There’s a style of photography, or more accurately, subreddit for photos, that accidentally resemble Renaissance style art. This @Instagram post gives some examples of these photos.

Going through photos from Risk it for the brisket last night, this photo of stood out. Not for the activity; rather for the composition.

I was told to stop taking photos and I ate a massive donut 🍩 Welcome to my second YouTube video: A photo walk through Wooloomooloo and Potts Point, Sydney.

I've documented people and locations through photography and videography for many years, but have not turned the camera on myself and my practice. This is my first video documenting places I photograph in my personal work.

Manual focus. It’s rare that I don’t use autofocus, especially in my professional work. One part of going on photo walks is to experiment creatively; be it location, composition or technique.

Manual focus isn’t as hard as it sounds, especially when you are shooting at F8 or have focus peaking in-camera. However, it is another element to composing a photo that helps you slow down and enjoy the moment even more.

That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day: Enjoyment.

I sometimes get FOMO when shooting gym events, wanting to participate rather than taking photos.

However, after seeing the first wave of competitors go through Workout 3 and onto Workout 4 of The Cube Gym Internal Competition, I had no regrets about being behind the camera. Continued below…

CrossFit Open Workout 26.3: Friday Night Lights at Be Athletic Fitness, Brookvale.

Short & sweet today:

Tried some new things. Some looked great. Some didn’t. But that’s all part of learning new techniques and equipment.

Good things come to those who wait.

The below photos and link to gallery are only a small selection of what I took on the night. I’m currently way from Sydney without access to my main hard drive which I have all of the photos on. That being said, the below are a selection of what I saw as the best images that I had available on my memory card from my Sony camera. The Leica images will come later on.

As soon as you think things are slowing down, they ramp up again. That’s my fault for putting out into the universe that I had a gap between shoots and didn’t feel like I was using my time wisely. To counter what I thought was going to be a slow period, I re-registered to complete my sub-7kg Drone Pilot licence; something I studied for pre-Covid then never sat the test (stupid).

I originally started classic photography as a means to create content for Rx Smart Gear Australia. I say classic photography as my first interest in photography was drone photography.

On 1st January 2025, I posted a photo and added a caption “Day 1/365”. At the time I didn’t have plan to post 1 photo every day for 365 days, but that’s what it turned out being for a while, and then I stopped.

If you competed at Battle of the Ages at Benton Gym over the weekend, this blog post is for you.

The Surfing Whale is AI. It’s a fake video. That’s what people say on social media!

The collab I never thought I’d do.

I studied photography for 2 years. I completed a Certificate IV in Photography & Digital Imaging in 2022 and then a Diploma of Photography & Digital Imaging in 2023, and was awarded the Student Excellence Award. It’s a fancy way of saying I completed all of my assignments on time, ha!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks juggling work and travel up and down the coast after the passing of my Dad. To be honest, it’s been a difficult few weeks and I’m emotionally drained, so getting a few hours to get creative is a nice break for my brain.

Remember what I said in my last Blog? Practice the 5 P’s: Practice Parts Promotes Perfect Performance.

Classical music and fitness complement each other so well. The foray back into fitness content is in full swing.

Retouching in Photoshop is an important part of a photographers workflow. I happen to like editing, so although being time-consuming, I welcome the challenge if there’s something that’s out of place. I get immense satisfaction when comparing the original to the final photo. Sometimes I learn a new method in the process.

About a week ago I put a question up on my Instagram story: Can anyone recommend a good pen? I should have asked Peter McKinnon.

Daniel Cook, @mrdanielcook, Photographer and this isn’t a blog. I’d like to think of it more of my thoughts and feelings about my approach to my photography.