WHEN EDITING PHOTOGRAPHS in Lightroom, Photoshop or Capture One, do you find yourself using the graduated filter (or equivalent)?

And do you find yourself using two different graduated filters from time to time, at different angles?

For instance, you might darken down the sky with the first graduated filter, then darken down the foreground next, leaving the middle of the image lighter and brighter.

You can also do this 'in-camera' with graduated neutral density filters, placing two filters into the holder, one 'upside down'. And the amount and area of darkening can be adjusted by sliding the filters up and down.

The only downside of using a filter is that its straight edge doesn't account for bumps in the landscape, like trees or mountains that break the horizontal horizon.

But what happens if you need to angle one of the graduated filters? No trouble in Photoshop or Lightroom, but what can you do when you're using filters on a camera?

Hand-holding the filters is one answer, but now NiSi has a better one!

The NiSi Switch 100mm Filter Holder allows two filters to be rotated together or independently from each other. It’s designed for photographers who need graduated ND filters positioned at different angles, plus allows them to be rotated independently and smoothly.

The NiSi Switch allows smooth 360 degrees rotation, but also has a locking screw to fix the back holder into position.

The holder has no vignetting, even with a 16mm ultra wide-angle lens on a full-frame sensor.

The NiSi Switch is compatible with existing 100mm NiSi filters and works with the 82 mm main adaptor, included in the following NiSi kits: V6/V5PRO/V5. So, if you are an existing NiSi user, you can just order the Switch as an additional filter holder to add to your kit.

Price is expected to be $159 and you can purchase directly from NiSi – https://nisifilters.com.au/product/nisi-switch-100mm-filter-holder/.

19th to 26th July

Be inspired with Dr. Les Walkling and Christian Fletcher

Daintree 2020 is a contemporary photography workshop for anyone who is wondering ‘how do I get to the next level’? That is, how do I progress beyond merely beautiful images and prints, beyond the mastery of camera craft and production skills, workflows, clients, and competitions to develop and infuse my work with more meaning, significance and purpose?

This is no easy task, and there are many prerequisites: we need time and space away from the hurly-burly distractions of everyday life. We need an unbelievably beautiful and inspiring location that only asks the best of us. We need state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities that won’t let us down. And we need incredibly experienced teachers and mentors who not only work ‘at that next level’, but also possess the empathy, compassion, understanding and intellectual frameworks needed to facilitate your journey ‘to the other side’. These are rarely found qualities, but at Daintree 2020, we supply them all, and in abundance. Read More

My co-presenter is my very dear friend and ND5 collaborator Christian Fletcher.

Christian has perfected the art of light, composition, colour and post processing. He believes that all great landscape images have to have the ‘perfect light’ at their core, and it is this light that he is most respected for. “Christian’s pictures are not souvenirs, but images that help us to ‘see’ and to understand landscape as art. Light literally exudes from Christian’s pictures like few others, and this luminescent enlightenment startles us with its clarity and perception” – Les Walkling

Christian is not only an exceptional artist but also a passionate advocate and vocal supporter for sustainability and action on climate change from a grass-roots level. At his core are three key aspects: capturing the beauty in landscapes, teaching his creative skills to others, and using his photography to reinforce our connection with our environment.

Christian’s work has also been widely recognised and awarded including the AIPP Western Australian Professional Landscape Photographer of The Year in 2011 & 2014, the AIPP Australian Professional Landscape Photographer of The Year in 2011, the inaugural International Landscape Photographer of The Year in 2014, and the AIPP West Australian Travel Photographer of the Year in 2015. In 2018 his gallery was also awarded ‘Most Outstanding Business’ at the Busselton Business Awards.

With boundless creativity and the finest equipment Christian pushes the boundaries of landscape photography into areas that invoke serious reflection, and if you have ever participated in one of his workshops you will well know his enthusiasm, passion and humour, and his incredible knowledge, depth of understanding, and remarkably creative skills.  For more insights please see Christian’s full biography.

The Venue:

The venue is James Cook University’s world class Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO) education and research centre at Cape Tribulation in far North Queensland. It is adjacent to Australia’s World Heritage listed wet tropics lowland rainforests which are home to a substantial proportion of Australia’s biodiversity. This is also one of the few areas in the world where the ‘reef meets the rainforest’ and the only place where two World Heritage Areas sit side by side.

Looking North from the DRO towards Mt Sorrow

The modern teaching and conference facilities are designed with student-centred learning and inquiry-focused practice in mind. The open design and flexible spaces create many vistas where one can look up to rainforest-clad mountains or down over sweeping views to the Coral Sea. With brand new accommodation and catering infrastructure, well-equipped laboratories and a tower crane providing canopy access to nearly 1 hectare of rainforest, the DRO provides an unforgettable hands-on experience in a unique and inspirational environment.

