Fine Art Prints, Phone Cases And Tablet Cases By Lee Wilkes

I'm happy to announce that I am now a member of Red Bubble. This fantastic company are producing my photographic work into wonderful items such as phone and tablet cases, cards, postcards as well as incredible fine art prints. There are many options for framing as well!

Buy my fine art photographic prints, phone cases and other stunning items here.

Here are a few examples of the incredible work Red Bubble have done with my art. 

 Buy Here

  Buy Here

 Buy Here

 Buy Here

 Buy Here

 Buy Here

 Buy Here

 Buy Here

10 things I wish I knew when starting out in photography!

#1 Get trustworthy advice

I started out watching You Tube tutorials on how to use a dslr camera way before I got a dslr, all because I thought I had to get the best camera I could possibly afford. Yes, You Tube told me that too! It's just not true. Go to a good camera store that sells second hand gear and talk to a human being about your options. There are so many fantastic models out there that would barely break the $300 mark second hand and come with a decent lens too! That way you can actually start taking photographs with your dslr and learn so much faster!

Canon 50D

Nikon D90

I look for people who are honest and are not swayed by brand, for example Ken Rockwell. This guy is a pro in the field and writes fantastic gear reviews. He's brutally honest and understands what situation the gear works well in. He's been a great help to me over the years.

#2 Invest in lenses not bodies

The first dslr camera I purchased was a Canon 7D. I bought it right when it came out and it cost me more than I could afford, but I still did it because I thought It would help me take better photographs. WRONG! I could only afford a 50mm 1.8 to go with it, which was actually fantastic but hardly fitting with my beautiful new 7D. What I soon realised is that (like the film days) camera bodies are just something to strap your lenses to and (these days) really don't change things a whole lot. For example any 35mm dslr over 8 megapixel will give you massive prints with amazing resolution and ANY dslr from around 2007 onward will have great iso (low light) capabilities. Don't let the salesmen or You Tube fool you! 

DSLR bodies drop in value like cars and really don't contribute a whole lot to sharpness or image quality! What?! Lenses do! Buy good lenses if you can, they hold their value like nothing else I have ever seen and will absolutely help your images. 

#3 Don't be scared

I was always worried about taking my brand new 7D out in potentially bad weather but it really prohibited me from getting some great shots. Many times the most incredible landscape scenes are either before or just after wild weather and rain. Don't be scared, take a bag, wrap the camera up, no big deal. Your camera can take a little bit of wet, just wipe it off and stop being a pussy! This is what I tell myself now. Really, if you're thinking about being a nature/landscape photographer and you're scared to take your gear outside you should probably think about getting into stock photography instead. #Boring

Just before a storm came through (best light ever)
Courtesy of Ben Messina
http://www.benmessina.com/

#4 Be patient

So many times I have left a scene because I can't be bothered sitting there anymore or thinking there might be a better composition. My advice to you is to just wait, wait and wait some more. Especially with landscapes. Just be ready for "The shot". when the sky breaks open or the moon comes out or whatever amazing thing nature throws at you. It could be an award winner if you just be patient. 

#5 Don't overexpose

Don't do it. Unless there is no other option. Unless it doesn't matter (it always does). It may look ok on your computer screen but when you print it will just be plain old base paper white. PAPER WHITE, no ink and it looks just awful. Check your histogram in camera, put your highlight alert on and check in whatever you edit your photos with to make sure you're not overexposing.

#6 Don't underexpose

Underexposure is a funny one because You don't really notice it as much. There's no alert for it and sometimes it looks cool. But if you don't want it and you try to bring it back in post processing there will be very little information and it will look TERRIBLE. Little red dots and browny-grey-black colour, yuck.

#7 Don't burn your work in Photoshop

It is so easy to overcook your photos when editing. At the beginning it's hard to notice the glitches and artefacts present when overcooking but as time goes on other people will notice and tell you about it. One tip is to angle your screen toward the ceiling and look around the image. This sounds mental but the angle really enhances banding, overexposure and other artefacts in your image that you may have missed looking straight on. Just be subtle when you edit, experiment! But try not to introduce too much digital rubbish if you can.

#8 It all depends on what you take photographs of

You may think your camera/lens/tripod/technique is the best in the world but it really depends on what you are taking photographs of. I capture landscapes and nature abstracts these days but I used to capture sports (Indoor and outdoor), weddings, portraits and architecture. They all need different types of gear. Landscapes usually require a wider-angle lens, higher resolution (megapixels), special filters, sturdy tripod and shutter release. Many landscape photographers use large format film cameras as these offer extremely high detail. Sports photographers need speed, a monopod, ease of use and long, LONG lenses most of the time. Most pro bodies like the Nikon D4 or Canon 1DX are suited to these guys because they have extremely fast frame rates. Wedding photographer like a body they can trust and that works fast, many different lenses, flashes and accessories. There is no "Best" camera or lens. It all comes down to what you take photographs of. I use a Canon 5D mark 2 with 28mm and 100mm lenses. That's all I need for what I do. I love this gear because it's simple, it works, it's fairly cheap and gives me amazing results every time. I don't worry about getting a camera with 36 megapixels that will really only kill my computer. You shouldn't either.

