Text and Images By Michael Snedic

Recently, aurora activity has been ‘off the charts’! Less than two weeks ago, aurora activity across Australia (and the world) was the best in at least 20 years (Northern auroras are called Aurora Borealis and southern ones are called Aurora Australis). Auroras were seen and photographed in locations that you previously couldn’t imagine – Uluru in the Northern Territory, Mackay in Queensland, Christmas Island and many more locations. Those in the southern parts of Australia, especially Tasmania, are used to auroras but to have them right across Australia was simply awesome. The unbelievable colours and patterns made those nights recently very special moments indeed. I saw a huge number of aurora images posted across social media and there were many great images. There were, unfortunately, quite a few that could have been amazing but the photographers didn’t necessarily know the correct settings and techniques to use. In this article, I will show you the best ways to photograph auroras.

Essential – Using A Tripod

To end up with great shots of an aroura, you need to use a tripod. Sure, there are shots out there with phones and hand-held cameras but by using a tripod for stabilisation is the preferred method. I highly recommend using a sturdy tripod, rather than a Joby GorillaPod or similar. The tripod needs to be on firm ground to minimise camera shake.

Remote or Cable Release

Apart from using a sturdy tripod, it is best to use a remote or cable release to take aurora images. This eliminates any movement that may be created by physically pressing the camera’s shutter button with your finger, especially since we are using quite slow shutter speeds. If you don’t own a remote or cable release, you can use the camera’s timer or, if your camera make and model has the feature available, connect it to an App where you can press the shutter button via your phone.

Recommended Camera Settings

The main problem that arises when photographing auroras arises when photographers who aren’t familiar with the correct settings use ‘normal’ landscape settings (i.e small aperture size, 100 ISO and a reasonably fast shutter speed). For auroras, the settings are opposite to landscape photography. My suggested starting point when using a digital SLR or mirrorless camera is to set your camera to manual mode. Set the camera’s shutter speed to around 15 seconds, the f-stop set to the widest (lowest number) aperture your lens allows, such as f1.8, f2.8 or f4 and the ISO at 1600. Take a few test shots to see the result and if needed, you can tweak the settings for optimal images. If your images are a tad dark, you can either reduce the shutter speed by one stop to 30 seconds or increase the ISO by one stop to 3200. An important point to remember is to not set your shutter speed for longer than 30 seconds, as this can create small arcs in your images due to the movement of the stars.

It takes a bit of ‘trial and error’ but well worth experimenting with your settings in order to capture great shots.

Best Way To Focus

Autofocus won’t work when shooting an aroura, so you need to focus manually. Focus to infinity (furthest away) or manually focus on a star and when it is sharp, you have perfect focus. There’s nothing more frustrating than finding out there is an aurora alert, travelling long distances to get there, waiting for hours for the aurora to be at its best, then realising after you get back home that all of your shots are blurry due to incorrect focusing! As far as lens focal lengths go, I recommend anywhere from 14mm to approximately 50mm. Lenses with a focal length of 14-18mm will give you a wider field of view and preferred if you are wanting to capture quite a large expanse. By the way, don’t forget to pack a headlamp so that you can see what you are doing with your camera!

Find A Foreground Feature

Aurora images can be more interesting by having a foreground feature. This may be a mountain range (such as in the two images shown with this article), an old building, a jetty or a monument. It is definitely worth scouting locations during the day when you can see where you are going and what features you have around you. That way you aren’t fumbling around at night trying to work out where things are.

How To Find Out When The Next Aurora Is Due

There are a number of Aurora Facebook groups worth joining. I personally recommend the Aurora Australis Tasmania group of which I have been a member for many years. They will usually have posts letting people know if there is any activity happening and where. There are also websites such as www.spaceweather.com you can visit that let you know if there are auroras due and what ‘strength’ the solar flares are. One important thing to remember is that even if there is a high alert for an aurora, your best chances for seeing and photographing one is when there is no rain and the skies are clear. That doesn’t mean you can’t photograph one when its cloudy (see my shot featured taken in Coles Bay, Tasmania as an example) as this can add interest in your shot.

