SO it’s coming to that time of the year again when shorts and singlets are out, and people are thinking about the dreaded C word. Yep, that’s right… Christmas. It definitely gets busy around this time of year…

Just before I headed to NY, the Globalize crew got together in Melbourne and we shot their Summer Catalogue. Some great product this season, so it made my job a lot easier! Check out their website at globalize.com.au for store locations… catalogues should be Oz wide by now so check them out if you get a chance!

Here’s just a couple of images from the shoot:

Just a couple of quick shots from my Country Clubs shoot from a few weeks ago – we had great weather for a winter week and took full advantage of it!

Country Clubs run two golf course locations and three hotels around SA, and you can find their details on their website here… check out the site when you’ve got a chance for more of my stuff from the shoot!

I’ll be definitely heading to one of the courses next time I’m in Adelaide – they should be in amazing nick in the next couple of months.

Here’s just a couple of shots from our shoot:

Hey crew,

I’ve just finished retouching a job for Ryders Sunglasses @ www.ryderseyewear.com.au for some new point of sale material. We headed out to Northern Golf Club for a 5.30am start and had the fingers crossed for some beautiful weather… Our talent was pro golfer Matt Docking who is on DTR Sports Management‘s list and going superbly at the moment.  Matt was a true sport and came straight from the airport after an overnight flight from Perth – lucky it was a sunglass shoot so his tired eyes weren’t seen!

I can’t let out the shots just yet – but you can see a few behind the scenes pics taken by my brilliant assistant Arnaud Domage who is a great cycling photographer. I’ll post up the final pics in a few weeks time when the shots are launched by Ryders and their crew!

Just giving a pro a few tips on his follow-through

Hold out for this hero shot – it rocks.

Post again REAL soon…

Dan.

Sorry but this is an emotional one for me…

This morning I had a phone call at 7:03am from my Dad. Dad doesn’t usually ring at this time of the morning, so I immediately thought something was wrong… it unfortunately was. My amazing Nan had passed away last night suddenly but peacefully. She was, as always, next to her beloved husband – my Pa. These two had been together for more than fifty years, and had the best relationship I have ever known. They laughed at each other, laughed with each other and laughed at their kids and grandkids. Always laughing.

Nan was known to drop a few swear words in her time and we used to have a competition to see who could make her say the ‘f’ word first. My sister Carly has the record set at 17 seconds. Looks like you win Carls. This is how she was – just a bundle of joy and ridiculously fun to be around.  She coped so much flack from all her boys, but it was all in the name of fun. I will miss her wit and humour amongst all that made her such a beautiful person.

So I thought I’d give her a bit of a tribute today. My Nan. The best Nan anyone could ever ask for.

I had the chance last year to take some photos of my Nan and Pa at the beach, which I believe is the single most important shoot I have ever done in my life so far. With all the gear I have floating around, this shoot was simple, and so effective. It didn’t involve concepts, art directors, retouchers, hired gear, assistants or make-up artists. It involved only two things – the people you love, and a camera. Simple.

I guess I’ve had a chance to think about this a lot today and these photos are now invaluable to me. At the time, I just thought it was fun going and shooting my grandparents… but now these photos have a whole new meaning. They are now a collection of memories, and a snap-shot of my Nan’s life. No-one could ever give me a price high enough for these shots, and I will be putting these photos into archive storage. A shock passing away of a family member is a great reminder that YOU SHOULD go out and take more photos of the people you love. Give in to the pressures of every day life, and get out there and take more shots. Ring your grandparents if they’re still around and take their photo. Setup a family portrait and cherish it. I once heard a saying “memory cards are cheap, why delete shots?”. I nearly couldn’t find these shots today, but they were hidden in a backup folder on one of my hard-drives. So happy I stil have them.

Anyway – here’s to my beautiful Nan. Love you and miss you so much already. Swear all you like now you silly ol duck xxx