Table of contents for January-February 2018 in Capture

As I write this note, we’re still three weeks away from the New Year, and one thing’s for sure, a great deal can change in three weeks. (Anyone watching what’s happening with bitcoin?) Time is by far our greatest resource, and sadly there’s just not enough of it. And as it turns out, how you spend your time, what you do with it, makes all the difference, both in your professional and personal lives. It’s an investment you ought to make wisely, and after careful consideration. So, why all this talk of time? Well, one of the features in this edition highlights a suite of business tools, which if implemented correctly, and managed appropriately, can save you considerable time when it comes to admin and the running of your business.…

Nowadays, the world of photography moves faster than most of us can shoot. With over a billion images uploaded online every day, the thought of slowing down seems almost impossible. But for UK-based photographer, Nicky Hamilton, slow shooting laid the foundation for what would become The Lonely Man. Each image was quintessentially created from scratch; from making a rough sketch of the idea, to building and dressing the set, to lighting and shooting it. “I wanted to change the pace. My plan was to work akin to a painter with a canvas, creating the photo, and not finding it on location,” says Hamilton. “Four years ago, I opened my own studio and have since dedicated my time to this series and my style of creating images.” When he’s not engaged…

Many of history’s great photographers relied on nothing but the sun to expose their film to. And indeed many of them operated their cameras at a time before any such technology for artificial lighting was readily available or accessible. But today it’s a different story. While some genres of photography still aim to rely on natural light as much as possible, across all modern professional photographic disciplines, speedlights and studio lights are ubiquitous. Especially in the realms of advertising, editorial, and commercial work, a good understanding of artificial lighting and how to use it is crucial. For developing photographers, investing in a lighting kit and learning how to properly use it can be challenging to both the mind and the wallet. With head/pack kits from high-end brands including Elinchrom and…

See Lost Vegas by Tim Levy, Black Eye Gallery, Darlinghurst, NSW, 30 January – 11 February. Las Vegas is a unique ‘party city’ meant to be full of fun, glitz, glamour, and ludicrous wealth, but the flip side is a different story, which includes false hope, cheap highs, and broken dreams. Martin Parr and Jeffrey Smart have influenced Tim Levy’s style which he describes as, “un-staged street photography.” Street photography involves patience, timing and just like one of the main draw cards to this city - luck. Many of Levy’s images often embody a certain sense of humour, however he never aims for his subjects to look undignified as he often imagines himself participating within their daily life. blackeyegallery.com.au #Resist Laughter by Alana Holmberg, The Lost Ones Contemporary Art Gallery,…

Ricky Gestro Despite coming from a background in construction and working in the New Zealand Army, photography has always had a big presence in the life of New Zealand-born photographer, Ricky Gestro. Influenced by his father who was a keen photographer, Gestro discovered point-and-shoot 35mm photography in his teens. But it wasn’t until 2011 that Gestro’s interest in photography really took off. “It happened in the form of travel photography while travelling India for the first time, with friends. It just seemed to make sense,” says Gestro. Relocating to Perth in 2010, Gestro realised that in order for his photography to flourish, he would need to consider formal study. After three and a half years at the Central Institute of Technology in Perth, he graduated with an Advanced Diploma in…

When you are a photographer, the biggest overhead in your business is time. Not only are you shooting all day and spending late nights editing, but you’re also expected to do admin work, manage your clients, and market yourself. Every extra hour you spend working devalues the sum of what you earn, so having the right tools to create an efficient business workflow is important. And this is where studio management software eclipses spreadsheets entirely. Numerous software options, such as Studio Ninja, Táve, and ShootQ, to name a few, provide photographers with business tools, from simplified workflow management to automated invoicing, so they can spend more time shooting and editing, and less time managing the back-end of their business. While the benefits appear self-evident, the challenging first step is selecting…

In these digital times, how relevant is the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words? It is an adage that is familiar to all photographers in their pursuit of the art. With photography flooding the Internet, it is easy for our eyes to glaze over as we scroll down the feeds of our social platforms. Photos are reduced to meaningless eye-candy and some photographers just focus on creating content with no real story behind the images. It’s a bleak reality, but the old adage that connected photography to storytelling may no longer be relevant in today’s world. However, New Mexico-based, fine-art photographer, Jennifer Thoreson says that photography, as a medium, is inherently storytelling. “It’s just woven into the process of making a photograph. Each image has a narrative…

“If you told an 18-year-old me that one day I would have a team of 80, a film studio, have published over 40 books and a host of magazines, not to mention owning a creative agency, a talent agency, a post-production company, and four dogs, I would have laughed you out the room,” Rankin says. He has also shot some of the world’s most famous advertising campaigns for Nike, Swatch, Dove, Pantene, Absolut, Diageo, Women’s Aid, and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and has directed music videos for Miley Cyrus, Kelis, Rita Ora, Nelly Furtado, The Noisettes, The Enemy, and Marina and the Diamonds. There was a very real chance that the world of photography might never have known the name, Rankin. John Rankin Waddell went to university with the aim of…

Making the leap into the world of professional photography can be a terrifying jump, but entering competitions can provide a comfortable middle ground between you and the world of briefs, editors, and clients. A past judge, Sydney-based advertising special, Gary Sheppard explains: “The secret to getting work, and success, is exposure. And getting to be at the top of someone’s mind when they are considering someone for photographic services”. Being recognised for your work in respected competitions is a crucial first step. In 2016, John Feely was named overall winner in Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers, having also taken out the Documentary/ Photojournalism category and being runner-up in the Portrait category. Feely says that the exposure that the win gave him proved to be invaluable. Following his success, he was invited…