What a year, 2023!

Well here we are, my first blog post and my first year in review.

It truly has been a great year for me and my photography journey, I've travelled interstate and overseas, produced my first ever landscape photography calendar, sold prints and importantly made some great new photography friends.

My goal with photography really is just to be able to see my own growth, to be able to recognise that my images are improving year on year and I can happily say I've absolutely seen that growth in 2023. While I had a number of moments this year where I felt I wasn't able to get out as much as I would have liked, I can absolutely see that the quality of the work I've produced has improved massively from 2022.

So, lets take a bit of journey back through my year of photography.

The Great Ocean Road - Victoria

I had the chance in early January to disappear over the border into Victoria and on to the Great Ocean Road. A location I hadn't visited since I was kid and so obviously hadn't photographed before.

Basing myself out of Port Campbell, I had a rough idea of the locations I wanted to visit and kept an eye on the weather.

The 12 Apostles were absolutely my first spot on the list and my plan for sunset on the first night, but as is the way, we had 100% cloud cover. Not to be defeated, I arrived a few hours before sunset, found myself a spot on the viewing platform, set up the tripod and waited. Found another photographer to chat too and swap insta handles with while we waited to see what would happen.

Only minutes before sunset, a gap opened in the clouds right along the horizon and out came the light. Check out the image I captured below, which I titled "Hope (2023)".

Hopetoun Falls, Californian Redwood Forest, Bakers Oven, Gibson Steps, captured them all!

Check out the rest of the images from this trip in my Victoria gallery here.

Cape Douglas - South Australia

I stopped in at Cape Douglas on South Australia's Limestone Coast on the way home from the Great Ocean Road and it did not disappoint!

I absolutely love the rock formations here and quite frankly these are really our only true sea stacks here in South Australia. The sunset produced the goods in terms of light and I found that the longer exposure worked really well for this location to show the movement of water.

Lake Bonney - South Australia

Lake Bonney in the Riverland is a favourite of mine. I love the beautiful old gums and when the water is calm and still, the reflections are just dynamite.

I was able to spend a few days here in April before heading off to New Zealand.

Here is my favourite shot from Lake Bonney on this trip. I've titled it "Until the end (2023)"

This was a sunrise shot, captured immediately before the sun fully rose, so I got plenty of light on the tree itself and plenty of colour behind. There was zero wind, so the water was like glass.

You can check out the rest of my Riverland photos here.

New Zealand

All right, here we go, the adventure of a lifetime.

Couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to head over to New Zealand's South Island for as long as I did. I've been to NZ before, but only to the North Island about 10 years ago.

The flight into NZ over the Alps was epic, I was blown away with the sight out of the plane window, snow capped mountains as far as the eye could see. Amazingly, I hop off the plane at Queenstown and I'm immediately greeted by the Remarkables covered in snow. I literally start my first photo of the trip from the airport carpark using the 100-400mm telephoto lens.

The main purpose for visiting New Zealand was to attend Will Patino's Ultimate New Zealand Workshop, check it out here. I cannot recommend Will's workshops enough!

I've honestly never experienced anything like this trip in my life, truly epic visiting Mt Cook, Tasman Lake, Lake Ohau, Haast and the West Coast, Fiordland and Milford Sound along with Will and his expert knowledge of the locations and NZ conditions and his relaxed approach and teaching style.

A dream (2023)

Pastel Peak (2023)

Powerfall (2023)

Look beyond (2023)

Unforgettable (2023)

Hidden Falls (2023)

Out of sight (2023)

And the best part of my time in New Zealand....I made some new life long friends!

Have a look at my New Zealand gallery here.

South Australia's finest

To be honest, I came back from New Zealand truly invigorated to captured even better images here in South Australia, over the proceeding months, here are some of the shots I captured across the Fleurieu Peninsula, the South East and Kangaroo Island.

I find all of these images really impactful and felt it was a huge step forward in my SA based images. Couldn't be happier!

