CameraPro On The Couch with Colin Baker

Colin Baker is the National Account Manager with Canon Australia and an award-winning photographer with a particular love for underwater, wildlife, and travel photography. We caught up with Colin, who shared how he became interested in photography and a few of his photography highlights and adventures working with Canon Australia.

While on a family holiday, around the age of 8, Colin recalls being handed a camera for the day. He shot the entire roll of film on the clouds. Needless to say, his parents were less than thrilled with paying for 24 photos of the sky. Undeterred by his first negative review, Colin began reaching for the camera whenever he could get his hands on a roll of film. During high school, he gained access to the darkroom and was awed by the magic of watching an image come to life in the fixer. He’s been hooked on the science of photography ever since.

In the mid-90s, consumer-level digital cameras were making their way into the market, and Colin realised he could now take as many photos of the clouds as he wanted. Digital image creation took hold of his career in the late 90s when he began working in the retail technology sector. Colin describes the early 2000s and the rapid evolution from analogue to digital as a pretty exciting time for selling cameras and printers. Shooting on the weekends helped him learn the differences between various bodies and lenses, so he could better explain features to customers and advise them on how to get the most out of their cameras. In 2006, there was an opening at Canon Australia. Feeling it would be an excellent opportunity to see a different side of the market, Colin applied and has been learning and growing with the company ever since. 

‘It's a fun workplace. I've got to be honest; if you're not learning something new every day and not having fun, it's probably time to do something else. But yeah, I have a ball.’

In the 16 years since landing the job with Canon, Colin has held a range of positions, probably most notably his years as a Canon Collective ambassador and today as the National Account Manager. During his time with the Collective team, Colin worked extensively with Australian and Queensland tourism, travelling to remote corners of the continent to photograph a wide range of landscapes and wildlife. A huge advocate for exploring and appreciating the natural world within one’s backyard and spending time and money in local tourism markets, he’s now invested in a caravan so he can continue to share these experiences with his young family.

 Taken from Instagram: @colbaker

Of his top three favourite events with the Collective, Colin fondly recalls his time at the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, near Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in far North Queensland. He describes the remote wilderness of the Cape and its myriad of unique flora and fauna species as a "bird watcher's paradise”. 

For number two, Colin says it would be any number of underwater photography experiences, except for those in the middle of winter, which he delegates to the bottom of his list with a chuckle. He remembers with particular zeal the breathtaking adventure of photographing whales in Tonga under the guidance of Darren Jew and strongly urges anyone who wants to do it to stop thinking about it and just go for it. 

‘The first time you jump in the water, and see a bus in front of you swimming, and it's got eyes and is looking at you. I can't explain it; it's awesome.’ 

Thirdly was an outback tour with Seair. This was another trip where Colin was able to experience Australia's remoteness. But instead of travelling to the country’s fringe, the group journeyed inland to absorb the vast beauty of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in South Australia and parts of the Simpson Desert near Birdsville in the South West corner of Queensland. An area often only viewed from 30,000 feet and above during an international flight, Colin and the group could absorb the expanse and rich earthy colours of the Australian outback from a small aircraft flying at a thousand feet.

 Taken from Instagram: @colbaker

A quick scroll through Colin’s Instagram feed reveals only a tiny glimpse into the countless extraordinary memories he has collected over the years working with Canon. From swimming with turtles and manta rays at Lady Eliot Island to photographing azure kingfishers and saltwater crocodiles in Kakadu and meeting all the local residents at Australia Zoo many times over.

‘We've got so much stuff here that I don't think most Australians have seen. From Tasmania all the way to the tip, there's no favourite spot for me. I'd just say get out there, get into it, and take your camera with you.’

During his time with Canon, Colin has collaborated with some of Australia’s most esteemed photographers and cinematographers through the Masters program. Canon Masters are image creators at the top of their field, whose skills transverse genres. They’re highly adept business people with exceptional people skills who generously share their industry knowledge with others. A highly skilled photographer himself, Colin has taken every opportunity to learn from the Masters he has worked with and the numerous Collective events he has coordinated.

 Taken from Instagram: @colbaker

From shooting that first roll of film back when he was 8 to his current role as National Account Manager, Colin has amassed a plethora of technique and gear-related expertise. His genuine enthusiasm for photography is as alive today as ever, maybe even more, and his conviction in its future significance is inspiring.  

‘We're taking so many more photos than we ever have before, and we will continue to do that as generations get older. Don't forget what you're doing it for; we're marking memories. We're taking historical documents essentially, and it's really cool that they're digital already because of the good archival practices. These photos are going to be around forever; people are going to be looking back on them, and that's kind of cool. We are historians with our cameras.’

You can watch the entire conversation here to learn more about Colin and Canon Australia.

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