A photo of a foggy landscape with barely visible wallabies staring at the camera — Look Closely!

It has been fun writing these retrospectives about my work. I have never taken a subjective look at my old work before and seeing it with fresh eyes has been a fun experience. Typically, I like to shoot my photos and then edit them the night of or in the coming weeks, I will get them on Instagram or wherever they need to go and be done with them. If I am printing them for sale or an exhibition, I will print a small copy for my wall and stare at it for a week or 2 and then, same thing, it goes where it needs to, and I do not really pay attention to it again. I am excited for this one, because I never really thought much about it during the creative process until I eventually showed it off at a market and people started to show their appreciation for it. This is ‘The Creatures of the Mist.’

I absolutely love fog! I like walking in it, I like standing on top of a mountain covered in it and most of all I love taking photos in it. Fog creates so much drama in an image, you can take a photo of your friend 2 meters in front of you, and they look like a soul sucking demon on the hunt. I woke up on this morning feeling a bit groggy, headache and all, I opened my blinds and was greeted by fog so dense I could barely see the hood of my car on the footpath. SO obviously I grabbed my gear and jumped into my car. Getting into my car I had this memory of an abandoned house about 10mins away that would be perfect to shoot. Unfortunately, on arrival, the house had been torn down and all that remained was freshly tilled dirt and the empty forest that lurked in the distance. Perfect! I walked a little bit, took a photo of a horse in a backyard next to me, took some photos of a log and then finally this creepy looking tree in front of me.

In editing I wanted to make it a bit creepier, obviously I bumped up the grain, overexposed it a little bit and during this process, I noticed a few sets of eyes in the thick of the mist. Unbeknownst to me, the whole time I was shooting, two wallabies had been cautiously observing me in the distance, and I could not see them at all. I had something special here, but still was not entirely convinced, I decided to print and start selling it. The prints of this photo reveal so much more detail, especially a cotton rag print, and market goers loved it. It quickly and to my surprise became one of my biggest sellers, and the photo that I have received the most positive feedback on over my 5 years of shooting.

The biggest surprise to me about this one was that this image, looks a little rough technically. I intentionally overexposed it, added in extra grain, and made it a little low on detail. I suppose this is the charm of the image. I have mentioned this before, but it is another reminder that if the story and content of a photo is great, the photography technical theory can be (almost) chucked out the window. This was one of the first times that I tried to replicate a black and white film effect. I love the look of old black and white photography and use this technique quite a lot in my photos, especially night street photography. The nights are for grunge, and grunge means GRAIN!!

Thanks for reading this article and happy Friday the 13th! If you like this photo, buy a print of it, you will be a part of a prestigious group.

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