I drove past Gary Burton as he wheeled a strange device across a brown dirt paddock. It was like a wheelbarrow without the barrow. I had to stop and ask for a photograph. While I went about setting up my paraphernalia we talked about his farm, his grandfather, his father and his children. He told me about the watermelon plants that were just sprouting and about the ancient machine he was using to tend them. I made pictures as I listened. This is the moment I felt I best appreciated the stories his words, face and well worked hands were telling me.

New York City, Corner of 5th Avenue and W53rd Street October 19, 2013 I made these pictures in the 2 minutes and 26 seconds after 3.38pm. I had been walking along W53rd Street when I noticed how the sun, shining down 5th Avenue, was being bounced around by the high-rises and shop fronts. It was not the first time I had found backlighting with beautiful front fill light on the streets of New York City. Street photography requires a photographer to be ready for the moment. I like to shoot on either manual or shutter priority so I make sure to adjust exposure whenever I move into different light. The first few frames were shot at a high shutter speed (1/2000th of a second) which narrowed the depth of field. I quickly changed down to 1/250th to increase the range of focus. I set the exposure compensation to -2/3rd of a stop and framed the picture to include the lit part of the street corner while levelling the camera as best as I could. I wanted to avoid creating distracting convergence angles on the buildings, which happens when a camera is tilted too far, as well as to give a sense of the streets of New York. I photographed during a single lights change, standing still, as shoppers, tourists and business people walked past me heading downtown. I didn’t really concentrate on any particular face - it was all happening so quickly. I did notice, however, that some people were looking down 53rd with very interesting expressions as they came up to me. I wondered what it was they were looking at but knew if I turned to see I would miss shots. The light could disappear at any moment so I kept shooting before turning to cross the street just as the red hand flashed. I never did work out what they had been looking at. I often walk the street looking for pictures with my large professional camera - the Canon 1Dx. I’ve tried compact cameras but have never been happy with the images made with the smaller sensors. I can’t afford a Leica and, while I am hearing good things about Fuji cameras, at this stage I am sticking with the full frame sensor. In the somewhat vain hope that I can make the 1Dx more discreet I use Canon’s very compact 40mm ‘pancake’ lens to lessen the apparent bulk of the camera. This is not always a success as the tiny lens looks so out of scale on the body it often causes photography enthusiasts to ask me about it. I’m always happy to talk photography and very happy to rave about this small, simple lens. It is one of the cheapest that Canon manufacture and, from my testing and use, one of the sharpest.

"Although the rhythm of the waves beats a kind of time, it is not clock or calendar time. It has no urgency. It happens to be timeless time. I know that I am listening to a rhythm which has been just the same for millions of years, and it takes me out of a world of relentlessly ticking clocks. Clocks for some reason or other always seem to be marching, and, as with armies, marching is never to anything but doom. But in the motion of waves there is no marching rhythm. It harmonizes with our very breathing. It does not count our days. Its pulse is not in the stingy spirit of measuring, of marking out how much still remains. It is the breathing of eternity, like the God Brahma of Indian mythology inhaling and exhaling, manifesting and dissolving the worlds, forever. As a mere conception this might sound appallingly monotonous, until you come to listen to the breaking and washing of waves." — Alan Wilson Watts Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, speaker, who held both a master's degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity. Famous for his research on comparative religion, he was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. http://www.alanwatts.com/

Fat Cat Bar, NYC. A young woman, relaxing against her date, catches my camera for a moment. At the Fat Cat Bar, NYC the audience sits on old rug covered sofas within inches of the band. So intimate.

Peak hour is never the best time to drive across the Brooklyn Bridge if you are in a hurry. On this occasion I had only just arrived by train from Boston and any delays only gave me more time to hang out of the cab window like a happy dog. Besides, the scent and sound through an open window is the right way to begin a visit to New York! It was cloudy and almost raining as I headed to the apartment I had rented in Clinton Hill. Most streets and cities would look a little drab in this light but not New York! All a photographer has to do is find their black and white eyes and the viewfinder is filled with beautiful textures and tone. Even the grit looks fantastic.

