Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Michael Ellem on the Photographer's Journey

Transcript

Michael Ellem on the Photographer's Journey · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: host Scott Brady, and I'm here with a great friend
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and one of the most incredible overland photographers in the world,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Michael Elham. Thank you Michael for being with me on
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the podcast today.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Jeers mine, I'm actually flat fair enough. It's great to
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: have you back in Australia. We shared some great tom
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: in twenty eleven. We did sure the Flinda's and through
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: some amazing places that I love and you definitely enjoyed that,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: but I did. Now that you're taking one off the
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: bucket list, you're heading to kite, you ok with us
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: and it's great to have you on board.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: And a special thanks to on X for supporting this
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: week's podcast. Are you tired of searching for a campsite
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: only to find it packed or off limits? With on
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: X off Roads new Motorized Disperse Camping Layer, you can
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: now see legal off grade camping spots in national forests
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: in the app. Plan ahead, avoid the crowds and camp confidently,
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: knowing you're on public land where it's allowed. Download on
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: X off Road today and find your own space. Thanks again, on.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: X, Thank you Michael. The Cape York Trip is one
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of the more remote and technical tracks in Australia. The
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: other one that comes to mind often is going to be,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: of course, the Canning Stock because it's so long. It's
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: the longest unsupported overland track in the world. So Australia
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: has got a lot. If you want to get remote
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and you want to see some really incredible deserts, Australia
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: is the place to come. But what makes Cape York
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: so unique is the fact that we're in a subtropical
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: region of the world. So we're in Oceania, we're in Australia,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: but we're in this subtropical region of your country. When
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: one of the things that maybe we'll start off with
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: kind of the conversation is tell me your top two
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: or three most favorite places that you love to travel
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: in Australia.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a real tough one, mate, I know it is.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: It is a lot of it. Yeah, I do actually
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: have a favorite place in Australia. She's in the Simpson Desert.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: It's a particular sand dune that I just love to
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: go to.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Let's not tell everybody where that's out.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it literally is a spot where you normally pass
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: through a region and I know the gune that it's on,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: and I just travel about three hundred meters south of
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the spot that you cross over, and I try and
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: capture imagery of that every time I go there. I've
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: taken people to it. People staying in the Bursville Hotel,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I'll tell them, in order to see the Simpson Desert
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: the way that it should be, you need to get
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: there early. And to get there early, it's two hours
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: before dawn you arrive on the scene, and every time
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: it takes my breaf away. But the situation is everything's
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: just pitch black, and I'll tell people to sit to
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: watch what's watch the specula spectacle, just to watch the scene.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: And as the sun it starts to rise, well before sunrise,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: the colors developed, and that's the true life to me,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and the color spectrum of the Simpson Desert. So as
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: soon as that sun hits the horizon, it's that probably
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: ten minutes and then that's color's gone.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right that moment.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're capturing images that might be captured. You're taking
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: twenty second exposures in the dark, and you're capturing that
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: color anyway. But for the people that are watching with
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: their eyes, the naked eye. There's just that moment in time.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: It's absolutely stunning.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: That was when I first learned the term specky was
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: from you actually on that twenty eleven trip.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: That's so funny.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: But what's amazing is that you've spent twenty eight years
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: as a professional photographer and cinematographer chasing the light. I've
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: watched you do that. You take that period of time
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: in the morning and that period of time towards the
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: end of the day very seriously. Of course, we have
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: to as a documentary folks, we have to capture things
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: all day long. But if we're lucky that something really
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: special happens in that very narrow window of time, it's
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: usually a world.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think there's something I say is that it's
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the saying that I have that all the blokes that
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: shoot with me, or the people that shoot with me,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: they're on shoots, say, the sun doesn't wait for anyone, right,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: You're on a time schedule. You have to be there,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: you have to be prepared, you have to be committed
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: to that shot. So you know the shot that you're after,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: you can visualize it. The best thing about the morning
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I think is that you plan, you head out there,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: you go for that shot that you're after, that you
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: want to achieve, but you've got no idea what the
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: weather's going to give you. Is the cloud going to
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: be covering that spot on the horizon where the sun's
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: just popping through, or is the sun going to give
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: you some amazing picture. That's the thing that's that is
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: pretty special. But we normally go to a lot of
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: trouble to plan the shot that we want for the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: start of the day and the end of the day,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: and then everything in between. We normally use. We go
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: to a lot of trouble of using lighting to make
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: things look better than they actually look in the middle
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: of the day. The harsh sunlight in the middle of
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: the day is not great to shoot in. But you
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: still need to deliver shots and imagery all the way
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: through the day and create a bulk of content that
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: is going to help the client. So utilizing studio lighting
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: to make that better makes something that looks a bit
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: harsh look more special. Yeah, it's amazing thing.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I've actually been on a there's a wallabie coming through
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the camp here. I love that. I love that I've
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: actually been on a shoot where they were using lights
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that were so powerful they were stronger than the sun. Yep,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and it could create I've never done that. I'm not
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: that good of a photographer, but I take what nature
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: gives me. But I can see because all of your
