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Some moments only happen a few times a year, others, a few times a decade. As an outdoor, adventure photographer, I seek to capture the latter. This photo is one of those moments. The Vejle fjord in Denmark rarely freezes over, as the average winter temperature is above freezing. However, when it did happen earlier this year, I was there. Mix that with a thick fog, a drone, and my curious nature, I was able to capture one of the best photos of my life. I can only hope that I can continue to capture the rare moments in life. The ones that make people say “wow". The ones that make me giggle like a kid. The ones that truly bring me to life.
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These moments pieced together will always remind me of my honeymoon. Earlier this year my wife and I escaped to Tasmania to adventure the Apple Isle in the middle of winter for our Honeymoon. We bounced from coast-to-coast and stopped where we pleased filing our bellies with oysters, scallop pies and fish and chips washed down with Cascade Larger. The trip is even more special knowing know that we're expected our first child early next year all thanks to our Tassie escape. I wrote a little poem to go with the video and to remind me of those magic few weeks in the cold-wild south as we started the new chapter in our lives. Honeymoon Poem: I will always remember, waking up slow and sipping bottomless cups of coffee. I will always remember, the bird song and your smile as we wandered endlessly. I will always remember, the crystal clear water and searching for seashells along the shore. I will always remember, dancing over the red rocks and the white sand beaches to explore.
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A couple of years back me and one of my homies dropped our hard earned cash on a humpback whale tour over in Tonga, I hadn't shot underwater before this trip but picked up a housing the day before I left. The trip was wild, a couple of 20 year olds hanging out on the tiny island of Vava'u, making a bunch of friends and having some of the best times. This particular moment was breathtaking, the humpback calf was feeding from it's mother down below but kept popping up to the surface for air. I somehow fluked this shot & the rest of the trip was a hoot. We accidentally had booked an extra 5 days on the island so we spent it diving on the reefs & hanging out with our new homies. This shot symbolizes favorite approach to life, 'throw yourself at it and figure the rest out when it happens'
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Photographing the stepwells of India has always been high on my list. Walking the streets of Jodhpur for hours on end, witnessing the abundance of beauty and poverty peppering my eyeballs I came across a pretty quiet area with a cool stepwell. These structures are not only a source of water but a fun novelty for the local kids, who whilst escaping the Rajasthani heat would see which one could climb the highest and bomb-dive into the stagnant water.
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British climber Jenny James ascending the west ridge of Mount Brewster in February 2021
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You are every shade of blue. Savannah and Leni on a quiet morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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I took this snap on a rainy day during the thick of the Melbourne lockdown. With the spirits of the entire city at an all-time low, this little message through the window of a parked car was enough to brighten the day.
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Some Aboriginal boys from Kunnanura that we met going for a morning dip! They where joking about the crocodiles in there and doing backflips. This is AUSTRALIA.
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My last year in a glimpse. When covid hit my friends and I took every possible chance we had in Australia to get outside. This land was new to me. I got to explore my creativity through a new lens. Just getting into film and photography the last two years all I wanted to do was learn. So I took my camera everywhere we went and pushed it into my friends faces and incredible landscapes. Sometimes I thought I was going to drown out in the surf with my big camera, I felt like an imposter with all my gear. Now I realise no dream is too far out of reach if you ignore that little voice in your head telling you that you that you can't . The truth is that you can, you just need to believe in yourself.
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The raw and the simple. The complex and the infinite. These photos were naturally taken in moments in which a group of girlfriends simply allowed themselves to surrender to this magical experience that being a human is. Fully present and totally connected. Earth, water, fire, air, ether -each of them bringing a different understanding of the beauty of (human) being. If we slow down enough, the five elements teach everything we need to know. This physical body is nothing but the most magical tool we have to feel, to sense and to experience everything this existence can bring. Those photos were taken in 5 different situations, in 5 different locations. 5 opportunities that me and my friends had to deeply connect to nature, to other women and, mostly, to ourselves. I look at these images and I can still smell, hear and feel all that those powerful moments brought me. My most precious photographic work.
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What could be better than crossing Mont Blanc off your bucket list at a young age right after high school? Standing on the highest point of the Alps, with Europe at your feet? Who could say no to that? When the opportunity arose, we set off neither with training nor the experience of high altitude. Sounds like a hell of an adventure, doesn't it? With a 20kg backpack, stiff fingers from the cold and amid enormous winds I’m trying to get some pictures every now and then. After setting up our tents in a snowstorm, I try to fall asleep, constantly thinking about my half-frozen toes, the possibility that my tent could be taking off and my longing for real food and drinks instead of melted snow with a gasoline taste. At 13.000 ft you feel utterly exhausted, breathing becomes extremely straining and I thought about giving up more than a few times. But I pushed through, and the effort was worth it. On our way to the summit the sky cleared up and we were rewarded with insane views. With these photographs I will definitely remember this once in a lifetime experience for the rest of my life!
