December has been a little quiet for me photography-wise, but it's been a busy time nonetheless. With all the rain we've seen in Queensland plus the usual diversions that are part of the Christmas period, opportunities to get out and make new images have been limited. On the plus side, all the rain will mean that there will be no shortage of tumbling cascades and lush vegetation around the local waterways to provide great photo opportunities for some time to come.
I was lucky enough to pick up two silver awards and a bronze award in the Landscape 500 competition hosted by Christian Fletcher. The silvers were for Dandahra Crags and Surveyors Swamp, and the bronze for Mist on Dandahra Crags. You can read about these three images in my article Journey to Dandahra Crags.
I've spent quite a bit of time trawling the internet for new ideas and inspiration and have come across a few gems that are new to me. One website I'd highly recommend is www.michaelfrye.com – Michael is a US landscape photographer who specialises in photographing the iconic Yosemite National Park, but his website also offers some great tips and tutorials that will appeal to all photographers from beginners to advanced. His video tutorials on colour balance, the use of curves and digital workflow are all excellent value and easy to follow. Michael's ebook, Light and Land, runs through the thought processes and software adjustments he has applied to five of his images, and also contains some thoughts on his photographic philosophy. At $5 USD (which is much the same as AUD at the moment), it’s very good value.
