Esther Beaton, Author at Esther Beaton

Bunya, tree of reconciliation

The Bunya Mountains are the ancestral land of the Wakka Wakka, Jarowair and Barunggam peoples, Queensland, Australia

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe bunya tree is amazing in so many respects and not just because it is a cultural, sacred and emotional icon for both Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It has a curious ancient botanical lineage; it was food for the largest ever dinosaurs; today it is devoured by modern animals. Yesterday’s Queenslanders fought vicious wars over […]

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Aboriginal, Australian Geographic, Did You Know?, Habitats, On the Beaton Track, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, QueenslandAboriginal culture, botany, native food, prehistoric

Rainbow Bee-eaters In Trouble – Agnes Water/1770

Reading Time: 4 minutes“It’s a mess”, said Wayne, the administrator of the Facebook group for the Agnes Water community. I ran into him as I was photographing an amazing sight that I stumbled across when I decided to cruise up the coast from my home on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. The towns of Agnes Water and 1770,

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Bird Images, Bird photography, Conservation, Nature and Wildlife, On the Beaton Track, Photography Techniques, Queensland, Travel Photography

Wild, wilder and really native

Reading Time: 5 minutesThe For Sale sign was advertising “Native Ground Orchids”. What — there are native ground orchids in a nursery? I thought Australia’s ground orchids could not be propagated? Something about needing mycorrhizal associations…? Mystified, I hit the brakes and careened into the nursery’s driveway to check out this amazing feat. Oh, they meant that kind

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Beautiful Images, Digital Photography, Flower Photography, Flowers & botanicals, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Photography Techniques, Queenslandflower photography, macro photography, orchids, pollination, sexual deception, wasp pollination

Hello Fellow Nature and Wildlife Photographers!

Reading Time: 2 minutesHere is an opportunity for your photos to do some powerful good. Let me tell you the story behind this wonderful new grant created especially for those devoted to conservation photography. I “knew” Wayne Lawler going back to the days in the 1980’s when my stock agency, Auscape International, represented him as one of its

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Conservation, Environment, Nature and Wildlife, Nature Photography, On the Beaton Track, Wildlife PhotographyAustralian Wildlife Conservancy, conservation photography, flash lighting, night photography, on location, threatened species

A personal journey: relocating from NSW to that other country, Queensland

Reading Time: 8 minutesMy Facebook posts were disjointed and inadequate in telling the story about my move from Bateau Bay to Queensland. It was impossible to stay current while I dodged the quirks and roadblocks that my trip was throwing at me. So I’m recounting it here in an orderly fashion. I normally only write photo articles on

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On the Beaton Track

How to carry out a geographic magazine assignment – Part 3 – Approaching people

Reading Time: 4 minutesEven when I’m in that high vibrational state, where I feel at one with the environment and where the art of photography seems like innate intuition, it’s not. It’s like driving a car: you can cruise on auto-pilot but that’s only because you’ve put in many miles of experience behind the wheel. Photography only

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Behind the Scenes, Landscape Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Equipment, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Professional Photographyassignment photography, environmental portrait, environmental portraiture, flash lighting, Nature photography, outdoor photography

How to carry out an assignment for a geographic magazine – Part 2 – Being in the moment

Reading Time: 3 minutesI started shooting the story on pearl faming in New South Wales before I’d even signed the contract with the magazine. That was because a key event was happening immediately – an event that could not be rescheduled or wait for the convenience of a photographer — seeding the oysters. On one beautiful warm

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Bird Images, Environment, Habitats, Nature and Wildlife, Nature Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Techniques, Professional Photographybirds, Central Coast, environment, estuary, lagoon, Nature photography, outdoor photography, photo assignment, wildlife

How to carry out a geographic magazine assignment – Part 1 – Finding a great subject

Reading Time: 4 minutesSometimes you’re lucky enough to get a call from an editor asking you to do a photo assignment. But sometimes you have to initiate the contact yourself. If your relationship has developed over the years to one of mutual trust, then chances are high that the magazine’s editors will listen to your idea and commission

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Nature and Wildlife, Nature Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Business, Photography Techniques, Professional Photographygeographic magazines, pearl farming, photo assignments, pitches, proposals, research

Photo Detective Challenge – How was this “shot” taken?

Reading Time: 2 minutesI only recently installed MacOS Catalina, even though it was released 7 months ago. Apple as usual, uses a stunning landscape photo of a California landmark for the wallpaper. That evening, I sat and admired it on my huge 27″ Retina screen, just revelling in the crisp, fine detail of the photo. Just endless eye

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Beautiful Images, Behind the Scenes, Digital Photography, Landscape Images, Landscape Photography, Photography Techniques, Professional Photographyaerial photography, drone photography, photo challenge

What the Ranger Revealed

Reading Time: 3 minutesTalking about rocks (well, I was – in the last blog post), our Meetup group had a lucky encounter at one of our recent events. But it didn’t start out that way. Normally I do a reconnaissance before leading people to an obscure location. But this time I thought: oh, I’ve been there before, I’m

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Aboriginal, Did You Know?, Landscape Images, New South Wales, Travel Photographyaboriginal art, aboriginal carvings, geology

Author name: Esther Beaton