mindset started thinking about remote flashes.

i've had them for a while now, used mainly for portraits and the short range low impact stuff, but never to actually enhance sports.
finished up on the boat pretty early considering and followed (stalked) scatty to shoot his basketball game...not gonna lie my brain was running rampant at the time of what settings, where to put them, in the end just had to chill and go with it.

for the first attempt i'm pretty stoked at the results, sign of things to come or the start of a new direction, whatever i don't care it's epic to be adapting to new forms.

underexpose ambient 1 stop, 1/4 strobe power...

2007-08-25T21:25:00.000+10:00

dang...blew it. couldn't even concentrate on what i was doing, all i could think about was the possibilities. been trying to talk to the manager about portrait photos on the harvest boat, like they say no cameras at all on the boat since we're doing a fair bit of illegal dodgy stuff, but if i sign a contract for silence they'll get some lyfestyle portraits for promo use, basically i just want to do it for myself as well, but ya i've been lagging i'm the first to admit. then the fog settled in leaving a graduated grey backdrop with the muted sunlight diffused like i've never seen before, all i could think was that i should be doing it. all the scenes running rampant through my mind and i'm listing the angles and strobe combos to be used, should i have one remote on a stand above or behind for rim/hair light while the other lies camera left with sun source right while i'm meant to be concentrating on not killing the kid standing under the one tonne pallet i'm lifting into the water daydreaming miles away...but what else is new. the daydreams are turning into the only solace from the routine, not long now i gotta stop rambling and sort it out.

dang..i blew it.

credit

is it the weekend?

2007-08-24T22:54:00.000+10:00

everyday i'm dumbfounded by the same people asking the same questions and stumbling on the same hurdles that they did the day before. i mean, we do the same thing everyday without fail, but they still don't get it. not that anything's hard, just has to be done before the next stage can progress. granted i am kinda negative at the whole work scene after another 17 hour day stuck on the boat with a skipper second guessing both himself and my ideas, makes me question myself and dang this stuff ain't that hard. 'frick, it's not like it's brain surgery' is one of my favourite quotes. that and 'work smart not hard.' don't know wher i got that one but pretty much sums up my whole boat lyfe existance.

so where am i going with this last sugar effect induced rant before i pass out just in time to go back to the boat?
all day i've had this image running through my head, one of the simplicity of the lincoln syndrome, one that sums up what i do here but at the same time this may not be the place for me, i tried the other night to portray the quiet lyfe with my guitar but just ended up with a studio style shot,

so with this in mind i may have to call in the troops to get the look i'm going for, but at this stage i don't know what i'm going for. on the boat there's an A3 sign saying NO CAMERAS, like they're scared that we'll sell their secrets to someone who cares more than us about what we do -like that'd be hard to find- but if i don't care about it i guess they'll let me break the rules..dang trying to make a statement here.

that's it. my brain just shut off.

later.

Boat Lyfe.

2007-08-23T21:28:00.000+10:00

well...it's taken me a fair while to get my act together after the uni lfe started to fade into the memories, the random phone calls and 2am messages from friends at the bar laughing and telling me of the times i'm missing make me smile and the lyfe that i've left behind means more than most memories i could have ever evolved from, now as the routine is taking over and proceeds at this pace i'm physically shattered and more than most of the days are dreaming of the end.

so now that never ending sentence is out time to get down to the facts.

i have so much to update on my website that it's going to take me more than a while to get it done, hopefully the speed of this whole blogging revolution will fill some unanswered questions, so bear with me and hang around and i'll get to it.

boats are ruling my lyfe at the moment, some quick money to get on top of the necessities and maybe open a door for the future, the options really are endless i just gotta get on top of it all and open my eyes to the shadows lying dormant ready for me to awaken them. photojournalism is my goal, be it in australia or worldwide somewhere, with my studies under my belt i'm hitching on my backpack and have just started to scratch the surface.

time to jump on in, the water's fine.
see ya on the other side.