This transcript was generated automatically, so may (actually – definitely will) contain the odd mistake or two. Therefore it's probably best to be used as a reference after listening to the episode, should you want to refer to something you heard but can't remember exactly when it was said 🙂

And we are live. Welcome, Luke. Thanks for joining us.

Luke Tscharke 3:15
Ah, thank you so much for having me.

Steve Arnold 3:18
Yeah, it's a it's a real, real honor to have you on here. We've been friends for a few years now. And yeah, over the over the past few years, we haven't really seen as much of each other partly due to your, your migration across the, across the water to Tasmania.

Luke Tscharke 3:36
Absolutely. That is one of the hardest parts about moving down here was that the people that I sort of had to leave behind in Sydney, which there's such a thriving landscape photography community in Sydney. And so it was was really hard to kind of move further away from that, but you know, luckily I was still able to travel up and, and catch up with everybody but it's not so easy. These days.

Steve Arnold 4:01
Yeah, no, that's Yeah. I mean, it seems like you're sort of doing well. And, you know, you're getting getting what you want from having been down to Tasmania, like from for me, it was kind of it seemed like something I think before you sort of mentioned to everybody that that's what you were doing it kind of was on the cards, because you've been spending a lot of time down there.

Luke Tscharke 4:21
It was a bit of a dream for me. So Stevie, it's always a bit of a dream for me to move down there. And I guess I had an opportunity because a life situation change in a relationship. I was in changed. And so really, kind of gave me an opportunity to do that. And I felt like that was the right time to make a make a change like that. And I'm glad I did.

Steve Arnold 4:45
Yeah, so So you say that's something that you kind of had your eye on for, for quite a long time a bit of a lifelong dream. Was that always connected with the photography aspect, or is that something that you so just just wanted to do as part of your life?

Luke Tscharke 4:58
Yeah, I think it's also a lifestyle thing as well, living in Sydney, it's very busy city, a lot going on. It's a very, very beautiful city. And as a landscape photographer living in Sydney, it's a amazing place to live. However, Tasmania has so much to offer in terms of the wilderness at which it's just on another level to what is immediately available to someone that might be living in Sydney. And so I fell in love with the, the, not only just the, I guess the landscapes themselves, but also just even the different plants that they have the different types of scenery, so beaches and mountains and such a variation. And for me, it was it was kind of almost like a magical place. And it also has a really interesting history in terms of the photographers that have come out of Tasmania and photographers like Peter Dombrovskis and Rob Blake is another people like that. And really trying to be a sort of been inspired by those kind of photographers and having an opportunity to see some of the places that they've photographed and places maybe that they haven't photographed. It's really quite a fulfilling thing to be able to explore and look around. So that was certainly many of the motivations and on top of the fact that it's just a really easy place to get around. And it's very quiet. And that's, that's, that's all I'm really after. And probably in this stage of my life. So it's great.

Steve Arnold 6:33
Yeah, when, you know, back when we first met, I think it was probably 2012 2013. This one of the focus awards, I think, right?

Luke Tscharke 6:44
away for a while on flicker way back in the day. And yeah,

Steve Arnold 6:49
yeah. Likewise. The one the one thing, aside from the quality of your images, which is something I've always kind of aspired to as well myself. They won't like it. Actually, there's there's two words that always kind of struck me when it comes to your kind of passion for photography. And especially when we ended up two separate trips actually coincided in Iceland and we traveled around for a bit together there through it. Yeah. That, like, there's a couple of words. I mean, maybe you can tell me whether this is how it appears from your perspective, but from the outside. I see your kind of your passion is very, like relentless and your craft, you're very meticulous about how you actually approach your photography. Is that is that something that you agree with? Or is that just kind of how it comes across?

