AI

Most of the work I do sits across stills and film, and I like when both come together. It allows for a much more cohesive result.

On paper, this was a simple campaign, but it quickly turned into something much bigger. The creative and client wanted to shoot inside the original underground cellars at Seppelt Great Western in Victoria. These tunnels, known as The Drives, aren’t really used in the same way anymore, so just getting access was a job in itself. Limited power, tough conditions, and a lot of gear to move through a pretty unforgiving space.

We initially approached it as a stills campaign, but once we got down there it became obvious how rich the environment was. The texture, the scale, the atmosphere, even the styling, it all had depth. It felt too good to only capture in stills.

So we expanded into motion. What started as print moved into a small film, which felt like the right response to the space and the story.

The winery carries a great history. Mark Twain visited Great Western in the 1890s. Dame Nellie Melba has her champagne bath legend, with the rumour that more bottles came out than went in. And Hans Irvine’s sparkling wine won gold at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. It’s that mix of serious wine history, folklore, and a bit of marketing spin that gives the place its character. We tried to capture all of it.

It felt like too good an opportunity to stop at stills. Moving into film, the camera just ate up the slow motion, all that texture and richness in the space we’d created.

There was something quite magic about being down there. We had a band playing live. Everything happened for real. It was hot, tight, and not exactly friendly. Spider webs everywhere, cables running through the tunnels, a proper grind.

But visually it was incredible. The production and styling were so well considered that every frame felt designed. Texture, depth, layers. Constant candy for the eye.

Easily one of my favourite projects. And honestly, what’s wrong with a bit of job satisfaction.

This is one of those jobs where the obvious approach just didn’t feel right. The safe option would have been to shoot it in a studio, build it in layers, light it perfectly, and retouch it clean. But it would have taken something away.

These are real people. Volunteers. People who step in when things go wrong. The image needed to reflect that.

So we went the other way. One setup, as much as possible in a single frame. Shot outside, in daylight, with very little added lighting.

It’s not without risk. The shoot took time, and with daylight, things can shift. With this many people and this much movement, it can fall apart quickly. But that’s also where it starts to feel real.

It’s a small shift in approach, but it changes everything. You get texture, imperfection, something that feels unforced. It doesn’t feel overproduced, it feels like a moment that actually happened in front of the camera.

That decision to stay in daylight is what holds it together. If this had been built in a studio and heavily retouched, it would have lost that completely.

I’ve been fortunate to work across a wide range of automotive brands, from Lexus and Toyota to Audi, Deepal, GWM, VW and BMW, to name a few.

Car photography moves quickly. It’s less about chasing a particular look and more about finding the right approach for each brand and each campaign, the idea, the layout, the intent behind the image.

What matters most is presence. The car has to feel real, it needs a sense of weight to it.

With so much CGI, Photoshop and AI in the mix, it’s easy for things to become a bit overworked or overly polished. That’s when cars can start to lose that sense of weight and feel almost like small scale models.

That’s something I’m always mindful of.

Cars come alive when they’re actually moving. I love shooting car to car, it’s something you don’t see that often anymore. For me, it shows a car doing what it’s built for, being driven.

The car has to feel like a car. It either feels real, or it doesn’t. Presence is everything, especially now, when we’re flooded with images.

I love portrait photography. It’s been a big part of what I do over the years.

I’ve had the chance to photograph a wide range of people, from well-known faces to artists I admire, to everyday people. Some of the work is stripped back and personal, some of it sits in the world of advertising, where things are more constructed and polished.

Portrait photography is a strange thing. Sometimes you have hours of prep and five minutes to shoot. Sometimes you build it carefully, shaping how someone is seen. And other times you’re out somewhere with a paper roll and a single light, and it just happens.

The setup changes, the time changes, the scale changes. But the job stays the same.

At its core, it’s about showing what someone looks like, but more importantly giving you a sense of who they are, how they carry themselves, what they stand for.

I’ve loved those experiences. And to be honest, I rarely forget someone I’ve photographed.
And I think this matters more than ever. We’re in a time where faces can be generated and endlessly manipulated. Choosing to photograph someone properly carries weight. My sense is that it will only matter more as things keep shifting.

You can feel the difference. You just can’t fake it.

A good portrait holds because there’s a real person in front of the camera, and a real person behind it. It’s an exchange.

We were filming for the ABC Listen app with Sam Simmons and others.

In the middle of the chaos, he slipped away to change.

I caught this in a quiet minute, no fuss, just him.

I loved this shot of Paul Nagy for a piece on how tough the advertising industry can be.

We pushed it visually, using special effects makeup, fake wounds and blood.

A strong, proud portrait, with a hint of what it takes behind the scenes.

I love these images of David Helfgott.

Even a shot of his hands feels like a portrait.

There’s something fragile and wild in them.

The piano strings wrap around him, almost part of him.

I had the chance to work on a campaign for WorkCover.

We photographed people in a stripped back, almost clinical way, simple, direct portraits.

The conversations stayed with me.

Snoop Dogg

I absolutely love this series, shot in a schoolyard on a grey day.

Simple setup, just a backdrop and time with the kids.