Australian Photography September 2021

If three years of running Australasia’s largest competition for black and white photographers has taught us one thing, it’s that black and white photography remains more popular than ever. Over the years there’s been plenty of trends in photography that have come and gone – think the initial waves of panoramic imagery, the HDR boom in the mid-2000s, and maybe even the use of filters on Instagram - and objectively, you would think black and white might have waned in popularity along with them. Just think about it - we use high resolution sensors today that can capture a huge array of colour information, and the days of publications only printing in black and white are long gone. What is it about black and white that’s kept it relevant? and I’m…

At the time of writing, I have a large 20-year retrospective exhibition open at the warehouse PSAS Gallery in Fremantle. 60 works are on exhibit, celebrating over two decades of photographing and leading tours to the Greek Islands and mainland Greece. This image is one of them. The images in the exhibit not only capture the changing face of Greece during the last two decades, but also a story of the changing technology from film to digital cameras and onto the modern-day compact wonders we now enjoy. This image was captured at dawn over one of the iconic monasteries on the World Heritage site of Meteora. Roussonou is one of just six remaining monasteries from the original 24, and it was built in the 16th century on top of what appears to…

ENTRIES IN GREAT WALKS’ WILDERNESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR CLOSING SOON WILDERNESS Photographer of the Year 2021, a new photography competition run by our sister title Great Walks magazine, is set to close for entries in September. Aimed at promoting and celebrating the best photography of our natural world, a prize pool of more than $14,000 is up for grabs. Great Walks editor Brent McKean says the competition offers a genuine possibility for amateur, semi-professional and professional photographers to have their work published and win some serious prizes. “Winners and runners-up will share in a prize pool of over $14,000 including $4,000 cash, and prizes including the latest Nokia smartphones, a three-day walking tour of Tasmania, a trip to NZ’s Milford Sound, and a team entry into Oxfam Trailwalker,” he said. The best 20 images…

I love black and white photography, and while I’ll be the first to admit I don’t shoot to produce black and whites very often, with the right subject, it is very satisfying. As I see it, when its visual simplicity you’re after, few things compare to black and white. It can be so creative and strips away all distractions from your subject. VISUALISE! I’m not one of those photographers who changes my camera settings to black and white when I’m taking images. However, I do try to think of the world as mono at the given moment I’ve decided to shoot in black and white. For that period of time, I’ll try to set my brain to a ‘mono mode’ so I can visualise the various tonal ranges from white to black…

BLACK AND WHITE THIS MONTH’S WINNER HIGHLY COMMENDED LINDA CUTHBERT Swell Time at Avoca EDITOR’S COMMENT Captured during a large East coast low off the coast of Avoca beach, NSW, Linda Cuthbert’s image is an evocative capture that puts the viewer right in the face of a big swell. There’s great texture in the water in the foreground, and you’ve balanced the whites nicely to capture the spray too. We’re suckers for a good wave shot, and this is a cracker. TECHNICAL DETAILS Nikon D800, Nikon 200–500mm f5.6 lens @ 200mm. 1/2000s @ f8, ISO 160. JAMES MITCHELL Prowed HOW I DID IT I have long admired this harbourside building in view of its stylised resemblance from certain angles to the prow of a ship, so for this photograph I sought a position and composition with the aim of emphasising that illusion.…

YOUR BEST SHOT IS OPEN TO AP SUBSCRIBERS AND APS MEMBERS. TO ENTER AN IMAGE IN THE COMP, CHECK THE COMPETITION THEMES AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AND EMAIL YOUR BEST IMAGE TO YOURBESTSHOT@AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM UPCOMING COMPETITION THEMES YOUR ENTRY 1. Email your entry to yourbestshot@australianphotography.com with the name of the competition theme in the email subject line, for example: Weather, Abstract, Landscape, etc.2. The image file must be the same as your name, for example Jane Smith.jpg. If you enter multiple images, each new image file name should be appended with a unique number, eg Jane Smith2.jpg 3. A maximum of three images can be entered per person.4. Images must be in JPEG format.5. Email file size must not exceed 7MB.6. Please include the following information about your entry in the body of your email:…