Tasmania, that not-so-small island off the south eastern corner of Australia, is often the butt of jokes by “mainlanders” who quip about its rural atmosphere and laidback social attitude. Those qualities make it the perfect destination for those of us seeking peace and quiet whilst being surrounded by scenic beauty. As a South African having to deal with the weak Rand it also helps that the Aussie $ is half the strength of the Euro and Pound!

"Dirty", "smelly" and "disgusting" are some of the adjectives that are used to describe one of my favourite birds, the African White-backed Vulture (AWbV). A bit of research will however show that they are actually quite clean and they take a bath after most meals (not something that us humans do!) and they are exceptionally good parents (and judging by the kids I see walking around shopping centres late at night, I cannot say that all humans are good parents!).

Photographs of the spectacular pink masses of Lesser Flamingos on the Great Rift Valley's soda lakes grace the pages of many books, magazines, tourism marketing brochures, postcards, and calendars. It is in fact fairly high on the agenda for many ecotourists travelling to East Africa to get to see these pink spectacles and to take photographs of these elegant birds.

After exploring what is meta data, I investigated the use of meta data in a photographic work flow, and then I tried processing meta data in Nikon NEF files with Nikon Nikon Capture NX 1.1, BreezeBrowser 1.6.3, Adobe Bridge CS3, Bibble Pro 4.9.5, Photo Mechanic 4.5, Fotostation 5 and iView MediaPro 3.1 (now called Microsoft Expression Media), pointing out features and issues that I think can have an impact on the work flow.

The African bush was calling, and testing the new camera support equipment from Hedrus (Outdoor Photo) was just the excuse I was waiting for. Fortunately African wildlife sanctuaries teem with some of the most dangerous predators on the planet, and for this reason it is better to photograph these magnificent animals from the safety of a vehicle or hide. Personal experience has taught me that shooting from a vehicle pose its own challenges: supporting your equipment in the confined space can be quite a daunting task. Believe me I have explored various avenues to solve this problem. For years I have been searching for the ideal platform to use as camera support inside the vehicle. Tripods inside are cumbersome, and in most cases only solve half the problem. Window and door mounts are also available, but window mount are not suitable for heavy equipment and therefore not the ideal platform. Door mounts (commercially available and self made) on the other hand can be quite useful but could also be restrictive. Door mounts are made of metal and one of the big disadvantages of door mounts is that the metal can scratch the vehicle door paint.

Every year in the middle of the South African winter, 44 of the world’s best professional surfers converge on Jeffreys Bay, a small town in the Eastern Cape. The reason: they all want a share of the total ofUS $260 000 prize money on offer and a chance to catch some of the best waves in the world when the Billabong Pro competition is held at the beach called “Super Tubes”.Jeffreys Bay is rated as one of the top five best surfing spots in the world and when conditions are just right, surfers can catch waves that last as long as 300 meters and enclose them inside a water curtain – known as a “barrel” or “tube ride”as they race down the line. The shape and size of the waves also enable the surfers to achieve enormous speed in the water, allowing them to launch into the air or carve through the salt water like slalom waterskiers.Ernst has been covering the Billabong Pro every year since 2002 and his latest article on the event was published in the 2004 September-issue of the UK surfing magazine, Wavelength. In the section below, Ernst shares some aspects of this specialised form of sports photography that is surf photography.

A lighthearted look at this exciting aspect of photography.Part One.

I recently undertook a trip to Namaqualand, one of South Africa's most sacred places, together with my family and an old friend from Nelspruit.  Although I am not an outdoor photographer and prefer fine art-, studio- and fashion- photography, I was able to experiment with different techniques and approaches with varied (and sometimes disappointing) results.  I was able to dispel the myth that you should have enormous amounts of equipment, photographic experience and a 4X4 vehicle.  All I used was one camera body, a wide angle zoom (17-40mm), a macro lens (100mm), a tripod (seldomly used) and a 4X2 vehicle.  I want to urge those of you who have been wondering whether they should visit Namaqualand, to take the next best opportunity and get there and savour the splendour of this region.  Please join me on a short journey through this sacred land.

A further lighthearted look at this exciting aspect of photography.

I recently arranged two most enjoyable weekend photo shoots at the Ezemvelo nature reserve. I took the trouble to make available small critters for participants’ macro lenses and we had a lot of fun. However, it would seem that very few photographers give macro photography a second thought. Although not an established macro-photographer, perhaps I could offer you an alternative if your trigger fingers start twitching on a boring Sunday afternoon or when the sky is overcast during your expensive photo safari