ABOUT

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I am an Australian natural history photographer and freelance writer specialising in reptile and amphibian portraiture for over three decades. I continue to actively travel and document the herpetofauna in diverse regions of the globe. I concentrate on shooting in studio where I replicate the habitat of a given subject with controlled lighting techniques, in addition to wide angle work incorporating the species in their habitat. 

I mainly use fully manual vintage lenses coupled to my modern DSLR bodies, which is a little unorthodox for a wildlife photographer. The main reason I do this is because of my love of the art of portraiture with the out of focus area rendered with painterly bokeh,  and particularly swirling bokeh, which is achieved by using classic vintage lenses at their widest apertures.

Additionally, a lot of the vintage lenses that I still use today, were used on my analog film SLR cameras when I was younger. They are quality lenses, and I wanted to use them on my digital bodies not only because of their performance, but also to recycle them as opposed to buying new items that lead to further pollution.

I also still seek out and buy many other classic vintage lenses for their particular attributes, like their distinctive bokeh rendering and lens flare capabilities, or the overall vintage feel that they bring to an image. These older lenses have character and satisfy my artistic refinements in making certain images. These refinements are becoming progressively more demanding and I'm finding the results more satisfying for me personally as I get older.