Having a lovely time in Mallacoota on tour - here's a few quick snaps, lots more to go through yet! Today is very windy, we're heading to Wingan Inlet about 40 minutes drive, with a quick stop off at Genoa Falls. We had rain overnight so there should be a bit of nice flow.

I'm on the eve of my next tour, 8 guests will be joining me in beautiful Mallacoota, a small town on the north eastern tip of Victoria for 6 nights. Very exciting! Mallacoota become a little famous during the 2020 fires as they town was cut off by fire for several weeks and made international news. It is truly amazing the recovery that has happened since that devastating event. We have 3 organised guided trips, two of them by boat to explore the massive estuary, lake and river system - we're hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare Black Bittern, but plenty of other birds to see should we miss out. Lots of time to venture to some of the local hotspots as well, there's a lot to see and do there! Here's a couple of shots (with a few landscapes thrown in) from previous trips. I'll post a couple of updates with what birds we are finding as the week progresses 🤞 Australian Hobby/Sooty Oystercatcher/Nankeen Night Heron keeping still enough for a long exposure!/Brown Quail/ Varied Sittella

Naturally it started raining shortly after arriving at Lake Gwelup, but our little friends didn't seem to mind. Only a couple of pairs were out and about today, but managed to catch an RBE actually eating a bee, although at distance so not as sharp as I would hope. Mrs RBE didn't seem overly impressed with his hunting skills. Hope to salvage a few more from today's outing, but Rugby League World Cup is competing for my attention tonight. All shots with Canon R5MkII combined with RF 200-800, F9, 1/3200 auto ISO (12800 and higher)

Headed straight toward me and kept on clicking..i knew his flight path to another loaded tree and underexposed by -2..

What do we do when we have a lovely subject nearby, but that clean shot is a faraway dream amongst the chaos! This is a constant challenge when photographing forest birds - and as some of my favourites bird to photograph - I use these 3 techniques on repeat. 1: Zoom in tight/Crop tightly or both (Emu images one and two) Bigger bird or in close proximity? Zoom past distractions and aim for a tight portrait rather than trying to get the whole bird - and all the bits and pieces alongside - in the frame. Extra tip - if you're going to chop a bit off your bird in the frame, make sure it's a big bit so it looks deliberate. 2: Check your position. (Kingfisher images 3 and 4: same bird, same perch, different shooting position) A step this way or that can make a big difference. Don't just start shooting - look for that gap through the trees, check everything in the frame, check your background and see if a bit of footwork, or even a lean to one side, can bring you a better angle. 3: Use Natural Framing (Glossy Black Cockatoo image 5, combo of zoom in tight + natural framing) Shoot in between branches and foliage to frame your subject. Sometimes I'll move so that I'm shooting through light foliage. It's a great technique that can hide a lot of detail and introduce a soft blur/bokeh effect into the foreground.