Photos, Drawings, Thoughts and Tantrums

I am really not the type to flaunt my achievements, but this was a big moment for me, winning the Silver Medal Award at the Malta Photographic Society's National Exhibition 2021 in the Monochrome Projected images category.  This was really important to me, since I proved to myself that I can pre-envisage a photograph. I say this since the original idea of this photo, came around on the very instance I had met the model herself, Eliza, a fantastic & unique Maltese model and hairstylist. In brief, I had shared my wish to photograph her since day one, which was about 6 months prior actually getting down to doing the shoot and submitting the photo for the National Exhibition! The title was kept simple - I wanted to portray Eliza (of IZA) as she is so I thought the best title for this photograph was "SHE"  I hope you like this photograph and you are welcome to comment and or share your thoughts. Visit www.wilcam.net to view more of my photography. 'SHE' by Wil Ca...

 I just realised that I have never shared the actual full panel of my MIPP Award in photography qualification.  The base concept of the shoot was motion, for which I opted to use a dancer on a local Maltese beach and capture motion of the dancer herself, water and sand.  Below you will find a full image of all the 20 images of the panel together and also a link to the full album for the individual photos on Flickr .  Click on the image below to view album 

I always try to look for simple subject with which I can create a wow factor, or even better an emotion. Here I 'played' around with a fork and the shadows it creates, which I found fascinating in their simplicity.  All photos available on Picfair and on Redbubble .

Being limited with access to models, I resorted to think of some alternative & fun photography ideas using various objects - one of which was : Fruit.  I played around with a cheeky approach to Fetish Photography, which was not entirely easy when you have only a couple of fruits as models, but the results where the following :  Chained Apple : A cheeky play with BDSM, chains & fetish ideas, whilst using water as the dynamic medium to created movement in the photograph. Photograph available on Picfair for licensed use & Red Bubble for framed prints and other various merchandise. Rubbered Apple  : Rubber fetish play with a Green apple and rubber gloves, creating a dark & surreal background for the inconspicuous fruit.   Photograph available on  Picfair  for licensed use &  Red Bubble  for framed prints and other various merchandise. Banana Shower  : Not entirely a 'Fetish' shot, but an inspiration from the extremely ...

Rabat , in Malta, is my birthplace and it does hold a special place in my heart. It's old, very old and it is the town just outside the old capital city of Mdina - that is from where the name "Rabat" (from Arabic to tie) is actually derived.  Unfortunately, Rabat, like any other town, village and city in Malta, is being systematically 'destroyed' for the sake of 'progress'. Old iconic and artistic buildings are destroyed daily to make way for heartless, unimpressive boxes to cram in as many people as possible. The few buildings which escape this onslaught are turned into bed & breakfast or 'boutique' hotels - well as always 'money is king'!! Greed is seriously hindering us Maltese from realizing, that our past, which includes these old roads, old buildings and other items the 'modern' Maltese sees as unpractical and passé, are actually the things tourist come for and we are simply cutting the hand that actually feeds us.   Still...

 So, I thought of trying out some projection photography. Since this was a trial I opted to use a rather docile model, quite and very obedient - basically a mannequin 😊 Also I managed to borrow a projector since a good projector, is not something you buy cheaply and obviously wanted to avoid having to purchase one for just a trial - eventually I will get one since now I have other cool ideas for this style which I would love to try out.  I settled on 3 main trial themes illustrated below - let me know what you think in the comments .  Social Head F*** : Depiction of the fast life we are pushed into by social media.  Head Lines : An abstract rendition of our obsession to chasing news headlines or avoiding them for some! Migraine : Abstraction of the burning sensation brought by constant pressure. View these images and more on my PicFair Store 

Here are some chosen photos that you can purchase from my Redbubble Shop .  You can choose to have them framed, printed as Art Board or Wall Art, even on Metal Sheet print and why not some are even on t-shirts and wearables. Click on the photos to go to the specific item page or visit my Shop Here . Calm - Click here to view Pigeons' Morning Flight - Click here to view Splash - Click here to view When Passion Takes Over - Click here to view Cocktail - Click here to view A Splash of Coffee - Click here to view Check these out and my other designs & items and do let me know what you think!    

I decided to use Motion as my theme of choice for the final Panel for the MIPP SIA. The idea was to create photographs which depict motion in dance and water.  Having the right model was crucial and here I would like to thank the amazing Isabel Borg for being my model and help me construct this panel. 