New York City, Corner of 5th Avenue and W53rd Street October 19, 2013 I made these pictures in the 2 minutes and 26 seconds after 3.38pm. I had been walking along W53rd Street when I noticed how the sun, shining down 5th Avenue, was being bounced around by the high-rises and shop fronts. It was not the first time I had found backlighting with beautiful front fill light on the streets of New York City. Street photography requires a photographer to be ready for the moment. I like to shoot on either manual or shutter priority so I make sure to adjust exposure whenever I move into different light. The first few frames were shot at a high shutter speed (1/2000th of a second) which narrowed the depth of field. I quickly changed down to 1/250th to increase the range of focus. I set the exposure compensation to -2/3rd of a stop and framed the picture to include the lit part of the street corner while levelling the camera as best as I could. I wanted to avoid creating distracting convergence angles on the buildings, which happens when a camera is tilted too far, as well as to give a sense of the streets of New York. I photographed during a single lights change, standing still, as shoppers, tourists and business people walked past me heading downtown. I didn’t really concentrate on any particular face - it was all happening so quickly. I did notice, however, that some people were looking down 53rd with very interesting expressions as they came up to me. I wondered what it was they were looking at but knew if I turned to see I would miss shots. The light could disappear at any moment so I kept shooting before turning to cross the street just as the red hand flashed. I never did work out what they had been looking at. I often walk the street looking for pictures with my large professional camera - the Canon 1Dx. I’ve tried compact cameras but have never been happy with the images made with the smaller sensors. I can’t afford a Leica and, while I am hearing good things about Fuji cameras, at this stage I am sticking with the full frame sensor. In the somewhat vain hope that I can make the 1Dx more discreet I use Canon’s very compact 40mm ‘pancake’ lens to lessen the apparent bulk of the camera. This is not always a success as the tiny lens looks so out of scale on the body it often causes photography enthusiasts to ask me about it. I’m always happy to talk photography and very happy to rave about this small, simple lens. It is one of the cheapest that Canon manufacture and, from my testing and use, one of the sharpest.

Lénio Kaklea part of '20 Dancers for the XX Century' at MOMA, NYC, October, 2013. The Performance Program is part of MoMA’s increased focus on the historical as well as the contemporary practice of performance-based art. The ongoing series brings documentation and reenactments of historic performances, thematic group exhibitions, solo presentations, and original performance works to various locations throughout the Museum. 20 Dancers for the XX Century (2012/2013) presents a living archive. Twenty performers from various generations perform, recall, appropriate, and transmit solo works of the last century that were originally conceived or performed by some of the most significant modernist and postmodernist artists, dancers, and choreographers. Each performer presents his or her own museum of sorts, wherein the body becomes the primary museological container and object. Accordingly, there is neither a stage nor a demarcation of performance space; rather, the performers circulate freely between the Museum’s Marron Atrium, the Museum galleries, and other public spaces. Cast: Magali Caillet-Gajan, Ashley Chen, Jim Fletcher, Brennan Gerard, Trajal Harrell, Burr Johnson, Lénio Kaklea, Catherine Legrand, Morgan Lugo, Richard Move, Mani A. Mungai, Banu Ogan, Leiomy Prodigy, Christopher Roman, Shelley Senter, Valda Setterfield, Gus Solomons, John Sorensen-Jolink, Meg Stuart, and Adam Weinert Source: MOMA Website

Boy and his dog playing in early morning surf at Dudley Beach, NSW, Australia. Backlit small waves with off shore wind

Views of Brisbane's Cultural Precent on the South bank of the Brisbane River, May 2013

Carrington Falls, a spectacular waterfall near Jamberoo in the Budderoo National Park drops 50 metres down into a gorge into Kangaroo Valley. NSW, Australia