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: imagery always looks it looks uniquely you, and it's now
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the look of AR. It looks now it's the look
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of ARB. Because you've been ARB's principal photographer for decades
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and was one of the most important companies in the
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: overland industry. To have that position is very cool. It's
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: a very neat thing to be for you to be
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: able to usher.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: I am extremely proud of what I've helped achieve for ABBA,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: but I'm also extremely committed, and I'm proud of the
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: fact that we've got a really good, strong association with
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Alba and the people. It's a family run business originally,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: and we've got good connections with the k people, but
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: a lot of new people have come through. And what
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: I'm really pleased about is that someone will just at
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the say in head office. I'm gonna be down there
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: in head office and someone would just walk up to
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: me and I've got no idea who this person is
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: someone new and they just go, I love the imagery
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: that you've been producing. Oh, that's pretty cool. Hearing things
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: like that it makes it more rewarding. So I do
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: thrive on I think the whole team thrives on that
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: little paceive knowledge that someone appreciates what you've achieved. And
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: when you do hear that someone loves a shot that
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: you've taken, it makes you even try harder again to
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: make the next shot even better.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: It's fine, I see it, and you do that, you
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and your team. I watched you guys work all day long,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: and you and your team worked all day long to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: get those great shots. And I was asking some of
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the principles at ARB that are on this trip, and
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: when I was at head office, what do you think
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: about Michael Ellam And they had lots of wonderful things
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: to say about you, your character, your work ethic, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: everything else like that. But the thing that was universal
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: across that has been your loyalty to the brand. And
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: that's something that when you work with an organization at
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: that level of quality and you can be in that position,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: it can create an entire career. And it's done that
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: for you. If you were to give some advice to
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: a photographer or a cinematographer in any day any anymore
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: today you have to be both. Usually, what advice would
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: you give to someone who's getting started in photography and
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: videography ways that they can create a career like you've done.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Can I just go back first too? They coming you
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: out about the low to the brand. I think I'll
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: get that from my parents. Yeah, yeah, great people.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good. It's amazing what what our parents can
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: do they can give us.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: So they I think they brought our whole family out
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: really well. By to a company like Abbe, it's pretty easy.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: They're great people. At the end of the day, I
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: feel the brand is the best brand in the whole
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: of the world. All right, for full drug equipment, the
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: way that they've set everything up brilliant. But for me,
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I think it goes back to my parents, the fact
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: that they broke me up a certain way, and there's
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: no way I'm going to do the wrong thing by
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: a company like ab and I think that's probably worked
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: well at the end of the day for.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Me, you're thinking long term, that's probably what your parents thought.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: I always think of long term.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And if you do sometimes you got to take
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: some hits in the short term, but if you always
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: think long term it all in my experience, it almost
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: always works out. And yeah, it's funny. My story is
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: not much different. When we were starting Overland Journal, we
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: had gotten a couple smaller advertisers, people that really believed
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: in us, but I hadn't landed one that would really
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: become a hallmark that I could use as maybe an
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: a to get other larger advertisers in the magazine. And
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: I went and I had a meeting with Chris Wood,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: which you'll remember that arbusa And that was in two
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: thousand and four, two thousand and five, before I'd even
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: done the printed the first issue of the magazine, and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: they took a risk on us, and they let me
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: borrow a car, and then Lisa Wood came on board,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: and then Lisa signed up for an ad campaign. She
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: is fabulous. In fact, I just saw not that long ago.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: She works for a company called Velocity Restorations now and
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: she's an amazing and she was on that trip with
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: us in twenty eleven. And so if it wasn't for
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: arb taking a risk on this bald guy who has
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: an idea of a magazine, I probably wouldn't have had
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the career that I did. I certainly we don't do
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: any advertorial on this podcast. I'm just expressing my gratitude
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: for a company that allowed me to really change my life.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: And that's why we're here. We're here to celebrate the
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: fiftieth anniversary of an incredible company, but even beyond that,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: we're here to celebrate you as well, in your career
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: that you've had. That was why I was so excited
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: when I heard that you were going to be on
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: this trip, because I've always wanted to get you on
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the podcast. You've been on my list for the podcast
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: since we started it in twenty nineteen. You've been on
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: the list. I need to have a chat with Michael Allen,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: but I never got back to Australia at the right
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: time for us to be able to do that, and
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: the universe provides.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: In my Avalanche, General Had, I had to put it
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: in a really important place where I've got all my
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: old cameras that I've run for many years and retired cameras,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: and it's actually sitting up the top of those cameras
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: in our studio.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: I love you said, it's a little tattern.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: It's got to rerought through that.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we need to get you, to get you.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: It's hilarious. But I wore that we've prided for so
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: many years because I really enjoyed the time that we
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: spent twenty eleven.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: And also if your work, thank you, and you as
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: a photographer, you have to appreciate the oversized magazine, the
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: quality of paper we use. We print it three hundred
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: DEPI and so it can make your photos look a
