What makes this family “portrait” so pleasing? No, it’s not the fact that it’s my family – my sister and nephews. It’s the lighting. My sister has taken this “selfie” while keeping in mind all the rules of a good photo: 1. Tight cropping. She’s not afraid to even chop a bit off one of the heads. There is still … Read More
Don’t frame too tight
Sometimes, when I’ve been judging photo competitons, I’ve had to evaluate an image where the subject in the photo is wedged so tight in the frame that you get an uncomfortable feeling looking at it. When I’ve commented that “there’s no room to breathe” the photographer usually rebuts me by saying “but I’ve been criticised in the past for not cropping tight enough!” … Read More
Happy Feather’s Day!
Here’s something to make all fathers think. Be thankful you weren’t born an emu. Your lot in life would have been tending all the eggs – a dozen or more at a time (some even fertilised by rival males!) – no time to lubricate your parched throat and you would suffer dramatic weight loss. And it doesn’t stop there – you’d be tending … Read More
Mating Madness
You’ve all heard about the rampaging Cane Toads, right? How for the first few decades after introduction they stayed in Queensland? Then suddenly, say about the year 2000, they spread. Like the plague. They even hit the Kimberley in the west and Sydney in the south. One reason they are so rampant in their reproduction success is that they like … Read More
A Powerful Story (or The One That Got Away)
As a nature and wildlife photographer I’m outdoors a lot and I often get into scrapes. They make entertaining stories to share on blogs and elsewhere. One time, however, it was my photographic subject that got into one – or almost. I was walking home one cool August night, in the quiet seaside village of Pearl Beach where I used … Read More
The Owl Hunters: Behind the Scenes of an Australian Geographic Assignment
Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a wildlife photo? When I’m on an assignment to photograph wildlife, I often collaborate with scientists who are doing field research. I work hard to get my shots but sometimes these scientists have to get pretty creative themselves to accomplish their job. When I was asked to do a story … Read More
How to Photograph Owls
How to photograph owls? Well. This is a tough one. Owls are one of the challenges of wildlife photography because there are so many things going against them: they’re nocturnal, they’re camouflaged and their small. Mostly. You really have to have a good grasp of the photographic technicalities to beat all these odds. On the other hand, the reward of … Read More
Art Show Prizewinner!
Did you know this artwork won a prize? “Ragged Red” which is on the wall at Shorethyme Gallery Restaurant right now, won the People’s Choice award at the Central Coast Art Society exhibition, Kariong, New South Wales. I was never more surprised in my life. Dumbfounded. You see, I had entered the competition on a whim. I had recently joined … Read More
Sticks from the sky: photographing Australia’s insect giants
A stick insect dropped in one day. Not a large one. Probably blown in by the wind, which we’ve been having a bit of last few days. (In fact I’m writing this under “cyclonic” conditions.) I thought everyone knew about stick insects. They look like sticks and they are large. But my quick post on Facebook received comments indicating surprise. … Read More
These two ladies got a bit excited
Two visiting photographers from the Central Coast are lost for (new) words after viewing the Natives exhibition at the Palm House, Sydney.