A few things I’ve picked up after nearly half a life of making images…
1. Let the person you’re photographing be the hero of the moment. Not you. Kill your ego.
2. Know your gear so well it’s instinctive. Pre-plan. Give your attention to the moment, not your camera.
3. Emotion beats technical ability. Choose the photo that is out of focus if it makes you feel something.
4. No-one ever said ’I wish we did 1 more tequila shot last night’.
5. Get 1 nice prime lens and only shoot with that til you understand it.
6. Be kind. Compassion creates a safe space. A safe space allows people to be themselves. People are most interesting when they are themselves. (It also creates a nicer world to live in)
7. Where is the interesting light. Go to it. Stand in it. Turn around. Do a backflip in it.
8. Tell people it will take longer than it will.
9. Don’t force people to smile. To everyone who’s let me stand on the other side of the little black machine and click a button that creates a kind of magic. Thanks. . . . . . . . . . #portraitphotography #portraiture #travelphotography #travel #sonyalpha #canon #sigma
Ben McNamara is an award winning photographer and videographer for some of the biggest brands in the world in locations from NYC billionaires row penthouses to super yachts in Europe all the way to far remote villages in Nepal and deep jungle Orangutan visits in Borneo. This guy gets around 🌍
He’s tough on his gear and needs equipment that’s equally well made and reliable. We’re so chuffed he recorded this video on our beloved Traveller. Makes the work worth it. Hope you it enjoy too.
How do you use your Traveller? #adventuremuch?
@thisisbenemac@onehumantravels #letsgo #neverstopexploring #elevatedeverywhere #theTraveller #DenverandLiely
After 18 months charming curators and loitering in galleries across the country (aka the National Portrait Prize), Marissa is finally home.
Still staring you down like she knows your secrets.
Still looking better than me after a long-haul.
Welcome back, queen.
#NationalPortraitPrize #PortraitPhotography #AustralianArt #PhotographyExhibition #BehindTheLens #WomenInArt #TravellingArt #HomeAtLast #Benemac
This is so stupid.
Our ancestors have spent hundreds of thousands of years to develop cars and roller-shoes and aeroplanes and 4-in-1 ballpoint pens and we still want to just walk 25km to where trees loiter together.
Conveniently next to a stupid ocean that never shuts up.
So. Stupid.
We’ve got wireless headphones and Taco Bell and multi stack blu-ray players and as stupid silly little humans we sit around on logs listening to cicadas and get slightly sad that the stars are covered by a band of stupid clouds before we climb into our stupid little waterproof houses after eating mediocre food that tastes better than life itself.
This stupid place is refuge cove in Wilsons prom.
We hated it for 3 days as we lugged around our lives and were forced to bond over stupid nature. We spent it mostly throwing balls at each other to counter the mind numbing lack of technological stimulation.
I never wanna be disconnected again. Please email me.
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Refuge cove, wilsons promontory. Victoria, Australia.
20-25km hike depending on your route. 2 days for beginners, 1 if you wanna be grumpy.
Bonus 3.3km run if you don’t park at the start of the hike and rely on the bus - to find out at the end of the hike that the bus doesn’t work on weekdays and you need to get to the car park.
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#wilsonsprom #refugecove #hiking #gippsland #victoria #camping #shotoniphone
DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT: BEN MCNAMARA
(Travel & Humanitarianism)
When you think of a one-man-band, or Director/DOP combo, you typically don’t expect work to be produced to this level of heart, production value or storytelling finesse. That’s where our wonderful @thisisbenemac comes into play.
From covering conflict in Ukraine & Afghanistan to diving with bull sharks in Fiji and whales in Australia, getting lost in mountain tribes through Vanuatu & Nepal and crossing mountains in Peru & NZ with blind athletes, Ben’s range of experience teeters on the slightly wild side.
To see more of Ben’s work, head to @monsterandbear ’s website, and click on OUR DIRECTORS.
Or to arrange a brief in with Ben on your latest project, swing us an email via [email protected].
I’ve been a bit of a shit friend the last few months.
It’s been wonderfully busy as I jump around the world shooting projects and filling up my cup creatively and professionally.
But I’ve noticed a pattern of friends touching base and realising I’ve been pretty absent. My work brain and energy has been at capacity for a while now and when I see I may get to a point of exhaustion or feeling overwhelmed, I tap out for a while.
I consider it pretty healthy self protection in its intention - but before you know it I’ve got 1342 unread messages and 98 unreturned calls.