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I have had some truly memorable travel experiences in my life but what occurred during this 90 minutes tops my list. We named him Poser Bear. Our guides all said in their many years of leading Arctic expeditions that wildlife encounters such as this one are very rare. Poser Bear had walked up onto a snowy ridge and had briefly turned to look out at the massive frozen landscape. He then turned around, sat down and then almost perfectly, as if he knew we were there, flopped one massive white paw on top of the other and laid his head down to sleep. It was at this moment we knew we should leave, this bear had been minimally affected by our presence and was comfortable enough to go back to sleep, just as we had found him. As we sailed away to let him sleep peacefully against a backdrop of Arctic mountains and pastel sky I couldn’t help but get emotional about what we had just witnessed. A small group of us alone at the top of the world with one of nature’s most powerful and majestic creations. It’s hard not to feel spiritual about moments like this.
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Taking a moment mid lockdown to appreciate what we do have. Captured in the middle of nowhere, rural NSW, Australia.
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After a comically heated discussion on how best to pack a percolator coffee, we decided that the heat and fatigue had gotten the best of us. We grabbed our towels and went to separate swimming holes to cool off. At this point we'd been living out the back of my Landcruiser for nearly 8 months, seeking refuge from the COVID lockdowns in our home state of NSW. We were very, very lucky to get out when we did. This particular month we'd wound up in the guts of Aus, exploring Nitmiluk National Park in the NT with childlike enthusiasm. It was amazing country, even if the relentless mosquitos and distance from our family couldn't dampen our stoke. The percolator though? Don't ever tell an Italian women how to handle her equipment, I guarantee that'll rattle some cages. We'd learnt how to handle our disagreements like adults and this particular one called for space. It sent Lauren upstream to decompress where she stumbled across an isolated rock pool out of the wind. When I found her later she was laying right next to the edge, her hand in the water not causing a ripple in the mirror-like reflection of the sky. I whipped out my beaten up film camera and fired a shot. I'm very, very far from a decent photographer, this might be the only good photo I ever get. But I'm proud of it and it captures the moment just before I said sorry.
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A day before this moment I found out that I was pregnant. This was when a booked prenatal photography session turned into my first home water birth. I woke up to my doula telling me that her water broke. I was there to fill the birthing pool. There to play with her first born. There to feel each breath, as she pushed and there to capture the moment he opened his eyes to the world. The song they sang to Rhythm whilst in the womb was the song he chose to be born to. “Your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful” made this moment nothing short of beautiful. It made there, their and they’re- here and ours. It was our time capsule together. So here I am- skin and bone, preparing for something beautiful. The birth of my own. The birth of a life of moments. A life to live far from alone.
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The only moments in my life I've ever regretted are the ones where I decided not to go for a swim. This was one of those moments- it was the start of winter in the Blue Mountains and it had been miserable weather all weekend. Luckily my girlfriend decided to dive in regardless and I got to capture this moment in all this rawness.
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In the remote Altai mountains that sprawl across the junction of China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan, is an ancient tribe that lays claim to the origin of skiing. The Tuvans greeted us in thick cow hide coats, and stared curiously at our bright, light weight Gortex. There wasn’t a common word between us, yet they instantly recognised our gear; Long planks, strapped to your toes - with the heel freed for walking, and a hairy skin stuck to the bottom. We rode in horse drawn sleighs to an old ski makers house. We spoke through two translators, from English, via Mandarin to Tuvan, playing a literal game of Chinese whispers. Little was understood. But the old man knew how to connect with us. Taking our hands, he placed them on his plane tool and together we carved the wood ski he was working on. Tuvans only ski to hunt, so they simply couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea of climbing a mountain only to come back down again, yet they were delighted to share their horses and watch us explore the surrounding mountains. This photo captures the moment we returned home for the day - riding into Hemu village.
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The many, magnificent colours of Western Australia. These three shots represent the beginning of my love affair with our country. Nothing compares to the freedom of a long road trip through the vast outback; especially when it leads to places like these! Locations as followed; Yeagarup Beach, Hutt Lagoon and Baladjie Lake.
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The first thing we notice as we trod carefully along the dry lake bed is the smell of fertiliser. We were about to witness firsthand a mass fish die off in a remote section of Lake Pamamaroo in remote NSW. Authorities had refused to confirm aerial reports of a fish die off, so we decided to investigate. When we found it, we were struck by the size of all the fish. The native Murray Cods were all at least 50 years old. Their lives had come to an end because they weren't able to escape the draining lake in time. It's hard to know if this happened because the lakes are no longer in their natural state or if this always happened when the lakes dried out. At the time the rest of the Baarka was lurid green and low in oxygen as a result of poor river management practices. So it’s not like they could go anywhere. We were shocked by how many invasive carp had been living in the lake. There must have been 10’s of thousands, most were very big. Sadly for the river system the Carp will make a comeback in the lake.
