Category: Travel Photography

Photography from around the World

Arctic Fox Winter Expedition 2019 Sold Out

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

My expedition to photograph Arctic Fox in the far north of Iceland in Winter (February) next year 2019 is now sold out – thank you to all those who are joining me on this special expedition. This will be sixth year in a row I will have travelled to the Hornstrandir Nature reserve in winter to photograph these tenacious little predators (Read the 2018 ExpeditionTrip Report) and I am really looking forward to returning yet again. The Arctic Fox is one of Nature’s greatest survivors and photographing them in winter in the snow and ice is an incredible experience.

Due to the initial registrations there are now also only two places remaining on the 2020 Arctic Fox Winter Expedition (not yet formally announced) before it will also be sold out. If you want to register to secure one of these last places two places please Contact Me as soon as possible.

Photo of the Month November 2018 – Emperor Colony

Posted in Antarctica, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs2 Comments

The photograph of the month for November 2018 comes from my 2016 expedition to the remote sea ice of Gould Bay in Antarctica to visit and photograph the Emperor Penguins (Read the Trip Report). This particular photograph remains one of my favourites from  this expedition. It includes the main Emperor colony  with the small fluffy chick leading the line of penguins that recedes off into the distance.

I am very excited that in less than two weeks now I will be returning to Gould Bay in Antarctica to lead my sold out 2018 expedition to the Emperor Penguins.  I am planning to shoot a bit more video this time and hope to have some behind the scenes snippets to show just what its like to participate in this expedition to one of the most remote and hard to reach places on the planet.

EmperorsExpedition2016-20102-Edit

In other news my blog has just gone through a fairly major behind the scenes update over the last few days. Most of the changes that needed to be made are ‘under the hood’, but there are a few cosmetic changes. As a result of these necessary upgrades you may need to re-subscribe if you want to be kept updated (apologies for that – it was unavoidable).

Lastly, to those of you who asked about Part Two of the Master the Craft series of articles, I am hoping to have Part Two ready late next week and will publish as soon as possible. Website updates, printing and life have just got in the way this week…

Photo of the Month October 2018 – The Wolverine

Posted in Finland, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife PhotographsLeave a comment

The photograph of the month for October 2018 comes from my recent trip to northern Finland. I had travelled to Finland to speak at the Nature Photo festival in Kuusamo (which was a fantastic event with some wonderful photography). Since Finland its such a long way from Australia (four flights each way) I decided to extend the trip by a few days and take the opportunity for some photography.

This photograph was made just near the northern Russian border with Finland from a small photo hide just near dusk. I was extremely fortunate to have this large Wolverine come very close to the hide just as the light was beginning to turn warm and golden. This sort of encounter doesn’t happen very often with wildlife and I had quite honestly expected to have to spend many hours or even days in the hide to catch a glimpse of a Wolverine. As it turned out I did not have to wait more than a couple of hours and was able to capture this wonderful moment with the Wolverine quite close to my hide position. What really works for me is the warm golden light catching the fur of the Wolverine and of course that wonderful moment with the huge paw (and claws!) on the log. I will be heading back to Finland in both Winter and Autumn next year for both landscape and wildlife (more to come on the Autumn workshop soon). The February winter workshop is primarily based in Kuusamo, although we will actually begin in Kajanni in the north of Finland where we will be working from private hides in an effort to photograph Wolves, Wolverine and Golden eagles in a snow covered landscape.

The main activity of this winter workshop is wildlife photography. However, you will also be able to take advantage of the spectacular winter landscape (the frozen trees and landscape of Finland in winter are superb for photography). This exclusive opportunity to photograph the wildlife and landscapes of northern Finland in Winter is for a strictly limited number of just 6 photographers plus leader and guide – with only two places remaining before it will be sold out. If you are interested in joining us and securing the last remaining place you can download a complete itinerary with costings and all details HERE.

Natures Best Photography 2018 Finalists and Category Winners

Posted in Arctic, Media, News and Updates, Travel Photography, Video1 Comment

Natures Best Photography have now formally announced the Category Winners and Highly Honoured finalists in the 2018 Windland Smith Rice International Awards. I am extremely pleased that Ghosts of the Arctic was highly honoured in the video category. Out of more than 26,000 images and videos from photographers in 59 countries, approximately 1,000 photos and videos made it into the semi-final round of judging. Congratulations to all the winters and other highly honoured recipients.

See all the 2018 Windland Awards finalists: naturesbestphotography.com/winners

Departing for Namibia Desert Fire Safari 2018

Posted in Africa, Equipment, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Travel Photography, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The couple of weeks I have had to unpack, catch up and repack since I returned from the Nature Festival in Finland has quickly come and gone and very early tomorrow I am heading back to the airport to start the trek over to Africa for my 2018 Namibia Desert Fire Safari. It has been two years since I was last in Africa and I am very much looking forward to returning to the oldest desert in the world and the fantastic and diverse opportunities that Namibia always presents.On this safari we are going to visiting the ghost town of Kolmonskop, the giant sand dues of Sossusvlei (and of course the iconic Deadvlei), the spectacular skeleton coast and the wildlife rich region of Etosha. On top of this we have many other stop off locations planned along our journey. This year we will be kicking off our safari by flying down to Luderitz from the capital city of Windhoek. Flying saves us two days on the road and gives us even more time for photography in the field.This safari is a combination of both landscape and wildlife and as such I am packing both wide angle and super-telephoto lenses. All of this will pack into my F-Stop Lightroom Roller which I will use to get the equipment through the transit stage of my travels. I will then re-pack it on location into my F-stop backpack.

F- Stop Lightroom Roller Camera Bag:

  • 2 x Canon EOS 1DX MKII
  • 2 X Canon EOS 1DX MKII Spare Batteries
  • 1 x Canon 16-35mm F4L
  • 1 x Canon 24mm F3.5L TSE
  • 1 x Canon 24-70mm F4L IS
  • 1 x Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS MKII (I am unsure if I will upgrade to the MKIII at this stage)
  • 1 x Canon 400mm F2.8L IS MKII
  • 1 x Canon 1.4 TC MKIII Teleconverter

In my checked luggage I am bringing the following:

  • 1 x Sachtler Flowtech Carbon Fire Tripod (the new model I have absolutely fallen in love with)
  • 1 x Arca Swiss Geared Tripod head
  • 1 x Canon 1DX MKII Battery Charger and Lens Cleaning Kit

Why No Canon Mirrorless R? 

I will have more to say about the new Canon mirrorless camera (and many of the other new cameras recently announced) in a new series of posts I am calling ‘Master the Craft’. I hope to publish the first of this new series while I am on the road.

Post Script – An update on the torn lateral tendon in my right elbow for those of you who kindly emailed me to see how it is progressing.  After very intensive physiotherapy over the last few months I have turned the corner and can again lift my camera without pain and discomfort. I am hopeful that this Namibia safari will be the first trip since Antarctica last year that I can work freely without pain in my right arm.

See you in Africa!