What camera equipment do you use?
When I originally started shooting for the Oceanart Gallery I mainly used Canon EOS film cameras and a full range of their lenses from 15mm fisheye through to 600mm telephoto. After a little while I also started using medium format film cameras. These included the Fuji 617 panoramic camera with 90mm, 180mm and 300mm lenses. This camera creates a film transparency 6cm x 17cm which allowed me to create very large and stunning prints. I also used a Pentax 67 medium format camera. Whilst I don't use the Canon film cameras much today I still do use the Fuji and Pentax medium format cameras when the conditions are perfect. My film of choice is Fuji Velvia.
All of my film images are scanned using our Hasselblad/Imacon Flextight 646 vitual drum scanner.
Today I also shoot many of my images using Canon digital SLR cameras which currently include the 1Ds MkIII, 5D MkII and now also the Canon 1D Mk IV and 7D though for my Gallery images the 1Ds and 5D are my cameras of choice. The 1D Mk IV and 7D are mainly used for my surfing action images. The vast majority of Gallery images today I shoot either using the new Canon 17mm tilt shift lens, as well as the 14mm f2.8 and 16-35mm f2.8 lenses and sometimes the 15mm (now 8-15mm) fisheye. I will often use the 70-200mm f2.8 zoom and 300mm f2.8 as well. Occasionally when I am looking for something out of the ordinary I might use the 600m f4.0 or 800mm f5.6 lenses though these are mainly used for surfing images. I have been lucky enough to have been doing this for a good while now so I have been able to build up a good range of Canon lenses over the fullness of time.
Do you use Water Housings for your cameras?
Yes. Originally I made the housings myself but realised to be able to get all the functionality that I required from the cameras in the water was technically beyound me. Around 1996 I discovered Alan Love down in Bulli who was making way more functional housings than I could ever hope to do. I got Alan to make me housings for both my Canon EOS 1 and 5 cameras and have been using his housings ever since. Today Alan's business is called Aquatech and is used by most of the leading photographers around the world. I reckon I must have been one of Alan's earliest customers and have had about ten housings from him since including video housings. Today I have four. One for the 5D Mk II, one for the 7D, one for the 1D Mk IV/1Ds Mk III and I have kept my old housing for the 1D Mk III and set it up for flash.
What computer equipment and software do you use?
I am a PC user. For no particular reason other than I always have been. Currently I use Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. I import all my images through Lightroom and do the basic work there. To finish off the images I export to Photoshop. Unfortunately today with digital images you do need to develop a reasonable amount of skill with these tools. I work very hard to get the images as perfect as possible in the camera so I don't have much to do in the computer but with digital you will always need to work on the images in some way in post production (in the computer). This is really no different to film in a sense in that with film you took the photo with the camera and then developed the image in a darkroom and printed it using dodge and burn techniques that are available today for digital images in Photoshop. Today using the digital darkroom it is much easier and much more enviromentally friendly.
Film images are different. Very little work is done in the computer other than digitising and maybe a little tweaking with saturation and contrast.
Why do you only shoot Images in and around the Ocean?
I have been a surfer for most of my life and grew up on the beach in Cronulla. I have a love and a passion for surfing and the beach culture and as a result I only ever had a desire to shoot images around the ocean and the beach.
Are your Oceanart Gallery prints Limited Edition?
YES. All our Oceanart Gallery printes are limited edition. Our panoramic prints are limited to 100 in the range and our standard format (35mm) prints are limited to 250. Occasionally if we have a truely unique print we will limit this to 25 but of course they are a great deal more expensive.
Our limited edition range includes all sizes of print. We have noticed a tendancy in the market today to claim that prints are limited to say 25 but what they don't tell you is that it is 25 in every conceivable size you could think of. This is done to increase the perceived value of a print and therefore charge you more. What the customer often does not realise is that in reality there could be hundreds of their limited edition print in the market in varying sizes. We believe this is not strictly honest, unless of course they are upfront about the actual amount of prints being sold in a range which we have found they are not generally unless you ask.
All our Oceanart prints come signed and numbered.
We do release a range of our prints on t-shirts, postcards and greeting cards that are outside the limited edition range.
Are your Images printed on Bubble Jet printers?
Absolutely NOT! We use a Professional Photo Lab to process all our prints. All Oceanart prints come standard printed on Kodak Endura Metallic photographic paper using a photographic process (Durst Lambda). They are all of archival quality. Whilst our prints come standard printed on metallic paper they can also be ordered printed on matt, gloss or super gloss paper (super gloss is at an additional cost). We also print on canvas.
Do you sell your Oceanart Images as Digital Files?
No we DO NOT sell our Oceanart Gallery images as digital files. We do sell our surfing images from the Surf Images website as high resolution digital files as these are images of individuals with no real use other than for the individual in the image. These images do, however, come with tight copyright restrictions (see the "how to purchase an image" notice on the Surf Images website).
Why do you only sell prints from the Oceanart Online (website) Gallery?
We only sell prints from the online gallery because of difficulties with shipping/postage. It is very expensive to courier framed or mounted prints particularly so as to ensure they do not break in transit. It is far more cost effective for you, the customer, to buy the print from us online and then take the print to your local framer for framing. This also gives you the opportunity to select your own frame that suits your need. All framed and acrylic mounted prints must be ordered through and collected from our Gallery in Caringbah.
Do you sell framed prints from the Oceanart Gallery at Caringbah?
YES. We have on display in our Gallery a full range of framing options. These include:
- Timber frames
- Acrylic mounted metallic prints
- Acrylic block mounts
- Canvas mounted prints
We also have framed and mounted prints available from our framer, Art and Mirror Framing located in the The Shire Centre on Captain Cook Dr, Caringbah and also from the Cronulla Newsagency who are located at the northern end of The Cronulla Mall.
If I order a framed or mounted print how long will it take?
To fill an order for a framed or mounted print will take the following time frames:
- Timber frames - 7 working days
- Acrylic mounted metallic prints - 10 working days
- Acrylic block mounts - 10 working days
- Canvas mounted prints - 5 working days
We do have a large number of framed and acrylic mounted prints in stock ready for immediate purchase at our Caringbah Gallery.
Are your prints available anywhere else besides the Oceanart Gallery or Online?
Yes, Oceanart framed and mounted prints can be puchased from our framer "Art and Mirror Framing" in the Shire Centre on Captain Cook Drive, Caringbah or from the Cronulla Newsagency at the northern end of the Cronulla Mall. There is also a full range of either 20x30 cm or 15x45 cm matt boarded prints on sale at both outlets ready for framing. They make excellant gifts or easy packing for tourists to take back home with them.
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Links
Surf Images
Oceanart Gallery Opening Times
Please call us on 02 9526 2101 or 0417 679 041 for Gallery opening times.
Gallery Location
Unit 9, 16-18 Northumberland Rd Caringbah NSW.
Oceanart is also located at
Art & Mirror Framing and The Cronulla Newsagency.
Art & Mirror Framing
Oceanart has a Gallery in our framers Art & Mirror Framing.
They are located at Unit 21, 65-75 Captain Cook Dr, Caringbah.
Phone: 02 9531 6161.
Their opening times are 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday and 10 am to 2 pm Saturday.
Cronulla NewsAgency
Oceanart has Framed, Acrylic and Matt Boarded Images for sale at the Cronulla Newsagency located at the Northern end of the Cronulla Mall
60 x 40 inch mounted Canvas
