I have just published episode #58 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I have my annual look back at the 2022 year in a retrospective format and look forward to what is coming down the pipeline for 2023. I will have a written and expanded blog post on this podcast before the end of the year.
Canon has added focus breathing support via a firmware update to the following lenses.
This morning I awoke to the astounding but fabulous announcement that I made a complete clean sweep in the 2022 Asia / Pacific Photography Awards with a hat trick in the Animal / Nature category, taking out First, Second and Third place. My winning photograph of the Emperor Penguin family took First place and a Gold Award with Second and Third places, earning Silver with Merit Awards and a top 20 finalist award. On top of the above, I was named the runner-up in the Grand Champion award for the three highest-scoring photographs across all competition categories. Entering these awards was a spur-of-the-moment decision on my part after a long hiatus of not entering any photographic competitions. I recall sitting at my office desk just before entries closed, asking myself if I could be bothered to even enter the awards. I would have never dreamed of breaking back onto the scene with first, second, and third places and being named overall Grand Champion runner-up. Especially having taken some time and looked at the incredibly high caliber of work produced across the competition. Feeling very humbled and grateful.
Judges comment: Beautiful image, well done! I particularly love that the chick is facing away from the camera, making the image somehow feel more intimate. The little bits of snow falling over the parents just add to the context of this environment too.
Judges comment: An absolutely stunning, high-key image, beautifully timed. The slight motion blur in the wings really adds depth to this. Well done!
Judges comment: A wonderfully poignant wildlife image that has a powerful mood; the light is gorgeous and I can feel the cold just looking at the bears breath! Well done.
Earlier today, a factually inaccurate comment was made on social media about one of the photographs I had shared from my recent Emperor Penguin expedition to Gould Bay in Antarctica (Read the trip report). A screenshot of the comment is included below – the name and photo were removed to protect the guilty (perhaps I should not have removed them). I usually ignore this sort of snide remark as they most often represent nothing but ignorance or envy. This type of comment is one of the problems with an unmoderated social media platform where keyboard warriors attempt to discredit someone’s work from the anonymity of their private chairs and keyboards. The problem is that this comment is blatantly incorrect and seeks to cast doubt on the ethical nature of my post-production practices. It attempts to cast an ugly shadow designed to throw doubt into the viewer’s mind about the image’s veracity as faithful to Nature.
So that there can be no doubt, below is a jpeg copy of the finished photograph post produced in Adobe Lightroom as I posted it to Social media and a jpeg snapshot of the RAW file straight from the camera. I have even included a screenshot showing exactly how I processed the image. A white and black point was set; shadows and highlights were tweaked, a custom white balance was set to correct the camera’s auto white balance, and the image was sharpened. The entire post-production process took less than 30 seconds. No crop was made. Not even a saturation or vibrance adjustment was made. I don’t know what the author of the comment believes, but I would call that a straight shot. Wouldn’t you?
The finished Photograph
The original Canon CR3 RAW file (screenshot and uploaded as a JPEG)
The finished Photograph showing the adjustments in Adobe Lightroom
The full Australian team for the 2023 World Photographic Cup has just been announced. Congratulations to all team members!
Commercial Category:
Steve Scalone, Forough Yavari, Mark Duffus
Illustrative/Digital Art Category:
Peter Rossi, Damien Bowerman, Forough Yavari
Nature/Wildlife Category:
Joshua Holko, Diana Fernie, Liz Harlan
Nature/Landscape Category:
Graeme Gordon, Mieke Boynton, Tebani Slade
Portrait Illustrative Category:
Forough Yavari, Nancy Flammea, Peter Rossi
Portrait Natural Category:
Robert Coppa, Kelly Brown, Peter Rossi
Reportage Category:
Andy Cheung, Matt Palmer, Lacey Barrett
Wedding Category:
Ky Luu, Paul McCall, Mauro Cantelmi
Best of Nation winners and finalists will be announced at Imaging USA on 24th January. The cup winner will be announced in Singapore on 17th March 2023. Best of Luck to all our Aussie Team Members. See their images at the WPC team Australia Website https://www.wpcteamaustralia.com.au/2023-gallery
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 