COULD Marcus Carter be Ballarat's best Instagrammer?
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Scrolling through our Instagram feed it was Carter's spectacular images of Ballarat that caught our attention - and it's hard to see why they wouldn't.
Armed with a Nikon D5100, the amateur photographer has spent much of the last year capturing some of Ballarat's most beautiful sites.
The New Zealand born father said while he had originally bought the camera to photograph his daughter, he soon realised he loved taking photos of everything.
"I just get a rush when I'm out and I get that perfect shot," he said.
It is hard to believe, but he has never been part of a photography group or participated in any sort of photography classes.
In fact Carter learnt everything he knows from watching a selection of YouTube videos.
After capturing his images, he then uses free phone apps to enhance his photographs before posting them to his Instagram page.
"My favourite photo editing program is Photomatix, it gives you that high definition look and makes the colours pop, highlighting the highlights and darkening those dark spots," he said.
But it was Carter's knack for photographing some of Ballarat's unlikely hidden gems and making them look like something out of a fairy tale that caught the attention of The Courier.
"They're mostly done at dawn, that's the best time of day - when no one is out," he said.
"But I generally am just driving around and come across places that I think looks like a good spot to photograph.
"If you get the right angle and the right light you can make it look great.
"I find it easier to shoot landscapes, if you miss the shot it's there again tomorrow."
Carter remained very humble when we suggested he could be Ballarat's best Instagrammer.
"There are hundreds of better photographers out there," he said.
"Ballarat is just quite beautiful and fun to photograph."
Although he doesn't personally know all of the people following his Instagram page, he said the feedback from everyone has been overwhelming.
You can follow Marcus Carter on Instagram at instagram.com/immcarter