Roving-Eye Gallery update and newsletter #25 for May-June 2023

Hello to everyone and thank you to the new subscribers.. welcome aboard!

 

With the latest update just uploaded head to What's New - June 2023 | Roving-Eye.com and you can scroll back month by month for an easy catch up for previous months too!

 

This newsletter covers both May and June so in the link above just scroll back another month to catchup with everything!

 

May was definitely the month of “moon shots”.. I got a nice set of them and it’s always good to get because if the weather comes and it gets cloudy you miss a whole month before the next ideal opportunity! .. so shoot every chance I get is my motto!

 

If May was the month for moon shots then June was definitely one for the whales with the northerly migration coming into full swing!

 

So far we’ve had one of everything from pre-birth behaviour, to a vigorous group chase for a mate and even a single one in distress that I did a detailed low flyover at National Parks request for a welfare check.

 

While video is not something that I sell directly it’s still a core part of the business and community engagement is very high with it and there are so many benefits directly and indirectly from having invested in the right level of gear and spending a lot of time chasing, sometimes down to the lighthouse several times a day to maximise opportunities since it is such an unpredictable subject!

 

National Parks locally have a whale and sealife exhibit they are currently running at their visitors centre and asked if I could create a 20 min video using my recent footage to help educate and inform visitors to the centre.. while I normally keep my videos to a nice watchable 5-10 min I had so much material at hand it was no problem getting 20 min worth which they play on an endless loop in the centre of the exhibit and it looks mighty fine on the big screen I have to say! (see above)

 

If you get a chance and are interested head over to https://www.youtube.com/@AlexMcNaught/videos on a regular basis.. or subscribe.. since there is plenty of fresh and interesting material being uploaded regularly!

 

Stepping away from the ocean for a bit there was a weekend away in southern regional NSW and gave some great opportunities for some bird shots.

 

I never pass up the chance for getting Australian Wildlife.. it’s always a celebration of the native animals we have and I can never get enough of our colourful and cheeky parrots, kangaroos or emus and anything else the lens can latch onto!

 

A few passes of the Space Station gave a few creative options to get either classic stars or post sunset colour at the lighthouse as it made it’s way past at the incredible speed it goes. On a recent pass I consulted the map when it first became visible and saw it was on my horizon while still in the middle of Queensland heading towards Port at 28,000 km/h.. incredible stuff and so clever to design and operate such a machine!

 

Lastly I had some opportunities for some creative fun with black and white and silhouettes of both people and boats.. with the sparkling sea at the time it was a great prompt to pursue this style in an attempt to keep the outdoors photographic horizon as wide open as possible!

 

With the cost of living pressures rising so sharply for so many this year I have seen a distinct softening of sales at the markets, and can see that for other vendors too. There are distinctly fewer people roaming the stalls and even less with goods in their hands so I’ve decided to cut back the presence at the markets by only doing 1 per month.

 

It is a lot of hours to pack and unpack the trailer, setup and take down the store and all the while risk of damage to the stock while handling and hanging too many times.. perhaps later this year things might improve and will hope for improved trading to resume!

 

Also in that vein I have sharply cut back on remote expeditions for this year.. last year was great to fill in big holes in the portfolio with trips to the outback, tropical islands and the snow.. not so much for this year which will be one of consolidation and bolstering the regional portfolio instead!

 

I hope you find the newsletter interesting and are enjoying the gallery updates with with whatever I can find out there!

 

Next month I will have another installment and example of “making a difference” and will share details then!

 

Take care and thank you for reading this far and sharing the journey!