Wildlife Photography Course

■ Ideal for anyone who loves the natural world & wanting to take much better wildlife photos

■ Learn skills set to shoot flora, fauna & birds

■ Improve your technique whilst creating a fabulous nature photography portfolio

■ Learn about other great wildlife and nature destinations

■ Expert tuition from professional wildlife photographer Andrew Thomasson

■ Gain first-hand experience with all cameras, with 'hands on' shooting  

■ Freezing and showing motion, exposure, focus modes and points

■ Meet interesting, like minded persons who love wildlife, travel & photography

■ Individual attention - no more than 6 persons per group 

■ Detailed notes and free advisory service on cameras & lenses

■ Guarantee that you can repeat the course for free if you are feeling off colour or its raining

■ Gaining hands on experience shooting a variety of wildlife in a controlled environment striving for a natural shot

■ Ideal for anyone who loves the natural world & wanting to take much better wildlife photos

■ Learn how to use the essential features on your digital camera to shoot wildlife

■ How to capture fast moving subjects by using freezing and slow motion & exposure and focus modes on your camera

■ Improve your technique whilst creating a fabulous nature photography portfolio

■ Learn about other great wildlife and nature destinations

■ Learn about great wildlife and nature destinations around the world

■ Interactive, dynamic, fun. Hands-on shooting

 

■ No previous photography experience is required

■ A digital DLSR, mirror-less or compact camera

■ For DLSR and mirror-less camera users, at least one multi range lens

■ Memory Card(s) - at least a 2GB card

■ Charged camera battery

■ DLSR Nikon & Canon cameras for hire ($50), 8GB cards for sale ($19)

■ Please check the FAQ section for further comments on camera gear

Time	9am to 1pm
Location	Melbourne Zoo, Elliott Ave, Parkville Vic
Meeting Point	Outside the top main entrance ( NOT the railway entrance)

Why do this Wildlife course?
■ Gaining hands on experience shooting a variety of wildlife in a controlled environment, giving you photos which appear to have been shot in the wild.

■ Ideal for anyone who loves the natural world & wanting to take much better wildlife photos

Learn how to use the essential features on your digital camera to shoot wildlife

■ How to capture fast moving subjects by using freezing and slow motion & exposure and focus modes on your camera

■ Improve your technique whilst creating a fabulous nature photography portfolio

■ Learn about other great wildlife and nature destinations

■ Individual attention - no more than 6 persons per group

■ Detailed notes and free advisory service on cameras & lenses

■ Learn about great wildlife and nature destinations around the world

■ Interactive, dynamic, fun. Hands-on shooting

■ Expert tuition from professional wildlife photographer Andrew Thomasson

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What animals are we likely to photograph?
The main highlights at Melbourne Zoo include:
Lions, Tigers, Snow Leopards, African Wild Dogs, Asian Elephants, Asian Otters, Pygmy Hippos, Orang-utans, Fur Seals, Little Penguins, Western Lowland Gorillas, Lemurs, Cassowaries, Gibbons and Spider Monkeys. There is also a huge variety of bird species, native Australian species such as Koalas, Tasmanian Devils, Kangaroos, Wombats, Emus and Kookaburras.

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What do I need to bring?
Water bottle, A smartphone, compact, mirror-less and/ or a DLSR camera, memory Card(s): we recommend at least a 2 GB card for each session of shooting, a charged camera battery and a spare if you have one. You do not need to bring a tripod.

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What sort of camera gear do you suggest for this course?
■ Bring the camera gear you have to get started. If you have some great gear - bring it! If you are just starting out - that’s Ok . you are going to learn a lot over the 4 hours and we can chat alout a path forward as yo gain more experience. For nstance - a compact with a good zoom can produce fantastic results. We also like compacts with macro features for nature shots (ie Lumix LX100) Consider hybrid cameras like the Nikon P1000 with its incredible 125x zoom

■ Most of our clients over the years have cropped frame DSLR camera and mirrorless camera's. A cropped sensor DLSR camera with an 'all rounder' wide angle to a Canon 18-135, Tamron 16-300mm, Nikon 18-300mm zoom will suffice. Also bear in mind you can get close to many of the animals as its in a zoo.Ideally you will have a long telephoto lens such as as a 70-300mm, 100-400mm Canon or Nikon, 200-500 Nikon, 150-600mm,Tamron or Sigma, fixed 600mm, Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS Lens and other great wildlife photography combinations! Back that up with a second lens such as a 24-105mm or 24mm-120mm etc. as you will be very close to many living animals such as in the reptile section. We have seen many of our fellow photographers on this course with some seriously good wildlife photography camera gear!

