About Darren Christie

A middle-aged man with sunglasses and a beard, sitting at an outdoor seating area with red hanging lamps and greenery behind him.

Hello and welcome to my photography website. I’m Darren Christie (you’re welcome to just call me Daz). Here’s a little bit (ok…quite a lot really) about me:

My Background

I’m 60 years old.

I’m married to Marisa Quigley, a nurse and talented singer/songwriter. I have 6 adult children and 2 (almost 3) 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. Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Wombats, Kookaburras, Koalas, Echidnas, Goannas, Eastern Brown Snakes, Red Bellied Black Snakes, Foxes and 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. There’s a photo documentary project about the property on this website. I’ve called it ‘My Big Backyard’. Please feel free to visit if you’d like to see more of the property.

A landscape with large rocks scattered across dry grass and sparse trees, under a clear blue sky during sunset.

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

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 current work

The S.VHS.C camera I used to use.

The S.VHS.C camera I used in the early 90’s

Audio

I love audio engineering and production. I’ve mixed at a few festivals over the years but I’m self-taught and its just a hobby (plus I’ve worked with enough Primadonna muso’s to know I couldn’t do it as a job). Now I love to set up the PA and mix when I do gigs (duo up to full band) with my wife, Marisa.

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

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

Media Production

I used to be a video producer. I made a few hundred short 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 PC can do it all, at a higher quality and at a fraction of the cost.

I also spent time on corporate, instructional and promotional video production and wedding videography. Now video production’s just a hobby.

A man and a woman smiling in a lush jungle, with a monkey sitting on the man's shoulder.

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/videography. 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 becoming a working fine-art photographer in 2026.

My Style

While I love landscape and travel photography, my still-developing style predominantly focuses on ABSTRACT, MINIMALIST 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. While I’m looking for an interesting subject or composition while out shooting, it’s a pleasing emotional response to my images that I’m looking for when editing.

Close-up of rusty, corroded metal surface with red-brown patches and blue-green oxidation. The surface shows rough, textured corrosion with shadows cast across it.

My Tools

I shoot stills with both Canon APS-C and Lumix M43 bodies. I love post-processing and mostly use Lightroom. I also use Photoshop and ON1 Photo RAW. Here is my full ‘gear and software’ list, including what I use for video and audio.

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

A monkey sitting on a rock, hugging a baby monkey, in a forest setting.
A padlock shaped like a bear's head attached to a wooden fence.
Two orange marigold flowers resting on a black and gray concrete staircase with a textured gray wall.
Close-up of a heavily rusted metal surface with peeling paint, featuring a rectangular plate with four rusted screws and surrounding circular and irregular rust patterns.
Black and white photo of a floating dock or platform reflected in water with ripples.