Hi, and welcome to my blog, where I document my life as a photographer, writer, educator, podcast host, parent, partner, lover, fighter….Sorry, I got carried away. I hope that wherever you are reading this from, you are safe and well. Photography, photography, photography! July has been an incredibly busy month, what with all the photography stuff I have been involved in. Or perhaps a better term is ‘immersing myself in’. I chose to write this blog not to boast of all the creative things I am working on, but more as a record of one of the best and busiest months of creative output I’ve ever experienced. So, in this blog, dear reader, I want to talk about some of the events, projects, and day-to-day work I do that feed my creative spirit and support the broader photographic community. July has proven to be a huge month for our humble podcast as we continue to deliver twice-weekly live long-form shows directly to YouTube. Plus, we are part of the media team for the upcoming Bright Festival of Photography and have put our podcasting experience and platform to good use to support the festival. In other news, I’ve launched my Street Level Photography workshops and have been out and about as much as I can to document the world around me. And those are just a few highlights among many! Aside from the creative joy I have experienced, I haven’t felt this busy since my days in a corporate gig. Many, many years ago. So join me as I unpack July. Beyond that, I find myself thinking about photography constantly…and I can’t seem to stop.

Street Level Photography Workshops

Let’s start off with the planning and launch of my first official Street Level Photography Workshops. Organising and running group street photography walks isn’t a new adventure for me. I’ve organised small and large groups of photographers to join me on a walk through the streets of Melbourne for years. As part of my connection with the FujiXAus Facebook community, I’ve led numerous street photography walks. And the same goes for some of the camera clubs I have associated myself with. Large-group street walks are challenging, but there’s a lot to be said for taking a mindful stroll with a group of visual creatives to see how each person approaches the experience. I have invested a lot of time in organising and finally launching these workshops to elevate my business, challenge myself to take on meaningful work, and support fellow photographers. I’ve learnt a lot about the process, admin, and business essentials involved in creating a new arm to my work. I’ve also learnt much about my limitations and identifying areas of the process where I need support. I am proud of myself for making this step.

As part of my preparation for my first official workshop in August, I caught up with a close friend in Melbourne last Saturday for a trial Street Level Photography Workshop. We met up at Flinders Street Railway Station in Melbourne’s CBD, and I spent the next three hours running through my workshop plan while remaining open to feedback and possible alternative approaches. It was such a great street walk as we made our way from the station through Federation Square, Chinatown, Bourke Street Mall, and the labyrinth that is Melbourne’s amazing laneways and side streets. I received a lot of helpful feedback from that initial trial and have since been refining my plan and approach. A couple of areas I have identified and am seeking help with include optimising my social media output and using socials to run effective ads. I’ve had a booking and a handful of enquiries, which is amazing and incredibly satisfying. The next step is to get more eyes on my workshops and let more people know what I have to offer. I’ve also been working on some accompanying products to further support workshop attendees and their creative pursuits during and after the workshop. It’s a work in progress, but I have spent time almost every day this month investing in the new venture. You can check out more about Street Level Photography Workshops here.

The Camera Life Podcast

For those not in the know, I co-host a live photography podcast on YouTube twice a week. The Camera Life Podcast is the brainchild of Lucky Straps founder Justin Castles. While the podcast has existed for close to three years, I joined the team two years ago and have loved every minute of it. Our podcasts aren’t pre-recorded; we stream live to YouTube for every episode. We jokingly say we don’t edit our videos before sharing them, as Justin is a lazy video editor and I wouldn’t know where to begin. But the reality is that hosting a live photography podcast allows our viewers to be involved in the conversation. Every Monday night (7:30pm AEST/AEDT), we host a Random Photography Show to discuss the past week’s industry news, major industry topics, and the images our viewers have submitted. We invite viewers to our shows to build a community and a safe space for like-minded folk to immerse themselves in the world of photography. And then every Thursday morning (9am AEST/AEDT), we stream a live, long-form interview with incredible image makers from Australia and around the globe. In July alone, we have interviewed incredible visual creatives such as Jerry Ghionis (considered one of the top 5 wedding photographers in the world), Steve Parish (Aussie legendary wildlife and nature photographer), and David Imel (film photographer, writer, videographer, and co-producer of Marques Brownlee’s MKBHD YouTube channel and podcasts with over 20 million subs).

Justin has been away for the past week as he is currently in Africa chasing BFOP creator Matt Krumins while he takes guests on a dream photography trip to photograph African wildlife. Justin is there to create video and still-image content for Matt’s future workshop offerings. I am really proud of him for taking this opportunity, and I know he will have a blast and do an excellent job. However, even with Justin away, the show must go on, and I have called upon our community and friends to fill the co-host seat. Adam Edwards, Denis Smith, Lucinda Goodwin, and fellow podcast/Lucky Straps team member Jim Aldersey have supported me and our community while the boss is away. By this Thursday, we will have produced 10 live podcasts over the month, averaging around 3 hours each. One of my roles with the podcast is to locate, connect with, and invite all these amazing creatives to be guests on the show. It’s a humbling experience talking to photographers who have mastered their craft and had such incredible careers and experiences as a result. We love what we do, and it’s an honour to work alongside such folk.