Can I rent a camera? Buy SD cards?
■ Yes - we have cropped DLSR Canon and Nikon Camera's for rent. The fee is $50 ( payable when you book or on the day via card or cash) Your camera will have a standard 18-55mm lens ( or equivalent)
■ Lexar 32GB high speed SD cards are available for purchase for $24 per card from us ( or bring your own SD card)

■Full frame cameras with their bigger sensors will give better results in certain situations (great for cropping in on a distant animal) Most pro wildlife photographers will also have a quality cropped DLSR as it increases a lens focal length by around a 1.5x factor. As a professional wildlife photographer in the field you need a back up camera in case of equipment failure. This is not necessary on a 4 hour course. If you have equipment failure - come back at another time at no charge.


■ External on-camera flash units can be useful in wide open spaces such as on African savanna plains. They are not so useful in a zoo with lots of leaves in a bush environment & shooting through glass if you have one bring it along and we will give tips on its usage

■ Tripods are not necessary but by all means bring one along if you want. Its anti social shooting with a tripod with others around.

■ Shoulder or backpack camera bags are the best. If you have issues carrying a bag then a camera case on wheels whilst more cumbersome will suffice

■ A beanbag is highly useful to plonk on the myriad of zoo picket fences and to nest your camera into the beanbag for stabilised shots

■ U/V, ND and polarising filters are not an essential item but useful. Bring then along if you have them

■ Reflectors are frowned upon in zoos. However when actually out in the field they are great. A 5-in-1 reflector (a 42" one is a good size)

■ Memory Card(s): we recommend at least a 8 GB card for each session of shooting (we sell 32GB hi speed cards for $24)

■ Charged camera battery and a spare if you have one

■ A wide-angle is useful for landscapes, a telephoto for wildlife

■ Your wildlife travel itinerary if you want feedback and camera instruction book

■ Your smartphone as a general resource tool and to grab video clips, Slo Mos etcYes you do, as the zoo entry fee is not included in this course. We highly recommend buying an annual pass if you live in the area, this provides the greatest value for money. There are many reciprocal arrangements with other zoos around Australia

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How long does the course go for?
4 hours. Starting at 9:00am and ending at 1:00pm. This timeframe avoids the crowds and heat of the day in Summer.

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Do I have to pay the entry fee to the zoo?
Yes you do, as the zoo entry fee is not included in this course. Quite a few of our clients have annual passes hence we do not add that into the course cost.
We highly recommend buying an annual pass if you live in the area, this provides the greatest value for money. There are also many reciprocal arrangements with other zoos around Australia.

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Can we custom tailor this course for my organisation or group of friends?
Yes you can. We have many groups who want a custom tailored course for a girlfriends school reunion, a high school group, a re-union of travellers, for photography clubs, wildlife organisations, government departments and private enterprises for team building, inventive rewards and many more reasons! Many private and government organisations around Australia have organised private groups with us. The course can also be expanded out to more than 4 hours by request.

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Does the course generally run on the scheduled date & time?
Our policy is that we will run this course with as little as 2 persons and more. As in any advertised product or service - events ( such as Covid 19) can occur out of our control. We reserve the right to cancel or defer any course in extenuating circumstances. We however will give you a refund or credit. Out of town attendees can gift this credit voucher to someone else.

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I have known Andrew for 25 years now and he is always willing the go that extra mile and is a talented photographer. We share a common love for India and travel in general. Over the years Andrew has been the judge for the Australian newspapers regular travel competitions and we love his enthusiasm and commitment.

--Susan Kurosawa / Travel editor

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I cannot thank you enough for spending your Sunday with Hannah giving her excellent photography training. It was a hot day and you had to work hard.
We loved the photos and she learnt a lot, there were smiles all round.

--Pam Jacob / Financial Officer

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We use Focus 10 for all our corporate photography around Australia and SE Asia. Focus 10 always delivers under the pressure to photograph our clients in any setting. |

--David Apps

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As director of a company which represents hundreds of professional photographers running courses around Australia its always a pleasure dealing with Andrew and Focus 10. They run highly professional Australia wide photography courses and from the feedback from my clients they do a great job, they are reliable and honest and always do the right thing by their clients - we highly recommend them.

-- Paul Middleton | Director

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Andrew has been training our staff, photographing for us over 30 years and has led many Australian and overseas photography tours for World Expeditions. A superb photographer with the ability to handle pressure and to deal with the unexpected. Andrew is very personable and always delivers way more than asked for. Highly recommended.

-- Sue Badyari / General Manager

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Hi Andrew... Thanks for a fantastic day today. I'm keen to do the SLR 2 and night photography, please let me know dates. Thanks again!

--Alex Jucovic

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Thanks for the email Andrew And yes Mate - loved the photos making me look 5 years younger. The make up artist was a good idea.
Been busy pitching new business all week.....have some time tomorrow to have a proper look at all the photos but lots to choose from.

--Craig McCann

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Great to meet you. Christie and I love your work. We think that the 4 attached, at this phase of our project would fit well and we would be keen to see if any of these would be able to be blown up to a large wall art format.

--Kate Hopwood | Head of Design

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