Shinjuku - Japan - First Place - Silver Linings Awards 2020 Abstract Category

This was the taken the day after our Nov 2019 Japan Photography Tour finished. Some of our clients had a day to fill in before their evening flight and a few of them had been to Shinjuku before our tour began and were keen to go back to the area and share some of their favourite spots.

So that’s how we ended up in one of the busiest wards of Tokyo. Shinjuku is a major commercial and administrative centre with lots of people. Our group of five were looking down from the movie theatre area of Shinjuku.

It was a very busy scene and I made it feel even busier by multiple exposing the image five times. Changing the camera angle between each frame as I went.

What makes this image special to me was that in the first frame the sign on the left towards the bottom of the frame was lit, then it changed to dark tones. This gave a place where the eye could rest.

I also like the abstract shape that can be found in the high tones that travel down the street.

20-Tokyo-JR041.jpg

Swan Creek-Kaikoura New Zealand

This was one of the final images that I made of Swan Creek in Kaikoura. Mike and I were driving along Ocean Beach road when we spied the reflection of light off to the right. When we drove off the road onto the beach we discovered that Swan Creek was not only in great light but it had a beautiful shape. We photographed this location for around thirty minutes moving around the scene and allowing each other to find their place in the landscape to set down their tripod and apply whatever photographic technique that seemed appropriate at the time.

In this shot, I have attached my ten stop Neutral Density Filter so that the shutter speed becomes slow making the watery textures soft and dreamlike.  This happened to be the last frame from that location, then we moved off to look for other subjects to photograph while the light lasted.

F10, 25 seconds, 100 ISO, Focal length 105mm. Canon 5DMKIV

F10, 25 seconds, 100 ISO, Focal length 105mm. Canon 5DMKIV

#Rockface collection

There are many places in New Zealand that I love to photograph and I am fortunate to be able to photograph them many times over.

Each time I like to pretend that I have never been there before, I don't want to become too familiar and not truly 'see' the landscape for what it is, on that day, at that time.

As a result, I come away with images that thrill and excite me. 

On this day the light on these Rock formations in the Nevis Valley was at such and angle, I saw faces.

I return home to my studio and print them. Once printed they then exist. 

Catlins-Driveby#

While sitting in the passenger seat (when Mike is driving) I find myself mesmerized by the light that flickers through the branches of trees.

This is not a random shot, I have been practicing this technique for years. The idea is for the viewer to connect with the experience and engage a thought process.