Karen is a long time Trekabout Photography Workshops supporter, and we have taken great pleasure in seeing her photography become her passion. She has come a long way from her early days with a compact digital and now produces superb images with her Nikon D300.

Please enjoy Karen's commentary and a selection of her images from her recent day at the "Brisbane Wildlife Experience".

Trekabout Wildlife Workshop - 3 October 2009
Like many aspiring nature photographers, I love nothing more than going out into the bush and bringing back a special photograph of the wildlife I encounter. The Brisbane Wildlife Workshop was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and learn techniques to improve my photographic skills.
Walkabout Creek Wildlife Centre in The Gap was the starting point for the day. Eight enthusiastic participants joined Mark and Michael for a brief introductory session after which we eagerly we set off to photograph the variety of wildlife at the centre.
We began outdoors in the soft light with the Pretty-Faced and Red-Necked Wallabies in their open woodland setting, before moving inside to explore the walk-through aviary.
Inside the aviary the birds were quite comfortable with our presence.
A trio of solemn Tawny Frogmouths, a cheeky juvenile Blue-Faced Honeyeater, nesting Doves, Curlews and many birds offered the chance to take lots of close-up shots.

Mark and Michael’s one-to-one tuition helped us to make the most of the opportunity, and to deal with the particular challenges of the day.
Morning tea was a good time to get to know the other participants, and share what we’d learned during the morning session. This was followed by a visit to the Creekside display where we practiced taking photos through glass or underwater.
Over lunch we enjoyed Mark’s presentation on post-processing techniques using some of our own photographs from the morning.
His session was designed to help us enhance our best images and take them out of the camera and prepare them for printing.
The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly our visit to the collection of a private wildlife breeder. We were treated to the unforgettable experience of rare and beautiful animals displayed in a natural setting to allow us to photograph them at leisure.
The collection included a Boyd’s Rainforest Dragon, a Magnificent Tree Frog, a Sugar Glider, a Smooth Knob-tailed and a Leaf-tailed Gecko, colourful snakes, and to our great delight, even a baby Wombat.
After such a full day we were all exhausted, but very excited about what we’d seen and learned. Many thanks to Michael and Mark for such an enjoyable day. I’m sure many of us will be returning soon for another Trekabout Photography Workshops adventure.

Karen Palmer
The Gap