Luke Tscharke 7:41
I think it's just a, it's just an A night thing. Like, I'm not kind of waking up in the morning going, I'm going to be relentless today. It's much more if you have that passion and really deeply feel it and you know, that's really what you want to be doing with your life. That kind of approach just comes out of that. So I don't think I am quite I don't know what the word is I'm stoked that you think of my approach that way because it's not probably the words that I would use but in you know, it's very hard to often self reflect and understand how how you're actually approaching but that that relentless thing is more comes from me wanting to always better myself and try and create better work as much as it is to see new places and have new experiences and find things that are beautiful that I can share with other people. And then being meticulous comes a lot from I think, actually my science background, I've actually got a science degree majoring microbiology, and that really teaches you to look at the details and ask questions and try and understand why things are the way that they are. And I think that approach has really helped with my photography because it enables me to think a bit more critically about what I'm trying to do, as well as the planning aspect and really being quite structured about how I approach my photoshoots which, so I'm not quite I'm not very spontaneous kind of photographer, very planned in that respect, but I feel like it enables me to get the results that I'm after because I put that planning into place

Steve Arnold 9:27
when it comes to the sort of the passion side of photography and everything that you do. Like, do you think that's something that you stumbled across? At some point, there was a, like a trigger moment that you realized this is what I wanted to do? Or was it always there? You know, do you know where that even comes from?

Luke Tscharke 9:48
Yeah, I think it's a bit like a frog in the boiling water scenario. You know, you sort of you enjoy it and you start doing it and then before you know it, you're you're in it so much that It's like your you can't get out is actually really negative standard way of putting it. But basically, you, for me, I, I kind of didn't really have a choice like it really sort of feel like it chose me in a way. I've always been interested in it. And I'm very glad that I kind of persisted through the initial stages where you're learning and it's very frustrating, trying to get your skills up to a level, especially if you have high standards to be able to photograph to your high standards. Initially, it's very difficult, because I knew the kind of images that I wanted to create. It's just very hard to when you're starting to get there straightaway. However, I think that the passion like that really comes from when you when you are achieving the results that that you were hoping to, and you even start to exceed your own expectations. And so you feel really empowered and realize that That kind of a bit like the world's your oyster and you can really seek out places and, and visit places and find new places that maybe you haven't seen other people photograph much before, and actually have those experiences as well. So do something a bit different. And I think those being able to feel that and keep pushing myself and maybe pushing those sort of limits really excites me and helps to fuel that passion quite a lot.

Steve Arnold 11:35
Yeah, so it sounds like it's kind of like a self fueling thing, you know, so with, with that kind of recognition, that you're able to meet certain quality standards for your own work that gives you the belief to then continue on. And then it's like a just a cycle, you know, that allows you to, to then take the next set of great pictures and then you kind of get that feedback and it's kind of just a loop with

Luke Tscharke 12:00
Yeah, and it sounds like that loop always keeps going up, Steve. But I can assure you that the loop does go the other way too. And that's actually a very challenging thing where you're very unhappy with the work that you're producing. And if, if that's, you know, the loop goes up, and certainly for me, that goes the other way. And so managing that and always trying to how do I put it, trying to feel like the work that I'm creating is good. And sometimes you know, it's not good. And no matter what you try, it's just not where you want it to be. Sometimes you really do have to have a break from photography for a period of time. And or at least in terms of creating images, creating new images, and maybe focus on some other aspect of the business. So sometimes I'll work more on workshops, or on previous images that I've taken, and get them ready for print or what have you. Rather than actually working on creating new images because obviously, it's a bit of a career limiting move if you do photography full time to not be taking pictures. But sometimes it's better to I think, have a break and let that creative desire and passion sort of refuel itself, rather than getting on that downward spiral where you feel like basically everything you're doing is kind of not very good at all. It might not be actually true, it might actually be really good work in the eyes of others, but it's not what's fulfilling you or making you feel good. And I don't even know if that's because of where you are psychologically, or if it actually is that it's not up to your standards, but it's definitely how you feel and so it's, it's a, it's a really interesting phenomenon, actually.

Steve Arnold 13:45
Yeah, sure. It's, it's definitely something I think that a lot of people who subscribe to my, to my emails and, you know, students in my courses and whatnot whenever I like run a survey roughly once a year. asking what people are struggling with. So I can maybe help them out with, you know, whatever the current sort of main problems are the always, always, always the highest number of like, the highest proportion of people would say that they lose their motivation, they lose their Mojo, you know, that's a typical one, you know, I've lost my mojo. And, and I think, by the sounds of it, that's kind of like another way of sort of describing that point that you were just just sort of talking about there about, you know, you get that when that feedback doesn't come from being happy with your own work, then it can send you on a bit of a downward spiral and, you know, then you sort of if if you I guess if you continue shooting and you continue to not be happy, then that spiral can just keep going and then you end up maybe hanging the camera up for six months, not out of choice, but just out of lack of interest. And but but it sounds like you're saying That you kind of recognize when this is happening and you know, you know, okay, this is time to take a break, I need to maybe focus on something else for a little while. So for listeners who perhaps are in this as like, as a hobby, and you know, their photography, something they do for fun, and they haven't got all those other business aspects that they can maybe switch focus to, is there, is there something that you can kind of recommend on how to recognize this point, or which maybe it's time to just, you know, sidestep for a little bit or if you've got any other kind of words of advice for for folks who may be entering that and haven't recognized it yet?

