Michael Willis Photography Blog

Michael Willis Photography Facebook Page.

michaelwillisphotography — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:45:57 +0000

Keep in touch with news of recent images and latest print releases at the Michael Willis Photography Facebook Page.

Burns Beach at Sunset Print

michaelwillisphotography — Wed, 11 May 2011 06:41:33 +0000

In this image of Burns Beach, I feel the subtle pastel shades of sunset reflecting on the calm ocean are complimented by the slow flow of water helping to convey a feeling of tranquillity throughout the image.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Image and words copyright Michael Willis 2011.

New Burns Beach Print “At The Edge” Released.

michaelwillisphotography — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:07:07 +0000

To create this image, I stood on the rocky shores of Burns Beach looking out towards a stunning fiery summer sunset while the glowing Indian Ocean ebbed and flowed around me. The image was composed to include several triangular shapes that draw the eye from the shore towards the ocean and the spectacular sky. A five second exposure helped smooth out the water flowing into the two channels creating another triangle with a point in the centre of the image.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Image and words copyright Michael Willis 2011.

Perth Swan River Sunrise Panoramic Print

michaelwillisphotography — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:12:44 +0000

Sunrise over Perth and the Swan River from South Perth foreshore.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Image copyright Michael Willis 2011.

North Cottesloe Storm at Sunset

michaelwillisphotography — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:38:39 +0000

Stormy skies over North Cottesloe Beach at sunset.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Image copyright Michael Willis 2010.

Perth Surf Photography

michaelwillisphotography — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:55:18 +0000

Trigg Beach, Perth, Western Australia

Cottesloe Beach, Perth, Western Australia

Something a bit different.

As a landscape photographer, I spend a lot of time walking along Perth’s beaches searching for potential locations for future seascape photography. Very occasionally, I’m fortunate to be able to capture events as they unfold before me. While I don’t usually include people in my landscape images, it was a surprisingly pleasant change to photograph these surfers in such interesting conditions.

I believe the surfers are an integral part of the first two images as they provide a real focal point to the image as well as offering a sense of scale against the immense skies. Composition, timing and creating ‘echoes’ that flow throughout the image are an essential part of my landscape work and I was pleased that I was able to implement those elements into the second image. It took a while for everything to align how I wanted, but eventually a surfer began to ride a wave to the top left of the image to just below the base of the cloud at the same time a smaller wave broke on the shore.

The breaking wave is angled in such a way that it echoes and mirrors the direction of the dominant cloud and when combined it points to the direction in which the surfer is moving helping draw the eye to the focal point of the image.

Considering these images came from chance encounters while walking the coast, I’m quite satisfied with the results and happy that I was able to transpose my landscape techniques of composition, timing and echoing to a different photographic genre.

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See more of my work at www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Images copyright Michael Willis 2010, words copyright Michael Willis 2011.

Sunset on the Shores of the Swan River

michaelwillisphotography — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:31:22 +0000

A four second exposure capturing the calm waters of the Swan River lapping against the shore at sunset.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Cottesloe Storm at Sunset Panoramic

michaelwillisphotography — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 06:39:54 +0000

Stormy skies and incredible light at Cottesloe Beach.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

Burns Beach Dusk

michaelwillisphotography — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:49:05 +0000

Standing in the half darkness, I noticed how the light shimmering on the wet sand mirrored the exact shape of the day’s last light as lit up a gap in the brooding clouds. Using a wide angle lens, I placed the camera on the tripod at a low angle just above the patch of sand curving its way through the limestone. Once in a while everything seems to come together at precisely the right time and as I looked through the viewfinder, I realised it was one of those rare moments of synchronicity. The clouds had aligned so precisely with my composition that the s-shaped patch of light shining through the darkening sky perfectly spanned the width of the frame while its light created another beautiful curved S on the sand in front of me. Using 0.6 and 0.9 and grad filters to preserve the details in the sky, I used a long 25 second to smooth out the motion of the waves around the rocks while ensuring their detail was still visible.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com

North Cottesloe Netherworld

michaelwillisphotography — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:37:40 +0000

This is the first time an image has come to me in while drifting off to sleep. A few hours earlier, I’d witnessed a drab sunset over the rocky North Cottesloe shoreline and was aware that I’d probably missed an opportunity to create something a bit different. That nagging feeling of something left unaccomplished remained with me for the rest of the evening, but as I lay with my eyes closed in that netherworld between semi-consciousness and sleep an idea formed in my head and woke me with a jolt; why not try overexposing the image at twilight to create a smooth textured, high-key image with a cool blue hue?

I went back the next evening and came up with this. I usually give my photographs perfunctory titles as I prefer the viewer to reflect on the image unencumbered by any ideas imposed by me, but on this occasion I think the title is quite apt.

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This image is available as signed limited print with print run of 100 and can be purchased from www.michaelwillisphotography.com