Cathedral Rocks Shoreline, Kiama, East Coast Australia. February 16th, 2013 I had seen a number of pictures recently of this place and decided to check it out for myself. The aptly named rock formation is very impressive but wasn’t exciting my photography bugs on this particular evening. Instead, I found myself drawn to the slippery, rocky shoreline and the intricate nooks and crannies surrounding it. The waves were surging in through a narrow u-shaped channel at a regular interval and seemingly of a consistant size. Unlike the conditions I experienced shooting Rainbow Sunset. Despite these benign seas I knew I would still need to be alert. Positioned behind a tall rock shelf, I would not see the approaching waves until they flooded the rocks and channel I decided to shoot. Occasionally, a heavy thud and a spray of whitewater rising above the far side of the rocks, hinted a larger than usual wave was coming. So, before setting the tripod and camera up, I had spent 30 minutes or so higher up the cliff behind me watching the sets as I tuned into the ocean’s rhythm. Arriving early is wise for shoreline photography. It leaves time for scouting the best shooting position, a dry spot to leave gear not being used as well as plan an escape route if a rogue wave does turn up. Even with all this prep and respect for the ocean there’s been a plenty of times when I have (very ungracefully) rock hopped to safety while holding the tripod and camera high above a surging wave. Today, though, was calm and comfortable with time to appreciate the warm, summer evening and slowly, softening light. Shielded from the direct rays of the sun by the cliff, my cocoon of wet, glistening rocks and foaming waves was bathed in the reflection of the last blueness of late afternoon sky. Nature’s colours were subtle and muted this evening but I was seeing in black and white. I made some exposures based on where I wanted shadow detail then others to hold the texture of the highlights all the while visualising how much contrast I would need to properly show the flow and substance of the scene before my tilted lens. Tomorrow I would lay three or four of these exposures on top of each other and paint in (or out) the tones I wanted to keep (or not). I love the digital ‘light’ room - all the techniques of past learning without the smell and red darkness. Right now, however, I would enjoy this place - it’s mood and beauty - until the last of the light had soaked into the rocks and washed away on the waves.

From a series exploring independence and sexuality. Limited edition of 3 prints on Museum Quality Cotton Rag paper

Rainbow sunset at Gerringong, South Coast, NSW, Australia. It goes somewhere near the actual beauty of mother nature's handiwork. I'd like to thank the ocean for not swamping me. It did tease me a few times though.

Thanks for these kind words Trish: 'My beautiful girls captured by the amazing Paul Foley. With years of experience he captures 'moments' in time. Stunning Paul. We have been working together for years and have a calibration we are relaunching soon. In the mean time, if you need a professional photographer: http://art.collectablephotography.com/page2'

The Liquidity of Light The shoreline has been a fascination since I first picked up a camera. I am intrigued by the ever-changing boundaries it sets as waves and tides move in and out. Storms push the line of wet and dry to places not often touched while calm warm mornings entice imaginings of glistening water still and thick enough to walk on. I am often happy to just watch and enjoy. Yet, the photographer in me is all the while seeing the possibilities that light, after a few moments bouncing in my camera, could bring. These images were pre visualised. I know enough about picture making to 'see' beforehand what will happen when light is run through the rules of aperture and shutter speed. On this morning I set some parameters for the camera to work within and dragged it, just millimetres above washing waves and intransigent rocks, along the shoreline. Imagination and photography work as well together as against each other. The physics and rules that govern exposure and focus are set according to an idea and the light found in places and moments. Pre-visualisation and knowledge are really only start points where light is concerned. The best pictures are made when something unexpected (even unplanable) happens. I love how both the rocks and waves have been consumed by the liquidity of light. In some frames it is hard to tell what began as fluid or solid. No matter the knowledge, imagination and pre-planning the magic of photography is always dominant. These images are available as Fine Art Prints in editions of 25 only or as rights managed stock.

On December 9th, 2000 every living Brownlow Medallist assembled at the MCG for an historic photograph. It was organised by Triple B Sports to raise funds for Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. I was very proud to donate my time and experience to make the picture and design the print.