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: little bit becky, it can make them look specky. So
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: let's come back full circle to that question on for
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the listener that has a passion for photography and cinematography.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: So the number one thing for me that I would
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: suggest to any photographer or film person, anyone that's in
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: the industry, is definitely follow your passion. You might go
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: through some really hard times with what you're doing, and
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: you might have to crack the right client to make
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: everything work. But at the end of the day, things
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: might be difficult, things might be easy. You're most likely
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: going to have hard times before you have the good times.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: The number one thing that I would say is make
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: sure that you follow your style, your own style. Don't
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: try and kick off the back of someone else's style
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: and say, oh, I like the way this person does this,
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: and just hone in on that. Come up with you,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: develop your own style and rejoice that enjoy it. I
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: definitely have my own style of working. Even my photographers
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: and film people that work with me on photo shoots,
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I will say this is the shot I need. I'll
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: mark a crossing the ground and I will say this
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: is the shot that I need to line up with
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the shots that I'm creating. I need that key shot.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: But anything above that just go. Your artists enjoy, Just
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: bring your own style into Introduce your own style into
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: the shots that we're doing because it's good for them.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: But definitely do not get saturated with following someone else's style.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Develop your own, find something you really love and just
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: do it. Yeah, it makes it more It makes it
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: more special for you at the.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: End of the day anyway, and keep working on it.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: It's hard to come quick. Technology that's available nowadays is
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: it makes things a lot easier. So my original days
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: in photography with film, I would literally I would take
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: film feeding into a camera, I'd send it off for development.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: I'd write down notes on everything. Every aspect of every
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: shot that I would do, and I'd send it off
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: and I'd bring it come back, and I go, how
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: does that work? That doesn't make sense? Why is it
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: happening like this? One day? I just it just clicked,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: And there's this thing called aperture. Right. The aperture to me,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: you can change on a camera, On a stills camera,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: you can change IO, you can change shutter speed on
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: an image that you're creating. For something that's static, you
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: can change ISO and shutter speed. The only thing that's
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: going to change the look of an image is aperture
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: right now, apart from exposure. You can change all these
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: different things to get everything lined up, but the one
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: thing that will make the difference to the look of
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: an image is aperture. So if you can figure out
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: how this aperture thing works, and if you can really
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: hone in on what you are trying to achieve with
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: creating that image, whether you're photographing someone in a scene
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: with a beautiful view in the background where you need
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: a large number aperture which is a small aperture to
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: get great depth fulfilled so that you can see the
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: person and you can see the background, or do you
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: want to make that person really special and use a
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: really big aperture, which is a small number. So back
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: in the film days, that was really confusing how that works,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: and we're limited to the resources that we have. Nowadays
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: you can jump on a podcast and find out all
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: this information. Yeah, definitely follow your own style and figure
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: out this thing called aperture. And if you're new to photography,
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: new to filmmaking, aperture will make a world of difference
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: to what you're trying to achieve.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: And one of the things that I think is most important,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: not only for photography but for overlanding is you don't
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: need to spend a bunch of money on equipment. If
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: I was to give you an entry level full frame
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: sony body and an eighty five millimeter one point eight
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: and a thirty five millimeter two point eight, you'd be
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: able to get ninety something percent of what you do
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: every day and you wouldn't have to spend twenty thirty
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: forty thousand dollars on equipment. So I think when you're first,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: when people are first getting started with photography, I actually
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: encourage people not to get a zoom, get a fifty
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: millimeter prime and move move, around, get up there, yeah,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: move the camera, get down low, move back. I think
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: you're way better off with that one point eight than
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the flexibility of an F four. Move your body and
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: play with the apperture.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: So if you've got to fifty MILLI leans and it
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: doesn't look arous, we'll way back. Yeah, check everything on board.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: There's a signing. It's a really saying for photographers, and
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: that is the best camera that you have. The best
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: camera is the one that you have with you at
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: the time. And it's so true. There was a couple
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: that I was talking to the other day and the
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: girl involved, she's saying, ah, but I've only got this
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: iPhone eleven, and I said, and you should be posting more.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you post more on your Instagram. And the
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: guy's going, you know, but she's going to get a
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: sixteen or something, and I said, just post more. It
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter what you've got. Whatever camera you have is
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: the one that you can create with. It's more about
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: composition when it comes to a phone. If you can
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: see something, you look at it and you go, oh, yeah,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: that was good. A lot of time from that spot,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: it's not the best spot. Just crouching down or moving
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: just move the camera.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Or get a little elevation claim up on that right
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: is at a different perspective.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, But whether you've got an iPhone eleven or
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: R one cannon, like an R one Canon, it's really
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: nice to use, but so is an iPhone. It's quite
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: fun to use. But whatever you're using, you should be
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: able to create. What the concept is to me is
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: what you're doing is you're capturing a bit of history.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Because as soon as you're taking that photo, it's now
