We all love Still Water restaurant in Launceston, so you could say that I was just a little excited when I was asked by Kim Seagram to do the photography to accompany their re-launch. Call it a meeting of minds, being on the same page or what you will but they got me and I got them! Over a coffee Kim and I talked about the mood and direction for the photography, then I was left with an incredibly free reign around the restaurant for three days building up the essence that is Still Water. It’s a subtle but deserving change to the look of the restaurant and an exciting new menu that focuses on local and seasonal produce keeping Still Water fresh into it’s second decade at the forefront of dining in Tasmania.
As part of the Still Water re-launch photography I was required to attend and photograph the re-launch bash itself… tough task indeed! It was a great evening of conversation, laughter, great food and wine. The professionalism of the Still Water team was fantastic and this shines through in the photos I think.
I recently had the great privilege of spending the day with Severine Demanet and Rodney Dunn at the Agrarian Kitchen in Lachlan along with some very enthusiastic participants. Photographing a day at the kitchen for their sponsors, Electrolux, I was so impressed with the world that Severine and Rodney have created at their atmospheric old school house in a beautiful valley an hour outside Hobart. Their philosophy of paddock to plate, local and seasonal and ultimately sustainable eating is right at the centre of Tasmania’s future. With the Agrarian Kitchen and others leading the way towards that future, things are looking pretty bright I reckon. Thanks to Severine and Rodney and everyone who helped out with the photos on the day.
We all love a good bowl of soup and recently I was lucky enough to photograph one of it’s great exponents, Daniel Alps, waxing lyrical about the fundamentals of making soups to a bunch of eager students at Alps and Amici’s cooking school in Launceston. Working again for Electrolux who sponsor the school, I managed to absorb while taking photographs that the key to good soup is in the preparation of the stock. The class participants sampled some delectable soups making me want to run for the kitchen. Inspiring stuff - thanks Daniel and gang.
The Tasmanian Devil facial tumor disease has decimated the once healthy population of Devils on the island to the point where “devil Islands” and insurance populations have been established to isolate healthy devils and prevent the unthinkable - extinction!
With the Weekend Australian Magazine’s Matt Denholm I recently spent several days shadowing the team at the Save the Devil Program in Taroona and Narantapu NP as they went about their research into the disease. It was inspiring to be around these dedicated professionals in their race against time but it was also sobering and quite sad to think that the Tasmanian Devil’s future really hangs in the balance.
The story was published in The Weekend Australian Magazine on the 21/08/2010
Sometimes as a photographer you work with models that are there to pretend to be a couple and sometimes it works. And sometimes as a photographer you get the privilege of working with a couple that have to pretend to be models… or in Katie and Alan Livermore’s case, just be themselves! After some initial trepidation Katie and Alan put up their hands to model for the second TVWR signature shots day. Their natural chemistry just kept shining through and it can be seen in so many of the photos. Brilliant work, thanks K&A! Thanks also to Jessie who was a great photographic assistant for the day.
before the nights grew long and the vines shed their leaves I spent some days running around the Tamar vineyards photographing busy workers engaging in the business of vintage… picking grapes and making wine in other words. Picking especially had a very international feel to it with different languages and laughter heard everywhere I went. The weather was magically Autumn and the vines were just starting to get some colour. Nice…
It normally blows and blows at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station at the far north west tip of Tasmania, but when I was there last week it was really quite pleasant! Working for the CSIRO and BOM I went to Cape Grim to record the work of scientists at this incredible facility. Regarded as one of the World’s most important air quality measuring locations, the air at Cape Grim when the prevailing south westerly winds blow is considered some of the most pure on the planet. Hence the use of the word baseline as it is against the Cape Grim standard that air quality from elsewhere on the planet is often measured. Pure Tassie!
Just prior to Easter I had the great privilege of joining Tarkine Trails on their coast walk from the Pieman River to Sandy Cape on Tasmania’s wild West Coast. As a pack horse for a client who could not carry large weights my feet were pushing into the sand just that little bit more, but I still had plenty of opportunities and energy for photographing this remarkable part of the world. It was a great bunch on the trip and they were enthusiastic participants in the photos - thanks guys! Darvis and Trevor were fantastic guides whose knowledge of this remarkable but little known and ‘haunting’ corner of Tasmania was awesome. If you’ve never been to the Tarkine… Go! I’ll be going back!
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