Jacqueline Curley, Looking East from DRO towards Cape Tribulation, 2018

The Syllabus:

The workshop begins with a thorough analysis of your individual workflow which we then refine and polish from capture to print. This ensures your workflow is ‘working’ so well that you are not distracted by it. We can then focus on ’what comes next’ – and how to take your photography there.

DRO Education Centre Interior

Guidance, inspiration and support will flow from the history of photography, painting, sculpture, music, literature and philosophy, as we form a deeper understanding of how pictures capture ‘hearts and minds’ while trading in ‘secrets and mysteries’ beyond our immediate understanding. We will learn from other artists and their production methods, artist statements, finished works of art, historical circumstances and what is required in order to convey significant and lasting impressions, not just through your pictures, but also to your artistic confidence.

DRO Education Centre Exterior

Facilitation:

You will photograph in pristine environments, process and edit your files with fully colour managed professional workflows, and make prints of the highest quality with the most beautiful papers and profiles available. Our chefs and support staff will take care of everything else, so all you have to work on is refining and extending your photography, and thereby change not only your relationship to your ‘hardware and software’, but even more significantly, take your pictures and yourself to that ‘next level and beyond’.

Highlights of the workshop include formal presentations, small group tutorials, extensive one to one consultations and opportunities to practice and consolidate what you learn in a supportive and supervised environment.

Mike Langford, Striated Heron, Daintree 2018

This is an ambitious workshop that I couldn’t imagine presenting without my 30 years’ experience of doing this day in and day out for generations of undergraduate and post graduate fine art and media arts students. I also couldn’t imagine doing this without over a decade’s experience running our annual Orpheus Island residential workshop. And I also couldn’t imagine doing this without the incredible talent and support of my co-presenters, tutors, organisers, sponsors and friends who have encouraged me to dedicate a workshop to ‘going to the next level and beyond’.

And this is that workshop.

The Cost:

AIPP/ACMP/NZIPP/LPN/FOCUS Members $3820
Non-Members $4150
Full Time Students $3100

The cost includes share accommodation and all meals at the DRO, all photographic materials, plus coach transport to and from Cairns. The only additional costs are travel to Cairns and possible overnight accommodation in Cairns depending on your flight times and /or other travel arrangements. There is also a small fee if you wish to use the DRO crane to access the rainforest canopy with sweeping views over the Daintree National Park, Mt Sorrow, Cape Tribulation and the Coral Sea.

Private off-site accommodation in a beach house or hotel/resort is available for those not wishing to stay in the DRO’s dormitory style accommodation. Price per off-site room is $890 for 7 nights.

For an in-depth account of the workshop, please download our Detailed Overview.

Register for this workshop at: www.leswalkling.com/bookings/

And don’t hesitate to contact us if you have further questions or expressions of interest: email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone +61 418 980 644

DESIGNED FOR THE snapshooter market, the diminutive X-A7 features a newly-developed 24-megapixel APS-C sensor that produces what Fujifilm calls “memory colours,” exactly as the user remembers them!

It also delivers images with lower noise, even at the top sensitivity of ISO 51,200, which is particularly useful in low light conditions. The sensor uses copper wiring to enable high-speed data readout and features about 8.5 times more phase detection pixels than the current model across the entire sensor surface, enhancing autofocus speed and accuracy. This also improves AF tracking of a moving subject and Face / Eye detecting AF performance, even in low light.

A large 3.5-inch LCD monitor on the rear provides touch-response performance equivalent to or better than that of smartphones in general, enabling easy camera operation. There's also a new “Smart Menu”, which enables intuitive operation, allows users to adjust shooting settings with ease while checking the picture's brightness, bokeh level, film simulation effect and aspect ratio on the screen.

The rear LCD monitor boasts a maximum luminous intensity of approximately 1,000 candelas for a high visibility and the “vari-angle” monitor can adjust to any position for shooting high- and low-angles, and can be rotated to shoot self-portraits.

The X-A7 reads data from all the pixels on the sensor and uses the equivalent of 6K data to produce 4K video. It is capable of recording smooth 4K/30 fps video and can record at 60 fps in full-HD and HD video modes.

The X-A7 records up to about 15 minutes of 4K video and up to about 30 minutes of full-HD and HD video continuously.

This is the first X-Series camera to feature the “Countdown Video” mode, in which users can specify the duration of video to be filmed from the options of 15 seconds, 30 seconds or 60 seconds.

The HD High-Speed Video function records HD video at up to 4x frame rate to achieve smooth video, even when replaying a fastmoving subject in slow motion.

The X-A7 weighs just 455 g with its Fujinon XC15-45mm f3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens and provides approximately 440 frames per battery charge.

For more information, visit www.fujifilm.com.au