Category: photography

Salvo’s PAPG Shoot

This month’s Perth Amateur Photographers photowalk was another Salvo’s challenge. The objective was to group the photographer’s into teams to dress our assigned model within a $50 budget and 45 minutes preparation. Most of my group consisted of men with no knowledge or confidence in fashion, so that duty mostly fell on me, which I was thrilled by. This model is Lauren Miles, whom I have enjoyed working with on previous photowalks. As a trained costume designer, I wanted to capture what I had noticed about her usual style. I wanted Lauren to have garments that she might get further use out of. I wanted bold colours, I went for a warm autumnal pallet to go with her hair. Lauren has a cool tomboyish style, with a bit of a 70’s vibe. I went for a long skirt, and long coat, to pair with her own long boots.
These two looks came together easily and fit Lauren perfectly, serving to lengthen her silhouette, rather than drown her in fabric.

There was a second challenge, one I put on myself, these photos were all shot with a children’s camera, a “My First Camera 50”. I pushed it to its limit, but to my surprise it handled most challenges I threw at it. These photos have a dreamy quality to them. I did very little editing on them, except for slide 6, I needed to cheat that shallow depth of field.

Beth Blakely’s team did a good job in selecting vibrant, eye-catching dresses. I think the boho look suits Beth and her long wavey hair.

I love Kiara Roberts . The best model. If there’s something to climb, she will climb it. If there’s a prop, you bet she’s gonna use it!

Sorry Tiffany Knuckey, I only managed to get two good shots of you! I don’t know what it was, maybe the stripes confused my camera.

And finally, all the girls together.

Onwards to my next photography challenge!

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Rocky Bay Waugal Cave

On my days off, I like to go exploring, be it of the natural or urban variety; Waugal Cave is somewhere between the two. It was once a place of cultural significance to the indigenous Noongar tribe of Perth, but now it is trashed. It was used by Europeans for lime burning, the toxic process of making quicklime/calcium oxide. These days, the homeless have been using it as a shelter, and kids have used it as a canvas for graffiti. There has been no effort made to protect or preserve this site, so my attempt with these photos is to at least capture the cave in a moment in time for the world to see. Take only photos and leave only footprints. Maybe I can generate some interest in getting the council to take better care of this place.

What became apparent as I explored this cave, was that I was not alone. No, I didn’t encounter any other humans, nor vengeful spirits, but there were bees and birds creating their homes in and around this cave. All life forms seemed to be in agreement, this cave is an excellent location to plant their roots. But once the bees and birds depart there will be naught but a nest or a hive that remains, and these will soon be dissolved back into nature. Where as humans plant their roots through plastic and paint and other toxic chemicals that will continue to exist far beyond their usefulness, if they were ever useful to begin with. The remains of animal habitation can be beautiful in their own way, but the signs of human habitation are ugly, toxic, unnatural. And yet it is our nature to create these things.

What a strange animal human is.

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Skatepark PAPG Shoot

The first Perth Amateur Photographers Group photowalk for 2026 at the Leederville skate park. This was my first attempt using a film camera since high school. I quite like the results and the challenge. It makes me nostalgic for my own past. I think I will continue to experiment with this medium.

Models (Instagram):
@ej331995
@alison.milham94
@misty_eligon
@sanj_ranasinghe
@_flower._.hashira_


And a cameo from myself and Miss Ivy. I drove her back to the same location on another day to get shots of her.

I also did my first graffiti that day, there was an artist there painting one of the walls, he let me borrow a paint pen so I drew my logo. We ended up sharing our stories of our traumatic brain injuries. You can make friends where ever you go. Find common ground with anyone.

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Greyhound PAPG Shoot

Another challenging shoot with @perth_amateur_photographers. This shoot was a collaboration with @freethehounds, a charity that rescues greyhounds from racing. I forgot my flash and there was very little lighting in the studio, so I had to learn the limits of my built-in flash on the fly. I have many more photos, but this set here is a series of portraits. I find these to be the strongest of the series as they show the greyhounds not as an accessory but an active agent within the photo.

