About Darren Christie

My Background

I’m 59 years old.

I’m married to Marisa Quigley, a nurse and talented singer/songwriter. I have 6 adult children and 2 adorable grandchildren.

I’m privileged to live in North East Victoria, Australia, on a secluded and hilly 307ac property with spectacular views. Our property borders a national park. Although partially cleared, it contains a lot of natural bushland and large outcrops of granite. Grey Kangaroos, Wombats, Koalas, Echidnas, Goannas, and feral Samba Deer live in the surrounding bushland.

This is my ‘big backyard’. It’s also my ‘happy place’ where I love to wander through the bush, enjoying the natural beauty. It’s a great wild space for a photographer to hang out (you can see more of the property at My Big Backyard).

We live off-grid and are learning to be more self-sufficient. We have about 50 Wiltshire Horn sheep and 8 Alpacas.

I currently work 3 days a week as an operating theatre technician at a nearby private hospital.

I’m also a musician. I play guitar, bass, keys and sing a bit with my wife. I also love to produce electronic music.

I used to be a video producer. I made many Veterinary education videos with my father in the 90’s using a large Pro S.VHS.C camera and an A/B Roll S.VHS edit suite with a vision mixer and a titling computer. Now my phone and computer would do it all, at a higher quality and at a fraction of the cost.

My Cancer and Mental Health history

In 1995 (I was 29) I went into hospital with suspected appendicitis. It was Colon Cancer. I woke up to find out I’d had 1/3 of my large bowel (ascending colon) removed. Following this I struggled on and off for many years with depression and anxiety. I’m doing pretty well now, for the most part, although I still have my ups and downs, mostly with anxiety. More recently I’ve had to start back on the anti-D’s. Fortunately, the hard times have made me stronger and have had an overall positive impact on who I am today. My experience with anxiety and depression, combined with my love of photography, has led me to an interest in photography and mental health. More on this to come.

My Photography

I’ve loved photography for many years, starting in the 1970’s when I was in Primary School. I went through the B&W printing in the bathroom stage, dabbled in wedding photography (mostly videography) and have done some Veterinary medical photography. However, it wasn’t until I got my first digital camera and taught myself the basics of Photoshop that my real passion for photography was ignited.

Now, after many years of taking photos for myself, and at nearly 60, I’ve decided it’s time to do more of what I’m passionate about and have set myself the goal of being a working fine-art photographer by the end of 2025. I may NOT make it all the way there…but THAT’S THE GOAL.

My Style

While I love landscape and travel photography, my still-developing style predominantly focuses on ABSTRACT and STYLIZED NATURE images. While I like experimenting with techniques like ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) and multiple-exposures, I don’t use them very often. At the moment of writing this, I also mostly crop my images square, which I’ve come to really like.

I’m more of an opportunistic and instinctive shooter. I like to spend a lot of time at a location and take lots of shots. I don’t have a great ‘strike rate’ (i.e. I have to take a lot of images to get a few good ones), so not being rushed allows me to experiment a bit and gives me a better chance of getting some shots that give me something I really like after cropping and editing.

One thing I am getting better at is looking for subjects with an edit in mind. An otherwise plain shot of a granite boulder with some interesting shadows falling across it can be edited to accentuate colours, cracks and crevices, moss, lichen, and shadow patterns, creating a more interesting (and abstract) image. This pre-visualising/creative editing combination has helped me develop my own style. I tend to gravitate towards darker, warmer and more saturated images. I think I just prefer how they make me feel, compared to brighter/lighter shots. I probably look for a pleasing emotional response in my images as much as an interesting subject or composition.

My Tools

I shoot with both Canon APS-C and Lumix M43 bodies. I love post-processing and mostly use Lightroom. Here is my full ‘gear and software’ list.

Online store

I’m still getting set up to be able to print and sell my work. My online store and connected printing service will be active soon(ish).

Thank you for taking the time to visit my website.

Daz