Outdoor Photographer magazine are running a multi-issue (six + issues) feature on the expedition I am leading this November to South Georgia Island and Antarctica with Andy Biggs. This series of feature articles is sponsored by my good friends and manufactures of my preffered camera bags – Gura Gear. The first part of the new series is featured in the brand new July 2014 issue. Subsequent issues will include everything from what one can expect to see and photograph in Antarctica, what gear and equipment we are taking, what accessories, clothing and other items are required for this sort of expedition, how to pack and then at the conclusion of the expedition there will be an issue reporting on our experiences along with a number of photographs taken during the expedition. You can click on the image below to Download a PDF of the first article. Be sure to Subscribe to Outdoor Photographer magazine for the follow up issues. Subscriptions are available in single issue or multi-issue in Print, iPad, Zinio and more. Just choose your favourite reading medium, subscribe and enjoy. The South Georgia and Antarctica expedition is sold out, but if you are interested in being put on the waiting list please Contact Me with your expression of interest.
Category: News and Updates
JHolko Photography Latest News and Updates
New Zealand South Island MasterClass Workshop May 2nd – May 13th 2015
In May 2015 I will be co-leading a new landscape Masterclass workshop to the South Island of New Zealand with good friend and Pro Landscape Photographer Phillip Bartlett. Our workshop will take us on a photographic journey into ‘Middle Earth’ – The spectacular South Island of New Zealand. We will be photographing in the style of professional landscape photographers, setting ourselves up with three main ‘base camps’. This means we will have extended stays in areas which offer exceptional photography in all directions, allowing us to select our shoot locations based on the prevailing weather. This approach will give us the best possible chance to capture the highest quality imagery. 
This 2015 Landscape Masterclass is the follow-up to the very successful 2014 Introduction to New Zealand Workshop I led in February this year (You can read the Trip Report Here). To get an idea of what we will see and experience on this masterclass workshop just click on the image below to play the short preview movie.
Our South Island born guide, Phillip Bartlett, is a seasoned New Zealand landscape photographer. Our itinerary has been carefully put together and includes many of his favourite locations, which by definition are a world apart from the usual tourist areas. To access these remote wilderness areas we need to travel by 4-wheel drive vehicles and helicopters, to where few others, both visitors and New Zealanders alike, have been. Our shoots will be concentrated in the regions of the MacKenzie country, Fiordland and the West Coast, with a side trip to the East Coast!
The South Island of New Zealand is home to some of the most spectacular scenery and landscapes in the world. It is no co-incidence that Peter Jackson chose the South Island of New Zealand to film the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings movies. Perhaps nowhere else in the world can one see and photograph precipitous alpine mountains plunging into temperate rain forest and wild ocean beaches in so short a space. New Zealand is home to an incredibly diverse range of subject matter in a small island. Glaciers, waterfalls, spectacular valleys, imposing mountain ranges and black pebble beaches. It is an island of ever changing weather and spectacular light conditions. It is a country made for photography.
This masterclass workshop is strictly limited to just six photographers. We welcome all level of photographers; however it is best suited to those who have a good understanding of their camera and photographic technique. Due to prior expressions of interest and bookings there are only three places remaining before this workshop will be sold out. You can download a PDF with information including an itinerary at my main website at www.jholko.com. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to register your interest for this masterclass workshop.
June Photo of the Month: White Angel
I launched the first part of a brand new service for RAW file optimisation and production of high resolution finished PSD files this week and the response so far has been almost overwhelming – thank you. For those of you who have sent me files for processing I am currently working through them in the order they were received and I hope to get them back to you within three-to-five days of you having sent them. Over the next few days I will be launching the second part to this service where you can have a fine art print of your photograph made here in my studio and shipped to you anywhere in the world. If you are considering entering APPA this year and are looking for someone to print your images please contact me for details. The prints I entered this year in the State awards scored Gold and Gold with Distinctions and I was also fortunate to take out the overall Highest Scoring Print of the Year. I also have some other exciting announcements coming up on my blog over the next couple of weeks and am looking forward to sharing them.
In the meantime I have been retrospectively trolling through some of my photographs from the Arctic last year and came across this one of an Ivory Gull coming into land on an ice flow north of Svalbard. This was one of half a dozen or so Ivory Gulls we encountered last year whilst we were photographing Polar Bears at the edge of the pack ice. Ivory Gulls are incredibly angelic birds with pure white plumage and jet black feet. With a little luck I hope to see them again this year in August when I lead my Arctic expedition to Svalbard and Greenland. This is one of those photographs I have absolutely no recollection of taking and I am not sure why it did not jump out at me on my initial and subsequent pass through edits. Nevertheless, ‘White Angel’ is my photograph of the month for June.
RAW File Processing and Image Optimisation of Your Photograph
A great photograph always starts with a great capture in the field and capturing stunning Landscape, Nature and Wildlife photographs in the field is a skill in and of itself. Once you have captured the RAW data in the field though how do you interpret it and fulfil your vision in file and finished print?
RAW FILE PROCESSING AND IMAGE OPTIMISATION
Processing your RAW file optimally is the key to getting stunning images that realise the captures full potential and your vision for the finished photograph. Workflow and how to best optimise your capture are two of the questions I am most often asked on my workshops. The reality is there is no one simple answer that can be applied to all captures to really coax them to their full potential. It takes time, practice and experience to know which tool to use when, whilst processing RAW files. A one-trick filter or preset might work for some images but it falls well short of optimal image processing. To help with your RAW files I am very pleased to now offer a service where you can have your RAW file optimally processed and if you so choose, have a Fine Art Print of your photograph lovingly crafted right here in my studio. The purpose of this service is to be able to provide a finished optimised and processed RAW file complete with all meta-data of exactly what was done to the image during post production. A layered PSD file is also provided along with the processed RAW file that includes any and all adjustments made in Photoshop so that you can see exactly how the image was processed and then if you wish apply this process to more of your own files. Importantly, all post processing faithfully reproduces the intent of the original file in accordance with my own ethics for RAW image processing. This includes any adjustments normally allowed by competitions including Nature’s Best Photography and BBC wildlife Photographer of the Year.