Woman in Hong Kong rushing through intersection

Canoe adventure in the Barrington Tops, Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia

'Finding Pictures' Photography Workshops for new and enthusiast DSLR owners. Learn techniques and workflows for digital SLR photography with 30 year plus professional Paul Foley. Paul's creative and information packed workshops are designed especially for enthusiast photographers wanting to get the most from their new DSLR camera. Held in association with The Friends of the Botanic Gardens at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens they are uniquely supported by online follow up assessment and guidance after the workshop. 'Finding Pictures' is all about understanding the creative aspects of the DSLR camera. The half day course begins with some photographic theory and formula that shows why a pro's photos look different. It explains what you need to know to set you on the path to your own photographic style. Topics covered includes: Depth of field Composition Shutter speed and aperture Lenses Polarising and ND filters Picture taking accessories RAW files and processing software. It will also help you plan your 'photographic future': you will understand how to make the right decision with any ongoing purchases of software, computers and accessories. This technical part of the workshop is also supported by a workbook included in the fee. Then we head out into the Gardens where you will team up in small groups to undertake a series of Assignments Paul will set for you. Because class size limited to no more than 12 Paul is able to give everyone personal attention. The morning finishes with a beautiful lunch in the courtyard where we discuss your pictures and Paul will answer any questions. A unique feature of Paul's workshops is ongoing tuition. In the month following the workshop each attendee can submit up to 5 pictures by email for assessment and suggestions. Or you can ask questions about anything photographic to improve your pictures or solve a technical challenge. Finding Pictures: Learn how to make creative photographs no matter where you are and whatever the light. Workshops include lunch in the Gardens, ongoing assessment and a PDF Guide to ensure you remember all you learn during the morning. Prices: $150.00 for Friends of the Botanic Gardens. $175 for non members. Register for Workshops on September 8th, October 6th and November 10th, 2012 One on One & Couple Tuition: A special gift for that enthusiast photographer in your life - or yourself! Two hour or half day workshops are available for one or two people. These are tailored to your requirements to cover personal photographic interests and can include nature photography, sports, portraits, landscapes and macro. These workshops can also help you understand and set up a 'digital darkroom' so you can proudly display your work as personally made fine art prints. The locations are chosen to suit the subject matter. Two hour classes begin at $250.00 (for one person) but as each one is designed individually please get in touch for full pricing details.

These photographs were made using the Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM Pancake Lens. They were shot using a Canon 5D Mark II body and processed through Lightroom v4.1. It was not intended to be a traditional technical assessment of the lens - merely my impressions of it in the real world. The full account can be found on my blog. Image notes (selected pictures): StMARYS-CATHEDRAL_8931: Shot at f5.6 - a good example of the edge to edge sharpness. ART-GALLERY-8937: Shot at f8 - this is a detail from the right hand side of a the full landscape image. Shows edge sharpness. SYDNEY-HOSPITAL-8933: Shot at f5.6 into the sun using my hand as a sun shade. The raw file showed very little CA or flare. The CA was easily removed automatically by Lightroom.

Pictures of The Island at Balmoral Beach in Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia.

Signed Collection Prints 300 x 300mm image on 400 x 400mm paper: $175.00 ea. Includes delivery within Australia Australia's Ocean Baths were originally built to safely wet and cool the citizens on hot summer days. Today, along with the ebbing edges of the Pacific Ocean, they hold memories and remnants of past living and lives. Coastal pools like these at Newcastle and Merewether Beaches are spread along the East Coast of Australia. They are often nostalgic places - especially in times of special light. The worn, whitewashed steps have seen the same feet skip and later shuffle, growing from tiny & soft to gnarled and wide. Parents, holding small, excited hands, have nurtured the tentative steps of offspring beginning their own memories. These places are community - gatherings of clans and friends. For such a visual feast 'the baths' are just as sensory with closed eyes. Squeals of fun, the slap of bare feet on wet concrete, the crashing of waves and the squarks of seagulls picture the story of the Australian coast indelibly on the mind. The Newcastle and Merewether Ocean Baths are very familiar to my camera. I don't live nearby any more, however, when I visit it's enough for me to sit with eyes closed and let the sounds and scents refresh those slideshows in my mind. I've made images for long enough to know many of the rules of my craft. It's that knowledge that helps me break a few of them from time to time. With these pictures I used an unusual lens arrangement and techniques to selectively blur and emphasise. I hoped to find pictures that suited memories of special places. Perhaps a little embellished, with some 'facts' less defined but always a steady centre of truth - even as time separates now from then. Whether it's the saturated sepia of the Newcastle Ocean Baths plates or the muted tones found in the Merewether Ocean Baths pictures these pages reflect the mood and the light of a few short moments when the shutter opened.

