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My time back in Australia has come to an end, and tomorrow (Saturday) I am heading north again (assuming my flight is not cancelled by the ongoing mess in the Middle East) for a few days in Sweden before I make my way over to Finland for my Wild Wolves workshop. I always look forward to Finland. Every encounter with wild wolves and bears is incredibly special. My thoughts have been turning toward equipment and packing over the last few days, and as it has been some time since I last did a packing list post, it feels time to play a bit of catch-up.

The bulk of the Finland workshop is hide photography (although there are superb landscape opportunities around the accommodation and lakes) and as such telephoto lenses are the order of the day. For this trip, my primary camera and lens combination will be the Canon RF600mm F4L IS on an EOS R1 with a handy 1.4 teleconverter for reach out to 840mm. I will also take a second EOS R1 with the 100-300mm f2.8L IS for opportunities that might present if the wildlife comes closer. For landscape around the lake, I will pack a 14-35mm f/4 L and a 24-105mm f/4 L. A couple of spare batteries will round out my kit, along with a Sachtler fluid head to support the 600mm lens in the hide. Mercifully, I have no flying from Sweden to Finland and will instead take the car ferry, so weight is not a concern.

Our next Wild Nature Photo Travel workshop to Finland is August 2027. Full details are on the website HERE. Only a few places remaining.

Earlier this year, I ran my first workshop in the mountains of Colombia to photograph the stunning birds that inhabit this amazing cloud forest region (Read the Trip Report). The photographs from this workshop can now be seen online HERE in a new Colombia portfolio.

Colombia was an exceptional and incredible experience, offering some of the very best bird photography I have had the pleasure to experience in my career. As such, we are returning again in 2028, and full details are now on the website (50% already booked – only 3 places remaining). Full details HERE. Please reach out if you would like to secure one of the remaining places or have any queries. If you have any interest in birds, this is a workshop not to be missed.

I have just published episode 167 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I caught up with and interviewed Australian professional landscape photographer and fine-art gallery owner Matt Palmer. This is an informal discussion about our thoughts on landscape photography, covering everything from equipment and field craft to gallery ownership and printing.

Yesterday I received the wonderful and unexpected news that I had been awarded the Gold Award and named the overall Nature/Wildlife Category Winner in the 2026 Golden Shot Photography Awards. I also won the Silver second-place award in the minimalist category.

This was my very first time entering these awards, so to receive this recognition is both incredibly humbling and deeply gratifying. I’m truly grateful to the judges for selecting my photograph from so many outstanding entries from photographers around the world. Awards are never the reason I head into the field, but they are a wonderful affirmation of the patience, persistence, and passion that go into creating meaningful wildlife photographs. I’m honoured that this image resonated so strongly with the judging panel, as it’s a photograph I have vivid memories of capturing only earlier this year.

The second stage of the Australian Photographic Prize in the Natural Landscape category has now been run and judged (the Wildlife and Birds Category were just a few days ago). This was the third and final category I chose to enter into this year’s awards (Wildlife was my primary category with two photographs also in the Bird category). The Natural Landscape category was a section I mused over for some time before deciding to enter a single image to ‘test the waters’. I was subsequently absolutely thrilled to have my photograph selected as part of the ‘Top 30‘ in the category.

The second and final stage of the judging was online and livestreamed to YouTube yesterday afternoon here in Australia. Just click the link below if you want to watch the judging for the scores and judges’ comments.  The photograph I entered from Iceland of a storm wave went on to earn a highly coveted Gold Award, for which I am thrilled and extremely grateful.

Overall, I entered eight photographs into this year’s Australian Photographic Prize Award, and I am feeling extremely honoured that my final haul included two Gold with Distinction Awards, five Gold Awards, and a Silver with Distinction. My Points tally for this year came to a grand total of 16.5 points; my best ever year and pushing me will into the Laurette category, just a few points shy of Laurette II. It also earned me enough points for my Master of Photography with three gold bars. The overall winner of the categories will be announced on August 13th next month.