The process of having your own RAW file processed is very simple. You simply send me an email with your request and then upload the RAW file/s to a drop box or other file sharing program of your choice for processing. Processing is done in Adobe Lightroom Creative Cloud and Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud. Once the image has been processed you will be able to download the RAW file complete with an XMP sidecar file that gives you a step-by-step process on how the image was processed. In addition, you will be able to download a high resolution 16 bit layered PSD file that contains any and all adjustments that may have been made in Photoshop. The purpose of providing the layered PSD file is to allow you to see exactly what adjustments were made to the image and in what order. You can then use these same techniques on more of your own images if you wish. Once you have uploaded your RAW file and sent me an email you will receive an invoice for payment which can be paid either via Paypal or Credit Card (Visa or Mastercard).
Ultimately the purpose of this service is to provide you with the finished optimised RAW file complete with all metadata changes as well as the layered PSD file so that you can use this information to better improve your own image processing techniques.
THE ORIGINAL RAW FILE
Turn This: Original Canon EOS 1DX .CR2 RAW File Capture with Canon 200-400mm F4L IS Lens with inbuilt 1.4 Teleconverter ISO200 F11 1/400 of a second – On a Really Right Stuff TVC24L Tripod with Jobu Gimbal Mount.
THE FINISHED HIGH RESOLUTION PSD FILE
Into This: Finished High Resolution Processed PSD File 
WHAT YOU GET
- Faithful processing of your original RAW file in Adobe Lightroom with sidecar XMP containing all the meta data adjustments
- A High Resolution Layered 16 bit PSD file containing any and all adjustments made in Adobe Photoshop
- If any cropping is recommended you will be supplied with two versions – the original uncropped image and a cropped version
WHAT YOU WONT GET
- No HDR High Dynamic Range or multi-image composites. If you have these sort of requirements for your finished images you are better off engaging someone who specialises in this sort of post production work
- A processed image that does not adhere to the original colour and integrity of the RAW file capture
- Any cloning or removal of objects outside of sensor dust
- Any digital manipulation that falls outside of that normally allowed by competitions such as Natures Best Photography and BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year
COST
The cost to have your RAW file optimally processed and delivered along with a high resolution 16 bit layered PSD file is $110 AUD inclusive of GST per image.
FAQ
1. How long does it take you to process a file?It takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or more to properly process a RAW file and produce a PSD that I consider to be finished and optimised. Much of that time is often taken up with deciding how to get the optimum result and it often takes some experimentation to really bring out the best in each file. 2. How long from when I upload my RAW file until you can process it and return it?
This depends on my current workload and travel schedule. If I am currently in my studio in Australia the typical turnaround is 3-5 days depending on my current workload. If I am travelling I will send you an email with an updated time of when I can work on your file/s.
3. What do you do with the RAW file afterwards?
All RAW files are deleted along with the PSD files once they are returned to you. I do not keep copies after they are returned. Please note that you need to back-up your own images.
4. My RAW file was returned to me unprocessed?
If your RAW file was returned to you unprocessed you will have also received an email explaining that it could not be processed for some technical reason. These include but are not limited too ‘poor exposure with blown highlights or blocked up shadows’, ‘out of focus’, ‘corrupted file’ or similar technical reason.
5. What if I am not happy with the result?
You will receive a full refund.
6. Do you process the file or do you have someone do it for you?
I personally process and handle your RAW file. No one else will touch it.
7. Can I send you multiple RAW files and ask you to choose the best one?
Please don’t upload multiple RAW files and ask me to choose the best one. This is not an image editing service. The purpose of this service is to provide an optimally processed RAW file and a high resolution layered PSD file so that you can see exactly what was done to the file to eek out the very best from it. If you wish to have your work edited it is better to engage the services of an image editor.
8. I have a lot of images the same. How do I choose the best RAW file to send you?
Check your images for exposure. The best exposure will likely be the one where the histogram is biased towards the right without clipping. Also check your RAW files for sharpness. The best RAW file will be the one that combines the best exposure with the sharpest result.
9. Can I send you Portraits or photographs that don’t fall into the Landscape, Nature or Wildlife Categories?
No. This service is only offered for the processing of RAW files that fall into the Landscape, Nature or Wildlife categories. If you have portrait or other images that require processing or retouching you are better off contacting someone who specialises in the respective genre. 10. Can you make a Fine Art Print of my finished PSD file and send it to me?
Yes. Fine Art Printing of your finished PSD file is available. Please contact me for details.
Epic Sense of Scale Antarctica – On Display at Montsalvat Art Gallery in Eltham
One of my winning photographs at the Victorian Epson Professional Photography Awards earlier this month (an Epic Sense of Scale Antarctica; which scored a Gold with Distinction award with 95 out of 100 points), will go on display next week from June the 5th at Montsalvat Art Gallery in Eltham. I am very honoured to say that this is the third year in a row one of my photographs has been selected to be included in the prestigious Nillumbik Prize. I will be attending the opening gallery drinks at 7pm on the 5th of June so if you in the area and are stopping past please come and say hello. The print measures 24″ x 100″ inches and was printed in my studio on Moab Somerset Museum Rag paper. The task of framing a work this large was entrusted to Art Conservation Framers in North Melbourne.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 