More than anything, enjoy the experience and if you achieve great photos of an aurora, that’s simply a bonus!

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

‘Oh, man, that’s so cool!’

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Lord Howe Island is a small island off the east coast of Australia. It is officially a part of New South Wales and can be accessed by flying from either Sydney or Brisbane. It is, without a doubt, one of my favourite locations in Australia to visit with my camera. The air is clean, there are few cars and the island limits the number of visitors that can visit at one time.

Recently, there was a multi-million dollar vermin eradication program implemented, which will help the local birds and wildlife thrive. Birds are plentiful on Lord Howe Island. The truly angelic White Terns hover above your head around the island, making it quite easy to get shots of them in flight. Sooty Terns nest by the tens of thousands in spring (Australian spring), so depending on when you travel, you will see countless birds nesting right in front of you on the beach, either sitting on eggs or looking after their fluffy chicks.

The most famous bird on the island is the lord Howe Island Woodhen. This bird is only found on Lord Howe Island and nowhere else on earth! At one stage, there were only 30 or so birds left in the world, whereas nowadays there are an estimated 300+ individuals. The Lord Howe Island Woodhen can be seen frequently foraging on the ground around the island and they are quite used to people. Join me on my next photography tour to Lord Howe Island and there is a good chance we will spot some!

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Photographing the ‘tiny things’ in the natural world can be both enjoyable and rewarding. Below are some tips and techniques that will help you achieve better macro photos.

1. Dedicated Macro Lens

If you love your macro photography, using a macro lens is always preferable. Whether your lens has focal length of 50mm, 200ml or anything in between, a dedicated macro lens allows for closer focusing and incredibly sharp images. Yes, some zoom lenses have a ‘macro’ setting but they aren’t true macro lenses.

There isn’t a perfect focal length for a macro lens. The most popular focal lengths seem to be between 60 mmto 100mm. Lenses with a focal length of 180 or 200mm macro lens are a tad heavier to use and don’t have as close a minimum focal length as the smaller sizes. One advantage , however, is that you are able to focus further away, which can have its advantages when photographing insects such as dragonflies or butterflies which can be a bit kittish when approaching them too close.

2. Extension Tubes

Using extension tubes with SLR or Mirrorless cameras allow for much closer focusing to your macro subjects (they fit in between the camera and lens). The downside is that depth of field becomes a real issue and even at an aperture of f22, only a fraction of your close-up image will be in focus. Generally, extension tubes are best when using a tripod, as this allows for greater stability. Hand holding a lens with an extension tube can be quite tricky since adding them reduces your aperture size and therefore decreases your shutter speed.

3. Macro Flash

By using a macro or ring flash attached to your lens negates the use of a tripod, especially in low light scenarios. You are, quite simply, carrying around your own light source. Using a flash has the advantage of you being able to capture insects such as bees buzzing over a flower, which a slower shutter speed will struggle to capture in poor light. Also, for insects that fly or move, the fact that you aren’t connected to a tripod means you have much more flexibility focusing on the moving subject.

Apart from using a macro flash, there are also numerous macro lights available on the market. Rather than a flash being fired when you take a shot, a macro light uses a continuous light source that usually can be adjusted according to the amount of light you require on your subject.

4. Using a Diffuser

Sometimes when you head on out with your camera with the aim of photographing plants, insects, fungi or frogs, lighting may be harsh. There are ways of reducing your exposure in-camera but harsh lighting can create unsightly images, especially if the subject is shiny and reflective, or white and yellow. By setting up on a tripod and using a portable hand-held diffuser between your intended subject and the lens, this creates much smoother lighting. Sure, photographing during overcast weather is ideal, but we can’t choose what mother nature will do! I have often gone out to shoot macro subjects on an overcast day when the lighting is sublime, only to have the clouds replaced by harsh sunlight!

