There are so many factors that go into good “people” shots. People photos for geographic magazines are a bit different from standard portraits. Sometimes they are raw photojournalism, but usually they fall into a genre called “environmental portraiture”. I’ve done this for so long now that I’ve come to really love it. The essential elements are: a) the lighting, b) … Read More
Ambient “lighting” is easy
Sometimes you don’t have to work at creating a background because you are blessed with the colours of nature. Or you’re just smart enough to go out at sunrise or sunset. Both of these pictures are pre-dawn. The colour in the sky at this time is called “afterglow” and I especially like this twilight time for the two-tone effect. However, … Read More
Rembrandt artist
Rather than using colour, as in the previous post, to get rid of a busy or dull background, you can accomplish it with exposure control alone. This artist worked in her garage and the best angle of her using her jewellery press had some old storage units behind her. The easiest thing was to turn the whole background black. And … Read More
Building up your lighting
While on the subject of lighting, here are a couple more examples of adding colour. Using coloured flashes is one way to overcome a drab scene – and when you’re indoors, in a clinical environment, it’s always a drab scene. I like to think of it as building my scene, a bit like adding layers of colours to a blank … Read More
The Worst Drought Ever – are the birds coping?
It’s the worst drought in New South Wales “in six generations” some say. Others say it’s the worst recorded since European settlement. Still others say the worst in 400 years. Chiltern-Pt Pilot National Park, near the New South Wales border, is one of the world’s birding hotspots. When I was there on an assignment in 2004, I also found it … Read More
Victoria’s Coast and Photo Tip: Charming the Birds
There are some great bird photography locations in Victoria, but during my January trip the drought was playing havoc, with days of unexpected rain, paralytic heat, and dust storms. But even with a little persistence, even in the worst of weather you can still find a few plucky birds. The scenery along the shores of Western Port Bay, might not … Read More
Wildlife Photographers to Follow
I’M FEELING PROUD AS PUNCH I’ve been given another nice “award”. I’m very honoured to be considered one of “25 Amazing Wildlife Photographers to Follow”. You can read the blog post here at Loaded Landscapes. They sell some great Lightroom presets and have very knowledgeable articles in their blog too. As a matter of fact – it is … Read More
Whitsunday Islands Photography Sailing Safari
I’ve been wanting to do longer than one-day workshops and heres’s one that will thrill some of you to bits. Together with Southern Cross Sailing Adventures, I’ll be running workshops aboard a well-known tall ship, the Solway Lass. But wait, theres’s more! It will be in the Whitsundays, a land beautiful beyond belief. There’s the amazing Whitehaven Beach, the dolphins, … Read More
A Visit to AWC and the Challenges of Mammal Photography
I love the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. I love all conservation groups but the AWC has an astounding success rate. Not only are they re-establishing populations of highly threatened species, they are achieving the job at discount rates. They run a mean, tight ship as far as admin spending goes. Income goes almost entirely to field projects. So a trip in … Read More
Think the Reciprocal Rule is safe? It fails with high resolution cameras
The reciprocal rule is handy to know when you are hand-holding your camera, especially with a long lens attached. It states “always use a shutter speed whose reciprocal is faster than the focal length of the lens”. So if you’re hand-holding a 500 mm lens, you have to use a shutter speed of 1/500 or faster. I still don’t fully trust … Read More