Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

Sometimes you have to accept the gifts the universe throws your way.

This shot was totally unplanned until about 3 seconds before the plan flew overhead.

It was taken on the main drag leading into Cairns from the North - the Captain Cook Highway. And this is Captain Cook himself. The statue has been there for decades and looked like being demolished at one point. But on it lives, constantly pointing to the sky.

Anyway I was sitting on top of my car waiting for a young guy on a pushbike to come along the road. A Swedish tourist whose name escapes me, he was riding his bike for charity, or at least planning to when he got home.

Anyway while I was waiting I looked up to see a Qantas plane coming in to land. I saw the red in Captain Cook's vest, the red in the tail of the Qantas phone and my little brain synapses yelled out 'picture'.

I had a brief instant to bring my 28-70mm lens up to my eye and snap the shot. Sometimes all the planning in the world can't provide you with as good a photo opportunity as pure serendipity.

Final Photographer's Intensive for 2011

Well the dates are set for my final Photographer's Intensive for the year and things are all ready to go for a November of intensive photography immersion here in Cairns.

Over the period of a month we’ll have a series of four hour lectures, running two days a week at Hambledon House in Edmonton. The days (Wednesday and Thursday for 4 weeks) are:

9/10 November

16/17 November

23/24 November
30 November/1 December

and the lectures will run from 10-2.

The cost of the full month’s tutorials will be $550 (incl GST).

In between lectures there will be an online discussion group and area to post pictures so that you can get critique from the other members of the group as well as full access to myself. I will be available all month to answer questions and personally guide you to improving your photography.

With a small number of students (maximum 10) we will be able to tailor the course so that you get the most benefit out of your four weeks. To really learn what you need to to improve your images. We’ll concentrate on the technical side of things to the extent that it helps you improve the creative side of your art. To create photographs that share your own vision and way of interpreting the world.

Starting with topics such as lenses, light, flash, photographing strangers and developing it from there we will definitely cover a lot of ground. And this is where the inspiration for the intensive came from.

I received a lot of feedback over the years from people that they enjoyed my weekend workshops but wanted something that lasted longer and helped them keep up the momentum and enthusiasm. This is it.

For those who don’t know me I have been a professional travel photographer for more than a decade. I am represented by Lonely Planet Images and my pictures have been featured in more than 50 of their guidebooks ranging from Thailand to Tokyo, from Nepal to Southern Africa and lots of places in between. My images have been published in magazines such as National Geographic Traveler and TIME (US) and I have been teaching photography workshops for most of that 10 years.

What past students have said:

Hi Paul

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the photography course we have just completed.  I must say at first I was a bit worried about the length going for 2 days a week over four weeks but in the end I found myself wishing it went for longer.  Not only was it most informative but you made it very interesting.      Your passion for photography is quite infectious and your willingness to share your extensive knowledge made it a pleasure to be a part of.   

I now have reinvigorated my love for photography and I look forward to being a part of another one of your courses sometime.  Thanks again.

Kind regards

Warwick Bourguignon

'Paul's course is well worth doing, no matter what your interests are. 
It was really enjoyable and a great learning experience.  He is an
excellent teacher and had plenty of time for individual queries and
critiques.  We covered so much, including flash photography which I'm
now hooked on!  The spread of the sessions over a month worked really
well, allowing time to practice in between.  This course has opened up
so many new photographic opportunities for me - I am so glad I did it!'
Jackie Hammer, Cairns

So if you think you’d like to improve your photography and really delve into your creative possibilities and would like to find out more please contact me at info at dymond dot com dot au  or check out my website .

Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

Deep in the heart of the Aurukun Wetlands, in Cape York, I could hear them calling in the early morning breeze.

The only problem was that we were on a charter boat in the middle of a river and they were somewhere on the land.

So it meant getting the speed boat out and going searching for them. And then needing a very long lens because there was no way we would be able to get anywhere near to this warbling couple.

Whenever I can't get close enough to a wild animal to fill the frame I always look for an interesting place to put them within the frame.

