GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS - Come Learn Photography Sydney
Yes, the rumors are true, I am teaching.
After years of doing private tuition, I have decided to offer a formal course for people who want to learn foundational photography.
Camera Craft 1 is my foundational photography course that has been designed from the ground up for both beginners and absolute beginners alike.
This isn’t some course that has been knocked by AI , this has been crafted after years of listening to beginner photographers, , responding to all sorts of questions, and designing a course structure that is fun as well as practical in nature.
Each lesson has been designed to ensure people learn the foundational skills, understand how they work, and develop the confidence to use their new found skills in the real world.
I am not a fan of presenters just reading off PowerPoint, and as such each class has practical demonstrations as well as hands on exercises added in as a way of applying camera theory into real world scenarios.
My style of teaching is to ensure the classroom is a fun place to learn, a positive environment, and that each student takes away a new skill each class.
What am I offering in a Foundational Photography course.
This course has been created by me and not by AI. This is something that I have refined after years of teaching beginners privately, remembering what I wanted to learn when I started out, and how to apply photographic theory into real world environments via practical lessons.
The course is taught in a class room environment as opposed to an online environment . This way, you can ask questions, see how things work in the real world, and meet new people.
It will be held at Kogarah Art School with a class size between 4 to 6 students.
Starting Tuesday the 3rd of November till the 24th.
Classes will be held on Tuesday nights for the month of November between 6pm till 7:30
Each lesson will have a good mix of camera theory, demonstrations, and practical exercises.
The course will cover everything someone who is a beginner will need to know in order to take better photos.
Lesson 1 – All about how your camera works
Lesson 2 – An entire lesson devoted to camera flash
Lesson 3 – Communication and Composition.
Lesson 4 – Shooting outdoors and setting you up for success in the future
I am also running a special on the course for the entire of November.
Complete the registration form, book in, and your invoice will come in at $299.00 inclusive of GST instead of the original course price of $350.00
Spots are limited, so book in now, and I hope to see you soon.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS -HEAD ON PHOTO FESTIVAL- Exposure Awards 2025
This post is a little late… in fact a year late!
In 2025, I began something that I had not done in a long time, a personal project outside of the studio.
Football F##ken or The Sunday League (I still have not settled on a name as of yet), is a project that focuses on the themes of football is life, a cure for depression, and multicultural Australia. Its a feel good story about all the good things in life that only football can bring.
I followed the over 35s team of the Connells Point Rovers around for a season and my goal was to combine my fine art experience across to sports photography.
This photo I took on the sidelines and out of all the images I shot , this was the one that I thought best represented the combination of fine art and sports photography.
In 2025 I entered this image into Head On, one of Australia’s premier photography contents. Much to my surprise it made it as a semi finalist. What added further to my surprise was that I had no idea I even made it as a semi finalist till this year!
I am extremely humbled to have made it as far as the semi finals amongst such amazing photos and am grateful for the opportunity.
Special thanks goes out to my sister Sonia who pushed me to do this project, my dear friends Andy and his brother Leo who gave me some street cred amongst the team, as well as the boys from the Rovers.
You can see my work and the amazing other finalist by clicking here.
Giacomo Zadro - Head On Semi Finalist Exposure Awards 2025
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS - The International Photography Awards 2026.
The international photography awards is a competitive event.
For the 2026 program, It attracted over 14,000 entries from over 139 countries.
So quite competitive as you can imagine.
Previously, the highest ranking I have achieved was in 2016 where my photo journal Poggioreale, managed to make it into the top 3. That was a very special moment for me. It was at a time where I predominately did landscapes style imagery and it was deeply personal experience for me to travel back to my mothers village that was abandoned after the earthquake in 1968. It was a hugely collaborative effort that I am very proud off.
This award in 2026 is unique, as it’s the first time a photo that I have taken of a person not a place, has achieved such a high standing. Even though I didn’t make the top 3 , it is a very humbling experience to make the top 20 in my category, especially within such a talented field.
Special thank you goes out to my talent Jade who did this jump through the air at least three times to get it perfect (she actually was the one who made the decision to do it again and again not me as I thought it was perfect the first time), my friend Alison for setting this shoot up, the other ballerina on the day Amber who helped with the material, the judges at the IPA, and everyone who has supported me on my journey.
IPA Honorable mention for 2026
The photo of Amber leaping through the air made it to the IPA Official Selection Criteria.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS - DR JAMES MORANDINI BUSINESS PHOTOSHOOT NEWTOWN.
