Ladies and gents, it’s time to meet Alan Barker. For nearly 30 years Alan worked in education, but now he’s chasing his passion and running his own photography business based out of Queensland Australia. The image you see above is his Morning Mangroves photograph.

1.) Can you tell us a little bit about your photo?

This shot was taken on a secluded section of coastline part way between Cairns and Port Douglas, in Queensland, Australia.

This particular morning when shooting in far North Queensland, I had in mind to shoot the quintessential Queensland, “beach sunrise” type shot with the sun bursting through all the colourful clouds, etc, etc. As I drove along and looked at the sky, clearly that was not going to happen—no clouds! So anyway I pulled over at the side of the road and slopped through the ankle deep mud of the mangrove swamp and was able to isolate these three mangrove trees.

In composing the shot, I was drawn in by the colour contrast created by the blue hour and so I tried to use the gorgeous ground ripples created in the muddy sand as leading lines to the bright colour burst. The reflections of the mangroves and their roots just completed the final piece of the puzzle for me.

This shot always reminds me of that saying “sometimes you gotta get a little dirty to …” and you can fill in the end, but I’ll always remember the mud squishing between my toes while shooting.

2.) What gear/software did you use to create this image?

This image was shot with a Canon 5Ds, using a Canon 24-105mm at 24mm. ISO 100, f/8, 1.3sec. The image is pretty much SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) with minor clean up such as spot removal, etc done in Photoshop.

3.) What do you like to photograph?

My passion is landscape photography and trying to teach others how to shoot great landscape images. I also enjoy shooting portraiture and action.

4.) How long have you been a KelbyOne member and what made you decide to become a member?

You know, I really can’t remember as it seems KelbyOne has been with me on my journey as a photographer for quite some time. I drifted in and out accessing special offers/courses, magazines when I had the chance, as you do when you’re looking for quality content online. Then a couple of years ago, I guess it dawned on me that if I was always trying to come back I should get a pro membership and have access to everything!

If you want to see more of his work, check out Alan’s website or follow him on Facebook and Instagram.