Hawaii Sunsets: Moody Maui

I can’t believe it was only a year ago, that I was capturing these stunning and mystical sunsets in Maui, Hawaii.

Hopefully, these landscape shots brighten up your day while in Shelter In Place!

Iphone X - Big Sur Black and White

I've recently got an IPhoneX and have been really impressed with the quality of the camera. I therefore wanted to test it more thoroughly on a trip last week at one of my favourite locations, the Big Sur that is situated on the Pacific Coast Highway and is perhaps the most dramatic stretch of coastal road in the whole US. I shot all of the photographs direct from the phone using the in-built black and white filter and wanted to see how good the dynamic range was at capturing high contrast scenes. The selection you see below are therefore all completely unedited and native straight from the IphoneX. 

A Bolt Out The Blue

My thoughts have been with all of those affected by Irma and Harvey and I feel very lucky to currently be blessed with almost constant great weather and Californian blue skies (especially being a London native!)

However, last night we had our own dose of weird and wonderful weather as an electrical storm passed through San Francisco. I quickly got to the best vantage point I knew for blue hour, making sure I had as much of the city skyline and the new Salesforce tower (soon to be the tallest skyscrape in the city) in frame and managed to catch this bolt of lightning flash across the sky. 

I really like how this photo evokes the energy and vibrancy of such a fast moving and innovative city. 

Californian Light in Black and White

I have been blown away by the quality of light in California on my trip here. Yesterday, I took a short trip out of San Francisco to Ocean Beach and spent a hours just observing people wandering along the beach as beautiful light refracted, reflected and bounced off the ocean casting all kinds of shadows and interesting shapes and lines. 

These three images were some of the favorite that I shot with the figures showing the scale of the beach and the ocean; this is especially noticeable in the photograph of a sole man wading in the Pacific (the middle one) which is perhaps favorites . Black and white conversion helped accentuate the strong highlights and shadows and really bring out the dynamic range in these images; I just can't get enough of those rich, velvety blacks. 

Using Manfrotto's Xume System

I've had a lot of fun the last few months experimenting with Manfrotto's new lens filter suite which works with the Xume system. Essentially, the system means that you can attach filters to your lenses much faster and more efficiently using magnets rather than having to waste time screwing them on, risking breakages or damaging equipment as with conventional systems. Take a look at this video I made below: 

Here's an article I also wrote explaining a little bit more in depth on the system and how it can be used practically in the field to help you take better photos and not miss that perfect shot...just click on the photo below! 

Using CP Filters in Yosemite

Take a look at an article just published that I wrote as I took a journey through Yosemite. In it I explain how to use Manfrotto's Circular Polarizing filters to improve your images. 

Como Sunsets

I'm fortunate enough to be in Lake Como at the moment teaching some workshops. The beauty of the scenery here is breathtaking. I'll be sharing lots of shots in due course but here are two 100+ stich panorama that I took just a few hours apart. The first was taken as the fog rolled in magnificently between the mountains and the second during one of the most spectacular sunsets that I've ever seen.  

The Milky Way

High up at 9000ft in the meadows of one of my favourite National Parks, Yosemite in California it was amazing to see the Milky Way clearer than I had ever witnessed before. Using a long exposure and manually focusing the camera to infinity, my camera was able to bring out the wonder of the sky above that was so clearly visible given that I was away from the light pollution of the city. I included some foreground elements to contextualize the grandeur and vastness of our universe. This shot is going to look great blown up big! 

Behind The Scenes of a Magazine Shoot

Below is a behind the scenes video made by my trusty assistant for the day Tutti Del Monte. We spent the day shooting The Concession Golf Course in Sarasota, Florida for a feature for the largest golf magazine in the Arab peninsula, "Middle East Golfer" that involved mainly photographing the signature holes of the Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin designed course but, also some of the delicious food offered in the award-winning restaurant that guests can enjoy after their round. We also got to taste some of the delicacies once we were done.... Yum! Thanks to The Concession for their kind hospitality and accommodating all of our requests.