06 - Into the desert 01

It was the end of 2012 and after working hard in Australia for more then two years, I was feeling restless. I hadn’t been overseas since coming back from living and working in Canada as well as a trip throughout the USA in mid 2010. So after a few discussions with my brother, we decided on doing a big trip through the US, Canada, across to Europe and eventually the UK where I would live and work. I spent another six months working hard, saving my money and planning for the summer trip.

As apart of the the USA trip, I suggested to my brother Bryce that we do a desert road trip through some of the western states to get out of the big cities and check out some national parks. Previously in 2000, we had done a huge family trip through California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. It was an amazing trip in hindsight which took in many iconic national parks but being 14 at the time, I never really appreciated the magnificence and beauty of the unique places we were visiting. So fast forward 14 years and with a much more mature perspective of a 27-year-old, I thought revisiting these beautiful location along with my love of film and cameras would be a perfect combination.

So in early July 2013, I flew from Brisbane to LA to stay for one night before flying on to Las Vegas the next day to meet up with Bryce. The road trip didn’t start according to plan with Bryce arriving eight hours late after being on standby for a flight from Denver. So once he finally arrived we picked up our small rental car and drove late into the the night to out first stop in Kingman just over the border in Arizona. For the next six to seven days we drove hundreds of miles throughout three states. We visited the magnificent Grand Canyon National Park, took in the rich, red colours of Monument Valley, got to witness the beauty of Bryce Canyon National Park and gaze in amazement at the large valley formations of Zion National Park.

On our final day, we packed our bags into our rental car and made the trip back to Las Vegas en route to our next destination, San Francisco. This is still one of the best trips I’ve been on in my life and really made me fall in love with the desert. So much so that I’ve been back for a second road trip (post to come soon) and more plans to go back again sometime in the future. Feels like my second home! It was also the first time I completely shot using Kodak Ektar 100 and man the results speak for themselves. The gorgeous red and blue tones really shine through!

1 - 3: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona 
4 - 6: Monument Valley, Utah 
6 - 7: Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona 
8: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
9 - 10: Kolob Canyon, Utah 
11: St George, Utah

All images shot on a Mamiya 7, 80mm f4.0 lens and Kodak Ektar 100 film. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles, California.

05 - Australia in black and white

Black and white (B&W) film is the original and classic film look. No matter what colour films have come and gone, nothing really beats a beautiful B&W shot.

When I started shooting film back in 2010 using my Pentax MZ-S as my main camera, I was shooting all types of film. Colour negative, slide, B&W, expired and fresh film to see what I liked and didn’t like. This included TMax 100 and TMax400 which have become two of my favourite black and white films. Some of my favourite shots from those first two years (2010 - 2012) are mainly B&W. There is something about losing the complexity and overwhelming nature that can come with colour and get back to the basics: strong focus on light and shadow, contrast and subject matter.

That’s why I always enjoy going into the vault and looking at some of my favourites and strongest images from my time shooting both 35mm and medium format film. Since stepping up to the medium format game with my Mamiya 7, I have shot 90 - 95% colour negative film. But again, some of my all time favourites from the last few years are B&W shots. I would have shot 4 - 5 rolls of B&W film in the first six month of owning the Mamiya 7 with 2 - 3 shots that I absolutely love which wouldn’t have worked as well had they been in colour.

After shooting family portraits on Christmas Day 2014 (blog post to come), I’ve realised again the power and effectiveness in a great black and white shot. So going forward I will be incorporating photographing more B&W film, even more so with a potential overseas trip to come in mid 2015.

Pentax MZ-S & Contax G2 (Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne)

Mamiya 7 (Sydney & Brisbane)

All images shot on Kodak TMax 100, TMax 400 and Illford Hp4 125 film. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles, California and RDFL in Sydney, Australia.

04 - Australia in colour 01

I’m so privileged to have grown up in Australia. Great weather (most of the time), amazing beaches and landscapes, a wide selection of delicious fresh produce – what more could you ask for! So over the past four years I have shot a lot of 35 and 120 film with 90% of it being colour negative film. Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting black and white film and have started to shoot more of it recently but when living in Australia, it’s a must to capture the beautiful colours and tones in the landscapes. So here are a bunch of shots from various locations within NSW and Queensland since 2012.