Luke Tscharke 15:39
Yeah, well, I think it's a really interesting question. And I've certainly had periods especially when I have had, you know, a quite a period of time where I was a wasn't a professional photographer, and I was working a full time job and doing photography very seriously, but it's almost like I was working two jobs at the same time. I did definitely went through those sort of downward spiral sort of periods while I was not actually, you know, a full time photographer. And I found that it's a very bad idea to try and keep pushing yourself. During those times. If you're starting to feel frustrated, and you're starting to feel like you're not feeling fulfilled with what you're doing. It's, it's actually, I think, a good time to take a break. And I would travel, maybe go on some walks, actually, without a camera and destroy and appreciate nature for what it is. And quite often you get hung up on, you know, you're always looking for a shot when you're out there. And I disagree with the sentiment. People sometimes say, well, it means that you don't really get to fully experience it. Because you're always looking for the photo. I think it's the opposite. I think you actually experience it to a much deeper level because you're really paying attention to those Details. But it's a good opportunity to actually kind of take a bit of that pressure away of feeling like you need a photograph. And actually just enjoy being without having to take any pictures, or just take your phone in, you can still take pictures with your phone. But you know that they're not going to be anything like you would take with your mirrorless or DSLR. But at the same time, you're still being able to fulfill that urge of taking a picture without actually creating something that would be a print or something a bit more. So I think that's not a bad strategy, also planning for the future. So planning places that you would like to go to places that you would like to photograph. That's a really nice approach because you're not actually taking pictures you thinking you're sort of finding fuel for the fire later down the track, maybe booking in a holiday or a trip to go somewhere. And so that you're still creating opportunities for yourself, but you're not actually Active actively out there taking pictures. The other side too is that some nice possible time to look at all of the photos that you haven't actually processed yet and actually work more on improving your processing technique as well. So I often think of photography's, maybe a three or four stage process where you take the image, then we'll actually initially plan the shot, you go out and take the shot, then you process the shot, and then you share the shot. And so we're kind of talking more about the the photo or the taking the shot aspect. And where that sort of, I guess funk or whatever you call it comes from. So you've got still sharing to focus on you've got the planning, and you've also got the processing to focus on so there's other areas of photography to really sit down and look at and so that's a, you can sort of maybe explore those areas a bit more and leave the shooting just for a bit of a break. So that's another way to look at. Yeah.

Steve Arnold 19:02
Yeah. Oh, there's Well, there's heaps of heaps of good advice in there, I think. I think it's going to be very useful to a lot of people.

Luke Tscharke 19:10
I wish that actually follow my own advice. Quite often I would push myself and really, really burn myself to the ground. And I think that's really human nature. I don't think you can blame yourself too much for that. But it is really nice. If you can feel that frustration coming in, it might might actually be a good sign to just have a bit of a break from that and focus on another area, it doesn't mean you have to give up on photography, I don't necessarily think you need to do that. Although that's also a good option. Maybe it's good time to go to the gym and do a bit of other exercise or something outside of photography as well. But for me, I never really gave up on photography. Like I said, I might have hang up the camera but I was then doing a lot of editing or working on my website or something like that. So there's always other aspects that you can focus on. Yeah, sure I remember, I can't remember the number. But there was one time when you mentioned how many unprocessed photos you had that you were just waiting on processing. And it was some some huge amount that I couldn't even fathom, you know, it's like, it's many, many thousands. Yeah, the numbers are actually climbing still. Thankfully, COVID I was able to catch up on a little bit because obviously, there's the number of unprocessed wasn't growing, because there was no shooting happening. And yeah, that's, that's, I think I worked out, you know, something like if I had to actually even look at every single photograph I've ever taken, and only spent one second on on looking at each photo that I've taken, just even sort them it would take, I'd have to be doing that for a few weeks straight just to go through them all. So it's a pretty, pretty demoralizing sort of effect.

