Wildlife Photography Course - Western Plains Zoo

■ 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 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

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

■ Memory Card(s) - at least a 16GB card

■ Charged camera battery

■ DLSR Nikon & Canon cameras for hire ($90 per day), 32GB cards for sale ($35)

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

Time	10am to 5pm
Location	Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Obley Road, Dubbo NSW
Meeting Point	Inside main top entrance near where you buy tickets

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 animals we photograph at Taronga Western Plains zoo include:
Giraffes, Elephants, Sumatran Tigers, Pygmy Hippos, Koala, Platypus, Wombat, Bandicoot, Squirrel Glider, Little Penguin, Australian Fur Seal, Leopard Seal, Freshwater Crocodile, Komodo Dragon, Chimpanzee, Western Lowland Gorilla, Silvery Gibbon, Otter, Malayan Tapir, Gibbon, Red Panda, Snow Leopard, Meerkat, Orang-utan.
As you can see... Taronga has an exhaustive varies of living flora from around the world and we are lucky to shoot a fraction on this list!

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What do I need to bring ?
Water bottle, Camera , A charged camera battery and a spare if you have one.
You do not need to bring a tripod.

■ 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 etc

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What camera gear and equipment do I need & can I rent camera gear?
■ We rent Nikon DLSR cameras with a telephoto 70-300mm lens, 50mm prime & tripod for $150 for the 2 days. ( or $90 for one day)

■ Professional 16GB SD cards are available for purchase for $25 or bring your own.



■ 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 about a path forward as yo gain more experience. For instance - 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!

■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.


■ 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 16GB hi speed cards for $25)

■ 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 etc

■ 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?
■ This course runs for 7 hours on the first day starting at 10am and finishing at 5pm. On the 2nd day we stat at 9am & finish at 4pm

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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 as this provides the greatest value for money. There are 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 & TERMS & CONDITIONS
■ Our policy is that we guarantee the course 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.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Payments
Paying for your course in full upon booking will confirm your attendance. Places are limited on all courses.

Refunds
We reserve the right to cancel and reschedule any course, due to inadequate enrolment, bad weather, instructor illness, an 'act of God' or a force majeure such as a pandemic. As an example, a photography course has to be cancelled or deferred to another date and time due to Covid 19 border closures and lockdowns which is beyond the control of Focus 10 Pty Ltd and other related parties. We also reserve the right to cancel any course if there is insufficient demand, especially if it means that our costs would be higher than our income. Please therefore do not leave it until the last few weeks if you are interested in a particular date, as you may find that it has been cancelled. As our costs for each training event remain the same no matter how many delegates attend, like any pre-booked tickets for the theatre, concert, flights etc, we are unable to give a full refund in the event of non-attendance, regardless of the circumstances. If withdrawal occurs within the 14 days before the course starts we will try to put you on an alternative date if places are available. Please note that we cannot be liable for any other costs incurred by yourself, so please check with us before booking any non-refundable accommodation or transport.

Workshop Photography:
We reserve the right to take photographic, (both still and video) records of any of our workshops/courses which may be used for promotional purposes, submissions, advertising and records. We grant permission for participants to use any images captured by them during this workshop for self-promotion only. Participants may not make any financial gain from any images captured during this workshop/course.

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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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Thanks, Andrew for a great two days in and around Sydney. I'm much more confident in using the camera. Very much appreciated...

--Dianna Hall

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Thank you for one of the best weekends I can remember on your fabulous Margaret River tour. Lots of laughs, learnt a huge amount about photography, a great group, loved the variety of subjects & our Surfers Point sunset champers & oysters shoot was sublime. I will be doing your Goldfield tour next.

--Jen Risoli

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"Great beginners photo course Andrew. Thanks very much for helping me find my passion for photography again. I received lots of one and one attention. Cool seagull shoot with chips from Pier 4 and great you knew most of the stall holders in the Rocks market. I loved this course and learnt so much. I will be telling all my friends"

--Annie Prior

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Andrew gave our staff training in how to get better social media shots on our smartphones in on location at our farms in Murrurundi NSW and Canungra QLD. The training was very concise and professional and he even gave us free lessons on flying his drone. We are certainly happy to recommend Focus 10 for photography for any training.

--Adelaide Moses / Marketing and Communications Manager

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Hey Andrew - thanks again - I loved the personal branding portraits you took last week. I was looking at photos that I could use for my Board resume, Executive resume and personal website and other personal marketing purposes and you nailed it

--Ramesh Acharya

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Thanks for the Watagan Park photo shoot of the 4 houses. – Brett was very happy with the outcome and he just wanted to be very clear with the location of the villages (for you to make sure your pricing was correct). He would like you to schedule in some time to go to Wongawilli . Thanks for the great deal on the drone shots as well as the Marsden Parks ones.

-- Sarah King / Graphic Designer

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Thanks for the great job you did for our IBM Golf Day last week
I would like to confirm that the price of $1390.00 you quoted is ex GST. Please send another invoice to me and I will get in our accounts

-- Sally McCurtayne / Personal Assistant

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