Photo Review December 2016 - February 2017

Whether you’re picking up an issue of this magazine for the first time or opening it for the 70th, it’s a safe bet that you’re here because you’re a photographer. Think about the last time you really keenly felt like going out picture taking. What was it that triggered the slightly shivery, slightly restless sensation – familiar to all photographers – of needing to take up the camera and to once again be looking at the world through a viewfinder? Funny to think, isn’t it, that non-photographers really have no idea what this particular sensation feels like for we of the lens tribe. They get that we like taking pictures of course, but non-photographers rarely understand how it really can be something close to an imperative for us. There are…

‘But my inspiration for photography was not necessarily other photographers, it was painters.’ When AC/DC were in their infancy,’ said Craig Newell, ‘they'd do a gig in Melbourne and then they'd drive overnight and do a gig in Adelaide and then they'd drive overnight and do a gig in Sydney, and then they'd come back to Melbourne and do it all again. They'd just do that week after week after week. And they became the biggest rock ‘n' roll band in the world.’ If you’re serious about making a living from your camera, Craig’s advice is to have an Acca Dacca attitude – work back, work hard and don’t let up. Oh, and don’t expect overnight success. The Melbourne-based shooter knows a thing or two about persistence over the long…

‘I had him stare at the camera with a blank expression on his face while I tipped a bucket of golf balls over his head. About 10 times.’ Bernadette Kaeding, her partner Sam Kurtz and their son Raj do everything at Red Art, their five-hectare winery in the Ebenezer region of the Barossa, in South Australia. They prune the vines, pick the grapes, make the wine, bottle it, design the labels and sell the resulting product from their cellar door. It doesn’t leave much time for Kaeding to pursue photography, a hobby that started at high school. ‘Getting into the school darkroom and using my hands to create something really grabbed me,’ she says. ‘I didn’t find painting and drawing to be my thing, but photography hit my spot in…

Want to go on safari but concerned about the cost and your carbon budget? You don't need to go to Africa to photograph 'the Big Five' animals; a visit to an open range zoo can provide you with superb opportunities to get the shots you want. Australia has three large open range zoos: Taronga Western Plains Zoo, which is about six hours' drive from Sydney; Werribee Open Range Zoo, which is located 35 kilometres west of Melbourne; and Monarto Zoo, which is approximately 65 kilometres from the Adelaide CBD. Each has huge fields for grazing animals, special enclosures for predators and special exhibits that let you get close to smaller animals. These zoos were initially set up to provide breeding facilities for endangered species, but they have all been open…

1. Simplify your equipment. The great photographers of the mid-20th century tended to use simple gear, often one camera body and one lens. Today's photographers can be tempted to over-invest in equipment but, even if you own several cameras and lots of lenses, you should always look at reducing what you carry to a minimum. There are plenty of reasons to justify this approach: a) Simple equipment gives you more time to concentrate upon composing photos and pressing the shutter button at the right moment. b) The less gear you carry, the more mobile you can be. c) Keeping your camera kit simple and light makes it easier to prevent accidental loss or damage. d) Simple equipment doesn't advertise to the world that you're a serious photographer so it's easier…

Watching Humpback whale dance by the Slovakian born, Australian based documentary and underwater wildlife photographer Michaela Skovranova, affords a unique perspective on these photogenic creatures. Shot entirely with an Olympus E-M5 Mark II, the footage gives us a glimpse into an underwater world where 35,000 kg, 15-metre long animals interact with each other in ways that at times resemble a surprisingly delicate and stately ballet. To capture this awe-inspiring behaviour, Michaela travelled to the Pacific island nation of Tonga, where every year, between July and October, the Humpbacks come north to the tropics from their Antarctic feeding grounds to give birth. Tonga is one of the few places on earth where it is possible to swim with whales in an environment that is well managed for humans and whales alike.…