I was recently engaged by The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens to print an exhibition of stunning images from the 2010 International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY). Exhibited annually in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this is the first time it has been shown outside of the UK. The Sydney exhibition features over 90 entries including two amazing portfolios from Australian photographers. Claire Takacs captures beautiful light, stunning landscapes and untold wild flowers in central Australia while Debbie Hartley has frozen plants and flowers in blocks of ice creating imaginative, translucent pictures. While I have printed my own exhibitions for many years and from time to time have printed small runs for other photographers and artists, this is the first major exhibition I have printed. Before being awarded the job, sample prints were sent to the UK to ensure they met the exacting standards set by the Kew Gardens. Also on show will be the winners and a selection of finalists from the 2010 Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Sydney) 'Gardens in Focus' photography competition. Entries are being accepted now for the 2011 competition. The Exhibition runs from August 11- 28, 2011 in the Lion Gate Lodge in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens. It really is worth a visit.

Rotundas can break me out in nostalgia. Sometimes it feeds on my own memories of special times. Or it reprints in my mind a display of a beautiful light, anchoring my thoughts to a particular place. These drifting moments, though, are not just limited to places I know or those memories I can still defog and enjoy. More often, a rotunda will take my thoughts to times long past, well before my own carbon footprints began their journey. I often time travel in these old, round structures I find for the first time - creating a mingle of music, gatherings, play and fun through a somewhat rose coloured imagination. Ideas of a passed time based on unknown, ghostly faces staring from sepia toned prints I've seen in historic books. Or the 'yesteryear' features in community newspapers looking to fill pages at a cheaper rate than covering issues more recent. This morning I wandered down to Balmoral Beach in Sydney. The sun was just rising and the usual suspects of joggers, walkers and swimmers were intersecting their lives with nods of recognition and the occasional praise for such a beautiful winter's day. Others, more focussed on the less significant, didn't bother. Amongst all this there was a short moment when the space near the Rotunda went quiet. Not a single silhouette of a jogger, a talking troupe of walking women or the sniffing shapes of dogs stretching their leashes looking for somewhere to pee or crap. Just some trees and a rotunda that had seen it all many times before. Through that moment a couple walked down the path, past the statue of Billy and towards the beach. Their hands held each other with experience and tenderness. Though out of my earshot I could see they were chatting and relaxed. The rotunda had company and, for now, time was still. I'm glad I was there and very happy I remembered to press the shutter button.

On a visit to British Columbia on Canada's beautiful west coast I came across a thundering river cascading over smooth, ageless boulders. I followed it upstream for a while until at one point it took a sharp right angled turn. In the noise and violence of so much water forcing itself through a dark, narrow gorge the river settled momentarily in a churning, frothing and sunlit pool. Mesmerised by the new patterns and textures being created every millisecond, it took me a while to remember that I had my camera. I chose a very fast shutter speed to freeze a few of those moments - if only to prove they had indeed happened. Before long those moments had melded into a lost but not wasted hour. I have recently made some prints on Canson's beautiful Baryta Photographique paper. Using it reminds me of my early B&W printing days. The standard fibre papers of that time came out 'not quite gloss' and were then run through a 'glazer' for a full gloss finish. Baryta is modern version of that 'not quite gloss' effect. These wet texture pictures, when printed large, relive those silent frozen iotas I experienced in the thundering noise of that Canadian gorge. The B&W baryta prints show every shade from white through to deep black while the colour versions have subtle bluish tones. To purchase a moment just click on your favourite. The prints live their own life with more contrast, tonal range and beauty than can be shown on a monitor. Enjoy!

