Even 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 comes easily after you’ve shot thousands … Read More
How to carry out an assignment for a geographic magazine – Part 2 – Being in the moment
I 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 morning, as the first flush of … 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
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
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
Judging The Nature Conservancy Photo Competition 2016
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 million hectares of land and thousands of … Read More
Don’t frame too tight
Sometimes, 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 in the past for not cropping tight enough!” … Read More
Happy Feather’s Day!
Here’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 it doesn’t stop there – you’d be tending … Read More
Mating Madness
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 success is that they like … Read More
Louie Schwartzberg’s mesmerizing cinematography
I have been humbled. I saw visuals today that impressed me. But more so, they were accompanied by words – words that encapsulated my life story. Maybe the story of all my lifetimes. It was only yesterday I was speaking to a friend about the uplifting power of nature and photography and this video lands in my inbox today. Do … Read More
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