Kodak Fosters Nature Photography

Well, I've had a big adventure! I 'just' finished my seminar series with Kodak, "Great Recipes for Wildlife Photography". Although the tour ended three weeks ago, it has taken me this long to handle all the jobs that had piled up in my absence.

The talks were a great success with record crowds at each venue. In Melbourne and Sydney the overflow had to sit in the aisles! Thank you so much to all of you who showed up. I learned as much from the questions people asked at the end of the presentations as they would have learned from me about wildlife photography.

It was quite a task talking to different audiences - there were students from colleges, industry suppliers, pro photographers and heaps of amateur enthusiasts. I described the adventures and shared my struggles about making a profitable business in Australia in such a specialized niche. But I think people mostly enjoyed hearing the surprising secrets behind some of the most successful pictures.

The biggest thrill for me was seeing such large groups of people actually interested in this rarified genre of photography. I have spent my career believing I was a virtual lone soul in the field of wildlife and nature photography (at least in Australia) and it was a delightful surprise to look into such a large number of enthusiastic faces. Certainly the digital revolution has a lot to do with the revival of photography as a hobby. But I would like to believe that what might be more responsible is a growing sensitivity towards nature, a growing respect for our fellow creatures and a driving interest in seeing and capturing all their magnificent beauty.

Thank you Peter Cocklin and the rest of the Kodak team for taking the message to the people!