While my camera has been out of action, I’ve spent some time updating my website. New open and limited edition prints have been added to the Portfolio section and I’ve increased the size of the images throughout the website. You can check it out at www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Waves rolling over the rocky limestone coast at North Beach, Perth.
Barring a miracle, this is probably the last exposure that the camera will ever make. Moments after capturing the photograph, I misjudged the depth of a rock pool and as I tumbled forward the camera swung around my neck and plunged into a pool of sea water. It was only submerged for a second, but the error message on the LCD quickly disappeared and the camera locked up and has showed no signs of life since.
After getting home, a google search only brought bad news of short circuits and severely corroded boards so it looks like a write off. Fingers crossed I can still salvage the lens…
Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus) in flight.
A Whistling Kite in flight over Herdsman Lake in Perth, Western Australia.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Copyright Michael Willis 2007.
Stormy skies over Danby Beacon in the North York Moors National Park.
After standing in the drizzling rain surrounded by flat light, the rain clouds eventually parted and as the sun broke through and created a rainbow with crepuscular rays emanating from the side.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Images and text copyright Michael Willis 2009.
Stormy skies over Perth’s City Beach at sunset.
This panoramic fine art print of this photograph may be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Sunset over the Stirling Range National Park in Western Australia.
The sun setting over the mountains of the Stirling Range National Park from the upper slopes of Bluff Knoll. Moments later the view was obscured by the cloud on the left of the frame.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Images and text copyright Michael Willis 2009.
A roundabout and light trails on the road through Ambleside in the English Lake District.
In this photograph, I tried to capture how modern life had encroached on this 15th century cottage causing a loss of identity over the past six centuries. To show how the busy road hurried people straight past, I included the arrows circling the mini-roundabout to help symbolise hectic, modern life.
I used a neutral density filter to slow down the shutter speed and the resulting exposure of 8 seconds gave the passing cars plenty of time to get down the road. This was important as I wanted the light trails to draw the viewer into the picture and down the road to emphasise that it was a sense of place, and not just traffic, that had passed the house by.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Images and text copyright Michael Willis 2009.
A Great Egret (Ardea Alba Modesta) on the shores of the Swan River with the neon lights of Perth's skyscrapers reflected in the dark water.
As dusk enveloped the river, the egret was drawn towards the bright lights under the Narrows Bridge that enabled him to fish long after the sun had set. After watching the egret for sometime, I noticed that every few minutes it would walk to the shore and stand still for a few seconds. As I did not have a flash with me, I had to wait until the egret went about his now familiar routine until I was eventually able to press the shutter and capture the egret in a perfectly still pose for the duration of the one second exposure. For me, this image is all about wildlife’s adaptability and ability to thrive despite the city’s encroachment on their natural environment.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Images and text copyright Michael Willis 2009.
My photograph of Skiddaw on the front cover of Country Walking magazine
My photograph of Skiddaw taken from a heather lined path on the summit of Walla Crag is on the front cover of August’s edition of County Walking magazine.
Heather glowing in the late evening sun on Commondale Moor in the North York Moors National Park.
While walking across Commondale Moor, I came across an old boundary stone surrounded by dried grass that gently blew in the evening breeze. I loved the way the yellow contrasted with the sea of purple heather and composed an image so a distant tree echoed the lone boundary stone.
Thick cloud hung overhead and the light remained diffused and flat, but a thin sliver of clear sky just above the western horizon gave me some hope. An hour or so went by and then suddenly the exposure reading on my meter went up a third of a stop. It was almost almost imperceptible, but the side of the stone had a faint glow.
Within moments the sun filled the gap below the clouds and the most beautiful light I’ve ever seen transformed the landscape, saturating the heather with an intensely warm light. In this image, I placed an 0.6ND filter over the 0.6ND grad so the slower shutter speed captured the motion of the grass as it swayed in the wind. After taking this image, and just three minutes after first appearing, the sun slipped below a hill and the light was gone.
This image is available as signed limited edition fine art print with a print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com
Images and text copyright Michael Willis 2009.
