About the Photographer

About Me

It’s been a long time coming! You might know me by a few names; Carters Captures Van Life, CCP Shutter Speed and PBC.

I’ve incorporated it all under “Photography By Carter” (PBC). I will slowly upload my work to this new website. Stay tuned!

So my name is John! Can you guess my last name? 

I was born in Manila, Philippines way back in 1994! Yes, I can’t believe it myself! Hitting the big 30 this year. Oh how time flies. So I decided to create this site to showcase my photography for the past 10 years. From landscape to seascape, street and portraits, cars and events, I’ve done it all and I absolutely love it!! I’ll be continuing my passion for capturing and creating timeless moments for years to come!

The Start, The Begining, The Alpha

I love the way I found and learnt my passion.

It started back in 2011. The school I attended organised a Christian missionary trip to my birth country and city! The capital of the Philippines, Manila!

How could I say no!? While on the trip my homegroup teacher gave me a school camera to take photos with. Side note, I got to visit my orphanage!! My homegroup teacher saw these photos and loved them! Surprisingly, a package awaited me a few weeks after returning from school holidays. My homegroup teacher had been to South Africa for a trip and brought back a DSLR camera just for me!! Since then, I’ve never stopped taking photos.  I’m so grateful for finding my passion in life and for all the support from family and friends to get me where I am today.

When I first started learning about photography I lived in a country town in South Australia.

Stansbury is a little seaside town situated on Yorke Peninsula with a population of 300. As you can imagine, there was hardly anyone around that could teach me and we never had internet access at home. So I decided to teach myself. Being near the sea and surrounded by the Australian rugged landscape, I mostly took photos of landscape and seascape. My favourite was photographing anything to do with water. It has its own lively beauty. Most mornings before school, I’d wake up before sunrise and head out to the cliffs that looked over the bay as the sun rose. Then I met the bus near the cliffs and headed to school which took 1.5 hours.

Life as a Photographer

From then on, I took my camera everywhere! Anywhere I went on Yorke Peninsula. 

I helped my father with sheep work and started taking photos of animals and old machinery which I came across in the bush. 

I fell deeply in love with the Australian landscape and nature. I was always in it.

A year after I started, I had the wonderful opportunity to do my first major event! Yorke Peninsula Saltwater Classic 2012 which my father founded with a few of his mates back in 2003.

From there I started into Event Photography, weddings, parties, the Maitland Show and many others. 

A few years later, I moved to Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. There I got into Automotive photography, attended car meets and went to race tracks. Also, Nightclub photography. I also attended band shows and became a photographer for a few bars.  

Recent Events

In recent years since moving to Melbourne, I have fallen in love with Monochrome Photography / Street Photography. 

I love capturing people in their own worlds and observing the crowds as if I were a fly on a wall. Black and White images just hit differently. Whether it’s to do with the different colour receptors in our eyes or the fact that it takes away colour distraction and simplifies the scene. It’s magic to me!

I like framing and capturing situations and actions that tell a story and describe itself with meaning and character.  I’ve decided to help the people around me to notice their beauty through my captures. I want to focus on bringing quality images and helpful support to clients with affordable costs and tailored services to deliver everlasting memories!