These pictures are part of the 'Be yourself' series. I have been putting together videos of facial expressions and thought I would show you a few. Whether the changes between frames are subtle or exaggerated, when they are linked together, it is possible to discover more of a person's character and personality than might be present in a single frame still picture. Please be in touch if you would like to know more

Examples of Commissioned photographs featuring Children

Chinese Bullfight, Duyun, China. A bullfight in this part of China is just that - a fight between two bulls. The 'handlers' in the orange vests only confuse the general mayhem by becoming easy to spot targets for the bulls.

Surfer at the Cowrie Hole, a rocky surfbreak near Newcastle, Australia

Bald Rock National Park is a national park in northern New South Wales, Australia, just north of Tenterfield on the Queensland border. On the other side of the border the national park continues as the Girraween National Park. The park is named after its most prominent feature, Bald Rock, which is a large granite outcrop rising about 200 metres above the surrounding landscape. Measuring about 750 metres long and 500 metres wide this is the largest granite monolith in Australia. Access to the rock is provided by a sealed road into the park and walking tracks to the summit. Two tracks are marked, a steep one up the exposed face, or an easier gradient through bushland around the back. The summit offers panoramic views of the surrounding bushland, but vegetation on top prevents a full 360° view. The park is in the New England granite belt, where about 220 million years ago an episode of granite magmatism resulted in the intrusion of the Stanthorpe Adamellite into the surrounding metamorphic and sedimentary rock. Subsequent uplift and erosion of the New England Fold Belt has seen the majority of the surrounding sediments and metamorphic rocks eroded away, with the Stanthorpe Adamellite remaining due to its resistance to weathering. This regolith has created a landscape with many exposed inselbergs of granite rocks, some balancing on top of each other, or forming natural arches. The walking track going up the back of Bald Rock leads through such an arch. Just off the road beside the park is Thunderbolts Hideout, a set of caves and overhanging granite rocks. It was thought to have been used by bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. From Wikipedia

Australian Faces by Paul Foley As a small tribute to Australia Day 2011 these are some of faces I've encountered and have been lucky enough to photograph over the last few years.

The rocks that 'caught' my Canon 1Ds! Excerpt from my blog: 'Anyway, I was climbing the ladder when I slipped just a few steps from the top. Self preservation took hold as I lurched to regain footing and a firm grip. And so it was that the reliable, sturdy 1Ds (with the always versatile 24mm tilt shift lens attached) was sacrificed to prevent me joining them on their plummet to the rocks about 4 metres below....'

Photographing 10 dogs in a variety of 'outfits' and accompanied by props on a white background (or on a white table on a white background) was interesting on many levels. Some observations: Dog owners really love their dogs. Dogs are loveable. Dogs know they are loveable. Dogs have us figured out. We really shouldn't fear mean and nasty guard dogs - it's the cute ones I met on the shoot who will rule the world. The pics in the gallery are straight out of the camera (except for a contrast curve) so please don't say anything about the retouching I didn't do. Unless you want one of my newfound canine buddies to lick your face! Tech details: Canon 5D Mark 2, Canon 100mm Macro, Elincrom Ranger Quadra Flash, patience

Images of the Pasha Bulker beached on Nobbys Beach, Newcastle Australia during wild storm June 2007. It was successfully refloated 4 weeks later at a cost of $5m.

She was coming home and the tattered picture stuck to the inside of her carry on pack was the only reality of ’home’ she possessed. Her memories were now more like third party recollections. The concept of home wasn't even tangible now. Her parents had died years ago and her siblings had long since escaped the home town just had she had (albeit well before them). Read more here: http://wordsformypictures.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/she-was-coming-home-and-tattered.html

After so many great expectations the best day ever had begun not so well. ‘Goodsey’, his best mate, had planned a midweek surf at a favourite, isolated spot and they had both been able to wrangle a guilt free day off work. Read more at: http://wordsformypictures.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/the-best-day-ever.html