Captured with 5D mark 2 and 28mm lans
sunrise
Purchase print here

Captured with 5D mark 2 and 100mm macro lens
Overcast
Purchase print here 

Captured with 5D mark 2 and 28mm lens
Sunrise
Purchase print here 

Captured with 5D mark 2 and 100mm macro lens
Movement by photographer, no photoshop effects
Purchase print here 

#9 Take photographs of something you enjoy

I hated being a wedding photographer. All the stress and the bitchy brides, wow, I take my hat off to anyone who does that job regularly. I love nature, I love fine art and I love pushing the boundaries of the medium. That's why I am a landscape, nature and abstract photographer. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.

I enjoy abstract nature photography
This is not a double exposure and is not a photoshop effect
Try pushing photography to new limits, it's fun!

#10 Take photographs

Just get out and do it. Don't be scared of what people will say or if they will look at you. Try to find something interesting and take photos of it. Learn about light and wait for the good light. Everything is beautiful in the right light. If you bought your camera to sit it on your bench and look at then great but if you really want to be a photographer you will take it out right now and start capturing life!

The sharks of Mer Island

Morning cats!

The shallows of Mer island's incredible beaches are iconically filled with Sardines. It's quite a sight to see, however where there are bait fish there are always bigger fish and... Sharks. Mer has more sharks than I have ever seen in my life. Black and white tip reef sharks, huge Blind Sharks, sneaky Grey Nurse sharks (sneaky because they look just like blind sharks and will rip your leg off!), the epic tiger shark and, of course the Hammerhead shark, which are rumoured to tip dinghy's and can be seen chasing eagle rays close to the beach. It's enough to stop you going out in a boat ever again.

My first time fishing on the beach really opened my eyes as to how many sharks were around and how close they got to beaching themselves when in a feeding frenzy. I used to tell people how the kids grab their tails and jump into the water to scare them, i'm sure no one believed me. One day I was lucky enough to have my camera at the beach as a heard of sharks were feeding on sardines. These are a few of the images I captured on that day.


Enjoy : )
Lee.

I have the following three images from this series for sale in my Etsy store

Name: Shark Attack

Buy here

Name: Shark Attack Square

Buy here 

Name: Shark Attack #2

Buy here

Two new canvas prints for sale!

Hi all,

I have just listed two of my new canvas prints on Etsy! The first is a sunset, seascape from Mer Island and the other is a beautiful, misty capture of a Thai Elephant in the early morning. Both images are on archival quality 40mm stretched canvases and are of the highest archival quality.

Please see the listings here:

Elephant Haven

Cantrell

Mer Island as seen through the Yashica D

It's been a few days since I arrived back on Mer Island. The place has been absolutely transformed by the monsoonal rains we've experienced over the past few weeks. It's been great to get back into a routine and my head back into my art.

A few weeks before we left the island I captured a handful of images with a Yashica D camera. The Yashica D is a Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera, meaning it has two lenses, one for viewing the image and one for capturing the image. The Yashica D is a medium format camera, which takes square images on 120 film. I had never used a TLR camera before and decided to use black and white film, attempting to capture that grainy, film look that these cameras do so well. Many say the medium format TLR cameras eclipse the image quality of any 35mm digital camera; I tend to agree from what I have seen. I used 400-asa film, which allowed me to shoot in lower light and not have too much grain. The images turned out quite well for a camera made in 1959. What I am blown away by is the build quality of the Yashica D; it's solid and works so smoothly for its age.

I took the camera back to the mainland for the holidays; unfortunately my Labrador managed to smash it. These are the only images I have from my days with the Yashica D. The best part about using this camera was being forced to take my time when considering and composing an image. Using old film cameras without meters really slows you down. 

The images here are of Mer Island, with some portraits of my adopted family (mother Etta Sam and brother Tyrese Passi), my wife Hayley Wilkes and one double exposure, another fun aspect of using these cameras.

Barbara Innes-Hilder

I've spent this festive season visiting family aroud Australia and always try my hardest to visit local galleries. Today I visited the Shoalhaven City Art Centre in Nowra, NSW. This gallery is absolutely wonderful! There is an exhibition of abstract works by local artist Barbara Innes-Hilder, all of which we're absolutely stunning. The exhibition is entitled Bush Creek River with all of the works connecting strongly to the New South Wales, South Coast landscape. The works are created using beautiful impasto techniques, my favourite! I wanted to hang every one on my wall.

I have not heard about this artist before and have had trouble tracking down the artists website, however there is some information here.

I snuck a few quick photos of selected works, sorry for the rough image quality. This exhibition is on for a while longer, it's well worth the visit!