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The photograph of the month for June 2023 comes from my April Svalbard Spring Light Expedition (Read the Trip Report) and is of a young male Polar Bear in the landscape at Yoldiabukta. The incredible blue ice plates were far too tempting a subject as a foreground element, which meant placing the bear in the landscape. As such, I switched cameras in the zodiac from 600mm to 70-200mm for this photograph – I always like to photograph with two cameras in case of eventualities such as this. Opportunities like this, with both a Polar Bear and an excellent evocative foreground, do not come along very often. Just as a tease, this photograph will be included in my new book on Polar Bears, which, I hope will be released in time for Christmas 2023.

BenQ’s all-new SW272U 4K and SW272Q 2K are now available for pre-order. You can read all about them and pre-order by clicking the two links. I should be reviewing the SW272U 4K on my return to Australia later this month. Look for a full review soon.

In a move I am delighted to see, the WPC World Photographic Cup has banned AI imagery in their 2024 competition, albeit with a velvet touch. I would have preferred to see this as a lifetime ban, but one year is a step in the right direction. Whilst AI imagery has an arguably important place in many commercial sectors, it can never replace the experience of being out in the field in Nature. Nor can it truly represent what transpired and was captured by the photographer in Nature. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the day we accept AI imagery into a photographic competition (at least in the Nature genre), we should all throw our cameras away and complete the transition to mindless drones.

From WPC Communications: The World Photographic Cup (WPC), the esteemed international photography competition that has celebrated the art of photography for over a decade, acknowledges the significant role that artificial intelligence (AI) plays within the photographic industry. While recognizing its undeniable impact, the WPC remains committed to upholding its longstanding photographic principles and has decided not to accept AI-generated images in the 2024 Edition.

The last place has been spoken for on my January 2024 Eastern Mongolia Winter Pallas cat expedition, and the workshop is now sold out. If you missed out, I am offering this workshop again in January of 2025, for a small group of just five photographers. Full details are on my website HERE. Please just drop me an email to register your interest. Places are already limited.

Rumours are generally not something I partake in. In this instance, I have it on pretty good authority that Canon will release a brand new teleconverter for the RF lens system later this year or early next year. The new teleconverter will be announced alongside the Canon RF 200-500mm F4L IS USM lens (expected 4th quarter of this year). The new teleconverter will have a zoom capability set to 0X, 1.4X and 2X. This will be a game changer for big white lenses with a huge increase in flexibility and capability. In combination with the new 200-500mm RF F4L IS USM, it will provide a range of focal options from 200mm all the way to 500mm, 700mm and 1000mm – that is an incredible range for one large lens, even with a 400mm F2.8L RF IS USM it will provide options from 400mm to 540mm to 800mm – again, a huge increase in flexibility and a must-have for wildlife photographers. It is doubtful the teleconverter will be compatible with Canon’s existing 100-500mm RF lens. The teleconverter will likely be priced between $1000 and USD 2000 MSRP.