New Photography Workshops Announced

We are very pleased to announce the dates for our 2009 Broome Bird Observatory Field Workshop. We will be based at the Observatory from the 29th of September to the 2nd of October 2009 (That's next year folks!) and focusing on all that the BBO has to offer, namely birds. And with over 300 species on record we stand to have quite a good trip. We have already announced this to previous workshop participants so we only have five spaces left of a maximum 12, so be quick.

For more information click here.

I am heading up two Broome next week to scope out some locations for the workshop next year. Really looking forward to going to one of Australia's best shorebird photography locales that is for sure. With a little help of some of the locals we will have all the inside knowledge on the best locations and the best light to pass on to you when you join us next year.

We are also looking for expressions of interest for an exciting adventure a little later in 09. We are planning on running a Himalayan Photography Trek in partnership with DCXP hosted by myself.




This trip will be structured as a ‘Travel Photography Workshop’ concentrating on the stunning landscape surrounding you, as well as people photography and documenting local culture, customs and history.

It is intended that this will be a small group to enable the participants to get personal instruction in photography. We will offer customised assistance on camera equipment choice for the trip if needed. The aim will be to help participants with their equipment choice so they are not burdened with tonnes of camera gear but have the right equipment for what they want to achieve. As with all DCXP treks, the group will be superbly supported by wonderful local staff, so that each day participants need only carry a day pack, and can concentrate on improving their photographic skills.

The inspiring environment you will be trekking through almost begs to be recorded, so it will up to you to look and learn and do justice to the panoramas laid out in front of you!

We are currently looking at expressions of interest for this one, so please contact us if this looks like your next adventure! This trek is tentatively planned for October 2009.
If you would like more information contact me or DCXP direct on +61 8 8232 4433 or email

Cheers

Craig
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Sharpening Digital Images

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The photo above is of a critically endangered Green Hood Orchid found only in a few small locations in the Hindmarsh Valley, South Australia. Orchids are renowned for being difficult to photograph. Small, very three dimensional flowers on long thin stems, located in dark undergrowth. With a little knowledge and a couple of cheap accessories photographing orchids is easy. This image was taken using a diffuser and a reflector to modify the light, A tripod that can be set up at ground level to get the angle, a Wimberley Plamp to hold the flower steady in the breeze without damaging it. And a 200mm micro on a D3 to capture the image. All easy when you know how. Read more...

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The folk at Nikon have unleashed a bunch of new tools for us to ply our photographic trade most of which you would have already heard of. Notably a couple of new cameras (goodbye D300 hello D700) and some new glass. This has been bandied about the press and internet but my favourite new release is getting less attention. The GP-1 is a GPS unit that automatically tags all images with the GPS location (Geotag) in the EXIF data. I have been geotaging images for a while now but this has made it even easier. It even works as a pass through for a cable release (it connects using the 10 pin remote) which is better than the current system I am using. I have my order in already! Read more...

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Everyone knows how much I like keyboard shortcuts. They speed things up so I can spend less time in front of the computer and moire time shooting. Well I found this great link to all the keybord shortcuts available in Lightroom (versions one and two). This is a great resource provided by Victoria Bampton that any user of LR should check out. Read more...

Straightening Horizons Part II

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Lightroom 2

Adobe has finally released Lightroom 2 after an extended beta testing period. My guess was early August, not too bad really and the new version is greatly improved. A wealth of information on the new version is available here and a list of updates from the beta version is over here. After a few hours use I can say that this is a great improvement over LR 1.4 and well worth the upgrade price. It also supports Raw files shot with the new D700. There is also an update to the Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop that offers many (not all) of the features in LR2 improving compatibility between the two aplications. We will have to wait for Photoshop Next (CS4) before full compatibility is offered. Read more...