Category: Landscape Photographs

Landscape Photographs from around the World

Digital Photographer Magazine Issue #149 – Natural Wonders Feature

Posted in Antarctica, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife PhotographsLeave a comment

The UK based magazine, Digital Photographer, interviewed me back in June / July this year and subsequently ran a feature article on my photography titled ‘Natural Wonders’. The article appeared in issue #149 and you can now download a PDF copy of the article HERE or by just clicking on the image below. Digital Photographer magazine is available to purchase through the i-Tunes store or directly from the Digital Photographer website.The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind so I am currently taking a few days off  up in the Victorian High Country with my family to catch up on some rest and relaxation. I hope to get some time over the next few days to finish the trip report from the two Iceland workshops I led this summer as well as the expedition report from my trip to Greenland. Both of these trips were remarkable and I am looking forward to sharing some images and experiences from the time in Iceland and Greenland.

In just under a month I will be heading to South America in preparation for a twenty-one day South Georgia and Antarctica expedition experience with Andy Biggs. At the conclusion of this expedition I am taking a couple of weeks for a private photographic trek with some friends through the Argentinian side of Patagonia. I spent some time on the Chile side of Patagonia last year and I am looking forward to the contrast of visiting the Argentinian side. I will then led a second twelve day Antarctica expedition just prior to Christmas to the Antarctic Peninsula. Time permitting I hope squeeze in a quick ten days in Iceland (prior to leaving for South America and Antarctica at the end of October) in a couple of weeks time to photograph the fissure volcano currently erupting north of the Vatnajökull ice-cap. I had hoped to be in Iceland when the volcano began erupting last month, but had to depart a few days prior to the eruption to lead the expedition to Greenland. I had camped out with my friend Antony near the giant ice-cap in the hope the volcano would erupt whilst we were in prime position. As luck would have it we missed the eruption by just a few days. Photographing this particular eruption is somewhat problematic at the moment as access to the eruption site is extremely restricted. The fissure is currently ejecting a huge amount of sulphur dioxide that can make the volcano quite dangerous to approach at ground level depending on the prevailing winds. Currently the volcano is best viewed from the air and this is how I hope to photograph it (assuming it is still erupting when I arrive).

In the meantime I still have more than seven thousand photographs to sort through, edit and process from my time in Iceland and Greenland as well as several speaking engagements and print workshop commitments to complete before I can even consider leaving for the volcano in Iceland. In addition, my friend Antony and I have literally terabytes of video footage to sort through from our experience in Greenland this year that we hope to share over the coming months.

I also want to share the very exciting news that I have just appointed Abraham Joffe and his crew from Untitled Film Works to film a second Polar Photography Expedition Experience next year. If you have not seen the video we produced last year in the Arctic in Greenland and Svalbard you can watch it online HERE. We will be filming the experience next year on a 6k RED Epic Dragon system as well as several Canon 1DC Cinema Cameras. I will have more to say about this new production over the coming months. Lastly, I also have some exciting announcements I will be making here on my blog over the coming weeks in relation to future workshops and expeditions. Stay tuned for those details in a future post.

September Photograph of the Month: Super Moon at Landmannalaugar

Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel PhotographyLeave a comment

One of the most anticipated and exciting events of my last trip to Iceland was the scheduled super moon that I had hoped would coincide with clear skies whilst I was in the highlands of Iceland. As luck would have it we were blessed with absolutely perfect conditions and just about ideal light under the midnight sun. My friend Antony and I hiked up to the top of one of Landmannalaugar’s highest peaks where we were able to watch and photograph the rising super moon set against the incredible rhyolite mountains with spectacular light. I have lost track of the number of times I have been to this location now – but this was only the second time I have ever experienced such magical light in the highlands.

APPA 2014: Overall Winner Science, Environment & Nature Photographer of the Year and Awarded Australian Institute of Professional Photography Master Photographer Honour

Posted in Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Wildlife Photographs7 Comments

This weekend saw the running of the annual AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography) APPA (Australian Professional Photography Awards) awards in Sydney. These awards are the highlight of the calendar year in Australia in competition terms and are eagerly looked forward to by many (myself included). In fact, they are widely regarded as being at the very top of the pyramid in professional photographic circles. There is something very special about the APPA awards and it’s more than just the kudos that comes with receiving an award – its the incredible standard of work across all categories every year that never ceases to impress and amaze. If you have never checked out one of the annual APPA award books I encourage you to do so (they can be ordered online from the AIPP). They are are a wonderful source of inspirational photography. There is a palpable buzz that comes with the opening of the first days judging at APPA and a drum beat that rises to fever pitch as each day progresses. There are moments of incredible elation and moments of crushing defeat. It can be an emotional roller coaster and whilst its not healthy to become too emotionally invested one can’t help but ride the roller coaster of ups and downs.

If you want to see where the bar is set for world class photographic images and prints you need look no further than APPA. Every year the bar is continually raised that much higher in terms of the standard of work entered. I admit to being a bit of a nervous wreck during the APPA judging. The spine-tingling anticipation of having my work scrutinised for any minutia by my peers gets my heart racing. It’s not even the fear of scoring poorly that puts me on edge; its something far less tangible that I can’t quite put my finger on. If you have never entered or attended the APPA awards that probably sounds a little strange, but for those of you who have entered before you will know exactly what I am talking about. Its a special competition and quite honestly its not for the faint of heart. It’s never wise to take these things too seriously, but on the other hand, APPA is the standard by which professional photographers are judged against each other and is considered to showcase the highest level of photography so one can’t help but become emotionally involved.