So I tried to do some “levitation” photography with a Broken mug. The concept is very easy but it's quite lengthy and requires a bit of patience to get the things done correctly.  At first my approach was to be as ‘realistic’ as possible, but then I resorted to aim towards a more surrealistic final image, just to add a bit of fun into it.  The setup, was quite simple indeed (2 light stands with a mid support to tie the mug parts) and I used 2 X Speedlight flashes for the background lighting and front highlights. The difficult part comes when ‘hanging’ the pieces of porcelain and here Live View in Capture One really helps, since you can actually see all the composition and arrange stuff as you go along.  Here is the final image:  The Coffee Pour - Wil Camilleri

Some of my Light Painting Photo experiments.... Light Painting Whisky Glass Light Painting Book Alessi Characters - Light Painting Alessi Characters - Light Painting 2

I started experimenting with Splash photography, using water droplets, using flash (in this case speed-lights) to capture the freeze moment. The set up, as shown below, is relatively easy. Although I managed to get some decent images out of it, I want to explore better ways of doing this to maximize the instances of getting the “perfect splash”. Work in Photoshop for this was quite minimal and involved mainly removing stray drops and retouching the ‘horizon’ so its fully level - the rest was all coming directly from the camera. An this is the image achieved. Splash Photo Setup

In these times of being stuck at home and needing to be a bit creative, even making yourself a quick drink can become a source of inspiration. That's what I tried to do here and before indulging in the art of slowly savoring a glass of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey , I took a couple of shots to capture the pouring of this fabulous liquid. For the Whisky purists, yes I do like and appreciate Scotch, but I also enjoy other takes on the spirit, even the so called "commercial" ones - but this is all about the photos and I hope you like one I have for you today!  Pouring a glass of Jack Daniel's Whiskey  

I decided to go out for a brisk walk and take my small Lumix Gx9 along with me. I wasn’t very sure what I was going to shoot since I am very familiar with the route and thus I decided that I try to look around (& up) and notice interesting subjects to shoot. Actually it was a great experience and coupling it with the Covid19 ideology of lock-down, solitude etc. actually worked out for some of the images.  Below are a choice of the photos taken: Isolation - A 'lonely' car in empty car park in Valletta Malta California Dreaming Moving Reflections - Reflections on a moving bus. Solitude - a buoy floating in calm seas. Doors, Windows & Stairs

Here I tried to do some splash photography. I took some pointers from a YouTube video by  Curtis Padley (if you want to see this video which features other cool home made photo techniques click here )  This was very simple indeed and all you need is:  - A Wine Glass - An Orange or a Lemon (or other fruit which tickles your fancy, but which fits in a wine glass!)  - Water  - A Dark Colour Backdrop The best way I found is to set up the camera on a tripod and focus directly on the glass and then switch the focus to manual focus to lock it. Then just let the fruit fall in the wine glass (try to aim not like my first attempts) and snap away.  Obviously after you need to tweak a bit in Photoshop or Lightroom to get the colour balance and the contrast of the background.  The result was as follows  Home made splash photography 

I am not the patient type and I find it quite difficult to work with inanimate objects, but I thought of giving it a go and try to get some cool photos out of this period when, like everyone, I am stuck at home!  So basically the experiments were mainly long exposure on a record player quite early in the morning..... Long exposure record spin & water, oil & ink macro trials. Bubbles What have you been doing in lock down? Photography wise or otherwise 😏

In January 2020, I had the opportunity to take on a short Street Photography course with Martin Agius , one of Malta's finest photographers at MIPP . The great thing about the experience was that we were given "tasks", but also left with full creative freedom and the criticism was mainly based on technique which eventually is what leads you to have a fantastic photo at the end. I am adding three shots from the class for your comments! Mourning Reflections The Floater  

Yes the Aristocrats Band were in Malta again on Sunday 9th September 2018, thanks to PS:Music , which is currently getting over amazing names of talented and legendary artists like, the Aristocrats themselves, with the likes of  Guthrie Govan , Bryan Beller , and Marco Minnemann , the guitar master himself,  Steve Vai , who was in Malta in March 2018 with a memorable Masterclass, Plini and much more!!.   Here are some photos from the gig!   Guthrie Govan Marco Minnemann Bryan Beller, Next in line is Tony MacApline on October 15th at 8pm Teatru Salesjan in Sliema Malta . Looking forward to some snaps there also :)

I always loved photos of pouring liquids or slow motion grabs, so I tried experimenting with some #whisky pouring - which is one of my favourites - for Instagram . The following was shot on a Canon 5D Mark 2 with a Canon F2.8 Macro lens. The #usual #problem #it #finishes #too #quickly - #whiskey #whisky #nowyouseemenowyoudont #pouring #glasses #video #malta #whiskylove #whiskylover #whiskymagazine #cheers #maltese #scotch #glencairn @theglencairnglass A post shared by Wil Camilleri (@wilcam) on Dec 14, 2017 at 2:11am PST

Last October I was asked by a friend of mine, who is an upcoming makeup artist, to take some photographs of some special effects make up for Halloween. Was a fun two days with three different models and quite a cool concept, Horror Fairy Tale characters : Alice in Wonderland, Red Riding Hood and Snow White. Here are some of the photos from the shoot!

Yet another experiment with Go Pro time lapse photography - Sunrise in wonderful Udaipur in India!