Adam Monk Photo Tours & Images Gallery

I was looking through some  folders on my computer the other day (while i was supposed to be working) and i came across my images from Brasil that i shot several years ago and have never done anything with.  I have been promising friends over there that these would end up on the website, and so far there has always been too much to do to actually do anything about it.  Well, i’m an expert procrastinator, so while i was supposed to be doing other things i sat down and worked up this image a bit.

I came across the old barman of Parati-Brasil, while walking through some magic coastal bush just out of a 15th century town of Parati (pronounced Para-chi).  The trail went out around some headlands covered in South American rainforest that ran right down to the waters edge, the coastline was craggy and beautiful with many inlets and deep, steep sided bays.

It wasn’t a particularly long or difficult hike, the path was pretty flat and the views were stunning, but it was certainly wilderness.

After about 4 hours of walking we suddenly came across this tiny house perched on the side of the hill at the waters edge, amongst the trees, and a bar… Yes, a bar.

Not quite what i had been expecting, but the beer was cold and welcome, and the barman had a great face.  If the face is the map of a persons life, this guy had been lots of places!  I had my Hasselblad XPan on this trip, its my standard travel camera, or was (until the 5D came along), and although not the usual portrait format i like the details of the mans life and work around him, it adds context.

I’m sorry to say i have forgotten his name, but i will always remember the experience

All is not lost with James Price Point, it seems Geoff Cousins is now on board the campaign to stop the giant Kimberley Gas Project (20 square Kilometres!). He is the man who was instrumental in several massive successful campaigns in Tasmania, including the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill.  This is a man who can really make a difference, he has a lot of influence and a loud voice, its good to see someone like him fighting for the cause.

More on the Gunns pulp mill

More on Geoff Cousins

Even More on Geoff Cousins and Gunns

Yesterday i shot a wedding for the first time in about 7 years. It was the 10/10/10 and apparently that is a great day for a wedding, because despite the terrible weather, there were al least another 4 weddings taking place within a stones throw of the one i was photographing.

I’ve been trying to be a little creative with ways to get out from behind the gallery counter more and back behind the camera, where i love to be, so when a friend asked me if i might shoot his daughters wedding, not really expecting me to say yes… (him understanding my love of empty quiet places and general dislike of crowds.) i surprised both of us when i said, sure, why not?  Well, i had just bought the Canon 5D Mk II and was having fun taking pictures of anything and everything so it seemed like providence. Read the rest of this entry »

All  the images on my site are shot on large format film, except one… can you pick it?   I have many thousands of negatives of all formats from 5″x4″ to 35mm in folders all over the place… so much for organised security!

I’ve had a lot of fun with film, and used more than my fair share of it over the years.  Time i moved on, so,  about 8 months ago  i bought my first real digital camera, a Canon 5D Mk II  and  i am loving it.  I recently took it with me to Greece and i just had a ball, shooting HDR images (manually blended with layers) and stitched Panos with this awesome  pano head from Really Right Stuff that i picked up a while back.  This camera is not just my first real digital, its my first camera with auto focus!  I’ve been sitting on the fence for quite a while it seems.

The last 35mm gear i had was a Leica RE with a whole bag of beautiful prime lenses, all manual focus and full manual exposure.  I think the camera had some auto exposure functions on it, but i never used them, so i have no idea if they worked or not.  I just sold this camera recently, it’s helping pay for the new setup.

I remember 12 years ago when i worked for Fremantle Black & White (Black & White lab here in Freo), and using one of the first serious professional digital cameras in the studio, it was about 1.5 mega pixels and hugely expensive.  It had a viewing screen the size of a postage stamp and was awfully slow, but even then it was clearly the way forward, though it had a long way to go.

Check out the depth of field

A couple of days ago i picked up the latest addition for the Canon 5D Mk II kit, a 17mm f4L Tilt Shift lens. its a bit more like what i’m used to, being a prime lens with manual focus.  Although it’s really designed for architectural style work, the tilt and shift capabilities make it ideal for landscape due to the almost infinite depth of field possible.  I took it down to South Beach yesterday after work and had a bit of a play around, takes a bit of getting used to, but i think its going to be awesome for stitching pano images.

I think it’ll still be a while before i replace the 6 x 17 film camera, but not because i think it’s better than digital, rather, i can’t yet afford the camera that can replace it.  Anybody want to lend me $50,000?

Both these images shot at f5.6

Yesterday was a tragic day for Australia, yesterday Malcolm Douglas died. He will be sorely missed.

I grew up watching Malcolm Douglas films, i’m pretty sure i’ve seen all 50 odd of them, many times.  He was the initial inspiration for my love for the wild places of Australia,  the Kimberley in particular.

I remember seeing my first one of his films at a community hall someplace, i don’t remember where, being shown by Malcolm Douglas himself. I sat on the wooden floor of the hall, and saw images of places i had never even dreamed existed, fabulous exotic places, that i wanted to visit and wild adventures that i wanted to be a part of too.

That’s where it all began for me and many other Australians, Malcolm Douglas brought the outback into our living rooms and showed us how beautiful and important it is.

Malcolm Douglas was a bushman, a true ecologist and a statesman, he believed passionately in the sanctity of the Kimberley and fought most of his life for its preservation.  He was instrumental in setting up the Save the Kimberley Foundation, was very vocal about having the whole Kimberley coast World Heritage listed, and vigourously opposed the James Price Point gas development.  He was a caring compassionate man who believed in standing up for what’s important.

Now he is gone, and with so much left to do and so many things yet to be completed, its up to us to continue the fight.

Goodbye Malcolm, i’m proud to say i met you once, and i shook your hand.

For those who don’t know who Malcolm Douglas is…