I was watching them as they walked across the plane towards the distant trees and was hoping against hope that they would walk towards this strand of really interesting looking melaleuca gum trees.

Fortunately for me they walked to exactly the right spot and then proceeded to raise their heads to the sky and call.

There is nothing quite like the call of wild brolgas and it's even more special in the early morning in the wilds of far north Queensland.

Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

Today at my sons' school they are having a heap of activities to celebrate NAIDOC day. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee and is a day to celebrate the culture of Australia's indigenous people.

Growing up as a kid in Melbourne I honestly didn't have much to do with aboriginal culture at all. My school was mostly caucasian with a healthy smattering of Greeks, Italians and Vietnamese immigrants.

Up here in Cairns my children get the wonderful opportunity to get more in touch with our indigenous culture. They both have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids in their classes and get the chance to learn all about their cultures.

Of course Cape York, to our north, is home to many indigenous communities that retain strong ties to their traditional cultures and every year they host the wonderful Laura Dance Festival, where this image of the Mornington Island Dancers was taken.

Wherever you are in the world I am sure you are surrounded by people of different cultures, both indigenous and imported. I've always found my cameras provide great access to people and places I otherwise would never have had the chance to explore. Why not take the time to photograph a culture different from your own? You'll improve your photography skills, meet new people and discover a side of your own community that you may never have known existed.

Click on over to my website to see some more images of indigenous culture from Cape York

and come over to Facebook and join me on the Have Camera Will Travel page.

Watering dead grass

Today's post comes from the sick bed! A dreaded flu has come to render me basically useless for anything other than lying down and doing not a hell of a lot of anything. So for today's post I'm going to hand you over to the always acerbic, painfully truthful, no holds barred Kirk Tuck. I've got a couple of Kirk's books - one on lighting and one on the businesss of commercial photography and they're both great reads. But I love his blog because he says what many of us are thinking.

So hop on over to his blog to find out why we might all be watering dead grass.

Fantastic FNQ photo Friday

People often forget that the road north doesn't stop at Cairns, or even Cooktown for that matter. In fact it goes all the 

way to the very tip of Australia. The pristine wilderness of Cape York is truly spectacular and one of the most amazing 

sights up there are these giant termite mounds on the flood plains. This beautiful mound was deep in the heart of the 

Aurukun Wetlands, on the banks of the Archer River.

Cape York is one of this country's last wild places and if you ever get a chance to drive off the bitumen north of Cooktown 

then I definitely recommend you do it. Click over to my website if you'd like to see more photographs of

the beautiful Aurukun Wetlands.

Oh and if you'd like to follow me on Have Camera Will Travel's Facebook fan page come on over! There's plenty of tidbits

that get posted there that don't make it to the blog and it's an easier place to have lots of great conversations

about photography. 

It doesn't have to be flashy to be good.

Last week I had a couple of editorial portrait assignments for the latest edition to the Cairns' magazine world - Cairns Life magazine.

Just like the boy scouts I always like to be prepared - and when it comes to photography that usually means being able to light your images.

Often relying on natural light just isn't an option unless you happen to be blessed with some really good luck! And that rarely happens indoors.

So I come armed with a bucket-load of speedlites, light stands, umbrellas, gridspots, snoots, gobos. Lots of paraphernalia that fortunately all fits into one long sausage bag that I can fit over my shoulder.

And I'm always ready to do something dramatic with the image. Tight beams of light, dark backgrounds. Creating contrast where none exists.

And the danger in that is you can let your desire to play with your gadgets take over the purpose of the picture - which is to bring out the inner quality of your subject. As soon as I met Joann Pyne, the Director of the Tropical North Queensland TAFE I immediately knew that her gorgeous outfit and the fabulous artwork on the wall was way better than anything I could artificially create with dramatic lighting.

So this is an homage to great portrait subjects and simplicity in our lighting. One speedlite through a see-through umbrella and the rest natural light. Sometimes we don't need to be fancy to produce flattering portraits. The geek in us hates it but our clients love it.