Photography Workshops and Tours 2010
Here's the schedule for our workshops for the rest of 2010.
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August 15, 2010
Albatrosses and pelagic birds, Portland, Victoria
Photo tour for photography of sea birds and mammals -
November 8-26, 2010
Antarctica 2010: A Photo Odyssey, Ushuaia, Argentina
This photographic expedition to South Georgia and Antarctica is a project I am co-leading with Martin Bailey. -
December, 2010
Wildlife Photography Workshop, Portland, Victoria
(date to be announced)
Further workshops David is involved with can be found at LuminOdyssey.com.
David has been working as a professional photographer since 2002, and formally teaching at a tertiary level since 2007. He is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop Lightroom. On each of these workshops and tours David provides personal tuition to all attendees, in the technical crafts of using photographic equipment and digital processing, and in the creative art of photography. On the wildlife trips David also shares some of the natural history knowledge that can help make the difference between capturing a "record shot" and a great image.
Customised activities for individuals or groups can also be run on demand. Please contact David to discuss options.
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Photo Tour: Albatrosses and pelagic birds
August 15, 2010
Portland, western Victoria, Australia
This is an opportunity for avid wildlife photographers to capture amazing images of amazing animals! We spend a day aboard a small (48-foot) vessel which we have chartered for our group of 10 photographers, and head out from Portland into the Southern Ocean. We spend time out over the edge of the continental shelf where we encounter pelagic (ocean-going) bird species, many of which come very close to our boat. Albatrosses, petrels, prions, jaegers, shearwaters, and many more. On good days dolphins and whales also make appearances. On our way back to port we visit the southern hemisphere's largest nesting site of Australasian Gannets.
The number and variety of species we see as well as the weather conditions are beyond our control, but we do our best to maximise the photographic opportunities that are presented. As well as simply putting you in the right place to get photos, you will be shown practical techniques to help you take best advantage of those opportunities.
At the end of the voyage we make available a GPX file containing the boat's movements (a GPS "track") which you can use for things like plotting in Google Earth and for geocoding your photos with location information.
We depart port very early in the morning, so most participants will spend the previous night in Portland. We organise a group dinner the previous night (even though some people decide to limit themselves to a small meal). In Portland we usually stay at Victoria House (a very comfortable B&B in an old bluestone building) but your options are open. We get back to port late in the afternoon, after which we disperse to our homes (for most people it's at least a 4-hour drive back to Melbourne).
What should you bring?
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DSLR camera, with a medium-to-long telephoto lens.
You will be working with it handheld, so large super-telephoto lenses are not appropriate.
Most people like to work with a zoom lens (e.g. 70-300mm, 100-400mm) although 300mm or 400mm primes are favoured by some.
Lenses/cameras with image stabilisation are recommended.
Most people also bring a camera with a shorter zoom. - Many people like to use a flash (sometimes with an extender such as a Better Beamer) to provide fill light under the birds' wings.
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Lots of memory cards! It's not unusual for participants to come back with thousands of photos from a single voyage, and with today's cameras this equates to many gigabytes of storage.
Some people bring backup devices to allow them to offload the cards during the day. - Motion-sickness medication. Most people find it helps to take preventative medication (available over the counter at pharmacies). Some people get by without it, but in general it's better to be safe than sorry!
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Raincoat for yourself, and spray-proof covering for your camera bag.
While we're travelling we can be exposed to a lot of salt spray, and there's always the risk of rain.
However when we stop the boat to photograph, spray/splashes are typically not a problem. If the weather was going to be worse than that we would typically have postponed the voyage. - Sunscreen, etc.
Lunch is provided on board. If you have special dietary requirements please let us know beforehand!
Weather considerations
We travel on the open Southern Ocean, and there is a risk that the trip will have to be postponed due to inclement weather. This decision is made by the skipper of the boat on the Friday prior to the trip, and we phone registered attendees that night with a go/no-go status for the weekend. If a trip has to be postponed it will be reattempted as soon as possible. The rescheduled trip is also subject to the same weather constraints, but if the reattempt is unsuccessful your registration fee is refunded. Places on the boat are limited, but we maintain a waiting list of registrants for all trips. If you will be unable to attend the rescheduled trip you must inform us within 24 hours to get your fee refunded and allow us to open the place up to the waiting list.
Cost
$225 per person. See the registration info below.
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General travel area shown in yellow (specific route varies per trip)
Map courtesy of Google Earth |
Antarctica 2010: A Photo Odyssey
November 8-26, 2010
Ushuaia, Argentina
David is co-leading this photographic expedition to South Georgia and Antarctica with Martin Bailey. It's David's second photographic trip to Antarctica. Further details are available on the workshop's website.
Note that (as of March 25) there are only a few places left on the trip, and bookings have to close on the 1st of April 2010!
After that you can only get onto the waiting list in the hope that someone is forced to cancel.
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Workshop: Wildlife Photography
December, 2010
Portland, western Victoria, Australia
Come and learn to take beautiful photos of birds in flight! The core of this workshop is working with the birds at Australia's only mainland colony of gannets. These birds will be busy at their nests, providing lots of opportunities for photographs at rest and in flight. We will also be photographing seals and other wildlife at nearby reserves.