Sellicks at sunset (2023)

This was a handheld single exposure, I really love the transitions through this image, dark to light, big to small, cool tones to warm tones, all leading towards those glorious hills and the light as the main subject in the photo, with that bit of water flow in the foreground.

Undisturbed (2023)

Another handheld shot, this was a real doozy this one!

A really moody and wet morning, I had headed down to Encounter Bay for an attempt at some light at sunrise, but no light came.

This was an example of being able to really maximise the conditions and produce something that I think is truly remarkable.

I really love the rock pool in the front which is undisturbed only for a very short time before its heavily impacted by the incoming water. The slightly longer exposure shows the flow of water into the rock pool.

I also love the framing of the island in the background and the conditions showing the three dimensionality.

Golden Limestone (2023)

I love Robe, such a beautiful spot on the Limestone Coast.

I had the intention of capturing the Obleisk on this day, but the conditions just didn't work for that. Slightly to my left though was this shot. I love the light coming in from the right hand side and the colour of the water.

Early riser (2023)

Coonawarra in winter, what can I say...stunning conditions early in the morning, particularly around those incredible gums.

I love the colour and separation in this image, helped by that layer of fog through the trees in the background.

Out post (2023)

The old Kingscote jetty on Kangaroo Island, such a unique spot. This is a sunrise shot with a 130second exposure time! I love the ability to see the rocks through the water and those powerful leading lines from the clouds.

New South Wales - South Coast

Alright, lets wrap this up with my final trip of the year to the New South Wales South Coast, I was really pleased to have my partner join me on this trip to visit Camel Rock, Horsehead Rock, Cathedral Rocks and Bombo Quarry. Yes, these places have all been photographed thousands of times before, but not by me!

There is no doubt that these would have to be some of the most incredible seascapes in Australia, if not the best.

Here is some of the images I captured.

You can visit my New South Wales gallery here.

Before the storm (2023)

My first afternoon at Camel Rock, a storm was inbound, and I had a few hours to play with compositions in preparation for sunset and sunrise the next morning. I found this composition right up front and centre and knew I needed to capture it with the water flowing over the rocks and the Camel Rock sea stack as the main subject. The stormy conditions really made the shot.

The Horse' Head (2023)

The Horse' Head was a bit tricky to get too and the conditions really weren't how I would have liked them, but absolutely grateful to have been able to visit here and captured a moody shot I'm happy to have in the portfolio.

The Cathedral (2023)

What an epic location this is. I was so lucky to basically have the place to myself and a reasonably good sunrise and conditions to capture this traditional Cathedral shot to add to the portfolio.

I've framed up the two main spires here, with the two rocks at the front, the horizon line is sitting just above the centre and I used a shutter speed fast enough to freeze that incoming water right before the main two rocks at the front of the frame.

Golden Cathedral (2023)

The light! Sheesh, it was magnificent! I absolutely love the sun-star in this shot, the water drawing back out and the cool and warm tones.

The Quarry (2023)

Bombo was hard work, its overwhelming for a first timer really, so many potential compositions, but that insanely powerful water just keeps coming!

I like the light in this shot, its like the early morning sun is piercing the quarry wall. That sun was super bright and the waves were coming in sets reasonably quickly, so this shot needed a much faster shutter speed to freeze that water in motion.

Murray River - South Australia

Ok, so this is my last shot for the year in review blog post.

I captured this panorama at the Big Bend lookout on the Murray River near Nildottie in November.

This is a 16 shot panorama, stitched together in photoshop to produce what I feel is a truly magical spot of this epic location at sunset.

This spot, along the Murray River, I find really special. I'm certain it's the humbling feeling of standing on top of those enormous cliffs looking towards the west, your vision just disappears to infinity. If I ever need to clear my head, this is the spot for me.

The Bend (2023)

Thank you!

Well that's it, my 2023 in review.

I'm so grateful for the support I've received from each and every one of you throughout 2023.

Here is to more growth and more adventures in 2024.