Esther Beaton

Professional Photography

More info, more advanced photography tips, behind the scenes, and on assignment for my clients.

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, , , ,

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, ,

MightyGoods.com – the great bag interview

Esther Beaton interviewed Mighty Goods website

I love talking about gear. What photographer doesn’t? Last month I got the chance to do a lot of “talking” about it when Mighty Goods website interviewed me. Along with 15 other outdoor photographers, of course. It’s a website devoted to bags of all sorts and they represent some great options for photographers, from lightweight

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Photo Tip – Plan The Shots for Your Editorial Assignment

Here’s a tip for covering an editorial assignment. I’ve shot features for many magazines, but my favourite is the geographic assignment, so those are the sample photos I’ll use. The key to a successful feature in a magazine, geographical or otherwise, is diversity. To achieve that: Be sure to have three types of shots: long

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The Story Behind the Green And Golden Bell Frog Image

It was the magic year of 2000. Everyone had breathed a sigh of relief that our computers and systems hadn’t  gone haywire. In Sydney it was the time of the Olympics. Energy was high. Somehow the threatened Green and Golden Bell Frog became emblematic of this productive and heartfelt era. I was on assignment for

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Conservation, Cute Animals, Ecology, Nature and Wildlife, Nikon, Photography Equipment, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, 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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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, , , , , , , , ,

Mating Madness

Male Cane toads jump on anything that moves

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

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