Tag: Photography

Australian Photographic Prize 2024 Nature Single Capture Gold Awards

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Since the voluntary administration and closing of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography), I have steered clear of the new Australian Photographic Prize Award. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the Australian Photographic Prize arose as a direct result of ex-AIPP member’s desires to maintain a high-level photographic (both print and digital) competition in Australia for both professionals and amateurs (after the Australian Professional Photography Awards that were an inseparable part of the AIPP became no more). I chose to avoid (not boycott) the Australian Photographic Prize (APP) in its first two years since I was on the board of directors that took part in the decision to shut down the AIPP via voluntary wind-up due to predicted and inevitable insolvency (based on projected cash flows). At the time, this was the fiscally responsible decision (although much has been touted otherwise), and I still believe this to be the case as a director who was privy to the full picture of the organization’s finances. As of today, there still remains a small chance the AIPP may be re-born – pending a Supreme Court decision on what is to become of the remaining surplus funds. I have a feeling we have not seen the end of the AIPP, and it may yet re-emerge in one form or another.

This year, I decided to put the closure of the AIPP behind me (since it felt like the dust had significantly settled) and enter the single-image Nature category of the Australian Photographic Prize. The Nature category was judged yesterday, and I just caught up on the preliminary results on You-Tube during some downtime here in Mongolia (on my summer workshop for Pallas Cats). Much like the deceased APPA awards, the APP awards are judged by a team of five professional photographers on a moderated panel. Of the five photographs I chose to enter this year, all five made the final round of judging (top 35 entered images). Three of the five have gone to receive highly coveted Gold Awards, and the remaining two racked up Silver with Distinction awards, with one photograph (of the two back-lit Cheetahs) being a single point off a fourth Gold award. Screenshots of the judge’s scores and images are included below. You can also watch the recorded live-steam for the Single Image Nature category below. The overall winner of the category will be announced in the next few days.

Addendum: Since this post, I have been notified that two of my photographs (the owl and Pallas cat) were in the final round of judging as grand finalist images.

Wildlife Photographic Emperor Penguin Cover Shot July / August 2024

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The just-published July / August 2024 issue of Wildlife Photographic magazine includes one of my photographs of Emperor Penguins on the front cover and a feature article on my experiences photographing Emperors in the deep south of Antarctica. This is the seventh time I have been published in Wildlife Photographic and the sixth time I have been fortunate to score the cover shot! (the last five cover shot editions were on Walrus photography,  Grey Wolf Photography, Pallas Cat Photography,  Arctic Fox Photography, and Polar Bear Photography). I have also been previously been published in Wildlife Photographic for my Emperor Penguin photography.

Wildlife Photographic can be read on iOS and Android devices, as well as from any computer via our Web Reader at MagsFast. Please use the following link to obtain your free issue:  Free Subscription to Wildlife Photographic Magazine. 

Photograph of the Month May 2024 Arctic Fox in Blizzard

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With all the hype about the Canon EOS R1 over the last couple of weeks, I have neglected to update the website with the (dare I say ‘more important’) photograph of the month. Without further ado, the photograph of the month for May 2024 comes from my February workshop for Arctic Foxes in the far north of Iceland (Read the Trip Report). This photograph is my favourite from the trip as it speaks to me emotionally on many different levels. The environment is dramatic with the blizzard, reduced visibility and flying snow. We get a real sense of a winter storm and the brutal reality of the Arctic winter. We have the mountains and ocean for context and a wonderful foreground of steep snow bank. The Arctic fox is small in the frame, making it appear fragile and alone in the huge Arctic expanse. Additionally, we have the perfect pose of the fox, looking into the camera, dusted with snow, as it watches over the entrance to the fjord on a huge, steep and dramatic snow bank. This sort of ‘animal in the environment’ photograph is often far more evocative and tells a much more profound story than a close-up portrait. Shot with the Canon EOS R3 and the Canon RF 70-200mm f2.8L IS, this photograph is also a great example of when you don’t need a super expensive huge telephoto lens to make a fantastic wildlife photograph.