Models:

Eden @edensalvador

Kiara @parahnoiid

Lauren @lauren.miles_modelling

Louise @stargirlie888

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Urban Exploration: The Abandoned Chinese Mansion

I have just returned from my trip to China. Just kidding. Believe it or not, these buildings are found in Perth, Western Australia. A Chinese millionaire was attempting to recreate a slice of home when COVID hit, forcing him to abandon the place in order to care for his family in China. There are no public details as to why he couldn’t return. But it is a great shame because these buildings were so close to completion. It was nearly sold in September of last year, but for whatever reason, the sale fell through.

Now the property sits abandoned, without even any gates to keep people out and sadly, it seems many have used this place as a wreck room, a rubbish bin, a toilet. It’s astounding to me that anyone could look at such a wonderful place as this and feel any inclination to vandalise it.

So what I have tried to accomplish here, as best I can, is an act of archaeology or preservation. This was a beautiful place and I want the world to be able to see it and enjoy it, before it is erased from this Earth entirely. But here’s hoping another eccentric millionaire comes along to complete this anachronistic wonderland and maybe keeps it open to the public.

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Nude Self-portraits

Around April 2022, I did my first nude photoshoot, I waxed every inch of my body. I rocked up in a full face of make-up, long hair, heels and lingerie. I was trying so hard to conform to society’s idea of female beauty.
Then I was hit by a car a couple of months later and I was reborn. It suddenly put my life into perspective and made me realise what it is that I actually valued.

It bugged me that my only nude photoshoot didn’t resemble the real me. So without any preparation, I simply set up my old DSLR and experimented with what it could do in auto on a self-timer.

Here I am, muscular, hairy, mulleted, bare-faced, and undeniably a woman. An adult human female.

Continue reading →
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John Forrest National Park

It’s been a while since Ivy (the SAAB) and I went chasing waterfalls, and Hovea Falls was flowing wonderfully at John Forrest National Park yesterday.
The shot I am most proud of is of the waterfall itself, I finally figured out how to do that smooth water effect.

I have long wished to find a cave behind a waterfall, common in fiction, but remarkably rare in reality, at least in Western Australia. I discovered Hovea had a tiny cave of sorts. The roof of it was an unsettling abandoned hive, possibly once belonging to wasps. I also marvelled at the black rock with the silver streak on it, it appeared that at some point in the past, there had been two waterfalls here. Impossible to say when that was, but the rock is forever stained by it.

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Life Finds a Way

The vines growing across my balcony have all died out for the winter, except for this one branch. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. That has to be fake, it looks like someone hung an artificial garland onto the dead vine. But, no, it’s real, surviving and thriving and somehow looking absolutely flawless.

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Belmont PAPG Shoot

Here’s last weekend’s shoot with Perth Amateur Photographers Group at the Ruth Faulkner park. I don’t spend much time in Belmont, so I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful park and fancy new library. I’m always happy to see a waterfall.
I think this is my first shoot on an overcast day. I know some photographers prefer it, but I found it difficult to work with. I’ve since bought a speedlite, let’s see if that improves my next shoot.
This is also my first time working with male models, and my first time using my 50mm lens. It’s much easier to get that shallower depth of field with the right lens, turns out.

My absolute favourite photos from that day were the photos of the bird. Before we began the photowalk, one of the photographers was telling her young daughter to not become too distracted reviewing the photos in her camera, instead she should keep her eyes up, ready for the next photo opportunity. “You never know what you might miss. While you’re looking at your screen a big…hawk could come along and you would miss it”.

Not five minutes later, I heard an unusual call coming from the pine trees. I took out my 250mm lens and zoomed in. No freaking way, she had summoned a hawk. Or at least, we think it’s a hawk, possibly a falcon. Damn it, Jim, I’m a photographer, not an ornithologist.

Models:
Chey @chey_wynn
Sanj @sanj_ranasinghe
Kris @purvo28
Elle @xiellene

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