Steve Arnold 20:52
But yeah, I guess it's a good pool of, you know, a good pool to kind of, you know, pool from when You're on when you are in those moments where you just need to take a step back.

Luke Tscharke 21:03
Absolutely, there's definitely so many untouched gems in them, which is always that sort of nice, feels a bit like money in the bank and away when you have that, but at the same time, it's also a bit of a waste because if there aren't sitting on your hard drive, no one's really appreciating them. So you really, you know, there's a lot of motivation for me to get in there and actually get those shots out into the, into the, into the world where they should be.

Steve Arnold 21:32
So yeah, maybe Actually, we can just switch tracks just a little bit kind of back to where we were heading towards the beginning here just on your path to becoming the photographer that you are now doing this, you know, as your your job. There was obviously a moment where you took the jump you you finished working your regular day job and, and jumped into this. Yeah, there was that sort of jumping off point. When do you think he realized that that moment was coming? And how did you know? Or did you know that you were even ready for it?

Luke Tscharke 22:09
Well, it's a very good question. And I had done a lot of thinking about it. It was all like, it always seemed a bit like a pipe dream for me really, it always was like, Sure, it's something that I could do, but it was a sort of awkward, maybe even tell people that it was something that I was thinking about, and even other people were suggesting it to me as an option. And, you know, I probably got more suggestions initially have made to think about doing it route and that that helped me to formulate it as an actual possibility in my mind. To start with, I really don't think it's something I would have done if if people hadn't suggested it's a good idea for me to look into it. And also on top of that, I got some really good results in competitions as well which have helped me to feel like my work was of a professional standard because it for me, it was very hard to self assess my own quality. I mean, I know what my standards are, but then how do my standards reflect in amongst my peers, you know, and so competition is a really good way of actually understanding how you write. And if you feel like your work is then being righted up with the professional work, then essentially, your work is at the professional level. And so that really helped me as well as registering and becoming a member of the Australian Institute of professional photography as well. So it also had a bit of a natural accreditation there behind me that I could speak to as well and that really helped. I guess, at the end of the day, the most motivating factor of all was that I was getting so much more enjoyment and passion out of my photography and my day job just wasn't, wasn't really providing me any fulfillment at all. And I had this one conversation with my manager at the time and, and, and I remember him saying that I wasn't an inspirational individual, at least at work. And that really was a quite a cutting thing to hear. And at the same time, I was putting out these images on Instagram. And my Instagram was quite popular at the time. And I was getting almost feedback that my shots were inspiring on a daily basis on Instagram. So that was kind of an other. It was a weird realization that why would I? Why wouldn't I want to make my life about something that's that other people are being inspired? And if I'm not inspiring anyone at my work, but I'm inspiring people through my pictures, then that was part of what moved me to make that decision as well. I guess it was very hard Because I had a full time job and, you know, I was earning quite good money at the time. And to, to turn around and go into photography, which is very insecure, I suppose in terms of income, and you happen to be your own boss and really motivating yourself and, and actually being a, I guess a business person, which not something that's very familiar to me that that was also it's like, yeah, looking at the precipice and, and and, you know, taking it taking a leap of faith and, and hoping that you're gonna land on your feet and actually be able to grow from there. So the very, very challenging and exciting at the same time going through that experience and feeling a bit like what the rug pulled out from under you in a way of not having that safety net that you had in your job and that security, disappearing.

Steve Arnold 25:57
Yeah, but yeah, so it sounds like the kind of union versus pointing you in this direction with the various types of feedback coming from the different sources. And I don't want to I don't want to say the word crazy, but yeah, you maybe you'd have been crazy not to have taken us

Luke Tscharke 26:15
to a lot of people, just as a sense check to to understand if I was crazy, giving up my current job to do this full time, because in the corporate world, doing that kind of stuff is you know, you spend all your time climbing up the ladder and trying to get a higher position and make more money and all of that sort of thing. And so you spending years sort of on this ladder, trying to climb up it, and then all of a sudden you go, No, that's the end of that. Now, I'm going to pretty much go below the bottom rung. And you know, and and photography is not really a ladder either. It's just a big a big beautiful ocean, really that you have To navigate around, there's no, there's no. There is a hierarchy of sorts in terms of maybe notoriety or popularity, but really, it's what you decide to make it at the end of the day. That's both very scary, but also very exciting at the same time. So it's a very interesting industry to be involved with it certainly is.

