Gary Lisbon • 45 • Melbourne • Golf Course Photographer
I used to be a chartered accountant working for a large firm, and one of my audit clients was Kingston Heath Golf Club. I found myself at the end of the day going out and playing a few holes (one of the good perks of this job) and also taking some photos. They were pretty bad to be perfectly honest, but having the sandbelt courses in my own backyard provided me plenty of opportunity to improve! I kept on doing it and the photos seemed to get a bit better. Having a love of golf fuelled my desire to keep taking photos of courses in our local area and then interstate as the opportunity presented.
I still remember my first paid commission up to Paradise Palms in 2004 in Tropical North Queensland. It went well and led to more work and referrals as people saw the images. It just took off from there.
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There are so many good things about doing what I do, but I think it is about being able to visit and photograph some amazing courses around the world and capture them in their best light. I did a count the other day and realised that I have been blessed to have visited 21 countries and more than 400 golf courses taking photos. They are all different.
The worst part of my job is easy – it is when I am on a shoot somewhere in the world and the weather is not co-operating. There are heavy clouds, rain and the sun just doesn’t appear. A lot of patience is required in these circumstances.
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Season 2017 was an interesting year, with a fair bit of domestic and international travel to countries including Vietnam (twice), USA, Mexico, New Zealand (twice) as well as visiting four different states in Australia. It is not always that way, although as new courses develop they tend to be out of Australia and more in the Asia region. I need to go where the courses are being built. I think I would have travelled about 75,000 kilometres last year.
A lot of people ask me what makes a great golf course photograph. I believe you need to draw people into the shot and to show them the hole as it plays out. To that extent, having something of interest in the foreground leading the viewer into the shot is important. This could be a tee box, a tree or bunker or even a lake. I like to incorporate bunkers into many of my shots as they add contrast to what is generally a green colouring and, where possible, show the “finish line” – the green and flagstick. Browned-off rough areas with green fairways also provide a great way for the viewer to see where they should be heading. An interesting backdrop to the image is also important – whether this is a water or ocean backdrop, a mountain vista and even dramatic clouds – all of these help to enhance the appeal of the image.
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If the weather is co-operative then a good shoot can be conducted in three days with six sessions (optimal shooting times are first thing in the morning and last thing prior to sunset – hence two times per day for about 1.5 hours per session). If the client wants drone photography and video then this adds an extra time element and we should allow an additional two days (four sessions) for this. If the weather is bad, well, it can take a long time. Sometimes when the weather is not co-operating I will need to reschedule a shoot and come back.
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The longest I’ve had to stake out a location for the perfect shot is one whole year! I was down at Barnbougle in Tasmania, wanting to capture a shot of the seventh hole on the Dunes course (known as “Tom’s Little Devil”). I got to the hole on my last day of shooting and the sun was too high for a good shot. I noted this down as to when I needed to be there and exactly one year later I was back at Barnbougle and captured the shot at the perfect time.
Fiji is generally a really nice place to visit and take photos. Sometimes, though, it gets lots of rain in a short period of time. I was shooting at Denarau one year on a four-day project and for the first three-and-a-half days there was nothing but heavy rain, flooding and clouds. The sun did not even make an appearance. Thankfully on the last morning the sun came out and I managed to drive around the course capturing images, and even used a 20-year-old cherry picker to capture some high shots.
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Naming my favourite courses and holes to photograph is tough. The world is so different and each region has its own charm and wow-factor. My favourite hole to photograph would have to be the seventh at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, USA. It’s a famous downhill par 3 playing just over 100 metres with a water backdrop. You get so much variety daily with storms, big waves and sunshine making each shot different. Cypress Point, next door, is hands down my favourite course in all of golf (to play and photograph). I love this place and to be able to photograph it is an absolute privilege. The course contains so much drama and variety – from the parkland holes to the dunes holes and finally the ocean holes, it has it all.
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The Melbourne Sandbelt is my favourite region to capture. There’s so much great stuff you can easily spend weeks here photographing and getting different looks and feel from each course. The bunkering of the sandbelt is the best in the world.
Favourite country? I love New Zealand. From the breathtaking beauty of places such as Kauri Cliffs, Cape Kidnappers and Tara Iti to the links charm of Paraparaumu Beach and the parkland beauty of Wairakei, this country has it all. When you head down south to Queenstown you get the grandeur of the mountain backdrops and some dramatic courses including Jack’s Point, Millbrook and The Hills.
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Over the years I have admired many overseas photographers, including Brian Morgan, who I have spent a bit of time with and who has shown me some tips and tricks, Joann Dost, who has captured a wide range of courses around the world over the past 20 years, and in recent times Evan Schiller and Jacob Sjoman. At a local level, David Scaletti is a great photographer and someone who has captured some great images of our home-grown courses that I often admire. As golf course photographers we all see shots uniquely and any of the above photographers might capture a shot of the same hole in a completely different way to how I see it.
In my job I think it certainly helps to be a golfer – but you don’t have to be a good golfer. Ideally you want to lead the viewer into the shot and to show them how the hole unfolds. As a golfer you understand that. Sometimes if you are not a golfer you can be very artistic with your shots but they bear no resemblance to what the golfers faces. So in the main I think it helps greatly if you know, understand and love the game.
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Technology has helped in a big way and saved me a lot of time and effort. Primarily digital photography has made the whole process of capture-to-finished-image a lot quicker. Digital allows the photographer to review images immediately, make adjustments to settings and also transfer to computers for post-capture editing. In a marketing and promotion way the internet and social media have provided a quick and engaging way to share images (see www.instagram.com/garylisbongolf) and create awareness about you and your images to a worldwide audience.
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It took me a while but now I love using a drone to capture dramatic aerial images and video from courses I visit. While I believe a drone should never replace the on-the-ground imagery I capture, it provides an additional perspective to really offer a wow-factor to those who view images. You see a lot more from the sky – how the hole is laid out, the drama and character of the bunkering and the hole location relative to the rest of the course. It is definitely something that will only increase over time.
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It may surprise some but I actually like smartphone technology for a different reason in that it allows moments to be captured that may have been missed in the past because a camera was not handy. I have seen some great images from greenskeepers and superintendents around the world captured on their smartphone because they were there at the right time. At the end of the day, while you can get a reasonable image from a smartphone, nothing beats using proper equipment, having an understanding of the composition of a photo and getting the lighting right. It is better to capture the image perfectly in the first place rather than relying on filters and editing tools to make it look better.
My funniest moment on the job? It has to be a shoot I did on the Mornington Peninsula when my then four-year-old daughter, Danielle, was in the cart with myself and Matthew, a GOLFSelect colleague. We were driving along a fairway when all of a sudden a sprinkler popped up and started shooting water in our direction. I swerved the cart to avoid it and in doing so, both Danielle and Matthew fell out of the buggy. The next five seconds were in slow motion as Matt fell to the ground and Danielle flew through the air and landed on Matt’s stomach, cushioning her fall.
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My tip for those interested in becoming a proficient golf course photographer would be to invest in good camera equipment and, in particular, quality lenses. Consider attending a photographic course to help you understand more about photography (composition, exposure, timing). And above all, keep taking photos – you can learn a lot from taking and reviewing images. Digital gives you the ability to take hundreds of images and learn from them. Share your work on social media and get feedback.
Gary Lisbon has just released Great Golf Down Under, Volume 3 – a beautiful coffee table book showcasing 136 of the best golf courses across Australia and New Zealand. Get yours now at www.greatgolfdownunder.com.au