5. Watch Your Background

I regularly see beautiful macro shots posted, including insects, plants or wildlife such as geckoes or frogs. Unfortunately, some of these images are ruined by unsightly twigs, grasses or overblown leaves in the background. Photographers are often so into getting the perfect exposure or composition of their intended subject(s) that they are oblivious to the distracting background which only show up once the images are downloaded and viewed on a computer.

Overall, I encourage you to get on out there and experiment with different subjects, lighting conditions and compositions. The more you practise, the easier macro photography becomes and the process can be loads of fun : -))

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

The comb-crested Jacana’s extremely long toes help it to spread its body weight over a larger area. The comb changes colour, brightening during the breeding season and when taking on rivals.

AUSTRALIA IS HOME to one of the world’s eight jacana species—the Comb-crested Jacana—also known as the Lily-trotter, Lotusbird, Jesusbird or Christbird, the latter typically irreverent Australian names for a bird that appears to ‘walk on water’.

The jacana is found throughout coastal and near-coastal northern and eastern Australia, from about Derby in the west to Sydney in the east. I have observed it at numerous locations including wetlands near Byron Bay, New South Wales; the Nerang River and Beaudesert, south-east Queensland; and Yellow Water, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. It uses a variety of habitats, including lakes, lagoons, swamps, dams, ponds, rivers and reservoirs. One common denominator seems to be the abundance of floating aquatic vegetation, including water-lilies (Nymphaeaspp.), water-weeds, reeds and grasses.

Striding from floating plant to floating plant, the jacana searches for aquatic invertebrates and plants (and their seeds) to eat, rarely coming to shore. Birders that have observed the species would no doubt have noticed that it resembles a rail— continuously flicking its tail up and down and bobbing its head in a backward and forward motion. When alarmed, it freezes and the broken pattern of its plumage can make it quite difficult to see. Generally though, with its long, skinny legs and bright red, fleshy comb, it is quite visible.

The jacana will swim and even dive to escape a predator and can fly surprisingly swiftly. Many times I’ve wondered how it manages to fly at all with those long, clumsy looking legs and toes dangling wildly behind!

Both sexes are identical in plumage, which is brighter and more intense during the breeding season. The female, however, is larger than the male (24–27cm in length compared to 20–21cm).

Emancipated mums

One winter I spent days sitting in an aluminium boat with my friend and fellow tour guide/wildlife photographer, Glen Threlfo, in Yellow Water. Watching these birds communicate was fascinating, especially when you consider their unusual breeding system. The female often courts a male, mates, lays eggs, then moves on to another male. The male is required to build the nest, incubate the clutch and tend to the chicks single-handedly. This role reversal is different to most other species of birds.

Paperbark swamp with waterlilies at Yellow Water, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory: ideal jacana habitat. A

There doesn’t appear to be any hostility from males towards a female travelling from territory to territory. However, females are quite territorial and antagonistic towards each other. On one memorable occasion, a particular female was dominant amongst the various males and had presumably laid clutches for them. Generally, she stayed calmly among the males, but when a younger rival female arrived on the scene, feathers really did fly! The ferocity of the attack was stunning: she chittered and chased the intruder well away from the territory with such intensity that it was hard to believe she was only a petite individual.

Polyandry (many husbands) is quite rare and it has been suggested that it has evolved in jacanas because of the high rate of egg loss, but this may well be the result of single male parenthood rather than the cause. In general, polyandry occurs where breeding resources are scarce across the landscape but clumped in rich pockets— such as in a lagoon—giving females the opportunity to move easily from one male to the next, and a single parent the resources at hand to raise a family.

Diligent dads

The nest is generally quite a flimsy affair— nothing more than a clump of rotting aquatic plants and their roots, pulled together to form a weak platform. Some females even lay their clutch on nothing more than a lily leaf.

Over a period of a week or so, Glen and I managed to find quite a number of nests in the lagoons of Yellow Water and most of those were poorly built. With the weight of the incubating male, the eggs can be more in the water than out. To my amazement, all nests with eggs survived quite well.