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"Moments from a place where the time stands still.“ Lost in the middle of the Pacific. Lit by the moon, guided by the spindrift, We carved our paths dancing with waves. Away from the noise, stripped of all of our artifices. Attached to nothing connected to everything… Bathin’ in sunshine, lost in a space between a dream and reality We played hide and seek between spinning clouds and tiger stripes Embers stir up our senses, our spirits awaken Heartbeats synced with the rhythm of the ocean, creatures of our dreams rose and danced with us… Reconnecting with our roots, roaming from horizon to horizon… Sheltered under the surface we traded our breath for the right to step into this world and experience another dimension of life They allowed us in the place they call home, the guardians of the oceans we call them sharks… It’s not down on any map Heaven is found here and now…
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After driving hours along the Spanish coast, my mate and I stumbled across a small town by the name of Begur. With it being winter and not many tourists around, we found it was the best time to go on an adventure to see the coastal scenery we had been dreaming about for years. We walked past countless old-timers casting their rods, scaled around a cliff's edge, nearly slipped into a not so pretty rock pool below, and eventually came around a corner that revealed the most picture-perfect beach we'd ever seen. Tiny pebbles & warm Mediterranean water that felt like a bath made it all almost too good to be true. This photo represents so much more than simply jumping off a rock. It reminds me how happy my mate and I were just to be living in the moment and enjoy being on the coast of Spain with a beach out of a dream to ourselves. The freedom and excitement of being mid-ear is something I'll never forget. The reason for the single photograph is so you can imagine in your own mind how nice it is to be somewhere that you feel the happiest.
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This evening was pure bliss, by sheer chance, a few of the local lady sliders pulled into the carpark at the same time. Lured by the late evening glass off, I had my camera on hand, and decided to swim. We had no idea it was a full moon that evening, and as the colours faded into breathtaking hues of pink and blue, the moon peeped over the horizon and we were met with this.
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While the first rays of sun hit the West Coast of K’gari Island this beautiful dingo payed a visit to our campsite and enjoyed the warmth of the morning.
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"Ride On" They are not just moments that we can leave behind. They are his stories. Stories I hold so tightly they’ll leave creases on my soul. I won’t abandon them. Even if you do.
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He was the light of her life. Like two old souls meeting again, they were inseparable. A bond beyond measurable and different kind of love to last a lifetime but heartbreakingly so, this life had separate paths for them. And so, she still holds the light of him in her heart and smiles at the thought they will meet again in another lifetime.
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Myself and a friend hit the alarm at 6am on a cold winter morning to go and shoot the incoming swell at Wedding Cake island in Coogee, Sydney. We turned up and it ...was ...rubbish, a few waves here and there but nothing like we expected, we stuck around and watched as a couple of locals paddled out and we stared down at our empty coffee cups, wondering if it was too early for a second. Waiting is often a big part of surfing... turns out its no different when you're shooting it on land... but as the day went on the swell filled in and chaos ensued. This set was visible from the horizon, the sort of set that turns the sky black and has you scrambling to get over the top. I'm not sure if it was all the coffee but as the set marched in my stomach dropped and my finger hit the trigger. The wave wasn't successfully ridden, it seemed to be on its own war path and no one was allowed on! But as they say 'If you don't go, you'll never know'
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In the summer of 2020 we embarked on a road trip through the Rocky Mountains of Canada on a particularly rainy and moody day — only to soon hear that the road to our destination had been closed. This meant that we were to take an alternate route including a ferry to be able to continue our journey on the other side of the river. So at dawn, after a long night of waiting, we finally made it across the water. It was around six in the morning and we still had miles to go. Needless to say, I could've easily been fast asleep in the backseat, but instead kept my eyes peeled open during our drive through the misty woods in the early hours. In complete awe whilst struggling to hold my camera still on the windy route, I thought to myself this detour might've just been the best thing that could've happened. We never planned to visit these remote backroads, yet it ended up being one of my favourite parts of the trip and I love revisiting the moments I captured to this day.
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Stari Most plays the role of a magnificent stage positioned 22 metres above Neretva River. Centre stage, at the crowning point of the bridge a bronzed and skilled diver, with eyes fixed on him from all directions, makes an impressive leap. The air is filled by the sound of multiple gasps as the diver swiftly soars away from the bridge. Knees bent, toes pointed, legs tucked and arms stretched. For a fraction of a second, everything stands at a halt. Even the wisps of cloud seem to hang motionless in the sky. Silence descends on the distinguished bridge and her visitors. The gaze of over 100 onlookers is locked upon the performer as he plummets fearlessly towards the bitterly cold water.
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I got asked to do a “day in the life” shoot for this lovely lady Kate who was about to turn 30. It was the middle of winter and we ended up at Moses rock, Yallingup. And just went for a dip, the ocean was wild and so was this photo.
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