I have this idea of myself that I float in and out of lives in a non destructive and positive way and that friends understand how my brain works and forgive me for my ‘floatiness’.
But the flip-side of that is acknowledging how others neurological wiring and cultural values operate - and that my floatiness can feel disconnected and like I don’t value them or our relationship.
As I get older, communicating the differences and the why’s of how we see the world has become really important to live a kind, harmonious and happy life.
So this is appreciation post for everyone giving me a concession and giving me that space. And an apology if I’m expecting you to adapt to my way of life too much. I am a little stubborn.
I hope my crazy life doesn’t change as it brings me joy, but I can get better at communication and looking after my community (so can we all). I’m off for my last work trip on Monday and hoping to settle into melbourne life for summer after that. Hope you’re all still around and we can have a laugh!
Late 2022 Troy gave me a call.
“Oi Benny come up to Gurindji freedom festival in NT to camp for a few days…and talk tea…Seeya next week”
Tea? Alright.
Next minute I’m on a plane, then an RV, then a swag in front of a campfire in the middle of the red desert listening to this absolute madman (& good pal) tell me about how he has just put his life savings into his own indigenous native tea business and that he wants me to help tell its story. It’s great…we are double bagging the hibiscus tea like it’s going out of fashion and bro’ing out over a cup of the ya nans favourite past time…all in the place where the wave hill walk off started and surrounded by Troy’s extended family of traditional owners of Kalkarinji.
It was a vibe. I was grateful to be invited. Fast forward to last year and we have another chat. Troy’s great, he’s recording a new Gordon Ramsay tv show, but he really needs a hand. I’m flat knackers with life but I’m a sucker for punishment and decide to dip a toe in to help my homie out.
A toe turns into a leg turns into a torso turns into a skinny dip and before ya know it all my weekends and spare hours for the next six months are spent helping turn blak brews into something special.
We strip everything back and build the brand up from the ground. We think big picture about tea as a tool for the big chats, hero-ing indigenous herbs, using the tea to create stories about community and also just to make something cool. And here we are. The tea has launched. It’s still in it’s baby phase but it’s potential is inspiring….and Troy’s about to find out whether he’s won $250k and a years mentorship with Gordon Ramsay.
I never expected to become the token white guy in a First Nations tea brand but I’m fucking stoked I am.
Here’s to Troy and his massive personality and the future of blak brews 🙌
My pal Joel started Australia’s first indigenous emoji set….but it’s now underfunded and needs support. Emojis sound kinda small fry but creating modern ways to preserve culture and create pride in young ones is an essential tool in solving big picture issues tackling mob in the central desert. Read more below from Joel…
‘Indigemoji is about so much more than just emojis. It’s an effort from Elders to keep young people learning and speaking Arrernte. With just 2000 speakers remaining. Elders are deeply worried about their language. Young people are surrounded by English, a dust which has blown in. Our projects are working to wipe it back to show what was always there, what belongs. 🗣’
“We need to be writing and reading in our languages so that they stay relevant... We should be writing text messages and writing essays for school in Arrernte and we should be utilising Arrernte emojis, because if we utilise them in the digital realm then it means that they’re used daily still.” - Emoji boss, Joel Liddle Perrule …I’m giving away a day photoshoot to anyone who donates $800 or more (tax deductible). Help them and I’ll help you. Good deal?
I’m a god-father. I’m really looking forward to having some sick powers. Lasers for nipples. Regenerative healing. A retractable skeleton made from four pens. So stoked for some of my closest friends @denifunf and @isabelshepherd on little Marlo. Can’t wait to teach him swear words and how to build a fire then pee on it.
I fucking love being around people. I also like feeding people. I’m a feeder. Im a nonna in a white dudes body.
I also really really love connecting great, clever, kind, interesting people who might not know each other.
Sooo….I’ve started hosting dinners once a month at my joint for a bunch of random friends who I think need to be friends (and who I want to get to know better). I gotta give it a cool name cos branding blah blah blah but I’m not there yet.
The first one was an absolute ripper as I cooked away for 4 hours with wine flowing and chats growing. Life changing questions like “who is in your zombie apocalypse team” and surface level questions like “what is the most important relationship in your life” were asked. We wrapped at 3. Sundays hangover sucked.
If you’re in melbourne and like the idea of rocking up to a dinner where all you have to do is bring a nice attitude and a willingness to meet new people…jump on the wait list for the next few. This isn’t something for just close friends, it’s almost the opposite - it’s finding new friends and ideas and building a community. I don’t know much about life but I do know that community is everything.