On a few occasions, I observed a male clumsily trying to rotate the eggs. In the process, some landed in the water and he rolled the floating eggs back towards him, using his bill to eventually return them to the nest. If predators approached, the male often trampled the large leaf the nest was sitting on, pushing the eggs into the water. This behaviour helped hide the eggs, while the male moved off to create a diversion. Occasionally, he even scooped the eggs up under his wings and moved them to a new nest.

Generally there are three to four eggs in a clutch, which the male incubates for around 28 days, leaving only to feed, see off nearby rivals or deter predators. At Yellow Water one morning, as the sun rose over the misty wetland, we noticed a male behaving in an excited manner. On closer inspection, I realised there was a chick in his nest. We observed for what seemed an eternity, until the male casually stood up and walked away, scouring the surrounding vegetation for insects. Since he was feeding and seemed unalarmed at our presence, we took the opportunity to move a little closer for a better look and a few quick photographs. As we approached, we noticed that a second chick was hatching—a special sight indeed. Newly hatched chicks are completely covered with fine down. They are amazingly well camouflaged. The combination of white, light brown and black makes them difficult to see amongst the aquatic plants.

Tiny snorkelers

To protect the chicks, males employ a variety of distraction techniques. These include feigning injury or running wildly away from the nest, calling loudly and madly flapping the wings. One of my favourite birding sights is a male ‘rounding up’ his brood. At our approach or any other danger, the male calls his chicks to settle beneath his wings, securing them there before carrying them to safety, tiny sets of legs dangling below each wing. If he feels that we are too close, he drops the chicks into the water, one by one, usually within a few metres of each other. The only way I can find them is to sit quietly in the boat, binoculars poised, searching for their tiny bills protruding above the surface of the water. They can ‘snorkel’ like that for up to half an hour.

If you are interested in learning more about how to photograph birds in Lamington National Park from experienced nature photographer Michael Snedic, you might like to join his next bird photography workshop at Lamington National Park.

First published in Wingspan Magazine.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Text and images by Australian wildlife and nature photographer, Michael Snedic (April 2023)

Tasmania is an island state situated 240 km south of the Australian mainland and separated by the Bass Strait. Its landscapes are incredibly photogenic and range across rugged and diverse terrain including alpine heathlands, dry midlands, evergreen eucalypt forests, cool temperate rainforests, and so much more. There is a large array of wildlife found in Tasmania. Mammal types include various species of kangaroos and wallabies, bats, wombats, possums, platypus, echidnas, quolls, as well as the iconic (and endangered) Tasmanian devil. The island also has a wide assortment of bird species, reptiles and frogs. Some of the rarer bird species which bird photographers often seek to photograph include the endangered Orange-bellied parrot, the Swift parrot, the Forty-spotted pardalote and the Shy albatross. Regarding reptiles, there are 18 different species found here, including the She-oak, Delicate and White’s skinks. Frog species number 11, with species such as the Green and Gold, Eastern Banjo and Striped Marsh frogs found on this island state.

Tasmania is also a great location to photograph auroras (Aurora Australis), and they can appear at any time of the year. I have photographed auroras in Freycinet (from Coles Bay looking across to The Hazards) as well as Cradle Mountain, but they can appear almost anywhere across the state. Due to Tasmania’s closeness to the south magnetic pole towards Antarctica, Aurora Australis is often visible.

Basically, Tasmania is a photographer’s heaven!

Travelling to Tasmania

To get to Tasmania, you can fly to places such as Hobart or Launceston. If you are on the mainland and have a vehicle, you can drive it on to the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ ferry from Victoria across the Bass Strait.

As far as travelling around Tasmania is concerned, by far the easiest way is to hire a vehicle (either a car or a campervan). That way, you can travel wherever you want and stay in locations as long as you need. I have personally hired a campervan a number of times and this has given me plenty of flexibility. You can also join one of many organised tours on offer in the state, but unless it’s a photography-specific tour, your photographic options are usually limited, and a tad rushed.