Sydney, NSW (Manly Beach, Shelley Beach, Freshwater Beach, Bondi Beach, Gordon's Bay)

Goulburn, NSW

Queensland (Woodford, Noosa & Brisbane)

All images shot on a Mamiya 7, 80mm f4.0 lens and Kodak film. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles, California.

03 - Cars

During my one year living in Bondi, I spent a lot of time exploring. Just walking around with my camera in hand taking photos of anything interesting. While wandering the streets over the space of a couple of weeks I managed to find and photograph a cool old truck just outside my old apartment in Bondi, a convertible parked at Martin Place in the CBD and a Porsche parked on Hall St near Bondi Beach. When I got the photos back from the wonderful folks at Richard Photo Lab, I was immediately happy with how the shots looked. Just a simple photo taken from the opposite side of the street with the car sitting right in the middle of the frame.

From then on for a good three to six months I proceeded to photograph cars all over Bondi and other parts of the city. I would spend one to two days a weekend walking around searching for vintage cars, expensive flashy cars and anything in between. Eventually I collected enough images that I thought would be suitable for the series. Plenty of fun and plenty of exercise in the process. My favourite photo, the convertible out the front of Tyres & More was something I had been scoping out for a week. Everyday while catching the bus to work I noticed a black convertible being parked on the street. Then one day I decided to take my camera along with me on the journey to work to capture this car. When I arrived out the front, I was at first disappointed to see that the car I thought was going to be there was no longer around but instead this gorgeous blue vintage beast was sitting there. I happily got a few photos and then jumped back on the bus to go work. Had I chosen to go a day earlier or later, I would have missed that moment. I never saw the car again after that so I learnt that sometimes luck and chance goes a long way into a great photo.

Shot on a Mamiya 7, 80mm f4.0 lens and Kodak Portra 400 film. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles, California.

02 - Bikes of bondi

I’m gonna take it back a couple of years to 2013. I had been living in Sydney for almost a year, residing with a relative in Vaucluse. It was a good place to start but I needed my own, proper space. So after looking around I decided that living in Bondi would be my next step. Eventually I found a free room in a two bedroom apartment living with one other girl. It was a great location; 10-15 minute walk to the beach, same distance to Bondi Junction plus close to plenty of buses. I then proceeded to spend most weekends heading down to the beach and enjoying the benefits of living so close to the ocean.

After a few weeks I noticed the amount of people riding bikes around Bondi. They were everywhere and in all shapes, sizes and makes. Then one day while admiring the view of the beach from the esplanade I noticed how nice the bikes parked along the railings looked with the sun, sand and water in the background. I took a couple of photos and thought nothing of it. When I eventually got the film back from the lab, I realised the combination of the different elements made for a good photo. So that was how Bikes of Bondi started. A fun series that captured numerous bikes with the amazing background that is Bondi Beach.

Shot on a Mamiya 7, 80mm f4.0 lens and Kodak Portra 160 and 400 film. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles, California.

01 - Hello!

A photo of me taken by mate friend Ross on my Mamiya 7 while visiting Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last year. 

So I’ve made the decision after some inspiration and serious consideration to create a blog. I had previously attempted to something similiar when I left for my nine month trip through North America and Europe before ending up in London for six months during 2013/2014 but it never happened. Trying to keep a daily account of your travel activities is extremely difficult when travelling especially when you are busy doing things during the day and during the night. It was never going to work so I called it quits before even attempting it properly.

This time around I think I have the formula to make it work. Just a total focus on film photography with shots from my Mamiya 7 plus a few other cameras. That might mean that photos are posted well after the events happening but that’s the way it goes when shooting film.

I’ll be sharing images from my travels all over the world, numerous photography series I've worked on and some currently in the works plus day to day life of living in Sydney and Australia. I also hope to give a bit of an insight of what goes into my photos, what makes me tick and what keeps me inspired and creative.

Cheers,
Anthony