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: past toime, so it's history. But in ten years Tom,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: you can look back at that and say, wow, how
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: does that. But the ifine is a brilliant tool to
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: capture memories and kick them forever.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so quick, Yeah, the immediacy of it. Yeah,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: And I think a lot of that to shift gears
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: a little bit more to another passion of yours, which
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: is travel by vehicle over land travel. You've been all
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: over Australia and the same thing. We have one of
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the coolest seventy series I've ever seen in my Life's
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: pretty behind us here, mostly because it has an incredible
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: coffee maker inside of it, which we're going to get
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: to in a little bit, but.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: A special thanks to Hanecook Dina Pro Tires for supporting
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: this week podcast. Visit expedition portal dot com to see
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: our content series in partnership with Honycook, where you learn
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: about this year's Jeep Beach event in Daytona, Florida, get
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: tips on exploring the Ocala National Forest, and take a
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: tour of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: the Daytona International Speedway. We also take a close look
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: at how to choose a mudterrain, all terrain or hybrid
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: rugged terrain tire using the Honkok Dina Pro Tire lineup
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: as examples.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: I think, if I understand correctly in some of our conversations,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: the car that you actually love the most is this
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: old sixty series. So tell me about your.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Six now, that's really good. It's amazing. This is actually
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: probably my favorite, all right, because of the fact that
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: I think I'll feel at home in it. We've built
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: a new one of those home. Yeah, the new red
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: truck that we've built is absolutely amazing. It's stunning. Everything
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: about it is absolutely brilliant. But I think I've shared
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: so much time with this and yeah, my wife and
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: I the crew. It's helped us. It's assisted us to
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: get to so many locations and create the image imagery
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: that we do that you jump from one car to another,
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: and you jump in this one. I feel at home.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: It's really so cool. But the quirkiness of this old
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: sixty series that we built it. It's a nine eighty
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: seven sixty series that had a six point two leader
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: chev in it Va conversion which when we first we
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: found it in caw Gooley. We're on a photo shoot
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: over in Western Australia, which is Western Australia is pretty
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: remote from Sydney everything else. Yeah, it is, yeah in
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: the WS. A long time to get there. But we
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: found this thing with it's bonded up in a Woolies
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: car park and the couple were struggling with it and
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: I said, oh, do you need a hand. I actually
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: parked the car all the way on the other side
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: of the car park from Woolies and my wife says,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: what did you pack up here for us? Looks a
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: good spot. So as we started walking back towards it,
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: she said, I know what you're packed. So I asked
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: him if they needed any help, and they said no,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: we've got someone coming and had an electrical fault or
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: for something, and anyway, I said, look, I've always wanted
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: to rebuild one of these and make it special, make
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: it like almost like the people's car. To take an
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: old vehicle, add modern accessories to it, which is found
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: upon everyone wants to build these old cars with old stuff. Sure,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: I wanted to showcase that the new products that I
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: shoot every day for companies like AIV can be utilized
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: really well, extremely well on these older cars and make
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: them better. But the next step to it was that
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: I wanted this car to be something that other people
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: would drive. It's not necessary for me. I build it
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: and share it and let people enjoy it and just
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: take it for a drive, or take it for a week,
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: take it for two weeks, whatever, just go for a drive.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: To keep the V in it.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: No, we got rid of the V eight. It gave
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: us a lot of troubles. But we put a six
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: point five out of a military hummer which has called
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: a hum V and the military version which the military
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: got involved in that engine. They made new castings and
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: made a whole lot of changes to it. They've we
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: freighted an engine over to w a completely rebuilt it.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: So it's just a big old diesel clunker and it's
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: normally and nextly sperated, no turbo. It's just a big
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: old clunker. If you want to go for a drive
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: to get milk, you probably take another car because it'll
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: take you a while. But the amount of talk it's
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: got and the quirkiness of it and the noise that
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: it makes, it's just it's so cool. It's just it's
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: like a going down the road. We had it on
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: a trip on one of the fifty Fursary trips and
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: everyone that drove it just had so much fun because
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: it's just got so much power. But it's got reduction
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: gears from marks full drive, so I think it's forty
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: two reduction gears, so it's crawls really slow. It's got
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: unbreakable cvs and yeah chrome or the axles and lockers
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: twin locked all the AARB gear and it's got the
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: beer in a camera case. A bare leddy resides in
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: the back. So the original coffee pot that you made
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: a coffee in the Flinders Rangers, I remember it was
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: in that car.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: That's amazing.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: So the concept there is that if someone's going to
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: take the car for a drive that they should be
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: able to experience coffee with it as well. So that's
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: what it is.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: It takes a long time to get anywhere, so you've
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: got to start make a coffee.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: That goes good. It probably it would have an equivalent
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: power to a standard one of these seventy nights.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's pretty like.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: This is modern. The talk in this and the performance
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: has got way better than the standard one.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: I noticed that even on thirty sevens. Yeah, with portals
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: that looks yea.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: The portals are a big difference. It makes a big change.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I love the portals.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Cool. They're just cool.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: It is pretty cool. It's like a tractor, but when
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: it gets stuck, Oh man, it's stuck.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: To what's going to come get you?