Suggested Locations

1. Cradle Mountain

One of my personal favourite locations, where I have travelled with my camera and presented photography tours numerous times over many years, is the Cradle Mountain region. Cradle Mountain itself is situated in the central highlands region of Tasmania, within the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and rises 1,545 metres above sea level. Apart from incredible landscape opportunities (especially of the mountain itself at sunrise and sunset), there are plenty of stunning rainforests and waterfalls to be found in the region. Two waterfalls within easy reach are Knyvet and Pencil Pine, both of which are accessible by walking 5 minutes along a short boardwalk from the carpark area in front of Cradle Mountain Lodge. As far as wildlife opportunities go, you really are spoilt for choice! Echidnas frequent area, wallabies are quite common and around sunset and in the evenings you will sometimes see tiger quolls, which are carnivorous marsupials. Wombats are also common towards sunset around Ronny Creek. They are used to people, and you can generally get quite close to them with your camera.

2. Tarkine/Takayna

The Tarkine region (also known by its indigenous name Takayna), in northwest Tasmania, is a much quieter and less well-known area and features incredibly beautiful landscapes. It contains high-quality wilderness as well as large tracts of rare, cool temperate rainforest  It also has eucalypt forest, dry sclerophyll, buttongrass,, woodlands, wetlands and grasslands, to name but some. For wildlife, the Tarkine is home to 28 terrestrial mammals, 111 birds, 11 reptiles, 8 frogs and 13 freshwater fish. One of the best areas to stay and visit is the small town of Corrina, situated right on the banks of the Pieman River. This small village offers cabin accommodation, campsites and meals (not offered in the off season). Corrina Homestead also offers two different boat trips – the Pieman River and Sweetwater cruise. Both cruises are worth doing and make for some unique photography experiences in Tasmania.

3. Freycinet

Freycinet, situated on the east coast of Tasmania, is a very popular tourist destination and for good reason. It features a peninsula defined by Schouten Island and a stunning mountain range known as the Hazards.
There are plenty of locations in Freycinet National Park worth visiting with your camera, the most popular being a hike which leads to a lookout that overlooks stunning Wineglass Bay. This hike is all uphill so a decent level of fitness is required. Another popular location is Cape Tourville Lighthouse, where you drive up a windy road to the carpark area and then walk along a boardwalk to reveal stunning views below! Other locations worth taking your camera to include Sleepy Bay and Honeymoon Bay, both of which are easily accessible by parking in the designated carparks and hiking along well-signed trails. Apart from an assortment of mammals to photograph, there are plenty of birds to along the shorelines, including species such as Pacific Gulls, Pied Oystercatchers, White-bellied Sea Eagles and Red-capped Plovers. The range of beautiful landscapes and wildlife are one of the reasons I run photography tours to Freycinet National Park and surrounds.

4. The Bay of Fires

Travelling north from Freycinet and still on the east coast of Tasmania is the region known as the Bay of Fires. Here you will find an incredible 50km coastline laden with massive granite boulders covered in orange lichen, snow-white sandy beaches and turquoise-coloured water. Destinations well worth visiting with your camera include Binalong Bay, Mount William National Park, (including the very photogenic Picnic Rocks) and Eddystone Lighthouse. There are loads of bird species here too, similar to the Freycinet region.

5. Mt Field National Park

Another area that is popular with photographers is Mt Field National Park, which is only a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Tasmania’s capital, Hobart. Highlights include two majestic waterfalls – Russell and Horseshoe Falls. Both falls can be accessed very easily with a short hike from the Parks and Wildlife Service Information Centre, at the entrance to the national park. It is important to note that Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife permits MUST be purchased at the information centre prior to you visiting each of the falls. Another popular location is Tarn Shelf. By driving 16kms from the information centre, you end up at Lake Dobson carpark. You can then do a 12km hike known as the Tarn Shelf Circuit. This walk includes a number of glacial lakes and is very colourful in autumn when the deciduous beech trees turn a rich yellow colour.

