Evidently I don’t fall under the category of a “blogger” as my post consistency could quite reasonably be described as random. But rest assured that there will be content to fill the gaps in time for when this “blog” goes un-updated for. I have nothing against regular posting, but I’ll justify not doing it by not wanting my posts to feel ‘forced’, so I choose to ‘broadcast’ bits and pieces from recent experiences in non chronological order at varying times. But they will be shared some of them anyway. Enough rambling:

Wayne from GMV productions invited me to their shoot with Anne-Marie Lasserre, who had recently added the NABBA Universe title to her incredible list of achievements. After a couple emails soaked in fine literature from AM, I was not only looking forward to meeting her, but was quite flattered by the kind and enlightening reflections she had written about my work.

In town for a guest pose at the International, and only a few weeks out from her next competition, Anne-Marie was in great condition, and a pleasure to photograph as she filmed scenes for her future DVD.

A very dedicated and determined athlete, and a thrilling person.

I am still feeling some of the buzz from having the privilege to photograph such an incredible subject, and also from the photographic art that I was able to create. I photographed Kai Greene, after he had won the Arnold Classic & the Australian Pro Grand Prix this year.

This was a treasured experience. The biggest delight was actually seeing how down to earth he is as a person. Within a few short moments of meeting Kai, it felt like I had known him for years. A very genuine and considerate champion, not to mention an incredible artist!

After the Aussie show prejudging, having seen some of my work (thanks to our mutual friend Johnny), Kai greeted me and asked if it was at all possible for me to photograph him – do I need to write my response? (rhetorical ).

During the finals I watched from the side of the stage as I captured the show. In between amazing the crowded Plenary Hall under the spotlights, Kai would return to a chair behind the curtain, in the dark, lit only by some spill from the backstage blue lights; and continue scribbling away into what looked like a diary. As I investigated closer, my eyes adjusted enough under the low light to see that he was in fact drawing his incredibly acrobatic, complex and creative poses.

On paper, and in almost total darkness, the human figures looked very impressive. To see them executed in life (around 1am in Brunswick at Doherty’s gym), and to be able to paint these poses with my lights, was a truly surreal experience.

The following are some miniature previews of what I created from this very special photo session =)

Thank you Anzacs!

This past week I was up in Sydney shooting scenes for a film I’m making on a bodybuilder who was up there. On the day of the show it was quite a pleasant surprise to see how many female athletes were competing in the Australasian Championships. So in between filming, I was able to take a few snaps backstage capturing the beauty which brings an entire new dimension to the sport whilst being very, very competitive.

Click here to see a video compilation of the photographs I captured.

Superstar poet, and the mildly comedic Al Reidie has given me the privilege of answering a few questions for Musclediaries. This interview was a lot of fun!

I really admire the passion Al has for bodybuilding, laced between his great sense of humor and intelligently structured writing. Click here to read the interview.

In 2008 I attended the NABBA International contest to watch a friend compete and win the class 2 title. Since he would be on stage later in the competition, I made the mistake of arriving after the first few categories had passed. Then, the overalls came out. This is at the end of the show, to determine the overall winner judged from all class winners. I had made a very bad decision. I should have arrived at the beginning of the contest. For one very lucky reason.

Move forward in time to the current, twenty ten. It was rumored that the novice competitor who took the overall Mr International title in 2008 was going to hit the stage again. This time his sights were set on the International Federation of Body Building (IFBB). The mission, the NPFC All States Title.

The athlete: Lucky Hatzipantelis.

After hearing of this possibility, I managed to get in contact with Lucky and we began anticipating a photo session together. He was in Thailand at the time. I was also in Asia, visiting friends. But for Lucky, this was no holiday. With 110 percent focus, dedication and perseverance, he was preparing to do some damage on stage.  He delivered!  In his IFBB debut, Lucky Hatzipantelis earned the overall All States Championship title.

The morning after his victory, Lucky was flooded with the countries best physique photographers shooting for the magazines. Although his starvation was peaking, dehydrated, and low on energy, Lucky still phoned me ready to rock and roll. So I set out with my gear to shoot at the original Dohertys 24:7 gym in Brunswick on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Out came the chains, orange jumpsuit, and an incredibly freaky amount of vascularity!  Please enjoy the following parts (teasers) from that day

This past weekend was the weekend for competitive bodybuilding in Australia.

The IFBB Pro Show prejudging, was followed by an exceptional line up of amateur competitors fighting in the NPFC IFBB All States championships. Being placed backstage that day, I was able to capture a lot of memorable moments.  Congratulations to all competitors, you looked fantastic, making it a very high caliber contest for all the fortunate onlookers.

UPDATE: click here to see a video of all the moments I captured during the competition.

Hello! This is my first post, and attempt at my own blog. I could not ask for a more amazing post to start this blog off. So here I go: This weekend Tony Doherty hosted the IFBB pro bodybuilding show here in Australia. Just one week after the Arnold Classic, this show has attracted the “biggest baddest bodies in the world” (as Tony states), for the 10th time. And boy did he deliver as always, with an exceptional lineup of top professionals from a variety of countries. Tony is very passionate about bodybuilding which you can tell by just walking through his Brunswick gym. It is actually a photography museum full of all the great physiques throughout time. Of course, the floors are fully equipped with intense equipment to satisfy the gyms never closing operating hours.

After seeing some of my previous physique photography, Tony kindly offered me a full access pass to cover the event. So naturally I was in heaven! And this was just the beginning, believe me!!!  Photographing the show alone this weekend would have been awesome, but an opportunity requested to me was, and still seems too insanely rare to be true. But more on my very special physique shoot with a true artist later, as it deserves it’s own post… it’s own book actually!

Enough words. I have never taken this many photographs before. And cannot wait to go through them all. So here are just a few I randomly clicked from the many memory cards I filled at the pro show. Please enjoy this preview, and thank you so much for reading my first blog post Sincerely, Charles.  Now I can finally get some sleep.

UPDATE: click here to see all the moments I captured backstage at the Prejudging. And for the moments from the Finals, click here to see some of the best posing in the sport of Bodybuilding.

welcome to my blog! i finally have a functioning blog.

so here it is. or here it will be. soon

i take photos + film things.