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On the Beaton Track

Stories or articles about people, places, nature in the various states and regions of Australia.

Ambient “lighting” is easy

Pearl farmer at dawn, Brisbane Water, NSW

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 […]

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Photoshop and Lightroom, Professional Photography, , , ,

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

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, , , ,

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

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Bird photography, Environment, On the Beaton Track, Photography Techniques, Victoria, Wildlife Photography, , ,

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

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Bird Images, Bird photography, Habitats, On the Beaton Track, Photography Techniques, Quick Tips, Victoria, , , ,

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

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Announcements, Landscape Photography, Photography Tours, Photography Workshops, Queensland, Travel Photography, Workshops & Courses,

A Visit to AWC and the Challenges of Mammal Photography

Wayne Lawler, staff photographer for Australian Wildlife Conservancy, photographing Boodies and Woylies at night with several flash units, Yookamurra Sanctuary, South Australia

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

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Conservation, Nature and Wildlife, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, South Australia, Threatened species, Wildlife Photography, ,

Take better photos with your smartphone

You can take great photos with your smartphone – as long as you remember two things: The smartphone is for internet use only. The quality is not adequate for print, unless it’s postcard size or smaller. This is due the the small format, i.e., the sensor in the iPhone is smaller than your little fingernail.

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Behind the Scenes, Digital Photography, Environment, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Equipment, Photography Techniques, , , , ,

Behind the scenes on this month’s magazine feature

Wedge-tailed eagle Raptor rehab story

This week I’m taking you behind the scenes of my current published assignment for Australian Geographic. It’s only a short feature and you can see it in the November December 2016 issue called “Raptor rehab”. Here are some notes  as to how and why I shot some of the pics. I was allowed very limited

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Conservation, New South Wales, Professional Photography, Wildlife Photography, , , , , ,

Judging The Nature Conservancy Photo Competition 2016

Eye Spy by Mark Seabury

Nature Conservancy Australia contacted me in June to see    if I’d be interested in being a judge for this year’s Nature Photo Competition. Of course I would! I’ve admired the work of the Nature Conservancy in the US for years. They also spread their activities around the globe and have successfully protected over 48

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Announcements, Beautiful Images, Conservation, Exhibitions & Artworks, Nature and Wildlife, On the Beaton Track, Photo Competitions, Wildlife Photography, , , , ,

5x Growth – a Conservation Success Story

Gould's Petrel chick

Several years ago, I partnered up with science writer Karen McGee to produce  a feature on Gould’s Petrel for the UK magazine, Geographical.  Most stories of endangered species I find  confronting, but this one turned out to have a happy ending. Gould’s Petrel nests almost exclusively on a tiny bunch of rocks off the coast

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Behind the Scenes, Bird Images, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, New South Wales, Professional Photography, Threatened species, , , , , , , , ,
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