Today I am very excited to announce the publication of my new Wild Nature Photography Podcast – A podcast that talks the Art and Craft of Nature Photography. Podcasting is something I have wanted to do for many months now and with yet another COVID lockdown underway here in Victoria it seemed the time was right to finally start this project. The podcast is intended to be supplemental to my blog and a more informal platform for photographic discussion. The podcast will include everything from my thoughts and musings on Nature photography to the craft and equipment side of the business. Just do a search on your favourite Podcast application for Wild Nature Photography and you should have no problem finding it. If you enjoy the first two episodes please be sure to subscribe and leave a positive review.
Direct links to the first two episodes and a discussion on the EOS 3 Development announcement are included below:
On Wednesday the 16th of June this year at 6:30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, I will be giving a free live webinar on how to take better wildlife photographs in Winter. The webinar will include tips, recommendations on equipment and clothing as well as example photographs. I will also be talking a little about soft proofing as well as why colour calibration and accuracy is important. The webinar is free and is made possible through the generous support of BenQ. The webinar will be held in ZOOM and Registration is mandatory. You can register HERE.
The photograph of the month for June 2021 comes from my 2020 winter workshop to Canada to photograph Snowy Owls. This was my second last workshop before the COVID pandemic that has ground travel more or less to a complete halt. This particular photograph was taken with the Canon EOS 1DX MK2 (I had not yet taken delivery of the 1DX MKIII) and the Canon EF400mm f2.8L IS MK3. Shot at f6.3 at 1/1000th of a second at ISO800 the key to making this photograph work is the blur in the wing tips that gives us the feeling and impression of movement. Focus on the owls eyes was critical given the shallow depth of field.
A few days ago two new images of the upcoming Canon EOS R3 leaked and sprung up on various equipment and rumour websites around the internet. This new leak gives us a look at what ‘might’ be the rear of the camera. It should be noted that Canon has not made any further announcements since its initial development announcement several weeks ago; where it showed us a picture of the front of the camera.
It appears from the newly leaked photographs that the R3 will have a fold out LCD screen. However, despite these photographs being leaked by reputable source I actually find it hard to believe that the R3 will have a flip out screen. A flip out screen makes little sense in a Sports / Wildlife camera. Yes, there are occasions when it can be useful for wildlife or sports, but on the whole a flip out screen is more of a compromise and liability in my experience (unless you are shooting video). The R3 will certainly be video capable; but its focus is most definitely going to be as a stills camera. Canon already has many video offerings in the market and an R3 that was focused on video makes little sense at present.
Flip out screens take significant real estate away from what could have been a larger LCD screen (due to the flip out mechanism itself), are a liability in freezing conditions as they tend to break, offer additional egress points for water and offer no advantage over wireless remote shooting with an iPhone or iPad device.
A couple of other things to point out is the massive viewfinder window. This is most likely for the eye AF point selection. We also get the same AF ON button feature from the EOS-1D X Mark III.
Take these photographs with a large dose of salt and put me in the camp of hoping they are faked (as I don’t really want a flip out screen). I have heard that availability for the R3 will be in 2021 – but that timeline has not been confirmed by Canon. We also need to keep in mind that Canon has stated that this new R3 is NOT a replacement for the 1DX MKIII.
Of the last weeks I have received many emails from international friends and clients asking ‘How we are doing in Australia?’ and ‘If we can travel’ yet?. The short answer to the first question is that by world standards we are doing extremely well with very little COVID across the country. We have been fortunate to have been able to keep our outbreaks more-or-less under control. This is more due to the populations general willingness and acceptance to wear masks and social distance than it is from anything our government has or has not done. All of our recent cluster outbreaks have started due to an escape of the virus from our hotel quarantine system (where incoming repatriation travellers are housed for 14 days). One of the biggest problems we have continually faced here in Australia is our governments continual mismanagement of hotel quarantine (they have just made a complete pigs breakfast of the entire management situation). To this end, we are just now today entering yet another 7-day lock down here in Victoria because of yet another escape of the virus from our bungled hotel quarantine system. We have around 25 cases as of today in the state I live; which is nothing by world standards; but still of serious concern considering we were COVID free just a few days ago.
The situation with international travel into and out of Australia is that all non-repatriation travel is banned. All non-Australian residents are banned from coming to Australia until further notice. Australians are banned from leaving the country without express special permission from the government. Permission can be granted on either bereavement purposes or for legitimate business reasons. My business, Wild Nature Photo Travel, has applied for an exemption and has been approved for international travel. I can now apply on a case by case basis to leave Australia for my business and will be doing so as required. I have received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and will in two weeks time be fully vaccinated.
The Australian governments roll out of the vaccine has been nothing short of appalling. Only a tiny percentage of our population is currently vaccinated; although this is finally starting to improve as of two weeks ago when more vaccine was released.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 