Shooting Brisbane: heat, haze and the river

After years shooting in Southeast Asia, coming home to Brisbane meant re-learning the light. The midday sun here is hard and high — beautiful if you respect it, brutal if you don’t.

I shoot the edges of the day. Early, when the river is flat and the city is quiet, or late, when everything turns warm and the shadows get long. Portra holds that gold better than anything.

The city rewards patience. Walk the same streets enough times and you start to see the pictures before they happen — the light that lands on a wall at 4pm, the corner that only works in winter.