panoramas of the night sky – something I’m yet to master!
Karayannis says he finds astrophotography the most
challenging form of his current photography fields as it requires a
lot of pre-planning and travel before the shutter button is pushed.
“Living in Sydney requires a drive of at least an hour to get away
from the light pollution and often it’s to locations that you don't
have the luxury of visiting beforehand due to time constraints
and family commitments,” he says.
“Thankfully these days there are a number of apps which
make the planning process easier. Still, it doesn’t always go
according to plan and often you need to have a plan ‘B’ in order
to take advantage of any given situation.”
Learning curve
To consistently improve his skills and move into areas of
photography he hadn’t tried, Karayannis has undertaken
courses with a number of professional photographers. His first
was a 10-week introductory course with Greg Ford from
Sutherland Shire Photography. Bill says Ford’s passion
for photography left a lasting impression on him.
“Most importantly, his course taught me to get off Auto
and to get the camera doing what I wanted it to do.”
He has also undergone a “one on one” course with Daniel
Linnet, another photographer he says whose passion clearly
shines through. “Daniel’s workshop taught me about off-camera
f lash and how to combine it with natural light to produce
results. Daniel’s studio work is out of this world and
I was privileged to spend a few hours with him learning about
shaping and diffusing light.”
Most recently Karayannis learnt about how to make the most
of natural light in his photography. “I attended a natural light
workshop with Peter Coulson. Once again it was some of the best
money I ever spent. Peter was very generous, answering every
question, but what impressed me the most was that he proved
every one of his theories correct – he only took a few photos that
day but he nailed the shot first time, every time!”
52 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2016