This was a massive year for me as I entered APPA after winning multiple categories in the Victorian State Awards including Creative Photographer of the Year, Science Environment and Nature Photographer of the Year, Highest Scoring Print of the Year and overall title of Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year. There is a hefty weight of expectation (even if it is self imposed) that comes with those awards that carries over into APPA so I felt even more nervous than usual when my first print turned around for judging.

For those of you unfamiliar with APPA you can read my previous blog post HERE about how the system operates. The four prints (the maximum you are allowed to enter) I chose to enter this year were my highest scoring prints at state level and I entered them into the Science, Environment and Nature Category. At state level they scored 2 Gold Awards and 2 Gold with Distinctions and thats about as good as one could ever hope to score. So, I was ecstatic to receive a Silver Award, a Silver with Distinction and two Gold Awards for my four entries this year at APPA. All four entries were printed on my favourite fine art paper – Moab Somerset Museum Rag. You can watch a video of the judging of the three highest scoring prints online by clicking on the image below.The culmination of these four awards provided more than the necessary points to also receive the coveted and highly sought after ‘Master of Photography’ ribbon from the AIPP.  This award requires the accumulation of not less than ten points in no more than five years after receiving an Associateship Award and its no easy feat to achieve. I had set myself a goal of achieving this in four years and I am pleased to say I managed it in just three years. In fact, I already have several excess points in the bank toward my first Master of Photography Gold Bar. You can read about the honours and points system on the APPA website.

I was even more ecstatic to subsequently learn at the awards dinner last night (which unfortunately I could not attend in person due to print workshop commitments) that not only did I receive multiple Gold and Silver award scores for my prints at National level as well being awarded a Master of Photography by the AIPP but that I also won the overall category and award for 2014 AIPP Canon Professional Science, Environment and Nature Photographer of the Year. This was only the second time I have ever entered this category and taking out the overall title is a huge thrill and honour. It was also a great honour to learn that I took out the highest scoring print in this category – an honour that resonates deeply with my love of the craft of photographic print making.
APPA – Silver with Distinction Award ‘Bear Reflections’

APPA – Gold Award ‘Epic Sense of Scale’APPA – Silver Award ‘Glacial Delta’APPA – Gold Award ‘March of the Penguins’

With APPA done and dusted for 2014 and my goal of achieving Master of Photography completed, along with being the overall winner of the Canon 2014 Professional Science, Environment and Nature Photographer of the Year as well as highest scoring print in the category I am now planning to take a short term hiatus from competitions and focus on my book projects that are currently overdue for completion. I hope to have more to say about the first of these over the coming weeks.

Photokina 2014 – Moab and Legion Paper Stand

Posted in Antarctica, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel PhotographyLeave a comment

If you are visiting Photokina this year be sure to stop past the Moab and Legion paper stand where one of my images of the ice hardened expedition ship ‘Polar Pioneer’ parked in the pack ice in Antarctica is on display. Printed on my personal favourite paper – Moab Somerset Museum Rag at a whopping 40″ x 60″ inches.

International Pano Awards 2014: Epic Sense of Scale Silver Award

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I broke one of my rules for 2014 earlier this year when I decided to enter one of my photographs into a ‘Digital Only’ photography competition. It wasn’t that long ago that I concluded I was really only interested in competitions that judged the finished fine art print rather than the digital jpeg. Nevertheless something went ‘twang’ inside me and in a moment of weakness (or possibly vanity) I entered one image (and one image only) into the 2014 Epson International Pano Awards. The photograph I chose to enter – ‘An Epic Sense of Scale‘ – subsequently scored a Silver Award.  Earlier this year at the 2014 Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year Awards it scored a Gold Award and was my third highest scoring print after the two Gold with Distinctions. It also contributed to my overall wins in the Science, Environment and Nature Category, Creative Photographer of the Year Category and Overall Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year. The print was also a finalist in the 2014 Nillumbik Art Award. I mention this because this discrepancy in judging is a very good indicator that photography competitions are subjective and very much a lucky dip at times – You just never know what you are going to get.

Although this photograph scored a very solid silver at the Pano Awards it still fell short of what the judges had to say about the print at the State Awards. Personally, I am not displeased with the result in the Pano Awards as I really feel the jpeg fails to do justice to the printed image – in fact its nothing more than a poor facsimile and the jpeg file probably scored what it deserved. It was a valuable moment for me to receive back my score from the Pano Awards as it reminded me why I prefer to look at prints in lieu of digital files and why I choose to enter print only competitions these days. Am I done with digital only competitions? The answer is probably. There are a few competitions out there that are judging digital files in the initial round of judging but then shift to printed images for the semi-finals and finals and I will continue to enter some of these as time and motivation permits.

In the meantime, I just returned two days ago from more than two months in the Arctic which included two back-to-back workshops in Iceland as well as an expedition to Greenland and Svalbard. I shot over 5000 images during these trips and its time to start the editing and sorting process as well as share some trip reports and feedback.