Black Head resident and freelance photographer Aidan Kean has seen a lot in 2019.
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From bushfires bearing down on his home to the stunning sights he's seen in his travels, he's captured the diverse and dramatic beauty of the Great Lakes and beyond.
Here he shares his five favourite photos from the year that was.
Failford fire, Darawank
Taken from behind Aidan's house at Black Head, this photo shows smoke rising over Darawank from the Failford fire in late October.
For Aidan, it's definitely one of his favourite shots.
"Although it's hard to pick a favourite photo from 2019 this image is a contender because of the way it shows the foreshadowing of the dangers to come juxtaposed by the greenery of the farms and bushland," he said.
South-west sunset, Western Australia
This image of a Western Australian sunset was taken during a fun strike mission Aidan did to the west in late 2019.
"The trip was a reset for myself and to remind me that the fun in photography is about the creativity involved," he said.
"I've always been a fan of pastel colour palates, the rule of thirds and oil colour paints, so I went ahead and tried to create that feeling in this photo."
Ghost on a wave
Aidan was inspired to capture a shot like this after seeing surf photographer Scott Bauer's finalist entry for the 2019 Nikon Surf Awards.
"I was in awe of the way he broke the rules with his shutter use and just wanted to find out everything I could about the image," Aidan said.
"Luckily he's a family friend and my mentor in photography so I called him up and picked his brain.
"After that I sat like an eight-year-old boy on Christmas waiting for a swell to use his words of wisdom and add my own interpretations to it, although it took a few more cracks than just one swell to get a clean image."
Equatorial sun, Darwin
Aidan took this shot from Darwin's Mindil Beach right in the middle of when the wet season changed to the dry.
"The sunsets for this week create this surreal light that captures a feeling of pure relaxed bliss, and the best way to enjoy it is on the water," he said.
4am, Forster Tuncurry
For this photo, Aidan wanted to give a new perspective to the image of Forster Tuncurry and the iconic bridge in between.
He believes trying to capture a unique perspective is at the essence of photography.
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