Earlier this year I returned from Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego after participating in a twenty-day expedition to Antarctica. The Homeward Bound Project has gathered the first 76 of a targeted 1,000 women from around the world, all with critical science backgrounds, to undertake a year-long state-of-the-art program to develop their leadership and strategic capabilities, using science to build conviction around the importance of their voices.
This article for Content and Technology magazine looks at the range of camera technology used on this assignment.
October 2017: It was a brilliant night in Helsinki. I had the pleasure of presenting the award for Best Cinematography Documentary Films to Polish cinematographer, Lukasz Zal for his work on "Ikon" This is a feature-length documentary portrait of a provincial psychiatric hospital population. For the first time in the history of one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Siberia a film crew could see the daily life behind high walls.
Our other winners on the night were Fabian Wagner BSC ASC for TV Drama, "Game of Thrones – The Winds of Winter" and Seamus McGarvey BSC for the Feature Film "Nocturnal Animals".
Congratulations to the winners and to all the nominees. There was some extraordinary cinematography up on the screen.
September & October 2017: I have been presenting lectures to guests on the US based Silversea cruise ship, the Silver Shadow. The talks centred on my photography and cinematography. This three week assignment included Tokyo, Hiroshima, Shimizu and Ishikagi (Japan) Seoul and Busan (South Korea) Beijing, Tianjing and Shanghai (China).
I've been selected to exhibit two of my images to represent the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) at an international photography exhibition in Poland.
To help celebrate the 25th anniversaries of the Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography and IMAGO — the Federation of European Cinematographers — a selection of images taken by members will be showcased during the upcoming festival, held November 11-18 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Creating images is the art and profession of cinematographers and many cinematographers are also creators of still images.
This exhibition will showcase how cinematographers from all around the world work with visual artistry in artistic composition, visual motifs, contrast, colour or black-and-white when it comes to still images. https://theasc.com/news/asc-imago-joint-photo-exhibition-to-be-must-see-at-camerimage
22nd April 2017: Bilgola Beach 610am. I used a Sony RX100 Mk4 for this shot.
March & April 2017: Snow blizzards recently blanketed the north east of the United States. I was there to capture and document the beautly of New Jersey in the snowy aftermath. A comination of stills photograpy and video in the countrside and on the streets of New York.
18th February 2017: The Bilgola Beach rock shelf at low tide. I used a Sony A7R Mk2.
1st October 2016: My Still to Motion workshop for Focus photographers has wrapped and it was a great day. Thanks to all those who came along, glad to know you had a great time as well as leaving with new skills. It's also a great way for me to meet new people.
Focus is a community for those who share a passion for landscape and seascape photography. Visit the Focus website
Birds and seals South Georgia - Gold Bay King Penguins, Baily's Head Chinstrap Penguins and Antarctic peninsular landscapes
November/December I travelled to the island of South Georgia and Antarctica on the Polar Pioneer for Aurora Expeditions, my role was as a guest cinematography lecturer. I shot video footage along the way. For this expedition, I chose to forgo my Sony PXW-FS7, taking only Sony stills cameras.
Here are are two short videos, shot in 4K, recorded on the Ninja Assassin and uploaded as HD. My camera/lens kit consisted of a Sony A7R Mk2, Sony A7R (stills only), Sony 70-200mm f/4 G zoom, Zeiss Loxia 55mm f/2, Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm f/4, Canon 400mm f/5.6, Sony RX100 Mk4, GoPro 4, Atomos Ninja Assassin, Miller Air tripod/fluid head, Zoom H4n recorder. I used standard gamma settings and the audio was recorded mainly by the A7R's stereo microphone. I used no additional camera accessories. If weight was again a factor, I'd gladly pack the same kit for the next assignment. I was interviewd before leaving on the expedition.
I was recently interviewed by Sarah Kanowski in Brisbane. It was a priviledge to have been asked to be a guest on ABC radio's Conversations. It's one of ABC's most popular regular radio segments with an list of amazing guests who have contributed before me.
Sarah was filling in for regular host Richard Fidler and she made me feel right at home. We talked about work, my assigments, my childhood and as expected, much was left out, so many important collegues momentarily forgotten. I enjoyed my hour long talk - nothing like a hour of live radio to brush away the cobwebs.
A podcast of my interview is available on the ABC Conversations website.
The final day of video training for SBS Television cadet video journalists. Phil Ly plays the the news presenter with a passion for nicking colleague's headphones. A full day shooting news spoofs that will sum up the new skills learnt during the week. Vanessa Jane on the right, Creative Strategist, film-maker and producer and entrepreneur.