Bright Festival Of Photography

At the time of writing this blog, there are only 70 days until the 2026 Bright Festival Of Photography (BFOP) kicks off. BFOP is an annual in-person photography festival held in the Alpine Region township of Bright, Victoria. While I have known about BFOP for many years, I never fully understood what the appeal was or what the big deal was. And then, in 2024, Justin and I travelled to Bright and attended our first BFOP experience. I won’t go into detail about what makes BFOP, BFOP. But it is fair to say that from that first visit, we were inspired to become more involved in the festival in whatever way we could. Then again, last year, for BFOP 2025, Justin, Jim, and I returned to immerse ourselves even deeper in that world. We created special podcast episodes in the lead-up to BFOP 2025, and every morning of the festival we would host a live BFOP podcast from our rental accommodation. With the morning podcast out of the way, we would rush over to BFOP HQ – the Bright Community Centre – and support our customers and community with Lucky Straps for sale. We were absolutely blown away by the connections we made and the overall success we enjoyed at BFOP.

I am stoked to report that The Camera Life Podcast / Lucky Straps team will be rolling into BFOP 2026 to once again livestream our podcast every day of the festival and support Lucky Straps customers at HQ. Of course, even if we weren’t contributing to the festival with those elements, we would still attend and immerse ourselves in the madness and magic that is BFOP. Given that we are part of the BFOP media team, we have spent July working with Matt, Nick, and CJ (BFOP Admin/Operators) to create short-form interviews with each and every BFOP workshop instructor. At the time of writing, we have completed over 35 interviews, and I have a further six to do today. It’s a challenge to keep every interview feeling unique, using a range of questions and prompts to get the best out of each one. Those unedited interviews are being loaded to YouTube so that BFOP ticket holders can get to know the instructors and include that info in their workshop selection process. It’s been a busy time, but getting to sit and chat with some of the country’s best photographers and workshop educators is incredibly humbling. And, as Justin has been in Africa, I have conducted the interviews solo – that guy holds me back anyway….

Once the interviews are complete, the next phase of our involvement is to plan and conduct special-edition live, long-form podcasts about BFOP. Stay tuned for more details.

Tamron Super Zoom

As the title suggests, I recently had the opportunity to test and review an incredible Tamron zoom lens. But first, let me add some context. A couple of months back, I was invited to the Tamron Australia office here in Melbourne to be interviewed by videographer, content creator, and producer Joe Orchard (Joe has also been on our TCL YouTube channel) and tell the story of my creative journey. You can check out that video here. Tamron is a Japanese lens company that develops high-quality optics for all the leading camera brands, including Fujifilm X mount. I have never used a Tamron lens with my Fujifilm system and was curious about a couple of the new lenses they have on offer. Long story short, one of my photography mates and sorcerer-level image maker, Glynn Lavender, is an official Tamron ambassador, and he hooked me up with the Tamron team to play with a monolithic super zoom. Glynn is also a TCL podcast guest and BFOP workshop instructor – the connections keep forming. Tamron’s 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD telephoto zoom lens for Fujifilm X-mount is a beast of a lens, ideally suited to sports, wildlife, and birding. Due to the crop factor of the Fujifilm APSC image sensor, the Tamron zoom effectively delivers a 225-750mm full-frame-equivalent focal length. I am working on a long-form review that will live on the Lucky Straps blog page. So what did I do with a perfect wildlife-and-sports lens? I took it out for some street photography, of course.

Street Walks For Me

While July has proven to be an incredibly busy month, and one of the most rewarding I have had in recent times, I have gotten out and about as much as I can to hunt the light. Aside from testing out the Tamron 150-500mm, I have also pushed myself to shoot street photography with as many of my Fujifilm lenses as possible. I have taken out the wide XF 16mm F2.8 R WR compact prime and loved the dynamic perspective and additional context in my street scenes. I’ve also taken out the XF 27mm F2.8 pancake prime, as well as the equally compact but lightweight XF 50mm F2 and XF 23mm F2. It’s been a lot of fun working with varying focal lengths and seeing what I can create with each. Since picking up the pro-grade Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 R LM WR, it has pretty much stayed on my camera. And I love the performance and output of that premium bit of glass. So getting reacquainted with some of my other lenses has been a lot of fun – especially that 16mm F2.8. Should the gods of glass smile on us, I would love to see Fujifilm replace their OG XF 16mm F1.4 (one of the first Fujifilm lenses I bought) with an updated LM (linear Motor) version and enhanced optics for the newer 40MP Fujifilm bodies. No news on that to date, but a (Fujifilm Fan) boy can dream. Oh, and if you haven’t read it yet, I also caught up with my mate Samantha Ohlsen for a light hunting session when she was in Melbourne this month. You can check that out here!

Wrapping Up July 2026

It’s the last day of July, and I end the month as I started it, immersing myself in photography once again. As mentioned, I have six BFOP Workshop Instructor interviews to record today. There are still a few stragglers who haven’t sat down with us for their interviews, but some of those folks are overseas running workshops. So we will catch them individually in the first week or so of August. While July has been an incredibly busy month, it’s also been monumentally rewarding. I have made positive steps with my new business venture, supported our community through the podcast, and had amazing conversations with the BFOP instructors (a few of whom I consider my photography heroes). Plus, I have walked the streets of South Yarra, Carlton, and Melbourne as often as possible, hunting the light. It has been a month of total photographic immersion, and it’s near-impossible to stop now that the ball is rolling. Plus, the positive impacts on my mental health have been tremendous. I finally feel at peace with calling myself an artist. It’s been a huge awakening for me after years of telling myself my work wasn’t worth as much as it actually is. That loud imposter-syndrome voice quietens at times like these. Be safe out there. G

PS. Here’s a few more images of our cats. G