I started photographing birds at Booragoon Lake about three years ago. Overtime it has become one of my favourite spots. Why? There are several reasons. The small size of the lake and surrounding area has allowed me to build up a good knowledge of the species that inhabit the reserve and develop an in depth understanding of their movements and behaviour. Such knowledge increases predictability and therefore the probability of obtaining good shots. It takes time and a lot of consistent observation to know nature. The many obsessive hours I have spent at this tiny lake have greatly helped my understanding of Goshawks, Black Shouldered Kites, Hobbies, Night Heron, Spoonbills, Swamphens and White Necked Heron. Such knowledge is extremely valuable to me. It builds slowly. Each observation, each understanding is another piece in a far greater puzzle. It helps me take better photos, but, more importantly it is how I find meaning, it is how I connect and it is how I make sense of my life.
Read moreThe Best of 2016
When things get difficult in life I think of the image that came from the strange morning at the lake. The image of the Kite and the Raven powerfully represents my own difficulties, but, it seems larger than that, extending to symbolise the battles we all face in life. An ancient human struggle, forces of darkness and light vying for position within, opposing yet complimentary, different perspectives of the same wisdom, locked in a process that is never really resolved either way. It is my all time favourite image out of the tens of thousands I have captured.
Read moreWhy I take Photos
My interest in photography originates from my childhood, forty years ago, in the West Australian desert. As a kid growing up on Kalli Station a remote sheep farming property, I developed a fascination for the natural world. My spare time was spent out in the bush, wandering the creeks, granite outcrops and breakaways that surrounded our homestead with Jacko, my dog. We would walk for hours, looking for waterholes, aboriginal carvings, birds, animals, tracks and different plants. Sometimes we would take the motorbike to a distant rock or breakaway that held the promise of wondrous finds.
Read moreIridescence
I am fascinated by light and colour, and, the more time I spend photographing birds the more I appreciate the incredible complexity and beauty existing within these two phenomena. In my opinion light is what makes or breaks a photographic image. It easily trumps subject, composition and technical accuracy. As a photographer I am constantly studying light, its qualities, direction and intensity; its effect on subjects and the vast array of subtle hues and tones it forms.
Read moreThe Best of 2015
Warning............This is a bit of a long and rambly post.....me looking back over the year and really just putting words to a whole lot of thoughts mostly for my own purposes.............you can skip straight to my favourite 2015 images at the bottom!!
Terry was determined to get better and against all odds he has done it!! Over the course of the year he has got stronger and stronger. He has had very few long term effects from his treatment, and is now back into the full swing of life, fixing things, building things and making things.
Read moreAlfred Cove - My Best Images from the Cove - Exposure for White Birds
Perth City on a Stormy Day - Viewed from Alfred Cove - Pied Cormorants in Flight
Over the past year I have spent many early mornings at Alfred Cove photographing birds. This is a collection of my best images from Alfred Cove along with a discussion about exposure issues and techniques for photographing white birds. Alfred Cove is a tiny area of remnant marshland and bushland located on the margin of the Swan River in the heart of Perth. Within the reserve there are sandy beaches, mud flats, sand flats, intertidal zones and bushland. The diversity of habitat within such a small area creates a haven for a diverse array of creatures particularly birds.
Read moreWhite Necked Heron - Focal Length for Takeoff Shots
One thing I have learned when capturing takeoff shots is to back my zoom out to allow for the wing span and avoid cutting off the wing tips.......it is a tradeoff because in doing this you often have to crop out excess background and lose image size but you also greatly reduce the chances of completely ruining a shot by cutting off the wingtips.The more I photograph a particular species the better I get at judging how far to zoom out, but with this bird I completely underestimated it.
Read moreMy Bush Gear
One morning I couldn't find any birds to photograph so decided to lay out all the gear I usually take out in the bush...........I was surprised to see it all together..........clearly I am not so good at travelling light!!
Read moreLuck
Luck seems to play an enormous role in photography and for that matter life. This week I am having my own very personal bird drought. There just doesn't seem to be birds anywhere. I have tried all the usual spots and they seem devoid, even the regular stilts, ibis and pelicans are in short supply
Read moreLake Towerrinning
On a recent trip to the South West we spend a few days camped on the shore of Lake Towerrinning near Boyup Brook. It is a large freshwater lake with surprisingly clean deep water surrounded by farmland. Adjacent to the main lake is a smaller shallow salt lake filled with bleached tree skeletons, stinking black mud and a slightly sinister atmosphere.
Read moreBaby Fairy Terns
It has been about a month since I have visited my favourite stretch of the Swan River and as with everything the scene has changed. The vegetation has dried right off, the little white flowers are gone, the piles of washed up stringy green algae have rotted away and the birds are different. It is a place that is wonderfully peaceful and always interesting.
Read moreRegard Life as a Dream
Lama Atisha Dipamkara lived from 982 to 1040 and is credited with re-vitalising the Buddhist traditions in Tibet and compiling wisdom from several different lineages together in his text Lamp to the Path of Enlightenment. This text outlines the stages of the Buddhist path as originally taught by Buddha and effectively forms a road map for spiritual practice.
Read moreRaptors
This morning I headed to Point Peron again, hoping to see the juvenile Black Shouldered Kite I photographed last week. As I exited the Freeway heading toward Rockingham, I caught sight of some large raptors in a dead tree.
Read morePoint Peron - Black Shouldered Kites
On Friday I left home very early and drove to Point Peron. I have not been there in years and thought it may be a good spot for some different sea birds. Secretly I hoped to see a White Bellied Sea Eagle!!
Read moreD1 & D2 Have Really Grown!!
I first saw baby Darters in the nest on Xmas eve. Since then I have visited the nest a couple of times a week to check on progress. Not long after Xmas I discovered there were three babies. I had initially thought there were only two so it was a wonderful surprise.
Read moreHerdsman Lake
I spent my morning at Herdsman Lake. It is a wonderful island of nature in the middle of our busy city with an incredible array of birdlife. I always find something interesting going on to photograph. Spent an hour and a half there this morning and this is what I saw.
Read moreBaby Darters - D1, D2 & D3
A few days after Xmas I visited the Darter nest. I spent about half an hour watching and photographing and then..........a tiny head popped out, too small and too far away to get any clear shots. It was over a week before I made it back, this time two heads.
Read moreDarter Nest Update
Fortuitiously the Darter nest is about twenty meters from the Kingfisher nest so it has been easy to see what is happening. So far nothing. When I visit either Mr Darter or Mrs Darter is sitting on the nest.
Read moreKingfishers Out of the Nest
I have been watching a Kingfisher nest for about three weeks. Every morning Mum and Dad catch a diverse array of tiny creatures and ferry them into the hollow tree trunk to feed their babies. As they fly into the hole with their prey the squawking of the Kingsfisher babies rises to a desperate pitch.
Read moreKingfisher Breakfast Menu
Entree; Fat Juicy Spider
Main; Delicate Green Tree Frog with Skink Lizard on the Side
Dessert; Crispy Crunch Dragonfly