Posts Tagged nikon

I was a bigger story than Oprah this weekend!

Well, only in my local paper.  But headlines get hits so that explains my motives :-)

Roanne Johnson, lovely NQ Confidential writer from the Townsville Bulletin gave me a call on Friday to chat about the Walkley awards and my 2010 Nikon-Walkley Australian Portrait Prize.  I had a GREAT time at the awards and having my ‘gorgeous’ wife with me was a real treat!

Here’s a clipping from the paper, click on it to view a larger readable size or click here to grab the page PDF.

Click pic for a larger version

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I don’t believe it, I’m a Walkley award winner!

I guess I’ve earned the right to blow my own trumpet, at least for today.  Last night I was honoured to win the 2010 Nikon-Walkley Australian Portrait Prize at a presentation in Sydney.  I’ve never entered a photo competition as, to be honest, I have never really found made the time.  This year I was prompted by fellow snappers Peter Wallis and Derek Moore to enter a couple of my Bob Katter pics in Australia’s equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize, the Walkley Awards.  There are a few news clippings floating around the web – here, here, here

Clipping from today's 'The Courier-Mail'

The Courier-Mail reporter Peter Michael assisted me to pen this entry statement that was included with my entry.

Kingmaker Bob Katter has almost become a caricature of himself with his maverick reputation, ten gallon hat, and cowboy boots.

Everyone in Katter Country, the vast electorate of Kennedy, knows the wily 65-year-old MP where he boasts a cult like status enjoying three-quarters of the two-party preferred vote.

But in the rest of Australia, the lawmaker who is likely to cast a deciding vote in Australia’s cliffhanger election is virtually unknown.

For insight into his political pedigree before turning Independent in outrage at rural de-regulation by the National Party, his dining room is dominated by a huge portrait of Red Ted Theodore, one of the giants of the Labor movement.
There’s also an impressive collection of bayonets and old Enfield rifles above a swag of war medals in the silver cabinet.

Love him or loathe him, Bob Katter is today one of the most powerful men in Australian politics.

“In some parts of my electorate the Coalition is about as popular as a black snake in a sleeping bag.

“Equally, in other parts a Labor supporter is as rare as a feathered frog on the Murranji Track.
“I simply want to go with whoever offers the best deal for the bush.
“I’ve been screaming into the wind for years. It’s time for a get square.”

I had the opportunity to photograph Katter as he arrived in Townsville on a light plane after travelling from his Charters Towers home on the day after the federal election.  He had brought his grand-daughter Kate, 11 along for the ride.  Katter was glued to the phone and Kate, being a little cold, threw on Katter’s jacket and ten gallon hat.  Sitting with her lanky grandad between the ladies and gents bathrooms in the tiny aerodrome hanger she seemed excited to be thrust into the limelight.

The next day I headed out to Katter’s home in Charters Towers where I sat down to tea and lamingtons in the family lounge room.  Katter, once again glued to the phone, threw a leg over the lounge chair and with his Enfield rifles proudly displayed on the wall I thought this was a perfect reflection of Katter, ‘the unknown’.

Photographs: Cameron Laird (0418 238811)

Shot for News Limited group

Published in The Courier-Mail, The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun in the week following the federal election.

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An amazing new innovation in compact digi cameras!

Sitting down? Well, it’s not that incredible but it is a feature which is pretty revolutionary.  Nikon has just released a new compact digital camera with a built-in …… projector!

Nikon s1000pj

The S1000pj features

  • a front-facing projector that can make a 40-inch picture at 6 feet
  • 12.1 MP
  • 5X wide angle zoom
  • ISO from 64-6400
  • 2.7-inch LCD display
  • 5-way VR image stabilization system
  • US$429 in September

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Nikon D2H giveaway closing tonight!

UPDATE – Congratulations to @desherinka, winner of the Nikon D2H body – Can only be 1 winner, thanks guys for your entries and twitter follows!

UPDATE II: Congratulations to Gonzalo Villegas (@desherinka) from La Paz, Bolivia who won the camera, it is now on the long haul to South America!

Closing at 23:59 AEST (13:59 UTC) tonight (31 March 2009) is my D2H giveaway
And, unlike a TWiP/Scott Bourne giveaway, I am happy to send the camera to any corner of the earth! I won’t pretend it is the ‘lawyers’ who say it is restricted to my country only, I am happy to pay the postage whether you live in the street next to me or on a mountain-top in Nepal. Follow the instructions at this link and I will announce the winners tomorrow. (and no, it won’t be an April Fool’s joke!)

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Nikon D2H giveaway closing soon!

I have set a closing time for entries to win a Nikon D2H (info here). No entries will be accepted after 23:59 AEST on 31/03/2009 (13:59 UTC on 31/03/2009). I will tally up all the entries (in traditional fashion) and I plan to draw it live on air (if it works) on 01/04/2009. (Yes I know it is April Fools Day but this is no joke, there will be an actual working Nikon D2H given away – it’s just a coincidence that the draw is on that day!)

I will update this post and Twitter to let you all know about the draw.
Good luck guys!

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