Wayne Lawler Nature Conservation Photography Grant 2023 Here is an opportunity for your photos to do some powerful good. Let me tell you the story behind this wonderful new grant created especially for those devoted to conservation photography. I “knew” Wayne Lawler going back to the days in the 1980’s when my stock agency, Auscape International, represented him as one of its contributing photographers. I only knew him through his work – which I saw published all around Australia. In the film days, anyone who was a wildlife photographer was a special breed. You had to work bloody hard to ge ..read more

My Facebook posts were disjointed and inadequate in telling the story about my move from Bateau Bay to Queensland. It was impossible to stay current while I dodged the quirks and roadblocks that my trip was throwing at me. So I’m recounting it here in an orderly fashion. I normally only write photo articles on my blog, but I felt compelled to relay this vexatious adventure, and with only the few photos I managed to grab en route. Days 1-2  of Esther’s Big Adventure Driving away from Bateau Bay, dirty, disheveled from filling skip bin, car full of crates, camping gear, photo equipment, fri ..read more

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 of frames, and you really know your camera functions, your individual lenses and their performance and all the extras like lighting, composition and accessories. Working with people is one of those areas of photography where heaps of sk ..read more

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 dawn peaked over the surrounding mangroves, a punt – a large, flat bottomed boat – pulled up to where I was waiting at a nondescript wharf in Woy Woy. (Yes, that really is the name of a town in NSW). The man at the tiller was rugged, decidedly handsome and ..read more

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to get a call from an editor asking you to do a photo assignment. But sometimes you have to initiate the contact yourself. If your relationship has developed over the years to one of mutual trust, then chances are high that the magazine’s editors will listen to your idea and commission you to carry it out. That’s what happened with my story on pearl farming in New South Wales.  As if often the case, the story came into my consciousness by chance. I simply noticed an ad in my local newspaper for tours to a pearl farm. What!! Pearl farming?? Not only was this h ..read more

I only recently installed MacOS Catalina, even though it was released 7 months ago. Apple as usual, uses a stunning landscape photo of a California landmark for the wallpaper. That evening, I sat and admired it on my huge 27” Retina screen, just revelling in the crisp, fine detail of the photo. Just endless eye candy.  Then something funny happened.  Did I imagine it? The image changed in front of my eyes. It went darker and a bit more purple.  The next morning it was different again. Holy smokes! The wallpaper changes throughout the day! Each scene is a capture of that time of ..read more

Revealing secrets – “invisible” carvings become visible to the eye with a soaking of water. Talking about rocks (well, I was – in the last blog post), our Meetup group had a lucky encounter at one of our recent events. But it didn’t start out that way. Normally I do a reconnaissance before leading people to an obscure location. But this time I thought: oh, I’ve been there before, I’m sure I’ll find the place again.  Our Meetup group to Elephant Rock – a great viewpoint over the seaside village of Patonga, New South Wales. Well, I did find the first location, called Elephant Rock. But ..read more

Capturing a scene with the sunset behind the subject leaves the front, facing the camera, in dull shadow. Talking about night time events, well, dusk really, one of the key things a photographer has to prepare for is the need to add light, that is, more light than is available from the sky.  At one of our recent Meetups, we started at The Haven in Terrigal. There were birds, boats, waves and people. The best part was the gorgeous setting sun and glowing skies which made a beautiful backdrop to all of those subjects. Using a bit of flash, either the built-in pop-up or a separate unit, g ..read more

This graveyard shot looks like it was photographed by the light of the moon. In fact, it was in broad, sunny daylight. There are several reasons to shoot at nighttime. Sometimes you want to create a gloomy, scary or heavy atmosphere. Sometimes the story or subject you want to illustrate occurred at night. But what to do if you are at your location in the middle of the day with no chance to return later?  This is how the graveyard shot looked in camera – captured in ordinary daylight. That’s what happened to me. It was midday when I was scouting for a cemetery where I could hold a Meet ..read more

I can understand why outdoor photographer Matthew Dwyer got blown off Bluff Knoll. I’ve been to the peak twice myself. At the top, the winds are fierce, as this tree can attest. Tree bent by wind on top of Bluff Knoll, Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia I tend to take risks myself, but it’s nothing to what my ex-husband, Jean-Paul Ferrero used to do. In this photo, he had climbed out to photograph a patch of Darwinias. Photographer, Jean-Paul Ferrero, with camera and tripod, photographing widflowers (Darwinia sp) on top of Bluff Knoll. Stirling Range NP, Western Australia I da ..read more