Have you ever walked around in your backyard and thought how lucky you are to live in the place that you live in? Well I don't think about that every day I wake up, but I do think that I am lucky to live in Sydney and be able to live in the city that I do. Not only is it close to the beach but, if I ever needed to get away from the concrete so called jungle I would be able to jump on a train and walk down to Hyde park and clear my mind and recharge and get ready for whatever I want to be ready for. Which is usually prepping for a shoot or coming up for new ideas to shoot for LaMode and or for a client. 

I was brain storming one day and thought I have never done a editorial on Hyde park, so here I bring to you the top 30 images that I shot just after the new year. Again it is all in black&white and unedited just to show you, my reader that you don't have to throw everything into photoshop and change the contrast and brightness on every photo that you shoot. 

So here I bring to you my art side of my photography: Where Art Meets Art

 
 
Well this was my second trip too the Gold Coast this year which was way back in early November. I love traveling to new places but then again who doesn’t?
 
Walking around or should I say driving around the Gold Coast, the thing is you really need a car to see everything as public transport isn’t that good.
 
So why am I returning too the Gold Cost. Firstly it was to do a couple of swim shoots then take in what the Gold Coast has to offer landscapes wise, so I decided to shoot a Culture editorial as well. I was able to take in the purity and beauty of what the Gold Coast has to offer. So after I had shot the two swim shoots, I decided to get into landscape mode and then start traveling from location to location around the Gold Coast, and shoot some eye catching images for this editorial.
 
When I get into that photographic mode for me it’s about natural light and capturing  dramatic and most eye catching images. It is not easy to shoot that sort of stuff when you are on a time limit as I was, but you make the most of what you have got and shoot with your eye so to speak and not to mention have some fun while you are doing it.
 
In a lot of ways shooting landscapes is like casting a model. You only want to work with the best landscapes that are photogenic and easy to work with, and have the best angels where ever you shoot. Sounds weird doesn’t it but it is true.
 
The flip side to that is you don’t have to worry about directing the model and shooting lots of images to get the final image that you want. It’s more about seeing the shot first then taking it, then once you have it on your computer it’s up to you to decide on if you should use it or not.  
 
I love shooting land/seascapes as it allows me to lose myself into another world and not worry about getting the shot in a limited time span. It is also a good way to learn photography, as your subject stands still and won’t talk back and it will only move if you want it too. It is also how I learnt photography way back when I first started taking pictures. The time of the day will dictate how your images will look when you have taken them. You learn how too take a light reading and add that to your settings on your camera. So too sum up this little piece, the Gold Coast is a very pretty and natural setting to take pictures it’s how and when you take them that will make or break how your images will be perceived
 

When I travel to new places in Sydney or anywhere in Australia for that matter. Photography for me should be about capturing the vibe of the place you have just experienced. So when I shoot culture editorials for LaMode that is what I am aiming to do as well as create amazing eye catching photographs, or that is what I would like to think I am doing.

Sydney has so many hidden little gems, that you can discover when you want to find something new and exciting to explore. I did that today by travelling a hour on the train north of the CBD, Sydney. Where I  found the Hawkesbury. It is mostly a fishing town by the river. The water is not as crystal clear as it should be for this part of Sydney but hay isn’t that what makes each and every part of Australia unique?

I love any chance I get to be able to create new images. I also decided to shoot some of the images in black and white, something I haven’t done for a while. That has a lot to do with me shooting sunsets and at a time of day where you really want to create a certain kind of mood, you can check out that editorial via my last post. Anyway with Spring having come upon us and Summer moving close behind it, that means Summer shoots on the beach.

Sydney has so many hidden places you can check out on a beautiful sunny day, I know that is a cliche thing to say but it's true .....you only have to bring up a map on your phone or device, and see how vast Sydney. 

I was thinking about what to shoot for my next editorial post for LaMode and I really wanted to shoot something that was for my culture section of the magazine.I hadn't done anything for that section for a while, and I came up with the idea of finding a couple of remote locations that aren't that obvious to the everyday traveler. Both are close to the water and public transport. While searching, I found Como and Rhodes, Como isn't that common a place to most people even in Sydney but I think Rhodes is. When I document these places I like to shoot it in a way that is a little bit different and and most definitely eye catching. I waited till late in the day to shoot both locations as I wanted to catch the sunset and I also wanted to create a mood that was not only eye catching as mentioned in the last sentence but I also wanted to show you how beautiful the sun set is.

So the next time you want to explore Sydney, close your eyes and pick a place on the map of your phone and see where it takes you.