200 CAPTURES that made my 2011 the year that it was. From the day to day local Darwin news, to travelling to rural areas such as the Tiwi Islands and Jabiru, as well as overseas to the Philipinnes and East Timor.

As each day comes, you never know what you may end up shooting or where it may be. The biggest highlight of the year came early when I had the opportunity to travel to the Tiwi Islands to cover the traditional funeral of legendary footballer, Maurice Rioli. It was simply amazing to bear witness to such an amazing day.

The shots are in chronological order starting at the stroke of midnight, January 1st 2011 to the very end of the year. For ease of flicking through the photos, use the left/right keys to flick through them once you have opened one.

Hit read me to check the photos out and please feel free to share this page with your friends. Happy New Year from Michael Franchi!

I've done the odd time lapse here and there, but never really put any major effort into it. After watching an unbelievable time lapse video of Arizona involving HDR, dolly pans and tracks, I was inspired to do more.

Especially with living in the Northern Territory with some of the most magnificent scenery to offer within Australia, I'd be stupid not to.

This time lapse test conducted at Wagait Beach, Northern Territory. I need to practice and perfect it.

I CAN'T remember how or why, but it started one day when an idea popped into my head of a girl suspended mid-air in the bush being abducted by aliens.

After finding the right jungle scrub at the Holmes Jungle Park, the rest was history. On the day, I shot with two strobes powered by a Vagabond Mini and one speedlite. The key light for all shots was a strobe and beauty dish, except for the shot with Emily walking into the light. The other two lights were used as fill and accent lights as needed.

Thanks to Jessica Connors (BTS and stylist), Elise Derwin (assistant), and Emily Bix (model) for making this happen.

Behind the Scenes:

A LITTLE bit of gas and the spark of a fire-fighter, a flame burst into the air with a almighty hiss as the gas burnt.

Armed with a 600w strobe with beauty dish powered by a vagabond mini, and two speedlites it was a race against the sun as it fell closer to the horizon. Keeping light simple, I used the strobe to be the key on Jarred Ilett with the two speedlites to his side and rear for a little rim light.

Ultimately I was hoping that the fire would do most of the rim lighting, but in hind sight I should of gelled the rim lights red or orange to amplify the light given off by the flame. With limited time, we moved around to three spots within the training area, using two seperate training fires.  

All in all, a success. Thanks to the fire-fighters for making this possible, Enjoy the photos!

DARWIN awoke to an unusual morning today, as a thick fog engulfed the city and surrounding areas. In some areas visibility was as little as 50 metres.

As soon as I was out of bed I had dragged Jess into the car and went for a quick drive around the city to capture the fog in a few parts of Darwin.