Let's Encourage Young Photographers

I'd like to acknowledge a budding young nature and wildlife photographer, Mikaela Clews. She won the Young Encourage-ment award at the recent Gosford Council photo competition. 

Mikaela Clews deserves a lot of credit for getting out into the bushlands around Gosford, New South Wales. The aim of the photo competition was to portray how nature is on the city's doorstep. Mikaela got hold of a young girl (probably her coerced little sister) and 'put' her into the picture. So many of my workshop students are hesitant to work with people; they're uncertain about how to pose them, or where to place them in the landscape. Very few of the adults who entered the competition dealt with this situation but young Mikaela made a noble effort.

With her photo of a Kookaburra she managed to get close enough to almost fill the frame. She also chose a fairly large aperture to throw the background out of focus enough to concentrate attention on the bird. There is a little bit of distraction in the background with the light on the tree trunks but I'm sure she'll notice that next time. I like the different perspective of looking down on the bird, with the gully below/behind it, don't you? 

Congratulations, Mikaela - I hope you continue your photographic efforts.

Apple Needs to Think Like a Photographer

Isn't the camera in the iPhone the coolest thing? As a professional photographer I love to have a little snappy camera in my bag to grab the occasional fun shot. Or if I'm doing a reconnaissance for a shoot or a workshop I make "photo notes" with my iPhone camera. I simply love the picture-taking capabilities of an iPhone. It saves me the bother of pulling out the big gear when it's not really necessary.

That's why I want Apple to design the camera a bit better. 

The problem is the button. Isn't it just the most difficult thing to "hit"? Using the iPhone camera is definitely a two-handed job because of the placement of the shutter button. I think it's totally illogical to place the button down near the bottom where your grip on the phone is totally imbalanced. If they redesigned the interface to put the button directly under your index finger, getting those grab shots would be so much easier and you could work with one hand. 

Here are some pictures of what I mean; they might explain it better than words. 

This is a very difficult way to hit the button one-handed. 

Look how white my thumb and finger get from trying to 

hold on tight to the iPhone.

This would be a much more natural and comfortable grip when holding it in camera mode. It seems like it would be an easy and logical redesign of the interface to place the button under the natural position of your index finger, whether right handed or left handed.

This is how normally I hold the iPhone to take pictures. I need a two-handed grip and it works pretty well. If the button were on the left hand side, you could hit it with your thumb just as easily. But so often I want to use it one-handed and that's when it's hard to hold it steady AND compose accurately.

What do you think? Am I the only photographer out there who struggles to hold the iPhone steady with one hand? I'd love to get the feedback. If there's a lot of it, Apple might sit up and take notice. Thanks!

Obama, Obama…and press photography woes

I hadn't planned to watch the arrival of the US President but when I saw the GG's yellow outfit I was captivated. I was so impressed by the welcome given to President Obama by our two gracious first ladies. And it was so low-key, just like every thing Australian - so casual, so laid back. I was so proud of the Aussies, despite my American roots. 

I watched the poor journos and photographers and felt so sorry for them. It reminded me of my days in Canberra and having to shoot under such stressful conditions. I used to be a press photographer for Time magazine (freelance only) and it was just horrible. You had to battle with all the other photographers in a tight space and they were all so big and muscly and aggressive. To get this shot of Paul Keating I found a high vantage point and the shot turned out better than everyone else's. 

I would also be stomach-wrenching worried about getting the shot. In the film days there was so much that could go wrong and you just didn't get a second chance. Even today with digital where you've got the instant feedback monitor, you don't dare take your eye away from the viewfinder in case you miss that split second when the shot of a lifetime happens. No thanks, press photography is no longer for me. I'm sticking to nature. 

And welcome, Barack, to our sunny shores. 

Is this the Most Important Forest in the World?

A recent media release announced that scientists had measured the most carbon dense forest in the world.

No, it's not in the Amazon - it's right here in Australia and I know it intimately. I worked hand in hand, for over a year, with well-known ecologist David Lindenmayer, one of the team of scientists who made the discovery. (He's the figure in the photo providing scale for the giant trees.)

At the time, we were working on a general ecology book about the area, in the Central Ranges of Victoria. I was privileged to gain access to this hidden locale, with all its unique wildlife, and to be the photographer to take exclusive, eye-popping beautiful images. At the time, we had no idea (well, I didn't) of what an important forest this was.

It turns out these trees have been affecting the world’s climate. As other forests have been removed from around the world, whether by logging or burning, the carbon that was tied up in the timber has been going into the atmosphere. However these forests of Victoria, because they have remained in their pristine natural state, have been the quietly storing huge amounts of carbon. One of them, the undisturbed O'Shannassey forest with trees as much as 400 years old, has a carbon sink capacity of over 2800 tonnes per hectare (1540 tons per acre). An average forest in the northern hemisphere has a capacity of only about 217 tonnes per hectare (97 tons per acre). The O'Shannassy forest was never logged due to being in the catchment for Melbourne's water supply.

