about site

About this site.

This site was built by me, with invaluable web design help from the huge Steve Meyers.

I returned from a year travelling around South East Asia, in February 2000, having spent the previous year loitering around Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India and Nepal. The plan was to build a site primarily focused on my work in the music industry, and my travel photography. This site is still evolving, with new material added weekly, due to ongoing music industry and commercial photography.

Recent interview with Mw.......................... Kind review of current exhibition.

About the photography.

Most early images (prior to 2001) are film scans from a Polaroid Sprintscan 4000, (recently replaced with the Nikon Coolscan 4000 ED). While the majority of this site is focused on music, and photo-journalism, being a freelance in Perth entails shooting almost anything. I've worked out of helicopters and light aircraft, and have covered many weddings, and one funeral. I've also shot fashion, and model portfolios, as well as the usual array of weird stuff photographers come up with, after spending too much time in a studio.

The majority of the Australian images were taken in and around Perth, (the most isolated capital city in the world…..) West Australia, from 1991 to date. The music photography was primarily commissioned by The West Australian Newspaper, The Sunday Times, Hype Magazine and X Press Magazine, as well as numerous record companies.

Forever & Easy is a nation touring exhibition of rock and roll photography, which started touring Australia 2006 running to 2008.

View published material

Client information

This site will probably never stop growing, with music industry photography being the primary focus. The rock and roll photography is the most fun to take apart from the travel photography. The current array of music photos represent a very small sample of photographs taken over the years. Almost all music shots were taken under the 'three song' photographic restriction.
In the Travel section there are over six hundred travel images, shot in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India and Nepal with more recent trip to the U.K. and Europe in 2004, and indonesia in 2005.

Equipment Details.

Most material on the site was taken with Nikon cameras, with lenses ranging from 7.5 mm fisheye (image on splash page) to 300 mm; mainly with prime lenses as opposed to zoom. Many events are covered shooting on Mamiya 6 x 7, which has amazing resolution, while being very cumbersome. Music festival overview material and promotional material for artists is usually shot on 6 x 7.

Most work was shot on black and white film, unfortunately commercial concerns dictate that this practice is becoming unviable. Primary film used was Ilford HP5, for all most performance work, pushed to 800 developed exclusively in Microphen, until Plus Developer was released. For trickier lighting conditions, Delta 3200 was used. Daylight black and white work was usually shot on Delta 100, and occasionally 400, although if the light is flat, Ilford HP5 provided a better result. Tmax 100 also gave a beautiful result when developed in Rodinol, 1/50. With the high quality film scans provide, combined with ice technology, Ilford XP2 was occasionally used, for its amazing exposure latitude. Most 120 black and white photography was shot on Tri X, developed in Plus Developer, or Agfa Rodinol, at 1/50, if more contrast is desired. Early performance colour work was shot on Fuji transparency films, pushed to 800. However, with the advent of some of the faster colour negative films, like the Fuji 800, transparency is getting less use, due to its considerably tighter exposure latitude. Most commercial work was shot on colour tranny film. In September 2006, I finally invested in digital, with the Nikon D200, and the lenses to go with it. It is an impressive system; it also makes photography far too easy. Depressingly so. Current work is shot through the D3.

Michael Wylie. .........................................Contact