Steve Arnold 27:21
Once you kind of made that decision, like maybe you could describe how you're like your first paid gig, like eventuated, because I'm sure there's heaps of people who may be think that they're ready, and perhaps they are. But they just don't know how to even begin along this path of, you know, contacting agencies, and I know that you do a lot of work with various tourism boards around Australia. And so, yeah, how did you make that happen that first, that first thing that you you thought, hey, I've actually made some money here at this and You know, there's, it's, it's not just a one off,

Luke Tscharke 28:03
you know, it's not a fluke, this is something that I can continue on with. For me, my progression was very much even I don't certainly don't consider myself an instagramer from that perspective, like I very much consider myself first and foremost, you know, a photographer will pretty much everyone that puts photos on Instagram technically isn't Instagram, but it's got that connotation of you doing it all for the fame or the you know, being an influencer. But technically Yes, my first work actually was from being an influencer apart from also having the odd print sale here and there, of course, but that was more you know, paid commissioned work and that was for the first one was for tourism and tea. And they they paid me influencer rights are lucrative by any means. So, it's not wasn't it's never been about the money. There's some effect if you're looking to become professional photographer. You know, I think what's the saying? And if you want to make $1 million in photography start with $2 million, you know, so it's not a not a lucrative thing. But yeah, so I won't go into the figures, but basically they contacted me because my profile was reasonably good on Instagram in terms of had a lot of followers. And so if I traveled to the Northern Territory to take some pictures, and I put them on my Instagram feed, then a lot of other people would be saying, well, these last pictures from the red center it was in the idea is that there's a lot of value than for the Tourism Organization. And that was actually a bit of a dream job for me because the location was all the route which is is rock and sometimes known as and rot in the centre of Australia. And it was to shoot Astro photography there, which at the time was still is really much My major passion. So to have this organization call me up and say, Hey, we want you to come to Oregon and shoot the stars. And, you know, it's actually a job. It's sort of pinching itself, it was still very hard work. And we know very late nights, and you know that the expectations were quite high. So there's still a lot of people to, to, to sort of serve or, you know, keep keep happy. But you know, I was from a corporate background. So I'm still very familiar with keeping, tying the company nine and all of that. So I had appreciation for all of that from that bill. It's just really interesting then to apply that more from a photography point or a creative point of view, whereas in the past, it was more, getting a document completed or things like that. So this time, I'm creating what I love, but then it was kind of weird, there was a bit of pressure and normally I don't have any pressure I get to take the picture and I can edit it in my own time. And it just happens. And sometimes I'll sit on it for a while. But with this now the turnaround for some of the images was 24 hours. So it was a very sort of forcing me to operate in a different way to what I would normally operate.

Steve Arnold 31:13
How? How do you find it that sort of affected the creative process? Like did it affect it at all?

Luke Tscharke 31:20
It didn't really, it just sort of put more pressure on the normal. So but I don't work. Sometimes I need some pressure to put my best work out. So it's not necessarily a problem. But it was just a different experience to what I was used to, I suppose. And I feel like I created some images through that pressure that we're we're up to my normal standards on it feel like it reduced my standards by a huge degree. So yeah, it was just a Yeah, so I feel I feel like it was okay. But it's certainly an interesting experience when you know, you don't necessarily get to operate how you normally would. And that I guess that's also part of the reason why you're getting paid for it because they, that you're, you're getting compensated for having to operate outside of your normal flow. And of course, then they get to use the pictures as well at the end. So that so that's how it started for me and I did get quite a few more influencing jobs from there. I was able to go to Vanuatu and a few other places to around the place and did some some mock. So I got quite into doing sort of jobs with walking companies, and actually going on these sort of multi day walks with a garden as a guided experience. And then I'd actually photograph those walks and, and provide those images to the actual operator as well as doing a blog and doing putting it all on Instagram as well, just as so that they're sort of getting a lot of value. They're getting some coverage on social media as well as Having a blog and then having the pictures as well at the end of the day that they can use for their own internal marketing. So it's you getting a lot of value and you get compensated that for that accordingly. So those sort of arrangements and experiences were really great. And on top of that, you know, I really love going bushwalking and getting out and taking pictures sort of just married all of my interests together like that in a really nice way. So I decided to do a lot of that too. And actually, at the moment, I'm working a lot with Tasmanian walking company, as well so so it's sort of something that I've found a niche that I really enjoy working in and have been able to continue that which has been fantastic.