Client : Dr James Morandini
Location: King Street Newtown
Photo shoot type: Business portraits, website content, and social media imagery.
Special notes: Present a warm, friendly, and professional images with an inner city feel.
i had the pleasure of working with Dr James Morandini who is a great person to work with and who does allot of great work in the community. For this shoot I wanted the job brief required professional photos that could be used on the internet as well as social media that portrayed a warm, friendly, and professional vibe.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS - SYDNEY ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY.
Client : Tony & Beth
Location of engagement shoot : Darling Point Wharf
Job Brief: Create a series of images that combine the romance of an engagement session with the feel of Sydney
An engagement present from there Aunt (also called Beth), Beth and Tony had not had the best of luck when it came to engagement photos. There previous ones in Europe did not go to plan and as a result, there lovely Aunt Beth commisioned me to take there photos for them.
The idea of this shoot was to create a series of photos that combined the lovely couple to be with a real feel of Sydney. This was the idea behind the photos but also the video with the beautiful Sydney skyline in the background of Darling Point Wharf.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTS - THE IPA AWARDS 2026 OFFICAL SELECTION
I am thrilled and extremely humbled to announce that my two photographs in the people category have made it to the official selection in the People category at the IPA Awards in 2026.
My previous best effort was actually coming third in the book category (something hopefully next year I plan to better), but this is only the third time I have placed in the people category.
To make it into the official selection criteria of the IPA Awards is a tricky task (nearly 12000 to 14000 entries from over 100 countries according to google) , so I am thrilled to have gone this far and also extremely humbled that amongst so much talent my work was selected.
None of this would be possible without the team I worked with. Special thanks goes out to the performers on the day Jade, Amber, and Alison from Sequel Studios at Alexandria for helping on the day.
IPA Awards 2026 in the People Category
IPA Awards 2026 in the People Category
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - FITNESS PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY
Client : Jeylin
Makeup : Make up by Ruby
Brief: Create an editorial style photoshoot for Sydney Personal Trainer Jeylin. The idea was to create images that were straight out of a magazine and that were not the standard white wall photos (not that there is anything wrong with that).
Lighting: Two strobes for this one, one with a red gel from above and one with an orange gel on the side. The idea with the lighting was to create an interesting and warm feel to match the style of shoot
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - THE 2025 MONO AWARDS
The Mono Awards 2025
This was another milestone in 2025.
Before 2025 all of my previous awards had been in the categories of landscape, places, and travel. It wasn’t that I didn’t take photos of people (I had previously done weddings in 2007, and had been working in and out of studios since 2009), it’s just that I had never entered any of my new work into contests.
So it was a bit of a big deal for me to place in any category or receive any kind of acknowledgement from the Mono Awards, especially the Tarot shot which previously nearly killed me (however that is for another time).
People – Highly Commended.
People – Commended
People – Commended
People – Commended
Mono Awards 2025 Highly Commended -Folk musician Michael, outside the Enmore Theater- shot on a Sony RX1Rii
Mono Awards 2025 Commended - Sequel Studios owner Alison posing for a 90s style shoot in Enmore
The Mono Awards 2025 Commended - Performer Mimi Martini shot in Enmore
The Mono Awards 2025 Commended - Mick , shot in Enmore.
The Mono Awards 2025 Commended - Temperance, this shoot almost killed me and I apologise to everyone I drove crazy having to help or listen to me.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS- THE CAPTURE AWARDS 2025
I am a big fan of photography competitions, but not for the reasons many would assume.
Receiving acknowledgments is always lovely, placing or winning in competitions is even nicer, however it’s knowing that my work is on the right track, and that my fine art work is developing over time. It’s a tough ask to put yourself out there, but it’s the acknowledgement that complete strangers rate your work highly that provides you with a sense of satisfaction.
James Fear Photography Sydney was only born a few years ago. Even though I have been taking photos of people since 2005, I haven’t entered any photography competitions since 2018 and took 3 years off. Previously (and in another photography life), my entries in categories such as landscape, nature, and urban entries all place highly (both, but the Capture Awards was one of the first People style contests I had ever entered.
Very Proud to have received the following
Portraits and People – Finalist
Portraits and People - Highly Commended
Portraits and People - Highly Commended
Art and Conceptual – Commended
The Capture Awards 2025. People, Finalist: Juno with a wall of red pockets behind her and every luck cat I could find.
he Capture Awards 2025, Highly Commended : Alison posing for a bit of a fantasy style shoot.
