Exposure: Tim Coulson

Capturing spontaneous moments of everyday life, Tim Coulson swapped the corporate life for a slower photographic pace. Explore his portfolio this month on Exposure.

Lexy Savvides

See full bio

Lexy Savvides

March 31, 2011 4:54 p.m. PT

1 of 18 Tim Coulson

Night boots

(Credit: Tim Coulson)

Photographer: Tim Coulson

Speciality: Portraiture, everyday life

Biography: Tim attended a Grammar School and graduated from university with a Bachelor of Management with a double major in HR and Marketing. After working first in a marketing agency, then in a super cool fashion house, he ended up working for one of the country’s largest property developers and realised the corporate rat race wasn't his thing.

After dreading waking up and going to work one too many times, and with support from his wife, Tim finally tapped out a resignation letter. He picked up his camera, rented out their house and has been chasing the dream ever since. Tim takes photos of real life and everything that goes with it.

Equipment: Canon EOS 550D, Canon EOS 5D Mark II (recent acquisition), Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 USM, Adobe Lightroom, Alien Skin Exposure 3.

Video interview

More of Tim's work can be seen on his blog.

I often shoot just before sunset, and while this is awesome for skin tones, I felt like I needed to head out into the night. This shot was taken in an arcade at around 10pm.

Exposure: Canon 5D Mark II, 1/60, f/1.6, ISO 2000, 35mm

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Beach jacket

I'd been shooting mainly family portraits and felt like something different. I grabbed my wife and a bunch of my clothes, put them on her and headed to the beach for our version of a fashion shoot. This was the very first image of the shoot.

Exposure: Canon 5D Mark II, 1/320, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Berry clocks

We recently moved away from family and friends so that I could focus on photography and my wife could focus on her art, so we love it when friends or family come and visit. This is my best mate and his wife. We all headed into Berry (a town on the south coast of NSW) and generally ate and shopped our way through the day.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/80, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Mr. Max

This is my newphew, Max. He's pretty new to the world but seems to have the modelling thing down already.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/150, f/1.4, ISO 400, 35mm

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Pickup

There's this fish market right near where we live and the guy who owns it is mad for old American pickup trucks. This is his real old Chevy. I like.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/1600, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Blue boots

When I first met my wife I thought she was weird with her "alternate" fashions. Now, I love everything about what she wears.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/4000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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The perfect gentleman

Love is a beautiful thing and these two have a special kind.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/1000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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The real kissing shot

I'm not really into kissing shots. Or, at least, I wasn’t into them until I got this one. You can’t pose these things. They have to be full-blown and completely legitimate for it to come off. Luckily, this one was.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/1000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Moo

We live in a place surrounded by farms. These cows have a better view than most humans, with their few hundred acres of grass backing onto the coastline.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/4000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Into the sun

Funny that the best photos are never set up. This couple didn’t even want me to take photos at this point of the session. So I didn't; at least, not as far as they knew.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/4000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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The boys

These kids couldn’t have cared less about the water temperature, time of day (7am) or the fact that I was taking their photo. I like their style.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/2500, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Werri headland

Living in a beautiful place has helped my photography as much as anything. This is the headland at our local beach, taken back in time thanks to a little love from Alien Skin Exposure.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/3200, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Pop's bike

I’d been looking for a vintage bike for my wife in the week’s leading up to Christmas. The day I was going to pick up a bike for her, I dropped around to see my Nan and Pop and noticed an old bike. I asked my Pop about it and he insisted we have it. This photo was taken on the much anticipated first ride of the bike along our beach bike path.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/1000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Preppin'

I don't really do family portraits. Or I didn’t do them until the Bush family. I arrived at our location ready to go, called the family to confirm and found out they were running late. I headed over to their house and started taking photos of the family getting ready. Some of the best shots that day came from the shots that weren't meant to be taken.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/40, f/1.4, ISO 400, 35mm

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Sea legged

One of best mates just quit his job to pursue something he has real passion for – making surfboards. We took this shot while he was putting together a new Mal for a client.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/50, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Twin love

This is my sister's foot. She has a twin. In fact, I have four sisters, all twins. The older set both have this same tattoo. Pretty cool...

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/2000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 35mm

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Offshore

Night walks along our local beach are a bit of a regular thing. The sun was completely gone and there was an offshore blowing, cooking up huge overspray. A slow shutter speed only helped my cause.

Exposure: Canon 550D, 1/15, f/1.8, ISO 800, 35mm