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I've been stuck in this for nine and a
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: half hours and a tractor couldn't get us out. Yeah,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: it's pretty hard. Terrible time, I bet.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Let's rewind a little bit. Yeah, where did you
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: grow up in Australia?
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Sydney?
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, and there's that where you still live?
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, in another suburb.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: But sure.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: I met a girl in the southern districts of Sydney
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: and meet your home pretty much.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: When you were growing up? Is that is was photography
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and travel? Was that your passion or was there other
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: things that you wanted to do? I don't mean you
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: somehow ended up in this direction.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Four boys and my old man used to go to
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: a place out in the Battist my uncle's farm to go. Yeah,
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: you're under young and dad takes you to experience the
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: world and experience life and take your shooting. So you
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: have to shoot an animal and it's okay, that's what
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: we do. But we had a bad kill and I
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: didn't enjoy it. And next time we went out there,
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: I said to my old man, I said, next, can
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I take the camera? Take your camera instead? So he
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: gave me this. It was a practice taka mto three.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: We have a couple of lenses and film. I actually
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: I went and bought one on eBay because that's gone right,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: So I figured I have to have the same camera
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: in my old camera rack, and so that lives in
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the camera. I've never used it right since, but I
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: just had to buy one. But yeah, So we walked
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: up the hill and my brothers and my dad went
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: that way, and I went that way, and I headed
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: out there and took photos of animals. They were probably
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: really bad photos, but that doesn't matter. I had an experience,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: so not in the beginning. That's what got me into photography.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: That was my first thing where I thought this is
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: pretty cool. That's actually the bit that got me into photography.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: And did you do other forms of photography before you
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: got really focused in on overland.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Like, oh yeah, definitelyography. I used to shoot a lot
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: of water sport, Okay, so I chased the world speed
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: sailing record being broken. I was interested in sailboarding and
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: interested in surfing, interested in scuba diving and all that
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: sort of stuff, spearfishing things like that, and there was
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: a whole in Australia. Yeah, but we've got some amazing
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: coastlines and I just I don't know. I had these
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: opportunities of growing into this industry of sailboarding where I
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: was actually shooting sailboards with film cameras mounted on mass
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: to shoot the deck of a sailboard or the wet
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: suit or the sale manufacturer and firing a shutter release.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Where you've got this radio controlled unit that's some bloke
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: down the road that flies planes. Radio control planes built me.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: So I've got this massive unit hanging off the mass,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: and akolite housing which is a big perspects housing to
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: hold the film camera, and a twenty mile leans hanging
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: off the mass to capture this imagery. And they head
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: out and you click. You've got no idea what you're shooting.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: And then they get back to the deck. You put
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: another role of filming and where you go. But we yeah,
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: we did some really strange things with all that, but
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we chase. We also
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: chased this world speed sailing record and it was broken
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: in Australia by a guy named Malcolm Wright who was
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: from Shark Bay.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: In his speed was speed sailing like a sail boat
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: or was it off?
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: It was a hydrofoil a board wow, a sailboard so
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: it was about probably just wider than his feet wow.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: And yeah, he broke the record, and all these other
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: photographers had turned up and I think they just got
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: fed up with and went home. I was the only
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: one there, so I shot it and it ended up going
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: all the way around the world and got published in
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: a lot of the sailboard magazines around the world. But
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: I actually ended up calling figuring out where we're going
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: to publish this. It'll make it differ. So I actually
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: got it published in Penthouse magazine Where we go? They
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: published eight eight pages. Oh beautiful look at that? Eh,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: there you go?
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: What kind of birds was u?
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: I'd like to say jabbarus, but I didn't get a
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: proper look on it.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: So we got Javarus so far.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Beautiful bird. Yeah. Yeah, So we captured that, and we
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: did a lot of stuff with underwater photography as well,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: but I kept that out of work. I kept that
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: as my own thing. I really enjoyed underwater photography. But yeah,
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: but using the we had fool drives to get us
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: down the beach to photograph the sailboarding and to photograph
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: the surfing and to photograph all these things that we
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: were doing. And back in the day, is that a
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: good word, a good term? Back in the day, we abuted.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Back in the day, we used to be able to
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: get on beaches without any problems. Nowadays you've got limited
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: access to these beaches. But we used to just drive
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: down on the beach and go to where we wanted
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: to shoot. Nowadays you can't go everywhere. But Australia has
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: some amazing places still like Freezerrail. Yeah, Morton Island is
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: probably my favorite island out of them, but Fraser Islands beautiful.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: But what we used to do is use as fotball
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: drivers to get to all these great destinations. So someone
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: from the fotball drive industry said, what are you doing this?