Steve Arnold 33:40
Yeah, that sounds great. There's Yeah, heaps of I mean, yeah, I guess there's just so many variations that people might not necessarily think of like you know, you mentioned with the walking company and creating like almost like though that sort of package of you know, blogs and and photography. To for this going outwards into the world from your accounts and from their accounts and then also the internal stuff that they use it for. And yeah, that definitely sounds like a lot of stuff I necessarily wouldn't have really thought was an option. And yeah, so that's, that's really interesting he talks about that if you've got an interest outside of what

Luke Tscharke 34:24
not even outside but you'd like to enjoy what part of photography enjoy and what subjects you enjoy photographing the most and trying to find look for ways that that's been commercialized by other operators and then maybe even approaching them and saying, Hey, I actually really enjoy photographing this stuff and do a pretty good job at it. You know, would you like me to, you know, and then you can work it out from there, but you know, there's no point but I didn't quit my job. You know, full time job and all of that security, to then start doing photography and then what I'm doing photography, photographing things. I'm going interested in, we wouldn't go from doing one thing that I was losing a lot of passion in, and then move across to something else that I wasn't technically passionate about either. So it's very important that you know that that journey, I was always doing the aspects of photography that really fulfilled me, even if it meant that I wouldn't necessarily get the financial benefits that I might I may have if I did more lucrative work.

Steve Arnold 35:27
Something that you mentioned a little bit in passing was your your night photography and your Astro work. And yeah, some of those photos of yours. You know, some of my favorites, especially down at horsehead rock, I think is one that stands out in my mind. And now you've you've teamed up with Jay and you're sort of running workshops, specifically night photography workshops, that that sounds like something that's a really great kind of fit for yourself because you know, you get to do what you enjoy. You know, spread that enjoyment with, you know, with others share that. So maybe you can just sort of mention a little bit about what that process is like, you know, what, what happens on your workshops? How did they all kind of work?

Luke Tscharke 36:14
Yeah, well, it's really interesting because it was something that was kind of developed out of a demand for, like, again, approaching being approached to do workshops, because they liked the images and people wanted to learn how to do it for themselves and, you know, be getting a lot of requests to actually run them. And so it was it was sort of initially started out of that demand. And I realized that you know, if there is that demand and people that many people are asking for it, then obviously, it's a it's something that I should look at setting up a series of and actually having a certain number of experiences per year that we could do that people could join us in. So at the moment, we've got Selected locations, the horsehead rock or an aroma location, as you mentioned, which sort of covers horsehead rock, camel rock, and some of the other really spectacular locations around the south coast of New South Wales. It's really world class coastline down there and set up really beautifully for Astro photography as well, particularly in the early season. So we normally run that in late April, early May. And then our Astro photography workshop at all route, which is probably a kind of Pinnacle experience. And it's very different experience to photographing on the coast being out in the red center. And it was certainly something that I got the idea of when I first did that job for tourism and tea. And so it was really nice to be able to kind of promote the area and then actually become an operator myself and almost being part of the tourism industry there. And so, my very good friend Jay got the credentials to actually be an honorary Tour Guide, which was the level that we had to actually go to to be able to To offer that as an experience, so it actually took us a couple years to set that up. And I believe at this point we were the only or one of the only operators that can actually take people into the park after dark, which is quite a significant privilege that we really do honor. So it's, it's an incredible spot Uluru and Kata tjuta, the Olgas because the very, very most famous angles of both although in Qatar, Judah, face east and so in when you get the eastern Milky Way, rice here in the southern hemisphere, you get a really, really amazing view of the these very iconic mandalas and the galactic core of the Milky Way just above it. It's absolutely astounding. And because there's very little people allowed in the park after that one fact, public access is blocked after 730 we really are the only people generally that are out there taking pictures and So we have it all to ourselves. And that's just a really really I don't know how to even put into words, spirituals probably sounding a little bit too heavy, but it's almost on that path we were out in this really special place and, and habit very much to yourselves and you can help you know your clients to take the shots that they could only have dreamed of taking and so it's it's really fulfilling. And on top of that, we also go to capertee Valley, which is we stay at an old industrial shale oil refinery, and it's really ruins and so we can actually access those ruins after dark and so it's a very different experience again, it's much more of a maybe an industrial feel old buildings and in huge big canyon walls and the valley walls of capertee Valley. It's very spectacular location. To also photograph, and then we've also been doing workshops on bruny Island. So that's the fourth location. And that some offers, if if we're very lucky Aurora, which we actually did manage to get last year, Aurora Strauss, and also some insanely clean not skies, lighthouses beaches. So it's a very special location down there too. So we like to think we've got a nice variety of experiences. And we generally run one workshop at each location each year. And, yeah, it's just very fulfilling part of what I do. And unfortunately, this year hasn't been a part of anything because of COVID. But yeah, we're really hoping to reinstate everything as long as you know, all of our guest accommodation and everything else is running and next year, so that's, that's definitely it's probably really the only major workshops that actually do. Mainly because I'm trying to not be A

