Shooting with Minimal Planning - Top Doorslammers Special

Auki Henry © 2011

Auki & Ed on location at Hidden Valley - May 2011
Picture by Mark Hamilton

Here's one of the few times you wont see me in front of the camera for a HighRPM feature.  I recently went down with the media team to film some promotional footage for Hidden Valley to be used for future TV advertising, the schedule over the two days was pretty hectic which left limited time to get my head around any presentation material so I opted to concentrate just on filming.

As habit would have it though, we couldn't help ourselves and inevitably altered the schedule to shoot some extra material for a highlights reel, so with the help of HighRPM's newest presenter, Heather Banham, we quickly stitched together a rough running script for it.

We used a variety of cameras and lenses for the footage, utilising the Sony and the Panasonic AG-HMC41E for lightweight handheld shots and fast pans and two Canon bodies ( 5DMKII & 7D ) with 70-200mm and 24-70mm to get some nice DOF.

It was one of the best weekends of filming we have done, we had a great crew down there and despite the sore legs from hours of standing, crouching, climbing barriers and shifting gear it flew by.  The noise of the doorslammers from up close, not to mention the smell of methanol and the vibration through the body as they accelerate hard off the line is very addictive!

Here's the quick highlights reel just hot off the press.

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Kamfari Madness, Behind the Scenes

Auki ™ & Auki Henry Photography © 2011

Action from the air at the 40th Anniversary Kamfari Race, Darwin NT
Photo: Auki Henry

HighRPM sent a media team down to Black Jungle ( just south of Darwin, Australia ) on the weekend to cover the gruelling 4 hour "Kamfari",  one of the best known and toughest motorcycle endurance events on the Australian calendar.

Due to factors such as track length, terrain and the hot tropical conditions at an event like this it is usually hard to get many cameras to prime locations.  Our crew had a camera on track at all times to get in amongst the action, so to get a few more angles it was necessary to take to the air.

Here's a small 'behind the scenes' ride with Heather Banham and Katie Abraham who accompanied me up to get a birds eye perspective of the action.

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Shooting Monsoon Madness 2011

Auki goes behind the scenes with Mark Hamilton at the 2011 Monsoon Madness photoshoot in Darwin, Australia.

As far as photoshoots go, this is one of the most looked forward to on the NT Calendar, what started as a fun way to get some different kinds of studio shots done whilst the Darwin wet season rages outside for half the year has become an annual institution of sorts in the local glamour scene.

Hamilton Photography NT's dynamic duo of Katrina Welfare and Mark Hamilton have been doing photography of all kinds for years, they are particularly well known for their glamour photography and quality portfolio work with models they have both gained national and international recognition for their product in this area.

It became very clear to us during our research for this featurette that they were so much more than just great photographers, the number of people who wanted to come forward to offer testimonials to us on how much help Mark and Katrina are to the local scene, selflessly offering time, equipment and expert advice to other photographers. They also often offer their services for free when they are able to, considering their best rewards as seeing the local models who have aspirations to continue on in the field succeed because of their help.




The Monsoon Madness shoot is a brilliant opportunity for photographers and models alike. The publicity and great imagery generated from the event fills plenty of portfolios and the girls involved get some great hype around the local scene.

The 2011 girls included Darwin finalist for TV's Australia'a top model lineup, Amelia Weber and 2011 Zoo Magazine calendar girl Grace Brenton along side the well known faces of Khia Marriott, Rachael Jacqueline Barritt, Kayla Robinson and Heather Banham.

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