FAQ

Did you take all these photos?

I did.

Really? All of them?

Yes, all of them.

Even that really weird one?

Yes, that one too.

Who does your printing?

Me for the A3 and A2 prints, got a guy in Melbourne for the pano’s

Didn’t you have a galley in Dimboola?

I did, for 4 years - ‘21 to ‘25.

Where were you before Dimmy?

Mostly at the Queen Vic Market in Melbourne.

Why Dimboola?

It’s the next Daylesford!

What camera do you use?

Nikon Z8, DJI Mavic 4 Pro (drone), Matterport Pro 3 (for virtual tours).

How do you pronounce your surname?

Bertuleit.

How often do you get out to shoot?

Not as much as I’d like.

Ever been to New Zealand?

No.

What? Why not? It’s beautiful there!

I know, I know - it’s on the list.

Do you shoot weddings?

No. No, no, no. Never again.

What if we’re really nice, don’t make any silly demands and give you full artistic control?

Don’t care - I’m not doing it.

We’ll pay you $10,000.

Book me in.

Do you use drones for your aerials?

Some - planes and helicopters too, depending.

Depending on what?

Money, mostly. And availability - I can usually find a plane, not the same for helicopters.

Which is your favourite all-time image?

I like them all equally.

Seriously, which one?

Seriously? The one that sells the most.

What’s the most amazing place you’ve ever been?

Dimboola! Second place are the gorges at Karijini National Park, Western Australia.

Ever thought about returning to Melbourne?

Nope. Not once.

TIPS

1: Get off auto.

Switch your camera’s setting to aperture or shutter or manual and experiment. You may get terrible results at first but it will help you learn how

shutter speed ties in with aperture size which ties in with ISO which ties in with ... you get the picture.

2: Move in.

Pay attention to your background - does all that stuff need to be in the shot? Before you press the button look at everything in the frame and ask yourself if it really needs to be there.

3: Software.

Processing your images in Photoshop (or Lightroom or whatever) makes a big difference. But remember it takes two people to use Photoshop - one to do the editing and one to say STOP!

4: Spend your money on lenses.

Bodies will come and go but you’ll keep your lenses forever [note: had to buy all new lenses when I went mirrorless, so ...] and no matter how good your camera’s sensor is,

the light still has to come through the lens first, so a $5,000 body with a $500 lens makes no sense.

5: Don’t spend your money on lenses.

Yes, it’s good to have all the best stuff and there are shots you can get with $20,000 worth of gear that you can’t get with $2,000 but don’t confuse spending big bucks with a

guarantee of a good result. What you shoot and how you shoot is more important than what you shoot with.

6: Research.

There are a lot of really good photographers out there. Look at their work, read their blogs and their books, watch the YouTube tutorials - all the help, info

and inspiration you could possibly need is out there, most of it for free.

7: On the road (part 1).

Unless you’re willing to take the missus out on the road with you (and she, for some reason, actually wants to go) telling your wife or girlfriend you’re heading out to

take a few pics and you not only won’t be back for dinner but it may be many months before she sees you again is not conducive to a happy home life. As I’ve learned. Repeatedly.

8: On the road (part 2).

Live in your car or van. If you don’t, accommodation will be by far your biggest expense. Add a second battery for charging all your devices, deck it out with a good mattress and blackout

curtains and you’ll sleep fine. Just be careful where you park. You don’t want to get woken up at 4am by cops knocking on your window (don’t park in a residential area) or by

things bouncing off your roof all night (don’t park under a tree) or by a rock thrown through your window (don’t park on Queen St in the Melbourne CBD).

9: Shoot it when you see it.

Don’t think you’ll shoot it on the way back or the next time you’re there - do a U-turn, go back and shoot it now because you might not come back and you’ll regret it if you don’t.

10: Embrace poverty.

What - you thought you’d get rich doing this?