Passion
"Much of my work comes from incredible opportunities to visit some of the most remote regions in the world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realise that they are actually happening. Here are some of those moments."
The Stirling Ranges
The Stirling Ranges are pretty much in my backyard of South West, Western Australia. The range reaches over 1000 meters in height from pretty much a flat landscape which accentuates the dramatic ridge line. The conditions vary dramatically in a short period of time so you never can be certain how the ranges will look from one day to the next. On this trip I was fortunate enough to have some really dramatic conditions and some interesting light. It is one of my most favourite places to shoot in WA.
Yosemite, United States of America
I was lucky enough to visit one of the most iconic National Parks in the entire world. Yosemite is so majestic you cant help but be in awe of the place. Channeling my inner Ansel Adams I paid homage to the great man of Landscape Photography and created this short edit after not more than 24 hours in the park.
One day in this truly remarkable landscape is not nearly enough. Unfortunately I was time poor on this trip but rest assured I will be back.
F R A G I L I T Y
Filming the natural environment has always given me the greatest pleasure. Flying my drone over some of these landscapes are the icing on the cake. I created this short drone video to highlight some of the beautiful places I had visited in the last year or so.
Whilst editing the film I searched for a title. F R A G I L I T Y came to me late at night as I was finishing the final touches to the edit. It's not meant to be anymore than an observation by me as to how fragile everything seems to be at the moment. We are at a crossroad in relation to the way we are destroying the environment and the actions we take now will effect our planet into the future. If we are to have one.
An Aerial Perspective of Nordland
I have recently returned from two trips to the Nordland region of Norway, specifically Lofoten. This time of the year is influenced by the Midnight Sun or Midnattsol. The days don't end with the sun never disappearing below the horizon. I always wondered what it would be like to fly around and film these mountains when I first visited this place and on this trip I finally got the opportunity to do so.
Along with fellow drone pilot Alan Mathieson from Outback Drones I have put together a short compilation of some of the scenes we were able to capture using the incredible DJI Phantom 4. This is the fourth generation Phantom I have owned and the advances from my very first Phantom 1 are staggering. Terrain avoidance, return to home, point of interest, no fly zones, and other features make this the easiest and safest drone yet. It is also the easiest drone to travel with. It's small form factor and light weight make it a dream to carry onto a plane and the batteries are small enough in power output to not alarm security offices at airports all over the world.
Lofoten is incredible. A beautiful landscape made on a hollywood set. Surely it cant be real? The conditions we encountered made flying a dream. Light winds and low cloud everywhere. A scale to a suitable vantage point and we were in the box seat.
This is just a taste of some of the most incredible footage I have ever shot with a drone and the reason for posting this clip purely with drone footage. My very first all drone video in fact. And whats even cooler is I'm posting this clip on the fourth anniversary of getting my very first drone.
Thanks to good friend Alan Mathieson from Outback Drones for shooting this piece with me and keeping all our flight ops controlled and safe. It's a pleasure to operate with a professional drone operator.
Also special mention to my music score partner in crime Jo Quail who as always allowed me to use her incredible music in another one of my projects of passion.
I T A L I A MMXVI
I wanted to shoot something with my new C300 mk2 in a higher frame rate and what better way than to shoot people in a really busy environment such as Rome and Venice. So I set my camera up for two differing frame rates. Half of this video is shot @ 60fps 2K and 120fps 2K (Cropped). I conformed the vision to play at 25fps in the final edit to get that little bit extra slow motion.
I'm really happy with the end result and decided to stylise the hell out of the footage to give it a more filmic look, something that the C300 mk2 is good at already. I graded it using Lumetri Colour in Premiere Pro CC which is pretty much all I use these days. It's quick and versatile.
I only used the Canon 100mm Macro lens as I wanted to be a fly on the wall and shoot people unaware that I was stalking them. As you can see from the edit that not everyone was oblivious to my attentions. Unfortunately a C300 plus 100mm lens is quite imposing and I did get a bit of agro from one fellow outside a church who basically said I was a professional and that I was doing it to make money. He was half right about being professional but I certainly wasn't there to make money. I was on holidays.
Iceland
Back in September 2013 I travelled to Iceland with 4 mates. Iceland is the mecca for Landscape Photographers and Film Makers alike. I don't think I have experienced a place quite like it before. It's extreme weather and rugged terrain can make the most prepared travellers come unstuck. On our trip we had our hire cars sand blasted by ferocious Glacial winds that stirred up the glass like volcanic sands. 10 minutes down the road was completely calm.
It's that raw weather and the craziest of landscapes that draw so many people to the tiny island. In fact the place has been over run with tourists mainly camera toting photog's like us which has somewhat spoilt the experience of going somewhere quite remote.
I shot this on my first C300 the mk1. Back then drones didn't exist so there wasn't any options of aerial footage unless you hired a light aircraft. I was determined to not let myself get sucked into the ever popular time lapses and cliched cheese ball clips with beaming sunsets and big green balls of Northern Lights.
In the end I settled for this edit and it is still a bit of a favourite for me because of its understated nature. One day I hope to return but in the end will I be doing anything different from the masses that visit there every year.
New Zealand
I travelled to New Zealand September 2014. Once again this was a filming job to gather stock footage of New Zealand's amazingly diverse landscape.