Discover the world of Australian photographer and ViewBug member Scottmccook, learn from his insights and enjoy his photos.
Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style.
Scottmccook: Hi Guys, My name is Scott Jon McCook and I operate under the alias of Scott Jon Photography. I have been doing landscape photography for around 4 years now and before that always had some form of camera in my life but just wasn’t using it properly.
I remember the day I decided to take up landscape photography properly, I was traveling through Cambodia with a friend and we had almost got the Thai border, I had seen so much beauty, even in a country that has had so much pain that I couldn’t go another day without starting to capture these scenes. I woke up one morning and turned to my friend and said that’s it, when I’m back in Perth I’m buying a proper DSLR and this time I’m not stopping, 4 years later here I am J Photography had always been a part of my life before that with it being one of the 2 subjects I excelled at in my high school years, receiving A’s in Photography and Science, So I always knew one day I would pick up a camera again, life just got in the way for a while, with me starting my own construction company at age 25 meaning I was a busy man for many years building a business. Nowadays I find the right balance between business and my true passion photography and it’s a happy one.
My Photography Style? Dreamy and erratic, I love going out and finding/creating scenes that people will react to in a positive way, scenes that drum up that kid like sense of wonder in the world that some of us adults can lose along the way, I know I did and photography has allowed me to capture that again, in every sense of the word.
In one sentence what has photography done for you in your life?
Scottmccook: It has bought balance into my very busy life, It’s hard to explain just how amazing it is to have an outlet to be creative through, The feeling of relief it gives me is priceless and I’m sure a lot of togs out there would agree. To have a tool to be creative through, be it music, art or photography etc. Is just such a good feeling.
When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?
Scottmccook: I started taking Landscape photo’s around 4 years ago, I actually got my foot in the door with Macro water drop photography, it is what really launched me into the realm of what was possible, it’s something about freezing a water drop in a moment in time that you would never normally see that sparked my imagination and creativity and pushed me further into photography, eventually landing in landscapes and nightscapes. It’s the same theory with nightscapes, showing the Milky Way to the viewer, something a lot of people have never seen or even thought possible to capture from Earth, that is what is so amazing about Milky Way work, showing the viewer what sits above their head every night in a way they have never seen before.
What has been your favorite shoot and why?
Scottmccook: Oh that’s a hard one!! I have been to some amazing places in Australia so far and even overseas but for me the one that holds a special spot in my heart is a shoot we did mid last year (2014) It was at the Ice cream dunes in Cervantes north of Perth Western Australia. I had planned the shoot to coincide with a ¾ moon rising in the east around 10:30pm giving us a chance to capture our Milky Way shots and then wait for the moon to rise and light the beautiful sand rippled landscape for some foreground shots. What I didn’t factor in is just how amazing that moment would be, As the moon came up the whole ghostly landscape just took on a whole other look, beautiful definition in all the ripples and just such an alien feel to the whole scene, It was one of those moments as I was stood in the middle of these dunes that you just know you will never forget and turned out I got some fantastic shots from the night as well.
Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?
Scottmccook: Tasmania, hiking the forest around Cradle Mountain, My friend Jeff and I set out on about an 8 hour hike to find some untouched waterfalls around the lower sections of Cradle Mountain, We actually ended up getting (almost) lost but the hardest part was the leeches!!! I didn’t know Tas had so many and about 5 hours into our hike I could feel something weird on my legs and high up on my inner thigh, I stopped to investigate and to my surprise found 6 of the little suckers well into a feast on yours truly, a couple of them close to places you don’t want them! We got some amazing images from the hike but it was hugely tiring and hard. Once we got back to the lodge I found out the true extent of my little friends handy work, all I can say is lucky I found them when I did.
What do you carry in your camera bag?
Scottmccook: Nikon D810, Sony A7s, Metabones Adapter, Nikon 14-24mm 2.8, Nikon 24-70mm 2.8, Nikon 70-200mm 2.8, Sigma 35mm 1.4 1.4 x tele and then all the standard stuff, Batteries, Cables, Cleaning Gear, Waterproof plastic housing, blow up ring, 1 x Lenser P7 torch (amazing) Filters Wonderpana CPL for 14-24mm, 10 stops, standard B+W CPL for other gear. It’s all carried in an F-Stop bag, best brand of bad I’ve ever owned.
Do you have a favourite location and time of the day to shoot?
Scottmccook: The Pilbara region of W.A would have to be a stand out location for me, just amazing bit of Australia. Well time of day for shooting? I would have to say night time.
Can you share three tips with your fellow photographers?
Scottmccook:
1) Find your style, take Constructive Criticism but don’t let go of your true values and style.
2) Read, Read and Read. Then watch, watch and watch, go out and shoot with other togs, talk and share info but most of all get out and shoot when ever you can, even if you don’t feel like it sometimes, get out there in the heat, in the cold, in the night even, it will pay off! Some people ask me how did you get such a nice Milky Way image, well I drove 5 hours out of my way and sat in a field for another 3 hours in the freezing cold to capture that one moment and then drove back again, some people just won’t do that and I think that’s sometimes the key, putting in the miles and the hours to get the shots others won’t.
3) Believe in yourself, you will question yourself over and over and you will self doubt, we all do but ultimately believe in yourself and your skills and you will find the right path.
Please share one of your favorite photos with us with a short tutorial:
Scottmccook: Photo Name : Turbo
How I did it : Wind Turbines are amazing things, especially at night. I went into this shoot wanting to bring something different back, so I thought I’d wait for the right Milky Way times and head out to see what I could do.
I use Stellarium on PC and OSX to plot the Milky Way times and course, awesome app but does take a bit of getting used to.
Once I’ve got my location and the time of the core rising I head out and setup, We found this turbine facing the right direction looking like it was blowing the Milky Way out.
So now we’re here at the right time, found the right turbine the trick is now making it all work.
First I plot in my camera settings, this bit is easy when shooting with familiar equipment, Nikon D810, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, F2.8, ISO 4000, Exp 20 seconds, get tripod setup firmly and I’m now ready to take the shot.
The last hurdle for this shot was the turbine itself, without any light and a long exposure all you end up with is a big white stick coming out of the ground so I got my Lenser P7 torch out of the bag and experimented with lighting up the blades, you can get some amazing effects by lighting up just one blade and following it around or just scanning over them all.
I went with following one blade in this shot and the result is what you see here, now I actually have some movement in my turbine the whole image comes together.
This image was taken at a wind farm north of Perth around midnight and my inspiration was to mix something man made that helps the environment with something beyond our planet.
Please share some thoughts on your ViewBug experience as a photographer!
Scottmccook: ViewBug has been a great place to share my photography with a highly active community and an excellent system to reward photographers for activity and helping others. I always enjoy seeing new work and also participating in the ever growing list of competitions, my experience so far has been awesome.
Enjoy more of Scottmccook's photos, visit his profile and award your favorite images!