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: You should be doing this, and I don't know. I
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: was general manager of a graphic arts firm and I
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: just needed a bit of a change and I just went,
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: I'm going to kick this in. Let's make it happen.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: So my wife come up with the concept of the
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: business name off Road Images. That was an over night thing.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: We just converted everything and I was going to put
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: everything on the line and have a crack. So when
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: we were saying before about people, you're going to get
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: some really hard times, and you bet you're going to
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: get some really good times as well as a photographer,
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: you will and it still happens.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: What are some of the ways that you navigated the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: hard times, because I know that they're especially right now
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: in the world. A lot of creatives are having hard times. Yeah,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: so how can you help deal with creative Yeah, it
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: be either one that's pushed.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: Through, Yeah, we had a trip up here many years ago.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: I was I had a trip up here where everything
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: was organized for this shoot, and a client hadn't paid
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: and I literally ran out of money up here in Cooktown.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: So I arrived here on a flight into Cooktown, walked
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: into town, I was had it turned out everyone turned
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: up late, so I had to wait for two days
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: for these people to turn up no money, and it
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: was like either my wife feeds the kids or I
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: have a meal up here. So it was bloody hard.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: And and that wasn't that long ago. In the scheme
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: of things for my photography. We're probably talking when with
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: that Avane, probably less than twenty years ago. And that
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: was hard. That was really difficult because you're making a decision.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: You've got to look after the family family first, of course,
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: but you have to push through some of those hard times.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: The GFC. That was really difficult. But I think, don't
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: let's focus on your creative focus. Is that like a
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: pun I guess it probably is, But don't let's focus
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: on that, even though you might be having a terrible time,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: stay tuned on the fact that you can create what
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: you can and just just keep focusing on that end goal,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: it's a long term thing. Yeah, so maybe not don't
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: chase the quick fix.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, not selling out your creative process just to make
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: a quick buck. Yeah yeah, yeah, No, that makes a
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: lot of sense. And I think these are a challenging
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: for creatives, for influencers, for all kinds of folks. And
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I think keep your other expenses low. I think when
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I see people go out and buy a brand new truck,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: now they have a payment on the vehicle, they've jacked
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: up the credit card to get all the gear on it.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: That's a very difficult thing to maintain it. So that
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: takes a lot of overhead. So you're better off keeping
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the vehicle. Just make it charming instead of making it expensive.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Make the vehicle charming or unique or whatever.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Saying that, but I've gone a bit crazy on my cars.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: But the concept is that this is literally our office.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: So we're out in the field and this delivers everything.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: If this stops, we stop, we can't function. Everything's charged
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: to this vehicle, it's stored its house. It's looked after.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: The concept of driving through rough terrain with expensive camera gear.
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: This looks after it. Make sure it's kept well. Yeah,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: but at the end of the day. If one of
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: the clients vehicles breaks down, as you can keep working
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: around that because that car can be removed from the set.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Sure it can be fixed or what have you. But
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: if this breaks down, touch Wood, if this breaks down,
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: we're in a lot of trouble.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: You used. Is that why you use a seventy series
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: land Cruiser?
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: They're just so strong. They're almost brought uproof a really
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: good vehicle. As a standard platform, they haven't got a
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: lot for us. But with the modifications you can make
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: to make them such a better vehicle, they're awesome. You
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: buy the min Australia as a cap shassy, Yep, you
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: can't do anything with that. The tires that come on
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: are terrible, not usable. No, everything about the vehicle. But
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: if you're prepared to plan and build where it's going
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: to cost you more than double what the car costs
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: you to do it properly, you can do it cheaper obviously,
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: But yeah, for what we need.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: You know, this is how you earn your living. Yeah,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: let's take through some of the things that you've done
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: on this truck. So I'm seeing portal axles, thirty seven
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: inch tires, Yeah, and then a whole bunch then basically
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: the AIRB catalog thrown at it.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's got a lot of ALB on it. Yeah.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: I like the product obviously. Yeah, it serves us really well,
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: but it's if it's strong everything about ALB products. If
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: the product doesn't work, I won't have it on the car.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: I think everyone knows that if it works extremely well,
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: it's going to serve me well. So it's not going
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: to let me down. So it has to be reliable
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: and everything about albear. To give you an idea, the
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: BP fifty one is on this truck at two hundred
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: and seventy thousand k's. There were the original shocks on
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: the car. Wow, two hundred and seventy thousand cases. This
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: has done three hundred and twenty five thousand CA's now,
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: but at two hundred and seventy thousand k's. I was
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: on a shoot in Tasmania and I just felt that
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: it's starting to move around a bit more than it should,
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: and so I talked to Stuie Fooks and I said, look,
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking that it's probably any guys, you've done two
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: hundred and seventy thousand CA's. I said, yeah, that's just amazing,
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: No rebuild, just that's the original sharks, And.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: It's common for a shock that need to be swapped
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: out seventy eight ninety thousand kilometers.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: Yet you look at Fox shocks fifty thousand k's rebuild on.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: That's what you've got to do. These things absolute bulletproof.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: So I've changed them now and it just performs so nice.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: So what are you traveling on this trail?
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: I should What are your three favorite things about this truck?
