A few months ago I had a shoot with the Harbour City Bears for their annual Mardi Gras festival, Bear Essentials. Every year bears, cubs, daddies, beefy blokes, and furry dudes of all shapes and sizes come from all over Australia and the world to enjoy this event filled festival.

The theme for Bear Essentials 16 is ‘A Whole New Ball Game’, so obviously the photos reflect the sporting theme. Taking inspiration from football, rugby union, rugby league, pool, AFL (Aussie Rules) and more, three affable models got their kit on and off for the shoot at The Oxford Hotel and Kingsteam.

A number of images are being used both on the website and posters, flyers and media for the festival as a whole and the individual events. You can see all the images from the campaign plus a selection that didn’t make the cut but are stand-outs on Flickr.

Thanks to Harbour City Bears and their President Jonny Bastin for asking me to do the job, plus the models Gavin P, David and Gavin S for their time.

I was hoping for a gorgeous sunrise as a backdrop but unfortunately some offshore fog prevented the sun from appearing. However the conditions did  provide a moodier feel and as the sun rose higher in the sky, shades of pink and orange started to appear in the clouds. One of the most popular sculptures was a giant tap (faucet for my American readers) facing the ocean, it required much patience to try and get images without anyone creeping into them.

I also took the opportunity to dabble with some handheld HDR. The image below was created using 5 handheld exposures and HDR Efex Pro.

All of the images can be found in the set on Flickr, you can also buy selected prints, posters, greeting cards and more from my RedBubble portfolio. If there’s an image you love but it isn’t on RedBubble then just contact me and I’ll sort it out for you.

Another month, another photo comp, this time a little different to ones I’ve entered recently. The OzKink Fetish Photographic Competition in association with Sax Fetish, Lucrezia & De Sade, and Star Observer Publications is looking for images depicting fetishwear….any type, colour, shape, fit, doesn’t matter.

The images I’ve selected are from a shoot with Malcolm, a very sexy, hairy fella who happened to bring his harness, jock and boots along too. All entries (space permitting) will be on display at 433 Brunswick St in a two week exhibition from 17th September.

More images from Malcolm’s shoot can be found on Flickr.

Every year City of Sydney council hosts the Art and About exhibition in various streets and public spaces around Sydney. One of the most popular exhibitions is Sydney Life which takes over the central walkway of Hyde Park North. Images are blown up to giant bed-sheet size prints and hung between the trees that line the boulevard.

This is the first year I’ve been eligible to enter as you have to be a citizen or permanent resident, so I’ve entered the two images you see here. Hundreds of entries are received and the competition is very stiff but if you don’t have a go you never know.

A couple of weekends ago the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority held an open weekend at the disused White Bay Power Station in Rozelle. Above you’ll find my first foray into slideshows so you can either view the images that way or simply view the set on Flickr.

The power station was originally built between 1912 and 1917 the power station was decommissioned in 1983 and has been standing disused since. Fortunately the site has been heritage listed so won’t end up being a shopping mall or apartment complex. Currently there is no public access so the open weekend was the first opportunity to walk around this fascinating industrial site.

The highlight is the turbine hall, the biggest remaining space in the complex, so much so that it was a 15 min wait to get in and you only had about the same amount of time before you were ushered out. But there are plenty of other great features to photograph around the complex; meters and dials left in their last position before the station was shutdown, switches covered in dust, intricate piping and valves, and tons of other stuff.

I think there are plans to turn it into an event venue similar to Cockatoo Island which would be pretty cool, definitely a great place for photo shoots. Check the full set on Flickr.