Michael Snedic

In the winter of 1997, I started photographing nature and my first major project was photographing the male Albert’s Lyrebird displaying. I finally succeeded after 7 laborious weeks of sitting daily in a cramped hide (blind) and was only the fourth known photographer to achieve this feat. A few weeks ago, I decided to try and replicate this achievement again, but this time using a digital SLR camera, a higher quality lens and better, state-of-the-art flash units. As with the first time, I arose daily well before dawn, set up my equipment in the dark and sat and waited in my tiny hide, in the cold. After many days of trying over 2 weeks and numerous near-misses and mishaps, I finally succeeded once again in photographing the Albert’s Lyrebird male displaying . The time, effort and frustrations that went into photographing the lyrebird were at times very taxing, but well worth the end result.

Two of my feature articles appear in magazines this month. Australian Photography magazine has published my four page article on outdoor photography techniques titled “Improving Outdoors” in their June 2008 issue. Wingspan magazine (Birds Australia) has also published my three page article on Satin Bowerbirds, titled “The Playboy of the Forest”, in their June 2008 issue.

Display Board. Osprey House, Queensland

Osprey House Environmental Centre , in Griffin, Queensland has used four of my osprey photos on a large, three metre display board. The four images show a sequence of events, starting with the osprey ready to pounce for a fish and finishing with it flying away with its catch. I visited the centre recently to look at the final product and it certainly looks impressive hanging on their feature wall.

I have joined forces with a Victorian-based company, Auswalk, to act as leader for their 4 day “Lamington Nature Photography Walk” in October 2008 and again in Feb 2009. To read about the tours, click on this link: http://www.auswalk.com.au/lamington-nature-photography-walking-holiday.html

In September 2007, Trekabout Photography Workshops was featured on the Great South East, a popular Channel 7 lifestyle program. The program is shown throughout Queensland and featured a segment that revolved around our nature photography workshops. I’m pleased to announce that this segment was repeated on Sunday 13th of January 2008 at 5.30pm .

Channel 7 – Great South East, Sunday at 5.30pm

In early November, I travelled to Casino in northern New South Wales to spend a couple of days photographing birds at the Jabiru Geneebeinga wetlands. I also travelled to Byron Bay for a day and photographed birds at the West-Byron wetlands. At both locations I did most of my photography either early in the morning or late afternoon, trying to capture the subtle light.

On November 12th, Mark Rayner and I, as co-owners of Trekabout Photography Workshops, did a presentation each at the Photographic Society of Queensland’s Annual Barbecue. Mark did an audiovisual presentation on macro photography techniques while mine was on wildlife photography techniques.

Mid-November also saw Mark Rayner and I conduct our first weekend photographic workshop at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat/Lamington National Park in south-east Queensland. The weekend went extremely well and was deemed a success by all those who attended.

On November 24th, I presented a one-day nature photography workshop for members of the public, hosted by the Pine Rivers Shire Council. It was held at Mt Glorious in Brisbane, right in the heart of the rainforest and was attended by some very enthusiastic participants.

After my successful trip to Far North Queensland in July, I again had an opportunity to return there, to work on a couple of new projects. I took photos in Mossman Gorge as well as returning to the Daintree River and Port Douglas mangroves. Some of my wildlife subjects included Ospreys, Brahminy Kites and Saltwater Crocodiles, as well as various landscapes. It certainly is a beautiful part of the world and I look forward to returning there sometime in the future.

Trekabout Photography Workshops is launched as a business partnership with my good friend and nature photographer, Mark Rayner. Our first full-day nature photography workshop is held at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park, south-east Queensland on the 16th of June, 2007. The day consists of Mark and I showing participants techniques on wildlife, landscape and macro photography, lots of one-on-one tuition, explaining digital technology as well as some post-processing/computer techniques. Feedback from the day is extremely positive and certainly a great start to our new venture. For more details regarding our one and two day photographic workshops, please visit www.trekaboutphotography.com

My article on “Frog and Reptile Photography Techniques”was chosen as the feature article for the June 2007 issue of Australia’s best-selling photography magazine, Australian Photography. This issue also featured my photo of a Magnificent Tree Frog as the cover shot. This is my third feature article for Australian Photography , following an article on “Bird Photography Techniques”(March 2006) and “Alternate Landscape Photography Techniques”(Nov 2006).

In February, my wife Dena and I travelled to Norfolk Island for 10 days. Some of the time was spent photographing the scenery of the island but emphasis was placed on getting photos of the large array of birds flying around the coastline. On a number of mornings, I was “perched”(pun intended!) on Bird Rock, photographing the various birds flying past me at fantastic speeds – a real challenge indeed. One bird in particular that I concentrated quite a bit of time on was the beautiful Red-tailed Tropic Bird, getting flight shots as well as finding a few nests with chicks in abandoned Mutton Bird nests.

Starting on February 25th, I presented “Binna Burra Photography Week” at Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, Lamington National Park, south-east Queensland. This is my fifth time presenting this nature photography course at Binna Burra and each one has been a great experience for all. Topics covered included wildlife, landscape and macro photography techniques, correct settings for different situations, lighting, digital technology as well as reviewing and critiquing participant’s photos.

In October, I judged the annual “Brian Hall Nature Photography Awards”, hosted by the Gold Coast Photographic Society. Choosing winners and places was quite difficult, due to the high quality of entrants. The overall winner of the competition was Rob Nicholls, from the Gold Coast, with his stunning portrait of a gorilla.