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: Definitely the top couple of things, definitely the portals. Portals
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: make massive difference. So it's a it's two hundred more water,
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: which is eight inches for you gys water and twelve
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: inches wider in the rear. It allows you, It gives
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: you reduction gears in each corner. It gives you a
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: higher clearance underneath the diffs, which obviously makes a massive difference.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: The reduction gears mean that you're driving a thirty five
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: inch tire with the same drivefor as it was when
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: it was what a thirty two inch, thirty one and
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: a half or thirty two or whatever they were standard.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: But legally I can run thirty fives or I can
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: run thirty sevens and I've got both, but I much
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: prefer to thirty seven.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: That's because of the regulations in Australia. So the portal
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: allows you to run a larger tire.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: Well effectively the car is being built by a manufacturer.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: We have a thirty five inch tire sure, and in
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Australia I can increase the tire size by up to
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: seven percent and run that nationally on Australian roads. Thirty
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: seven inch tires is fine, amazing, but the amount of
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: rabbit it gives you and even extra clearance. But yeah,
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: that tires down, it's cheating. It just draws. It's like
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: a track door, so we're twin locked driving through obstacles.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Its just performs beautifully.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: And we're about ready to do the telegraph track. Yeah,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: and keep your which is no joke. And there's some
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: really deep water crossing so like your air intake is
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: taller than you are.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty ill.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: And a special thanks to Warner, home of the Ineos
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Grenadier and the Mercedes Benz Van Center. Warner, whether you're
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: traveling through Canning Country in your sprinter or across continents
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: in your Grenadier, Warner has become a trusted stop for
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: serious Overlanders. I have personally serviced my quartermaster at Warner
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: and have seen the work they do to their successful
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: Rebel Rally competition. Grenadier's Matt Scott has experienced Warner two
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: helping his father in law by a Grenadier from the
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: dealership a few months ago. Warner has become known for
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: supporting travelers in both Grenadier's and Sprinters, whether it's outfitting, maintenance,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: or helping with complex expedition buildings. I have seen their
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: team contribute to the community through sponsoring events, rebel rally teams,
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: vehicle training, and remote technical support. It also helps that
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Tony Warner is an Overlander himself, so he is committed
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: to fitting high quality components and helping fellow travelers. As
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: a thank you for the podcast listeners, they are offering
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: five hundred dollars off a new or used INEOS or Sprinter,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: or ten percent off parts and service up to five
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: hundred bucks. Just tell them you heard about it on
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: the Overland Journal podcast. Thanks again, Tony and the Warner
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: team for your support of this week's podcast.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: And your it's all there's a bit of management to
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: run this car. Yeah, you're still gonna be able to
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: draw it. I've got a lot of experience with full driving,
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: but it's just it's overwhelming how much easier it mics
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: to get through obstacles with this car. The way that's
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: set up, it's beautiful. Yeah, I love it, but the
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: houses old age and gets it there. We've done this
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: created a three sat conversion. So originally from factory these
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: are a two seat front and a three seat bench
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: seat in the back. We've removed the bench seat and
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: replace it with another recover, so three recarro seats. That's
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: all engineered, so it's performed by engineers to make sure
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: that's safe, and it's all documented so that it's all
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: on the registration and so forth. So this is actually
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: a three seat car. Now the red car we built
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: exactly the same. So behind my seat is all camera equipment.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: So it's a box for holding cameras sure, which is yeah,
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: and you need that. We'll run a gun. I can
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: literally hop out, grab a camera, shoot, put it back in,
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: get in drive. So run and gun is very important.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: Quick access to gear means that you can see something
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: and create it quickly. If I had everything in Pelican
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: cases and I saw something, it'd be like I don't
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: know whether I want to go to the trouble. I've
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: got to open a Pelican case, drag it out of
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: a drawer or something. Yeah, you've got to have quick
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: access to gear, the organization of this truck for cameras
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: and the other one as well.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, or everything's a hundred percent.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Everything has a place, it has to Everything has to
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: have a place, and there has to be a place
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: for everything. If there's not, yeah, it's not working.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, cause you and you've got a big crew here.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: You've got three four people.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: So yeah.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: So if you were to give some advice to someone,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: given your amount of travel that you've done around Australia,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: if you were to maybe even give advice to your
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: twenty year old self about travel, what would be some
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: advice that you'd give around overland travel to a younger
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: person getting started at Go prepared.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: Uh it's the one model, right, Yep, that's what it's is. Yep,
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: go prepared. Yeah. Uh. I think there's there's so much
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: information out there that you can access on yuh, YouTube
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: and Google and so forth, JPT chat. Yeah, sure, just
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: look it up. You're going to a location, you're taking
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: a vehicle or you're hawking or whatever you're doing, you
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: need to be prepared for what you're going to do,
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: what you're gonna see, what's gonna get yourself into. There
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: was no point taking a vehicle without the royal equipment
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: with it because if something goes wrong. I was talking
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: at this same couple I was talking about before with
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: the phone. They were saying that the dads suggests that
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: they should take this, but they wouldn't know what to
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: do with it, so they didn't get it. And it's
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: a filter. Everyone should have two fuel filters in their car.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: Everyone should have a spare airfielter in their car. Everyone
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: should have a basic knowledge of changing this stuff. But
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: if you don't have the basic knowledge of changing it,
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: at least if you've got the part, then someone else,
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: someone else for traveling through this, You can wave them
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: down and say any idea how to change a fuel
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: filter on the truck like this, at least someone can
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: help you. But if you actually don't figure out so
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: you can look it up on Google and say, okay,
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: I've got a Ford Ranger, I'm going to travel remote.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: What parts should I take? What parts are the things
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: that might go wrong? And reach out sex advice, but
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: reach out and get a bit of an understanding of
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: what sort of things might go wrong and then you
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: can figure it out from there.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, in Australia, you get it's just about the remoteness.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: So certainly having some spare parts, having a few tools,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: having a good set of tires, make sure you have
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: a full size spare make sure you have a way
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: to repair the tires.