photographer that only makes my income from running tools and workshops, I sort of feel like, if I'm, again, if I was to quit my job and do photography, I wasn't really doing that to become an educator, although I don't mind doing it. I don't want that to necessarily be everything that I offer. So I've done a lot of thinking about the areas that I've tried to get myself into there. So, yeah,

Steve Arnold 41:27
yeah. Now that all sounds really, really good. And I'm just just conscious of the time I want to respect your time we're coming up to I think, 40 minutes, maybe just to kind of round things off, if you could, you know, if you've got a couple of places that you'd like people to sort of search you out on, whether that's your social profiles or your websites.

Luke Tscharke 41:48
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for that, Steven. Yeah, once again, it's really an honor to be on your show and be able to talk about what I what I'm really passionate about and Get me thinking a bit about this sort of stuff. It's really nice to have some of these questions because I think you've asked me some of the deeper questions that are very, very rarely get asked. So it's been quite nice to, to take a bit more of a deep dive into those things. And in terms of links and where to find me, I've got my website Luke Tscharke, calm that, probably my big passion project at the moment is actually called beauty of Tasmania. And I've been putting a lot of work into that I've got a an Instagram profile, which is called at PDX of Tasmania, as well as I'm actually working on a website as well, which I'm hoping to release very shortly. And that's actually going to be a selection of images and blogs and, and just a whole bunch of information about Tasmania and the beauty of Tasmania and you know what, where to go what to see. It's not meant to be more of a destination, sort of blog type site as much as a place where people can just really appreciate the beauty of Tasmania and maybe even buy a print or two if they liked as well. So, yes, I'm really excited about that, and hopefully will be beauty of Tasmania Comdata you will be out there in the next few weeks. So that's that's what I've been up to and where you can find me on Instagram. I'm at Tscharke. And that's also where I put probably my portfolio kind of images as well. Thanks

Steve Arnold 43:21
again so much this year, like you said, this has been a really good chat, and I'm glad to have been able to ask you these questions. These are, you know, some of the things that I've personally been interested to know as well. So you know, that's the goal of this podcast is for me to kind of learn from from people I want to learn a bit from and then hopefully, listeners can take something from that and I'm sure I'm sure they will.

Luke Tscharke 43:46
Yeah, wish you all the podcast to Steven. It's really nice to be able to speak with you and touch base again.

Steve Arnold 43:52
Yeah, absolutely. Likewise, thanks again. I really appreciate this. Luke will talk soon. Okay, thanks again to Luke Tscharke for such a open and honest interview, I know there's a lot in here that many listeners are going to be able to take from what you've shared here. So thanks Luke.

Once again for listeners, Luke's Instagram profile can be found at Tscharke. That's his last name Sharky spelt t s ch AR ke and you can visit Luke's website at Luke Tscharke .com or beautyoftasmania.com.au. Now next week's guest is a world renowned photographer and animal advocate Sophie Gamand. Most famous in our household at least for her, quite frankly eye opening pit bull flowerpower series where she photographs pit bulls each wearing custom handmade flower crowns over the aim of helping people see the softer side of this often misunderstood breed and to help them find homes. So we discussed this and you know a whole lot more including how you can make a real difference with your photography where It's shelter dogs or whatever else it is that you're passionate about. So that's coming next week. In the meantime shownotes LinkedIn more from today's episode can be found at open shutter podcast.com slash Episode Three. Once again, thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.