The workshop runs over a long weekend, beginning with meeting at our accommodation on Friday night, and finishing mid-Monday. The class size is limited to 6 participants.
Accommodation
We will be staying as a group at Victoria House in Portland.
We've stayed here in the past, and it's very comfortable and just the right size, including space for the indoor sessions that make up part of the workshop.
We have arranged a group rate including breakfasts for the workshop weekends. The breakfasts are huge!
Rooms from single through 4-occupancy are available.
We provide lunches for each day, but your accommodation and all other meals are NOT included in the workshop fees.
Most days we head out for dawn photography and come back for breakfast. We visit the gannet colony multiple times over the weekend, mixed in with other activities.
Who should come?
Photographers who know the basics of using their cameras, and are interested in exploring the techniques involved in capturing beautiful images of wild moving subjects. We will be guiding you through techniques for photographing wildlife. Not just where to point your camera and when, but also techniques for optimising composition, exposure, and autofocus with moving subjects.
Most attendees will be using SLR cameras (most other cameras don't respond quickly enough to capture the moving subjects) with telephoto lenses. They don't have to be multi-thousand-dollar camera bodies: even the cheapest DSLRs these days can do a good job. Attendees are expected to be familiar with their own equipment. For example we do have detailed knowledge of most camera models and will be teaching you to make the best of your cameras, but won't be able to spend the time during the workshop to start at the basics with every attendee.
What should you bring?
Telephoto lenses of at least 300mm are recommended for the wildlife work, but attendees should also bring wider lenses as opportunities for landscape photography and environmental portraits will also turn up.
Camera, lenses (and hoods), tripod, monopod, lots of memory cards, your laptop computer (with card reader, power supply, and enough storage for lots of photos), flash, camera manual (even if you think you know how to use your camera, bring the manual anyway!).
Sturdy walking boots, head torch, snacks, rain coat, umbrella.
The weather can vary from raining, through overcast, to bright sunshine. So remember the sunscreen and a hat as well as the raincoat!
Sturdy footwear is required.
At times we will be carrying our equipment over a kilometre or so of uneven ground, and care is always needed.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops and be familiar enough with their software to load and review their photography during the workshop. Daily review and feedback on the participants' work forms an important part of the learning process. In the past, most participants on this workshop have used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to manage their photos, but if you have and use other software for managing and processing RAW files you can bring that instead.
Marine photography
On the boat trip we may get slightly wet.
We travel in an open RIB (Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat) to reach the seals and there can be some spray while we're moving.
We will be discussing techniques and preparation for photographing in this environment during the workshop.
If you have your own special rain covers/etc please bring them, but they are not strictly necessary (plastic bags to cover your gear will be on hand).
Motion sickness is rarely an issue for anyone on this short trip.
Cost
$600 per person. See the registration info below.
Registering
Unless otherwise mentioned, all prices on this page are in Australian Dollars (AUD).
To secure your place on the Antarctic trip a US$1250 deposit is required.
See the trip's website for details.
To secure your place on the remainder of these workshops, a $100 deposit is required.
| Workshop | Cost per person (click through to payments) | Balance due |
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Albatrosses and pelagic birds August 2010 | $225 | July 30, 2010 |
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Wildlife Photography Workshop December 2010 | $600 | November, 2010 |
The above payments link take you through to our online store where you can pay with credit cards (via PayPal) or via direct deposit.
If you have any questions about the workshops, please email us.
If you need to cancel your booking prior to a fortnight before the workshop, all funds paid will be refunded minus a $50 cancellation fee. We reserve the right to cancel a workshop at any point prior to workshop commencement. In this event, all funds paid will be refunded. If you need to cancel your booking after a fortnight before the workshop, no refund is possible unless we can find a replacement attendee. Where possible we maintain a waiting list for each workshop to help facilitate this.
The pelagic boat trips are subject to special treatment here due to the possibility of rescheduling the trip due to weather concerns. If the trip is rescheduled and you inform us within 24 hours of notification that you are unable to attend on the new date, all funds paid will be refunded minus a $50 cancellation fee.
If you are on a waiting list for a workshop no deposit is required until we contact you to offer a vacant place. If this is less than a fortnight prior to the workshop, full payment will be required immediately.
Insurance
Photographers need to ensure that they have appropriate insurance for their equipment. This advice applies to all photography activities you undertake, whether they're trips to the local park, coastal boat trips, or voyages to Antarctica. We don't expect any problems, but insurance is for the unexpected. Your equipment may already be covered (e.g. some home contents insurance policies cover damage/loss insurance while away from the premises) but you should always ensure you have adequate cover (especially as your collection of equipment grows).
Remember, insuring your equipment is your responsibility!
Comments from previous participants
"Thanks for a fantastic weekend. Lots of advice to remember, hopefully most of it makes it into my regular shooting."
"I enjoyed the weekend immensely with the great photo opportunities with the gannets and your guidance on how to take advantage of these opportunities."