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: You asked the question before about one of my three
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: best things favorite things, definitely tires. Tires make a massive difference.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: We've got these BFG KM threes. They are on this vehicle,
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: they're on the other seventy nine, they're on the sixty series,
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: and they're on my wife's Suzuki Jimney. Jimmy's is so good.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: So KM three is on all of those vehicles. And
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: we've never had a puncher or any of those vehicles.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: I've just drawed a tire, ripping it off the bead
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: and having to back right down this hill in the
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: high country. I put lines through it. You probably could
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: have still driven on it, but I don't know. Get
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: rid of this one. But yeah, tires, they really are good. Yeah,
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: they're really good, great grip, They respond very well to
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: a change of two PSI and the tire pressures. I
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: changed tire pressures all the time. One of the other
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: things that I love on this vehicle are the parabolics.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: So the fifty ones hands down the best shock in
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: the market. That's my opinion. Of course, I think BP
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: fifty ones with the fact that they now have parabolics,
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: the leaf springs sure on the rear that there has
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: been an absolute game changer because.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Then you can handle the variation and load.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: And more articulation. The way the vehicle responds to climbing
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: things now is so much better. But the way it
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: drives through obstacles and holes so much better. I said
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: on a recent trip through interview Rangers. We were driving
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: Billygate Ridge and I called it on the radio. I said,
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: I reckon these springs has made a three hundred improvement
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: on the way this vehicle performs driving. Wow, you drive
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: out of speed, hunt the front, you feel it's.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: Just sure, what's next for you? What's next for Michael Ellen?
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: You've got you've got this big trip that you're on
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: with AARB this year, But what are some things that
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: you want to do?
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: That's right, that's the most important.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: That's weak.
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: It's next for us, right, But at the same time
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: we're planning a massive trip through Kimberly, So each night
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: we're going through what we're doing with that, and we're
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: also having a big trips through the Madigan Line in
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: the Simpson Desert amazing, yeah, which will take me through Yeah,
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: a lot of special classes. Yeah, so that's pretty awesome.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: Is there any Is there any other place in the
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: world that you thought I would love to go? You
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: spent a lot of time in Australia, but is there
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: any other place on the planet?
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: The United States?
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: I think you'd enjoy it. Come do it. It's only
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: six hours from our office. So we'll hand you the
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: keys to a car. You go. That'll work. We'll have
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: some fun with that. It's beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful and
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: it would be right up your ally the Red Rocks
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: and yeah, it's like Uluru, but the whole thing is Uluru.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: Say it, but I think you need to be shown
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: probably it's a bit like Australia. There's so much to say.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: And Okay, Michael, it's been so great for us to
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: chat for a little bit. We've got an amazing trip
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: coming up. Going through that. I've always wanted to do
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: the telegraph track, hoping I get to do gunshot and
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: all the other things. So it'll be really a neat thing.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: But it's this time to sit down with you, share
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: your story with our audience. How do people find out
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: more about your photography? How do they follow you on Instagram?
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: How do they learn more about you and your team?
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: It's probably most of the stuff what you know is
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: nicely what we've created anyway, But our Instagram pages offered
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: images and I normally share content through that on a
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: regular basis what we're shooting at the moment. With a
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: fifteth anniversary, I'm trying to keep a little bit more
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: secret yourself.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Sure checking out posts every day, Yeah sure.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: But in most of the situations I run it through Instagram.
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: That's our big thing. The number one thing though, is
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: if someone has a question to ask me about photography,
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: full driving, travel, whatever, if they feed it through Instagram,
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: I'll always get back to that nice. Yeah, so it
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: might be a question on shocks, tires, pressures, where to
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: go to do, how to do it? I kind of
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: like it. It's a way of me giving back to
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: the people that make people give you all sorts of
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: compliments about imagery and so forth. I'd love to be
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: able to help someone else with giving them a bit
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: of feedback of what they need to make for that's right.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: It's been a joy to travel with you again now
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: fifteen years later, another trip for us. I always enjoy
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: following your recent escapades and your imagery and everything else.
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: So I really appreciate you being on the podcast, and
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: we thank you all for listening and will talk to
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: you next time.