Timothy Moon

Landscape | Last Updated: January 8, 2021

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G’day. My name is Timothy Moon and I’m a landscape and fine art photographer from Australia. I started my working life as an Architect but I now spend my time visiting beautiful places and trying to see the world around me with fresh eyes.

I love the challenge of visiting locations and coming away with unique compositions that help capture and tell the story of a place.

I bought my first full-frame camera, a Nikon D810 in 2016, and paired it with a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens for a trip to Iceland. The landscapes of Iceland didn’t disappoint, and the detail that I captured with the full-frame sensor was a delight.

Recently I won a Nikon D850 in a photography competition, so I now have the luxury of two full-frame bodies. I love the dynamic range of the sensor in the Nikon D850, the extra pixels for detail, the touch screen and the wi-fi connectivity.

The majority of my gear is Nikon, and I tend to buy new lenses for a particular purpose as my skill as a photographer develops, or my interests change.

The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G is my go-to lens for landscapes. If I am tight for space, travelling or hiking, I will use a Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens. A very versatile and compact lens, giving lots of options for exploring foreground compositions within a larger landscape backdrop.

The Nikon 105mm f/1.4 is a fantastic portrait lens, but I have also found it useful for aerial photography. A great focal length and the sharpness is perfect for picking out the details in the abstract artwork of mother nature from a light aircraft.

In the wide landscapes of Iceland, and back home here in Australia, the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II is great for concentrating on the detail of the landscape or abstracting the natural features.

I recently purchased a Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 to complete the focal range, the results of compressing urban landscapes, capturing wildlife and landscape detail are very satisfying. I also use a Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 lens on the Nikon D810 for street photography.

There are a couple of specialty items in my kit, ready for particular images that I like to capture. The first is a tilt-shift lens that I use for Architectural imagery. Great for keeping the verticals and assembling interior panoramas.

The second is a Sony a7R III camera that I had converted to Infrared, for black and white landscape imagery. The Sony a7R III is paired with a versatile Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS lens.

Capturing unique images of a location has also led to a DJI Mavic Pro 2 being taken to places where drone flights are permitted.

To carry my kit I use a Miggo Agua 90 Stormproof Versa Backpack. Whether it is snow, ice, sand or the splash at the local rock platform, the finish and configuration have proved flexible and durable for all occasions.

Many of my images are by the water, so a waterproof Sirui W-2204 Tripod is my selection. The lightweight carbon fibre is sturdy and great for travel. To support the Nikon gear I chose a larger ball head.

I use Adobe Photoshop for post-processing my images. I don’t use presets in my editing, as every image is different, and the light, colour and mood I want to bring out of the raw file varies.

I recommend that you always carry water, a hat and a beanie in your backpack, along with a head torch, a lens cloth, spare batteries and a spare SD card. So many times I have had a ‘quick shoot’ extended by a change in weather conditions or lighting opportunities.

Consider your footwear and match it to the conditions. In Iceland in winter, microspikes are essential to be sure-footed. Back home on the ocean rock platforms of Sydney, neoprene rock boots with spikes are a must.

In the tropics, neoprene reef boots are great for the sharp coral sands and wading in the shallows.

Landscape photography gives me an excuse to do what I love, which is to explore the world and the beauty of the landscapes that are available.

The beauty I find can be pretty and colourful, also harsh and challenging. Beauty comes in many forms. I often need to visit a location three times or more to appreciate and understand the unique sense of the place on offer.

Consider not taking a camera on your first visit to a location to help you focus, enjoy, absorb, explore and understand. This will inform the photographs you choose to take later, and guide how you tell your story.

www.tmatelier8.format.com | @tmatelier8

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