Musings

Ilford Magazine – GRAPPLERS ON FILM Project

ILFORD MAGAZINE – GRAPPLERS ON FILM PROJECT It was back in May of this year when @Ilfordphoto slid into my DMs via Instagram with a message – we love your Grapplers on Film Project, would you like to write an article about it for us? Well of COURSE I’d like to write an article about it! So I did, within days. And after a 4 month wait It was finally published this week. So what is the Grapplers on Film project? Well, without giving too much away, I started photographing

Brisbane Wedding Photography with Leanne J Photography

BRISBANE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WITH LEANNE J PHOTOGRAPHY People look back over their lives and reminisce about all manner of things. Places they’ve travelled to, achievements they’ve earned for work or sport, funny stories with friends and family. But for most people there are two key milestones that they get particularly sentimental about: the birth of their children, and their wedding day. Having the honour of photographing such days is something to be taken seriously. A photo is more than just a digital file, a profile pic on social media, something

Experimenting with Harman Phoenix 200 Film

EXPERIMENTING WITH HARMAN PHOENIX 200 FILM Harman Technology, the company more commonly associated with its famous Ilford brand of black & white film, dark room chemicals and photographic paper, has come out with an experimental colour film they’ve branded Harman Phoenix 200. The company has gone to considerable effort on what they are billing as their first ever in-house colour film production, so I figured I’d put the Ilford HP5+ away for a moment and shoot a couple of rolls. The film has now been released in both 35mm and

A Study in Self & Light

A STUDY IN SELF & LIGHT When I need to develop a roll of film and have a few spare shots left, I sometimes fire off some selfies in my “darkroom” – a fancy name that covers the fact I develop in my bathroom. The lighting can be brutally bright and the background decidedly boring, so these don’t normally get shown publicly. But with these I decided to play with some very rudimentary off-camera lighting to see the effect on the final images. If you look closely you’ll see these

Wedding Shoot with Leanne J Photography

WEDDING SHOOT WITH LEANNE J PHOTOGRAPHY I recently had the chance to assist in my first wedding shoot with professional photographer Leanne James from Leanne J Photography. The 6 hour shoot was an action packed day where I spent most of my time lugging bags and lenses, moving furniture, herding guests, and any other basic task so that Leanne could concentrate of capturing the best photos possible of this beautiful day. I was also able to bring a few old cameras of my own, and when time permitted, shot a

Developing Ilford B&W Film At Home the Easy Way

DEVELOPING ILFORD B&W FILM AT HOME THE EASY WAY There comes a time in every film photographers life where either general curiosity, or more likely an urgent desire to save on film lab costs, makes us consider trying our hand at developing our own film. I struggled with this for quite a while largely because I figured I’d probably screw up every single roll of film trying to learn it. This is a serious fear considering the cost of film and the potential of destroying your own work. But eventually,

Statue Photography at Toowong Cemetery

STATUE PHOTOGRAPHY AT TOOWONG CEMETERY Throughout my life one of my favourite places to explore has been cemeteries. I believe there is something special in reading the headstones of people from the past, that having their existence in someone’s thoughts, if only for a brief period, brings them back to life for an instant and honours their time on Earth. They are also special for photography, with statues and headstones providing plenty of interesting subject matter. One of the oldest cemeteries in Brisbane is the Toowong Cemetery. Officially opened in

Rally for Palestine 19 May 2024

RALLY FOR PALESTINE 19 MAY 2024 At the time of writing this the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of the past century has reached a level of violence that the world can no longer ignore. And whilst the terrorist actions of Hamas are brutal and murderous, the fact is that the retaliatory military action currently being undertaken by Israel is causing an unprecedented level of pain, suffering and death. Casualty numbers since the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas and the subsequent military actions by Israel have now surpassed 35,000 dead and over

Sean Smith Film Photography

SEAN SMITH FILM PHOTOGRAPHY The world is fast these days, with the digitisation of art exponentially accelerating the production times and output of what we have presented to us daily. But there’s a case for people to slow down and take in the world around them. Breath in the smells, observe people & animals, take in the built environment around them, notice the small details, and truly experience what the world has to offer. For a photographer, picking up an old manual vintage film camera forces a slower, more considered