WHEN OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS... SEIZE THE MOMENT

So this happened today....

I was leaving a work meeting this afternoon and happened to stumble upon a pint-sized talent going by the name of "MISHAP", who was hard at it decorating the facade of the Syrah Bar in St Kilda...

My first instincts were how good it would be to get a photo of this masked crusader while in the throws of her craft, but then considered letting it go till "next time!"

"WHAT AM I... AN IDIOT??" A graffiti artist at work... in no terrible hurry since it was a commissioned job... prop spray cans at the ready and a world of colour as her backdrop. When was it ever going to get easier than this?

Since I had my camera nearby I ventured into the sweet smelling paint fumes and asked MISHAP if it would be possible to steal a couple of valuable minutes of her working time to grab a quick portrait of her at work, to which she obliged...

I suppose the reward was not only a cool portrait of an artist at work, but the opportunity to enter the world of a perfect stranger and get a little insight into her world...

Although not always this convenient, sometimes opportunity just presents itself and you have to grab it with both hands and seize the moment. What is photography anyway if not the capture of fleeting moments?

Check out more of MISHAP'S creations at www.mishap.com or on instagram: @jazmishap

FROM MILAN WITH LOVE

This is a throwback to the day 2 old school Italians connected by their love of fashion, collaborated in the heart of the Block Arcade in Melbourne...

Fiorella Ciaboco, a renowned fashion designer from Milan was visiting Melbourne on the request of friends Adriano Carbone "Master Tailor" and Zina Maria Cozzo, the daughter of Italian royalty in Melbourne "FRANCO COZZO".

Sitting in Cafe Notturno on Lygon St at 4am after a night out and feeling completely sleep and caffeine deprived, I still had no idea I was about to be asked by another mutual friend to take these images "later that morning".

Apparently Adriano and Fiorella were to meet at Adriano's workshop in the beautiful Block arcade where he would show her the finer points of cutting and sewing, while Fiorella laid down some knowledge on figures, forms and shapes. At least that was my take on things as my Italian is about as sharp as a wet stone!

After finally meeting and briefly getting to know Adriano, I thought I'd take a "fly on the wall" approach for the most part of this shoot as to not interfere with the creative juices and passionate thought exchanges between the two.

The light flooding through Adriano's window was occasionally harsh, giving some intense contrast, while at times subtle enough to give me some beautiful tones. So I daren't interfere with a gift from nature and left the flash in the camera bag...

At times the intense fashion talk gave way to jokes and banter, which made for some great images which made depicting the child-like rapport between these 2 creative minds so much easier.

It soon became obvious that despite now living on opposite sides of the globe to each other, their roots were firmly sewn in the same soil.

So half way through the shoot someone finally saw fit to inform me that these images had to be completed by 7pm that night in order to be delivered to Fiorella's husband in Milan at the start of the working day. A pleasant little surprise I didn't see coming half way through the day as I'd been firing away thoughout the morning and had a lot of images to get through.

But to ease my pain, I was invited back to Adriano and Maria's home for some good old Italian cuisine and hospitality, while I set up camp and got cracking on the images and a brilliant serving of pasta.

At the end of the day.... PHOTOS DELIVERED! BELLY FULL! EVERYBODY HAPPY!

FIORELLA CIABOCO: http://sartoriafiorella.com/en

ADRIANO CARBONE: http://adriano.com.au

SPECIAL KIDS

I was recently approached about photographing a special group of kids who played basketball out west for the Western Special Needs Basketball Club...

This came as I'd not long before been reflecting on how I hadn't shot anything 'junior sports' related for a while and how I'd missed the environment and atmosphere. So when the opportunity presented itself I have to admit I was a little wrapped. 

I was initially advised to lower my expectation of photographic brilliance as certain "conditions" that the children possessed may inhibit their attention span as well as their willingness to smile for the camera.  But regardless I approached the job with the same "Let's have fun" approach I try to bring to all other jobs when I have to win a child's trust in order to achieve the best photo.

Due to time constraints, we decided to take the club photo first, after only being in the same room as these kids for about 15 minutes. But nevertheless, after some basketball banter and self deprecation, this was the result we achieved. 25 kids with special needs, looking straight down the barrel, looking proud and most importantly, happy!

As it turns out, the individual portraits were a hit with the parents too.

So I walk away from this one with a greatly appreciated and improved learning curve... as well as that warm fuzzy feeling!!

ALL EYES ON THE ROAD AT LATROBE

Slightly chuffed today...

I received this image from one of the lovely folk in the marketing department of Latrobe University.

An image from a photoshoot I did as part of their business/commerce guide being fitted into a nice big billboard.

Sadly I wasn't there for a photo bomb!!

TUNNEL VISION

There's just something so soothing about the scene that greets you as you drive north-bound through this tunnel to find yourself on the Tullamarine Freeway. Many a time I've driven home from a night out or from work and admired the simplistic beauty of this winding skeletal structure; it's hard steel and it's soft lighting.

It's just too easy to come out at the other end of the tunnel with great images. Here's just one...

SKY'S THE LIMIT

Isn't it great to see the creativity that some "professional" retouchers apply to their craft....
Found these images (on the same day) on realestate.com.au recently.
Nice to see that agents send good photographers out to photograph the selling points of a property and then retouchers cheapen the images by dropping generic elements in Photoshop like this...
Way to lose trust guys!

THE "PHOTO BOMB" PIONEER

More often than not when you photograph weddings, you end up with "that memorable shot" from the day for whatever reason it might be... Beautiful lighting or location, a magical kiss, or a funny bridal party prank.

On the day of my cousin's wedding we headed to the beautiful Queen's Park in Moonee Ponds.

We were soaking in the ambience of greenery and birdlife, when this lovely local lady came powering home from the supermarket, straight through the background of our shot. She noticed that we were photographing a wedding and casually slowed down to enjoy the scene, so I decided to make her part of the day's memories...

Somehow, this shot never made the wedding album!