Best time of the year

As far as the best time of the year to travel to Tasmania, it depends on where you decide to go. Each season has its benefits. For areas such as Cradle Mountain, I suggest visiting in April/May. At the end of April and early May, the deciduous leaves of the Beech trees (Nothofagus) change colour and make for stunning landscape shots. The cooler months in this region (if/when it snows) also make for some great snow-covered mountain shots. On the east coast, in the areas mentioned including Freycinet and the Bay of Fires, I favour visiting in winter or spring, although most of the year can be quite decent to visit and photograph. The temperature is generally cooler and the forests quite lush. For the Tarkine region and Mt Field National Park, anytime of the year is fine to visit and photograph.

Top Tips for Nature Photography in Tasmania

1. Look for Diffused Light

The light can be very harsh in places such as Freycinet and the Bay of Fires, so when photographing seascapes, I prefer shooting at either sunrise or sunset. Subtle light wins over harsh, daytime light anytime!

When taking photos of waterfalls such as Russell and Horseshoe in Mt Field National Park, in the stunning rainforests at Cradle Mountain or forests in the Tarkine region, overcast days are always best. Clouds act as ‘nature’s diffuser’ and help reduce harsh shadows that sunny days can produce. To achieve smooth, milky waves crashing over rocks or onto the sand or cascading waterfall, using a neutral density (ND) filter with a sturdy tripod and a remote or cable release (or using an App on your phone that’s paired to your camera) is the best way to stabilise your camera/lens combo. This reduces the chance of blurry images quite well. You can also use a circular polarising filter (CPL) to slow down the camera’s shutter speed by 1.5 to 2 stops, reduce glare created from water as well as saturating the image slightly.

2. Bring a Long Lens

For photographing wildlife in locations such as Cradle Mountain, using a zoom lens with a decent focal length is best. I would certainly recommend a minimum focal length of around 400mm (or higher). Even though some of the wildlife such as wombats are quite relaxed and used to people approaching them fairly close, the longer focal-length lenses are needed for the more skittish species such as Tiger quolls or the popular Pink robin. The further away you are physically, the less the animal is disturbed and displays more natural behaviour. Wildlife species such as wombats, Bennett’s wallabies and echidnas (one of only two monotremes or egg-laying mammals in the world) are more active early in the morning or later in the day. The wider the minimum aperture your lens allows the better, as you are letting in more light and therefore increasing the camera’s shutter speed. The faster shutter speed minimises blur when handholding your gear. A monopod, with a monopod head, is another way of stabilising a heavy camera/lens combo.

For subjects such as wombats, Tasmanian devils or echidnas, which live on the ground, getting down to the animal’s eye level makes for more pleasing shots. With the Tasmanian devil, sightings are quite rare nowadays, due to a spread of facial tumours which drastically wiped the populations of these unique mammals. You may, however, be fortunate and see them at dusk and in the evening.

3. Use Fast Shutter Speeds

If you are planning to capture flying shots of bird species such as the Pacific Gull, the Wedge-tailed Eagle or the Green Rosella I suggest using continuous focus mode (AI Servo for Canon users) to help track your animal as its moving, coupled with ‘burst’ mode. Many mirrorless cameras have eye tracking capabilities nowadays which make tracking moving animals so much easier. To freeze your subject, you need to use a decent shutter speed (I recommend at least 1500th to 2000th of a second), especially for fast flying birds. The faster the better! If your subject is still and you are wanting to take a few portrait shots, then you don’t need a high shutter speed.

The main points to remember are to focus on the animal’s eye(s), leave room in the direction it is facing (if facing left or right and not looking directly at you) and watch for distractions in the background.

In conclusion

Tasmania has recorded the cleanest air in the world, is covered in incredible scenery and has many unique wildlife species. If you do decide to take a trip to this incredibly rich and diverse island with your camera, you will not be disappointed!

To view Michael’s photography, website, please visit:
www.michaelsnedic.com

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.