My Top 10 Photos for 2009

The year got off to a bang (har har) with my first top 10 photo being taken in the first few minutes of the year. I have been photographing the new years fireworks for several years now, but this year I tried taking some closer compositions for the first time, filling the frame. I’m very happy with how it worked out. See more.

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My astrophotographer friend Phil and I headed to the bush to try and capture images of a visiting comet, but while I was there, I also experimented with my fisheye lens on the new full-frame 5D MkII. This let me capture the whole sky in a single photo. This photo is the result of several images stacked together to increase brightness and decrease noise. I particularly love the colours in the heavily processed image. See the comet and other photos from this trip.

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In February, devastating bushfires hit country Victoria, and in what became the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history, claimed over two hundred lives and destroyed several entire towns. One month after the fires, I was given the privilege of being invited to one of the towns destroyed by fire by a friend who had lived most of her life there. My guided tour around Kinglake was one of the most sobering and humbling experiences of my life, and the photos I took there helped me to show the rest of Australia and the world what this little corner of the country had been through. A selection of my photos will actually be appearing in an exhibition in the Melbourne World Trade Centre next month, along with six other artists. I’ll have more info on this soon.

Here Ben, a volunteer firefighter, inspects what remains of his home, which was destroyed while he was out, with hundreds of other firefighters, protecting the lives and property of others. Read the full story here.

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This photo was taken near the end of an extremely intense weekend of photography, which I spent covering two different friends’ weddings. I love this photo for the atmosphere of joy that fills it. This was a non-traditional wedding in many ways, and the reception was a rousing Scottish dance themed party, where everyone let down their hair and danced till they collapsed. It was certainly the most energetic party I have ever been to!

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Naomi and I took a driving holiday around Western Victoria and Southeast South Australia, which included a few days at the picturesque Kangaroo Island. There were many beautiful scenes waiting for you around every corner. While driving along the highway on the York Peninsular, I spotted this abandoned cottage in a gap in the trees. I had to turn around for a closer look and I spent at least half an hour taking photos here. I rarely process my photos with “special effects”, but I felt the treatment worked well with the subject matter in this case. See more photos from our trip.

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One of our day trips around Kangaroo Island took us to Remarkable Rocks, a truly remarkable geological formation perched on a cliff over the sea. I wanted to be there at sunset in time for a panoramic photo. It was a mad rush, but we made it just in time to witness one of the most incredible sunsets either of us had ever seen. We were very fortunate to be able to see and photograph such a site. It even made the harrowing two hour drive through the bush, dodging dozens of animals at 40kph on the way home worth it. Please make sure you click on the image to see it at full size! See more photos from our trip.

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I made many new friend this year, including a lot of cosplayers – some of my favourite subjects. Siami is one of my favourites to photograph, because she is easy to work with, knows how to pose, has lots of creative ideas, and is so gosh darn cute! Here she is cosplaying Haruhi Suzumiya. See more photos from this shoot.

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If Siami is cute, then Siera is beautiful. I have been photographing her and her amazing costumes for years now, and she just keeps getting better. I must confess, I think this is probably my favourite photo of the year. When I took it and saw it on the back of the camera, I felt that bolt of electricity – which many photographers know – that gave me goosebumps, knowing that I had captured something truly extraordinary. See more photos from this shoot.

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Sometimes the best photos are captured in a single moment of spontaneity. Sometimes, as was the case with this photo, it is planned, rehearsed, tested and carefully executed. My good friend Annie makes her third consecutive appearance in my Top 10 list cosplaying Grell Sutcliffe, with her friend from the USA Lilly as Madam Red. Siera also appears in the photo, but she is not visible. She carried the sparkler and ran around the couple several times during the 30 second exposure, almost collapsing from dizziness by the end. Thank you all for helping make this photo work! See more photos from this shoot.

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Finally, not long after purchasing brand new, powerful studio lights, my photo buddy Elias kindly offered his Mother’s yoga studio as a location to take photos. He invited a small number of our favourite cosplayers and we spent a wonderful day taking hundreds of photos in an ideal studio environment. This shot was taken towards the end of the day, and I experimented with my new boom, placing a single light directly above Sefie, dressed as Edea from Final Fantasy 8. I love how her simple costume but with an elaborate headpiece and makeup look in this dramatic light. See more photos from this shoot.

Penny and Mark on their wedding day.

Will as Irie Shouichi from Hitman reborn, taken in my studio at the Melbourne Anime Festival.