The Capture Awards 2025 - Highly Commended: Master Kwon from Master Kwons Martial Arts Academy doing the “ Vann Damme”.
The Capture Awards 2025 , Commended: Juno in the second half of the shoot doing the YOKAI
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - CHINESE NEW YEAR (PLUS FUJIFILM INSTAGRAM FEATURE)
Model : Juno
Makeup : Makeup by Ruby
Client: Personal
Theme : Chinese New Year
I love Chinese New Year!
It’s a big deal where I live in Sydney, and it’s one of the most exciting times to discover the city and embrace one of the best celebrations in town.
For this shoot, I was very much inspired by Chinese New Year and wanted to create a shoot that combined the colours, culture, with a bit of mysticism in the form of a character - in this instance the idea of a fortune teller.
To pull this off a giant red pocket background was created (none of that AI garbage) , every lucky cat I could find, as much of the colour red I could get, and an outfit that worked with the lovely Juno.
This shoot was a challenge but highly rewarding. It was featured on the Instagram account of Fujifilm Australia as a Fuji GFX 50s with a 63mm 2.8 prime was used for this shoot.
Giacomo Zadro Finalist - this image made it as a finalist in The Capture Awards 2025
My first ever feature on a camera companies instagram , in this instance Fuji Film Australia.
This series also featured this image that made it to the Official Selection Criteria at the 2024 International Photography Awards (IPA).
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - MEDUSA PHOTOSHOOT
Medusa
Model : Mimi Martini
Shoot: Medusa photo shoot
Work Type: Personal Project
So every Halloween I like to do something a bit different, and last year was no exception. I always loved the myths of ancient Greece as a boy, so when I had the chance to put this together, I jumped at it.
This shoot is divided into 3 parts.
Part 1: Using silver mylar as the background and using a beauty dish at the front. The Mylar is meant to reflect the shield that Perseus used to view Medusa in his shield.
Part 2: Using an optical spot to create a contrast high shadow look. This was meant to be a play on the classic horror movies of old.
Part 3: Using gels and high colour to create a 70s European horror style look.
I am always up for doing something , if you want to book me in for something out of the ordinary let me know.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - SYDNEY BALLET PHOTOGRAPHY
Client : Sequel Studios Alexandria.
Work Type : Website update
Type: Health and Fitness Photography Sydney.
Sequel Studios is a fantastic new dance studio based in the inner city suburb of Alexandria (right across the road from the new Metro Station).
Alison (the studios owner) were in discussions about how to promote her new ballet classes and wanted to create a series of high end fine art style photos that could be used for social media, the website, and at the studio in order to promote her classes.
For this look I worked with two of her very talented instructors Amber and Jade in order to create a find art style of shoot that focused on the art, skill, and creativity of ballet.
This shoot is done with 2 flashes, one is at ceiling height pointed at a 45degree angle and the other is a strip box directly to the side of each dancer acting as a fill. The material used in this shoot is designed to create a bit of drama and to add further movement to the shoot.
You can check out more behind the scenes on the below YouTube video.
GJZ PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY PRESENTS - MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY SYDNEY
SHOOT: Model Photography Sydney
LOCATION: Alexandria Sydney
MODEL: Marta
TYPE OF PHOTOS: This shoot was comprised of three different looks.
Look 1: High end vivid photography portraits using LED Lighting.
Look 2: Black and white portraits
Look 3: Fine art studio look.
For this shoot featuring the lovely Marta it was divided into three different looks.
The bright LED look is a combination of 2 LED RGB Soft boxes “stacked” on top of each other. Each light is positioning horizontally as opposed to vertically in order to split the light (again so to speak) and to create a little bit of a gradient style of effect.
Look 2 is a classic 90s style portrait inspired by one of my many heroes Peter Lindenburgh. The setup for this shoot is very simple; it’s a single LED light with an optical spot fitted and a few different gobos (things that make the pattern – used to be called Cookie Cutters if you are old like me). This effect isn’t hard, but it does require some patience.
Look 3 is something I have been refining for a few years now. It’s a black and white stylised editorial look using cloth backgrounds and materials. I think this look works best and with the unique look that Marta has, creating an urban look was very easy.
Its all done with one flash on the left hand side with a 120cm Octobox.
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