Amanzi Swimwear 2010 Campaign Tearsheets

Thought I’d share some of the tearsheets I just received from the 2010 Amanzi campaign I shot a little while ago. I’ve just received clearance from the client and am now able to share them with everyone.

Amanzi is swimwear label with roots in the core sport and active lifestyles. In this campaign we worked with model Tara Barker who not only is a cool person and great model, but also an athlete in the Kellogg’s Nutrigrain series, so she walks the walk and talks the talk.

The final product you see is a result of a HUGE team effort involving a very hardworking team of individuals who are committed to excellence in their roles, and who go about it in a very fun way. Exactly the way I love to work.

I have to shout out to everyone at Amanzi for their support and collaboration both creatively and logistically from location scouting to styling to keeping us all supplied with cold drinks and who can forget the fresh fruit and Subway platters? Then of course my immediate team who I would not be able to do anything without: Angela Shepherd (Make up Artist) and 1^st and second photography assistants Hannah Khurda and Kyle Wilson.

And for those of you who have connected with us on Facebook, stay tuned for upcoming behind the scenes video footage and stills as well. I’m even gonna throw in some shots that didn’t make the initial campaign, plus a little technical write up for those who are that way inclined.

Watch this space

Train Spotting - (Nothing to see here)

Last week I made myself take time out for a photo walk. I was a little sapped keeping up with deadlines. I knew I had some big days in which coming up with "something" was the objective, so needed to charge my creative batteries.
I stopped at an old train yard in a town in country Queensland, and took some time taking photos of "nothing".
Nothing to see here........

Sundays

Took my son to the skatepark in the afternoon late Sunday. Snapped a couple pics as I watched him play.

What I'm Reading: You Might Like It

If you're like me, pricing is a pretty big challenge. Get it wrong and you're either underselling yourself and possibly setting a dangerous precedent, or overpricing yourself and risk losing the job.

A while back I made a decision to make a living as a photographer by doing what I love to do, creating pictures that I want to see and hopefully others are willing to pay for.
That love of photography even now bubbles up when I'm in a meeting pitching a creative concept, and it is literally all I can do from keeping myself saying across the boardroom table, "you know what? heck I'm so excited about my concept I'll shoot your print campaign for free". A feeling that I regard as healthy and I hope I never lose. It's my love for shooting that keeps me going to those meetings in the first place. Luckily I've been blessed with a bit of resolve and some really good people around me to keep my business smarts and realise I have mouths to feed, bills to pay and equipment to purchase and maintain.

To that end I've been reading Pricing Photography, the Complete Guide to Assignment & Stock Prices by Michal Heron and David MacTavish. I've found this book full of helpful information for anyone who is already or thinking about making a living as a creative individual. While the book is made for the US market, the useful information doesn't appear in the literal values, rather in the concepts and direction it gives. Everything from negotiating, writing out invoices, quoting for commissioned work or stock photography is in this book.
Anyway, I thought some other people might find this book helpful. I got mine on Amazon

A Dare's a Dare

This is a cosmopolitan. I had heard of one but never knew exactly what it was. A couple hours ago I tweeted that I had checked into a hotel on a trip I'm on and was dared on Twitter by Wuthy, AKA Gold Coast Journalist Robyn Wuth to order one. Now, a dare is a dare at any time, but when dared on a open social network, backing down is no option. So Wuthy, dare complete. I knew you being a journalist and all would need an element of authenticity, so I took an iPhone pic and threw my card in there as a "proof of life". Cheers!

Green and Gold

Ken Wallace is a nice guy, a very nice guy. In fact if I had to as some people say tried to "capture" Ken's persona in a photo, it would probably include a sunset, a flower and little fluffy baby mittens.
Along with what makes Ken a cool down to earth guy is a hardened steely resolve that is paramount to elite athletes.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic games Ken Wallace came from behind to win gold in the Men's K1 500m final, after winning a bronze medal earlier in the Men's K1 1000m. Since then he's gone on to win a number of awards including Australian Institute of Sport Sportsman of the Year and an Order of Australia Medal.
I caught up with Ken at the Australian Institue of Sport Kayak and Canoe Facility to shoot a series of portraits of him.
You can view the rest of the series here. There is a behind the scenes shot here.
My thanks has to go to the Australian Institue of Sport for the oppurtunity and my assistant for the shoot Jovanka Pyman.

The Cool Calm Collective

Well I finally get to blog about an actual photoshoot! I've been finding with a lot of my recent work that due to confidentiality clauses for one reason or another, I'm not able to release images via my blog or Facebook page until they are released. I promise to get them out to you as soon as I get the go ahead though.
Had a great shoot not long ago with reggae band The Cool Calm Collective. I came up with this pretty cool concept for them and pitched it, and it got knocked on the head, Ha! OK not exactly, but the powers that be decided to reserve that concept for a later date.
Instead, bassist and manager Jai Mitchell said, "let's just hang out and see what happens". We decided to all meet at his house, sit in his living room, then go out for lunch. The idea was to get real candid shots, almost like a bunch of housemates.
When I arrived in the living room, there was an old keyboard in the corner, and so much cool stuff that we just took a bit of time building a "set". I keep a ladder in my car, brought that in, and decided to shoot from overhead. You can view the setup shot here.
Next, I evaluated the lighting. Since all the shots were meant to look candid, I needed a way to light the room so that it didn't look "lit". To do that I had to make my light source as big as possible, so I fired a speedlight through a shoot-through umbrella pointed directly at the ceiling, essentially turning the ceiling into a giant softbox.
The final challenge was getting all the band members to show their faces without making them look like they were looking at the camera. I saw all of these Polaroids on the wall and we made a stack and got them to throw them at me. That way everyone would be looking up at the time I took the shot.
The final image is a composite of 3 shots to make it look like there were more Polaroids then there actually were.
After that we went to the 25 Hour Shop, this burger joint that has a old fashioned diner feel to it. The boss very kindly agreed to let us shoot in there, and we ordered a heap of food and, well just ate.
I got to use my new Canon 1Ds MkIII too, and am really happy with it. I don't normally like to get too into camera bodies but wow, I'm blown away. No one needs me to tell them how great of a camera it is, as there is a reason why it's the flagship Canon camera. But let's just say I'm glad I got it.
You can view the rest of the photos from this shoot here.