'That's A Keeper'

“Well I’ve had this one hanging in my living room for a good number of years. One of my absolute favourite shots. I’ve always been fascinated with places that have scenery like this - Tahiti, The Pacific Islands and yes, The Maldives. I purchased a book by Sakis Papadopoulos called ‘Dreaming of Maldives’ with just the most amazing pictures of all these islands and resorts. I decided to make travelling to the Maldives a reality, booking a resort and to also spend some time chasing some waves. It was just a point in my life where I could, I guess. Out of all the resorts (and what I could actually afford) I settled on this French-run resort on Rihiveli Island. This spot was only about 50 metres from my room. The colours on the water when the sun was up were simply amazing. It’s a view you never got sick of. The boat (Dhoni) had actually been turned into a bench to face the sea. The simplicity and the many blues hues of the sea really make it a great photograph and print.”

“A recent favourite of mine taken from my last bodyboarding trip to Sumatra. I am by no means a ‘surf photographer’, however my landscape/travel photography skills and and passion for ‘all things water’ seem to transition well. Our accommodation, ‘Secret Sumatra’, hosted by Aussie legends Dean and Jodie Fergus have this perfect little reef setup at their front door step. It’s a bit of a mission to get to Krui (3 seperate flights), but, all of those woes goes away when you see this wave. Resident photographer, Jake Beazley, gave me the tip to shoot with a telephoto from the side further down the beach. It’s such a good angle and the mountains in the background give an extra depth to the shot. The whole stretch of coast has so many wave different wave setups and remains relatively untouched by any commercial tourism.”

“This was taken during a brief stay at Huntington Beach at the conclusion of our USA trip. I really enjoyed my time and experience in California. The climate, lifestyle and the scenery has alot of in common with Sydney. I didn’t really intend for this to be the final frame. When I was processing my shots after the trip I found this worked quite well as quite a tighter crop and also dialling back the exposure levels to make it more of a silhouette shot. The composition and colours just worked and it just naturally had a 'Californian' vibe about it. It comes at a time where I was more inclined and willing to include a human aspect as part of my overall composition, rather than just a super clean landscape shot. I drew alot of inspiration from Frank Bohbot’s photography and his series documenting urban American landscapes. If I was ever to go back to the USA, I would love to drive the whole west coast and see more of the national parks in California.”