I will be returning again next February to lead another workshop for these wonderful Arcitc opportunists. There are now just a couple of places remaining on my 2025 expedition. If you have ever wanted to photograph Nature’s most remarkable survivor in Winter, this is your opportunity. Our remote cabin is ideally situated as a cozy home away from home and provides a beautiful base from which to photograph the Arctic Fox. Places are minimal; please contact me for complete details.

Canon EOS R1 News and Updates Spreading Fast

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Since my podcast yesterday breaking the news that the Canon EOS R1 would be 24 Mega-pixels and feature Quad pixel Auto Focus and Canon Rumour’s subsequent post confirming the Canon EOS R1 specifications, YouTube has pretty much exploded with the specifications news. Comments on the videos the Ordinary Film Maker posted to date make for pretty hilarious reading (assuming you have nothing else to do). Judging by the comments. some of these people really need to get away from their keyboards and spend more time in Nature :-). The content is good, though, and worth your time if you are interested in the Canon EOS R1 or the Canon EOS R5. I expect a lot more news to drop in the next few weeks.

Post Production Ethics and the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

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AI-generated images are literally swamping social media platforms. Many of the Nature photography groups on Facebook I have historically been a part of are now drowning in A.I generated images as surrepticious users attempt to outdo each other in a seemingly never-ending quest for likes and views. Disclosure does not appear anywhere on most posters radar, and the intent is very clearly to deceive and fool the viewer. These posts are often immediately apparent to the trained eye; but even an untrained eye can quickly check the posters photo album to see that they have nothing else even close to what they are claiming is their photograph. It is a very sad run-away train of one-up manship that is significantly blurring the lines between Nature photography and “computer-generated art” (and I use the word ‘art’ loosely). Where will it end? I have no idea, but at least in the Nature space, the use of generative A.I tools appears to be highly destructive to accurate depictions and documentation of Nature. Or, at the very least, it causes significant confusion about what is real in the Nature space.

Since the rise of generative A.I tools, I have been receiving more correspondence asking if I use any A.I techniques to enhance my photographs. The answer is NO. A long time ago I published an ethics statement on my website HERE fully disclosing how I approach processing my photographs. I have now updated this to include the exclusion of A.I generative tools.

ETHICS AND POST-PRODUCTION

All of the photographs on this website are single-image captures without HDR (High Dynamic Range) or multi-image compositing techniques. No focus stacking or blending of multiple exposures has been used, and there are no overlayed textures or dropped-in skies or foregrounds. Panoramas do include stitched images.

I learned the craft of photography by shooting 35mm transparencies (primarily Fujichrome Provia 100 and Velvia 50). Transparencies had very little exposure latitude, and outside of a third of a stop on either side of a correct exposure, the slide was either over or under-exposed and destined for the trash. I learned the hard way that it was critical to get my exposures correct in camera and this is something I still try very hard to achieve today shooting digitally. I use graduated neutral density filters in the field extensively in my photography to help tame the dynamic range found in Nature. I bias my exposures to the right (ETTR) wherever possible to try and capture the most information possible in my RAW file. The RAW file on the right was overexposed by one stop (without clipping the highlights) in order to capture more data. The exposure was then corrected during post-production in Adobe Lightroom.

All of the photographs on this website were shot with Canon digital cameras in RAW and post-processed in Adobe Lightroom. Adjustments include White Balance, Color and Tone, Capture Sharpening, and equivalent techniques to darkroom dodging and burning.

Any excessive noise or grain from high ISO captures is treated in Lightroom or other noise reduction programs with subtle adjustments of the Noise Sliders. Any sensor dust spots are removed in post production – but that is the extent of any digital cloning or manipulation.

Post-processing is utilised to faithfully reproduce the natural colours and light captured in the field. Never to create something that wasn’t there. Additionally, no artificial intelligence (AI) generative technologies or tools have been used to create or enhance these photographs. My work remains true to the traditional craft of photography, ensuring authenticity and integrity in every image. I want the viewer to enjoy the majesty and beauty of Nature as it appears on our mother Earth.