The forests in the Central Highlands would have released a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere had they been cleared but, thanks to the lucky circumstance, they are now benefitting the world's climate and reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.

As a photographer, it's OK to take pretty pictures. But it sure feels extra good to know that your work has impact on other levels.

Marysville, Healesville, Kinglake: Names Burned into Our Minds Forever

In 1999, as I sat at this cafe in the centre of Marysville, I had no idea of the consequences of my upcoming assignment. David Lindenmayer and I were outlining the chapters of a new book, Life in the Tall Eucalypt Forests, and planning my shooting schedule for the next 12 months.

Over the following year, I toured the ranges and forests beyond the pretty little towns and photographed the giant Mountain Ash trees which were so susceptible to fire. Wherever I went, the terrors of 'Black Friday' which took 71 lives in 1939, were still visible. At sixty years old, the regrowing Mountain Ash youngsters still had a long way to go before they reached their mature age of 300 years. The phrases 'Black Friday' and 'Ash Wednesday' were still spoken in a serious voice as locals recalled the human losses as well.

I stayed at Healesville and Marysville, using these places as a base. I bought my groceries, drank at the pub and shared yarns with the locals, never realizing these towns would be devastated so soon in the future.

Now, ten years later, I can turn the pages of the book and travel again into the heart of the Yarra Ranges, admiring the resourcefulness and beauty of nature as it recovered and grew out of those losses. I hope that my collection of photographs, as published in the book, has some value in not only preserving the once beautiful landscape, but in stirring hope in the hearts of the communities that it will once look like that again.

As photographers, we have a mission far grander than just pretty pictures. When you assign yourself the task of travelling deep into a region, getting to know it at a core level and recording its wonders with iconic imagery, you are contributing far, far more. You are leaving a legacy. As nature photographers, our job is to use our skills plus our determination to create majestic bodies of work. One day, that might be all that remains.

You can give money to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by calling the Red Cross on 1800 811 700. Or you can contribute in another way. You can donate your time and energy to the preservation of our planet by taking memorable photos.

To Kill or Not to Kill Our Whale?

The question is moot. The deed has been done. Last week, as a community, we decided to euthanase baby Colin, the whale who had come adrift from her mother, and who had been sucking the hulls of boats moored in Pittwater, one of Sydney's harbours just a couple sea miles from my house. 

What a difficult decision - yet I have trust that it will lead to a positive outcome for future orphaned whales. I think situations like this activate some sort of untapped resources in the collective conscience. Just like whale strandings once mobilized differing factions to work together to help the distressed animals, so too, efforts will be made to discover ways to feed and shelter orphaned whale calves.

Nature and wildlife photographers have an important role in these unfolding social changes. Twenty years ago this whale season, I covered the story of their migration along Australia's coast, and took some of the first photos of breachings. The front page feature in Good Weekend magazine opened a lot of eyes to the amazing life of whales. Prior to that they were virtually unknown. The story told of their amazing music, their great journey to the Barrier Reef to give birth and their majestic leaps from out of the depths. Now, whale watching is a booming tourism business and once dwindling whale numbers are steadily reversing. 

Photographers do far more than portray the spirit of nature. They have the potential for influencing the community spirit, that of cooperation, generosity and humanity. Just like beached whales are no longer, I have faith that stories of orphaned whales will have happier endings in the future. 

Photographers, Politics and the Environment

One of the most significant environmental events in Australia occurred in 1983. And I was there. It was January, I was on my honeymoon with my French photographer husband, Jean-Paul Ferrero and I was on a mission to try my hand at my first ever photojournalism piece. We cruised down Tasmania's Gordon River and camped in old fishermen's huts. I photographed and interviewed protestors as well as the beauty of the fog-shrouded landscape.

Back on the mainland, I nervously wrote up a story and submitted it to Natural History Magazine. I completely expected them to refuse it. I was dazzled beyond belief when they not only accepted it, without subediting, but even made one of my shots the cover photo. It was also a lucky coup that it came out just about the same time as the High Court's ruling which halted the damming of the magnificent Gordon River and turned the governments of the day upside down. 

Today, July 1st, is the 25th anniversary of that ruling. I would like to honour that date by publishing the cover of that magazine issue. I realize now that the role of a photographer can be an effective one, even when it might not seem so at the time. Thanks to all the ordinary people involved, whether in-your-face protestors or behind-the-scenes supporters, that pristine environment of huon pines, king billy pines and cold, soaking rainforests is today a World Heritage Area and a testament to the power of the people. Right on photographers!