Esther Beaton, Author at Esther Beaton

Don’t frame too tight

Reading Time: 2 minutesSometimes, 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 […]

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Bird Images, Cute Animals, Nature and Wildlife, New South Wales, Photography Techniques, Quick Tips, Wildlife Photographybird photography, composition, hollows, Nature photography, old growth trees, photography, tree hollows, wildlife portrait

Happy Feather’s Day!

Reading Time: < 1 minuteHere’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

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Bird Images, Did You Know?, New South Wales, On the Beaton Trackbehavioral ecology, Canberra, eggs, emu, father, feathers, male incubation, Nature photography, nest

Mating Madness

Male Cane toads jump on anything that moves

Reading Time: 3 minutesYou’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

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Did You Know?Australian Geographic, Cane Toads, Nature photography, Photography assignment, Queensland, wildlife photography

A Powerful Story (or The One That Got Away)

Reading Time: 3 minutesAs 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

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Did You Know?, Nikon, Threatened species, Wildlife Photographyflash photography, night photography, nocturnal, owls, powerful owl

The Owl Hunters: Behind the Scenes of an Australian Geographic Assignment

Reading Time: 6 minutesHave 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

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes

How to Photograph Owls

Reading Time: 6 minutesHow 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

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Wildlife Photography

Art Show Prizewinner!

Reading Time: 2 minutesDid 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

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Buying, using art, Fine Art, In The Media, What they're sayingart show, Central Coast, in the news, media, press, prize, winner

Sticks from the sky: photographing Australia’s insect giants

Reading Time: 3 minutesA 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

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Macro Photography, Nature Photography

These two ladies got a bit excited

Reading Time: < 1 minuteTwo visiting photographers from the Central Coast are lost for (new) words after viewing the Natives exhibition at the Palm House, Sydney.

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Buying, using art, Exhibitions & Artworks, Fine Art, Nature and Wildlife, What they're sayingart exhibition, art series, Natives, Palm House, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Tips from a Judge: How You Can Win the Next Big Nature Photography Competition

Reading Time: 3 minutesAustralian Geographic just announced that this year’s ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year competition is now open. I believe this is one of the most lucrative competitions available at present. It’s almost like a big secret. Everyone knows about the BBC wildlife competition, but hardly anyone knows about this Australian regional equivalent. In both cases

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Photo Competitions, Photo Critiques

Author name: Esther Beaton