Monthly Archives: May 2018

Shooting Wildlife Images Alongside Beyond Here Readers

Yesterday I had a unique experience – I was shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. That’s a first! Bob and Rae are from California, USA and had read my post Favorite Wildlife Photography Locations. Looking back on that post, I wrote it in the first 3 months of Beyond Here. That’s a long time ago now, way back in mid 2014. It must have been meant for Bob and Rae as I even spelled ‘favorite’ with the US spelling!

There is a large group of Flying Foxes at Yarra Bend Park meaning we could shoot a variety of images.

Background

Bob and Rae contacted me a few months ago. We shared ideas on good wildlife photography locations for their trip to Australia. I made some suggestions for Melbourne and around Victoria, keeping in mind that transport can be tricky when you are in a foreign country where the locals drive on the opposite side of the road!

Fast forward to this week. They arrived last Sunday and contacted me by email. By chance, I had a fairly light week planned and had time to join them at Yarra Bend Park to photograph the large group of grey headed flying foxes which roost there. How cool. Shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers from the US.

Yesterday’s Shoot

We spent a few hours exploring the park and shooting images of the flying foxes. Bob found it a unique experience as he is used to small bats, not large flying foxes. The grey headed flying foxes are active during the day, so Bob was able to get a range of images. That included everything from bats hanging upside down sleeping in the trees next to the river, through to groups of them in flight.

We had a lot of fun and it was unique to be shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. (It also helped Bob justify bringing his 200-500mm lens on a 16 hour flight to the other side of the world! You know you love your photography when you can justify that!)

The Wrap

It was a lot of fun meeting Bob and Rae and showing them around one of my favorite wildlife photography spots. It never occurred to me that writing Beyond Here back in 2014, I’d some day be shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers from the other side of the world just 15 minutes from my home.

Grey headed flying foxes have a large wing span

Bob and Rae are in Melbourne for another few days before exploring parts of New South Wales and Queensland. To you both, thanks for making time to say hello and explore Yarra Bend Park together. I hope your images from yesterday are good, and that you have a great time in Australia.

Thanks for reading shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. Happy shooting.

Fresh Perspectives on My Hometown

Last month I had a unique photographic opportunity. I had previously worked with a young woman who is training to be a commercial pilot. Several years ago we had done a successful stock photo shoot. We’ve kept in touch since then, and last month she asked if I would be interested in a scenic flight over my hometown, with her as the pilot of course! I jumped at the opportunity for fresh perspectives on my hometown.

Fresh perspectives on my hometown. Melbourne and Albert Park Lake from 1500 feet.

Flying is very weather dependent and on our first attempt we had to cancel due to the hazy conditions and their impact on visibility. We rescheduled for 3 days later, and although the conditions were still hazy, we were able to fly.

My pilot and aircraft

My expert pilot completed the necessary paperwork on the ground and we took off for a 40 minute flight around Melbourne. We headed from Moorabin Airport toward the Westgate Bridge, then flew around the north side of the city including great views of the MCG and Melbourne Park. We completed this circuit twice. I was grateful for several delays as air traffic control asked us to circle more than once. It gave me the opportunity to photograph the views, and the pilot in action.

Seeing the MCG from above was unique

I shoot a lot of Melbourne lifestyle stock images and seeing the city from above was unique. I appreciated the fresh perspectives on my hometown. It was refreshing to shoot content which was completely new to me.

Looking down on Albert Park Lake

Reflections

On reflection, it is easy to get into a photographic rut where we shoot similar content all the time. I find this with wedding photography and also with my stock photography. Do you find this too?

It was good to shoot something new – something I didn’t know well. It was refreshing to be a ‘beginner’ at aerial photography and to see things in an entirely new way. Making multiple laps of the city gave me time to experiment with several angles and subjects. It was fun.

New Perspectives

This gave me fresh perspectives on my hometown. Do you need a fresh perspective? Have you considered shooting something completely new?

The pilot expertly guided as back to home base

Regular readers of Beyond Here will know I shoot a lot of kids basketball. I find I can get into a rut with basketball as well, as I know the game well and know the best spots to position myself. This week I’m going to shoot something new again – a gymnastics competition. I’m fully expecting that being a beginner at gymnastics photography will be fun and will help me experiment in ways which will help the other shoots I do.

Thanks for reading fresh perspectives on my hometown. I hope you can find something new and challenging to shoot this week. Have fun!

Win Win Win Photography Business Thinking

Yesterday I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking. Let me tell you about the experience.

I like to meet with photographers from time to time. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences, and I normally leave with ideas to implement into my business. Yesterday, I had separate meetings with two photographers. Both were very interesting and valuable, and in the second meeting I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking.

Are you tearing your hair out looking for new clients? Can you use win win win photography business thinking as an alternative way to drive your business?

What’s the background?

There are not a lot of photographers in my home town producing high quality stock images in reasonable volumes. However, I recently came across one photographer in that category. We both contribute to an Australian image library called Austockphoto. I have been following her work there and on social media. I contacted her to see if she would like to meet for coffee and to discuss stock photography, and that led to our meeting and an exchange of ideas.

What type of photography are we talking about?

The photographer has a background in advertising and visual media and, especially relevant, she has an eye for shooting home interiors. That started when she was renovating her own home. She had found a healthy market for home interior content in the image libraries she contributes to and, as a result, she continues to add that style of content.

Projects where there are multiple winners are good projects

What’s the win win win photography business thinking?

Among the things we discussed were the photography projects we were currently working on. As she has found a strong market for home interiors she is actively adding to her portfolio of these images.

Where’s the win win win? One project she is about to shoot is home interiors for an Airbnb property owner. As soon as she mentioned Airbnb property images, I immediately thought what a booming market she was tackling.

So, let’s break down the 3 wins

The property owner. The photographer had asked the Airbnb property owner for a property release in exchange for professionally shot images of her property. Win number 1 – the property owner gets up to date, high quality images of the property at no cost.
The stock photographer. Finding new material to shoot is a stock photographers biggest challenge. This is an example of getting access to a new location at no cost. Win number 2 – the stock photographer gets to generate new images for her stock portfolio with no financial outlay.
The stock customer. Win number 3 is for the customers of the image libraries. They will have access to high quality, fresh stock images at fair prices.

What’s especially exciting about this idea is that she can replicate it over and over again. There is almost an unlimited opportunity in today’s sharing economy.

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking in your business plan?

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking?

Is there an opportunity for you to implement win win win photography business thinking into your business? Do you know Airbnb property owners who you could offer your services to? Are there other parts of today’s sharing economy where you could provide photography services which benefit multiple parties?

I hope this example has given you some ideas which you can implement into your photography business. Thanks for reading win win win photography business thinking.