Photographic Field Guides
Fabulous field guides for my favourite destinations. Full of rich detail to help you make the most of your photographic opportunity on location.
Why Auroras Look Different on The Camera
What your eyes see and what your camera sees are typically very different when it comes to the Aurora Borealis. Capturing the Northern lights on camera changes our entire perception of this phenomenon, and mostly for the better. Just a word of caution though if you're heading to the Arctic and expect to see those Photoshop colours with the naked eye.
Layers of Colour with ICM
Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) is a doorway to opening your creativity. Here I present a hands on guide to getting started, with an emphasis on using ICM to blend colours and textures.
Panning for Gold in Kathmandu
Panning is a simple way to kill an afternoon and make yourself exhausted. The concept is pretty simple: you use a slow shutter speed like 1/30 of a second to separate a moving object from a chaotic background. Hundreds of your shots will be useless. A rare few will be perfection. Those are the ones you show your friends.
Butterflies in Bhutan
I'm going to miss Bhutan when I head home, but this time for the most tiny of reasons. The butterflies. Having a few days to step into their miniature world of scaly wings and hairy heads has been an absolute joy.
Stars Over Uluru
I've written a few articles on the basics of star trails, but the finer details on making your trails look as lovely as possible are often where photographers struggle the most. This article explores the finer points from my annual visit to Uluru to chase the stars.
See What I See
Introducing my new series of streaming videos you can enjoy at home, and see what I see after taking a walk in the park with camera in hand. See what I see as I walk through the images on my desktop and extract precious moments from the RAW files.
Below the Treetops
Two hours drive from Brisbane or the Gold Coast is Lamington National Park and a patch of highland rainforest surrounded by valleys of eucalyptus woodlands. Much of this region is regrowth that has re-established after being cleared by graziers in the early 1900s. Today these forests are home to numerous species of birds, and the cattle have been replaced by tourists. Birders and photographers come here especially to see the Regent Bowerbird, and enjoy a number of other hard to find species.
Punakha Sunrise
A rare opportunity to welcome the morning rays of sunshine as they break across Bhutan. Here’s your guide to one of the most beautiful photographic experiences in the land of the Thunder Dragon. Sunrise over Punakha in the Himalayan winter.
Uluru for Photographers
This magnificent monolith in the heart of Australia's Red Center is one of the world's most inspiring locations for a photographer to visit. Be warned however, it is also a subject that demands care and respect.
Sunbirds in the Carpark
If your goal is to catch great photos of birds, your best opportunities might be easier to access than you imagined.
Luang Prabang for Photographers
A field guide to photography in Luang Prabang. Monks, markets and the Mekong make this town the most beautiful place to photograph in all of South-East Asia. Morning alms and the monks in the mist may soon make this destination a little too famous.
Bangkok for Photographers
Bangkok is a big city that evokes an immediate reaction from visitors, usually a polarised preference somewhere between heaven and horror. For photographers Bangkok is a challenge of chaos and confusion. My advice is to simply slow down.
Crazy Times in Kathmandu
Few names evoke the imagination like Kathmandu. To armchair travellers this destination conjures a romantic ideal of a gateway to the Himalayas. To seasoned travellers it's a necessary hub for journeys deeper into Nepal. For photographers the city is a vibrant explosion of cultures where inspiration is always around the corner.
Moonlight and Auroras
Mixing in the light of the moon can bring a new world of possibilities to your aurora photography.
Inconspicuous in Bhutan
Bhutan is a unique attraction for photographers seeking rich colours and centuries of tradition. But is the click of cameras beginning to impede on the spiritual experience of Bhutanese festivals?
Art of Birds
There are two distinct goals in my bird photography. The first is just to get a damned shot of the bird. The second is create a little art in the process. The two objectives are typically at odds with each other, yet one does follow the other.
Stillness of the Drones
Drones are not just for videographers. Small and easy to manage machines now offer a respectable 12MP RAW image and bigger sensors are on the way. The promise for stills photographers is to enter a new era of technology where landscape photography can trade the tripod for a drone.
Angkor Wat and Siem Reap
Angkor is special. Crowded, popular, humid, hot and special. There are a lot of people who visit this place, but because it's special. It's one of those places that lives up to the hype. Hordes of tourists and scores of relentless souvenir sellers are the serious downside, have no doubt. But despite these impedances you can get great shots of the ancient ruins and contemporary culture.
